I tested it: On a clear day, this robot lawn mower can see forever

Price When Reviewed

$1299.00

Best Prices Today: UBHome M10

We’ve seen our share of robotic mowers from massive firms and well-capitalized startups, however only a few crowd-funded ones. UBHome is an exception, elevating HK $1.6 million (~$200,000 USD) this spring to deliver its M10 robotic garden mower to market.

The UBHome M10 options synthetic intelligence mixed with RTK (real-time kinetics) positioning, which jogs my memory of the Segway X3 series mowers, albeit with a special price ticket and most yard measurement. The M10 prices simply $1,499, which makes it one of many lower-priced robotic mowers we’ve examined.

The M10 makes use of a reference station and a LoRa (Long Range) gateway to find out place and talk with the mower. In principle, no mower ought to have any issues sustaining a connection anyplace in my yard, however its uncommon form and plethora of obstructions make it a very good take a look at location.

Installation and setup

Ed Oswald/Foundry

Getting the UBHome M10 arrange wasn’t simple, not as a result of the {hardware} was troublesome to take care of or that the robotic’s mapping controls have been poor—in reality, I cherished the latter and can focus on them in additional element later—however as a result of the M10 had persistent points buying GPS alerts. This occurred even in areas the place the robotic has a transparent view of the sky.

The M10 is super-reliant on GPS positioning, requiring 20 satellites simply to put in. That is a very excessive variety of satellites to count on—I used to be maxing out at 15 to 17 at my location in Pennsylvania, which initially meant I couldn’t transfer ahead with the assessment. I encountered the same challenge with a Yarbo mower, a difficulty that has plagued that platform for years: a refusal to connect with GPS satellites which might be reliably in view.

Ed Oswald/Foundry

The excellent news? Yarbo’s issues got here all the way down to a software program challenge, and I extremely suspect the identical factor is occurring right here. I ultimately discovered one other 5 or so satellites (though this a part of the set up was executed a day later) and was due to this fact capable of map my yard utilizing the M10’s wonderful in-app controls.

Unlike many different mowers I’ve examined, the UBHome M10 doesn’t lurch with the slightest faucet of its in-app controls. In areas the place I wasn’t experiencing points with GPS connectivity, I used to be capable of map the terrain comparatively rapidly.

It additionally has a barely weird but novel mapping technique it calls Traction Mode, which includes looping a rope across the entrance grille of the M10 and pulling it behind you to create a map. If you battle with distant management operation, this could be a sexy various (and it actually works).

UBHome deserves credit score for pondering out of the field right here.

Mapping was so person pleasant that I used to be in a position to make use of it to map my total property for the primary time in lots of critiques. I used to be additionally curious to see how properly the LoRa know-how might deal with the extra distant elements of our yard. UBHome says LoRa support endows its mower with a communication vary of 576,000 sq. yards (138,000 sq. meters), a declare I used to be rightly skeptical of. What the corporate’s advertising and marketing supplies don’t level out is that LoRa networks are closely depending on line of sight. So, that vary could be achievable should you’re mowing a pasture, however having buildings within the image rapidly modifications issues.

Ed Oswald/Foundry

UBHome’s infrastructure consists of a gateway, an antenna, and a base station, which isn’t all that newbie pleasant, however the firm’s educational supplies clearly present all of the steps it’s essential to get began. While the manufacturing worth of its video gained’t earn an Emmy, it makes it abundantly clear what it’s essential to do. UBHome’s app can even stroll you thru the method with useful textual content instructions.

Using the UBHome M10

The UBHome M10 is a daytime-only mower because of the absence of LiDAR navigation or any headlamps. I assume most individuals studying this assessment aren’t prone to mow their lawns in the course of the evening, like I do, so I don’t see this as a unfavourable. What’s most essential is the lower, and even with all of the set up problem, the UBHome redeemed itself in that regard.

The M10 has a really low most slicing peak of simply 2.36 inches (6cm). That could be too low for the varieties of grass generally present in American lawns. I typically hold our grass at 2.5 inches or greater, as something decrease tends to show brown patches. I’ve seen this quirk in lots of mowers that originally launched abroad.

Ed Oswald/Foundry

It’s additionally as a result of the U.S. itself is an aberration: The grasses that make up most of our lawns are a results of homesick American colonists favoring European grass species—and importing their seeds—as an alternative of planting native North American grasses.

The M10 does have a high-grass mode for when it’s essential to lower grass that’s considerably above the mower’s most slicing peak, however UBHome warns that this setting might impair the mower’s impediment avoidance. That mentioned, I noticed no substantial results, even when the mower obtained near the slope in my yard. That slope has been confirmed to be the Achilles’ Heel of so many rear-wheel drive mowers I’ve examined right here.

The mower has three mowing strategies, the final of which is non-compulsory. The first is your conventional mow, the place the mower takes lengthy passes to cowl as a lot floor as attainable. In oddly formed or slender areas, you should utilize “spot mowing,” the place the mower strikes in a way that covers spots near the sting of the mowing space or the place it could have missed.

Finally, the non-compulsory “perimeter mowing” rides the sting of the mowing space to offer that completed look. You can monitor all of this within the app in actual time. LoRa helps to make sure that the app’s positioning is precise, and it additionally ends in a considerably longer mowing time than most robotic mowers, however the outcomes are value it.

Ed Oswald/Foundry

I skilled points with solar blindness being misinterpreted as an obstruction when the solar was low within the sky. This is typical of robotic mowers that aren’t geared up with LiDAR navigation. To get round the issue, program the mower to chop any parts of the garden that may have the mower transferring straight into the solar at the very least three hours earlier than sundown.

Mowing the simplest a part of my yard went so properly that I made a decision to sort out the extra problematic areas subsequent. I tempered my expectations given the quantity of hassle I’ve had with different rear-wheel drive (RWD) mowers. Things went properly, for probably the most half. I set the M10 to its slowest setting whereas slicing slender strips of grass, which stored it on the median quite than on the street, the place so many different mowers have ended up (the mower did fall off the curb whereas working at its normal pace). On slopes, the M10 appeared to right the drift of its entrance wheels to both facet a lot sooner than every other RWD mower I’ve examined.

The M10, nonetheless, misplaced its connection to the Reference Station about 300 toes by my indifferent storage. This wasn’t fully shocking, given LoRa’s dependence on line-of-sight communication; in reality, it carried out higher than most of its rivals on this space. That mentioned, it didn’t come anyplace near the 138,000 sq. meters of communication vary that’s marketed. The mower additionally had problem staying inside its assigned boundaries whereas it was in that part, complicated a small strip down the alley as an edge, seemingly because of connectivity points.

Using the UBHome app

UBHome’s app has a wonderful person interface; it’s well-organized and clear, and I admire how probably the most crucial actions are assigned to buttons on the backside of the display screen, so I can use the app with one hand. The scheduling portion of the app, however, is too barebones; it reveals scheduled mow days and occasions, however not the areas to be mowed.

Ed Oswald/Foundry

A log present shows all current actions and alerts, and there’s a distant management function should you really feel like driving the mower your self. I skilled sporadic connectivity issues now and again, which have been often remedied by restarting the app.

While you may set mowing course throughout the app, there doesn’t seem like any sort of automated adjustment for every successive mow. That mentioned, it won’t be needed, because the M10 will swap between modes primarily based on the peak of the grass and if it spots areas the place grass is rising sooner than others.

Should you purchase a UBHome M10 robotic mower?

With a price ticket of lower than $1,500, the UBHome M10 punches above its weight. Its dependence on GPS for navigation, nonetheless, comes with dangers. The mower’s sporadic incapacity to seek out satellites in areas the place it had a transparent view of the sky is disappointing.

Apart from that, the mower is surprisingly flawless and enjoyable to make use of. I initially thought such out-of-the-box concepts as Traction Mode have been foolish, however once I used them, I found they’re an progressive option to pace up probably the most irritating a part of robotic mower setup.

The Ml10 delivers excellent lower high quality, and its impediment avoidance works properly even in high-grass mode. This rear-wheel drive mower’s means to efficiently mow my garden with out falling down its slope can also be notable. And for probably the most half, it stayed inside its assigned boundaries, one thing many different mowers have did not do, particularly on my yard’s median strips.

If you’re available in the market for a robotic garden mower, most of your yard has a transparent view of the sky, and you’ve got a restricted funds, the UBHome M10 is an choice to consder. I do hope UBHome solves this machine’s GPS points with a firmware replace, as a result of that’s holding again an in any other case wonderful robotic garden mower.

This assessment is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best robot lawn mowers.