WORX Landroid S WR130E Robot Lawn Mower Review

The process for setting up any robotic lawn mower is pretty standard, and the Landroid is no exception.

I started by securing the base to the ground with the provided screws. This is easy to do, even on hard ground. Since this lawn mower enters into its base from the side, as opposed to reversing in, you’ll need to follow the recommended measurements for positioning the base to allow enough room for the Landroid to dock, as well as to drive away after. I appreciated the thoughtful touch of the cardboard ruler built into the product’s box to help with this, although it wasn’t actually long enough for the distance required!

Then came the “fun” part – laying the boundary wire. This can take a while depending on the layout of your lawn. I sectioned off a simple-ish area of my larger lawn for initial testing, so it didn’t take me too long to lay the cable down. However, you’ll need to make sure that the cable is as low to the ground as possible since you don’t want the lawn mower to cut through it. This means that if you’re laying it on bumpy or uneven ground, you’ll need to spend some extra time adding in more pegs compared to if you were setting it up on a smooth and flat lawn.

The fact that this lawn mower doesn’t require a guide wire does help to save a fair bit of time during setup. It will also save you some extra work if you decide to bury your cables in the future. I intended on doing so but didn’t in the end – after about a week, the cable was near-invisible anyway due to how it sunk into the grass, so there didn’t seem to be much point!

Once you have everything set up, you’ll then need to hook the base up to your power supply before inserting the provided battery into the Landroid. Then, turn the machine on, follow the instructions for which buttons to press, and leave it to get to work! Its ‘plug and play’ quality makes this last step a breeze, with the entire setup process only taking about half an hour.

The first thing that you’ll notice about this Landroid is its bright orange colour. While many may prefer something a little less obvious, it’s actually a great choice if you have kids or pets around as it’s so easily visible.

It also happens to be pretty compact, although its wheels are slightly larger and chunkier than the Flymo that I also tested, which is good news for rough or uneven gardens. It’s about the same size as models designed for smaller gardens yet it’s capable of tackling a space of up to 300m² with its 18cm cutting width. There’s a dial at the side of the machine that enables you to easily change the cutting height, with a range of 20-50mm to choose from.

Many of the robotic lawn mowers made for small gardens don’t have a screen of any sort, so I appreciated the inclusion of an LED screen on this one. It’s nothing fancy, but it helps to be able to actually see what’s going on with the machine rather than having to try to decipher the flashing lights and random beeps that accompany some of the lower-end models out there. The screen is accompanied by four buttons that allow you to control the lawn mower while also acting as a keypad for your pin number.

Like all robotic lawn mowers, there’s no collection basket included with this product. Instead, it mulches the grass as it cuts it before releasing it back onto your lawn. This ensures that no nutrients are removed from your lawn, which will give you greener and healthier grass.

All in all, a well-designed lawn mower that has clearly been created to be as easy to use as possible.

All robotic lawn mowers need to be connected to an electricity source via its base. The Landroid comes with a 10m power cable. This may be enough for some people but my lawn is a fair distance from my outdoor sockets, so I hooked mine up to an extension lead. 

While some robotic lawn mowers have a built-in battery, I was excited to see that the Landroid makes use of a WORX PowerShare battery. This makes the machine so much more versatile if you already own a WORX PowerShare tool, as the batteries are interchangeable. The lawn mower comes with a 2aH battery but I swapped this for a 5aH that I already had. This meant that the machine was capable of getting more work done before it needed to return to its base. It would also enable the Landroid to cut an area that’s larger than 300m² since it wouldn’t have to dock quite so often.

I had high hopes for this machine’s performance, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. 

I put it to work in April, on long grass that hadn’t been cut since the autumn. Rather than being soft garden grass, my lawn used to be a field. As a result, it consists of relatively thick and rough grass, along with plenty of docks and other weeds. However, the Landroid handled the initial cut well. It did end up wheel spinning a few times on particularly long and bumpy patches, requiring me to reposition it, but it still managed to get the job done in the end. Getting stuck wasn’t an issue once the lawn was at a more appropriate height.

It took about a week for the Landroid to get my unruly lawn under control. After this, it was all about maintenance, which it also excels at. Its three pivoting blades leave a neat finish behind and the mulching function works well. It creates a very fine and light mulch that quickly settles into the lawn – you can’t even tell that it’s mulching because the pieces are so tiny. So, you won’t need to worry about tracking grass clippings through your house every time you come in from the garden!

If the grass isn’t too long or uneven, then it handles slopes well. WORX claims that this machine can run on inclines of up to 35%, which I would agree with. However, you’ll need to make sure that the angles created by your boundary wire are generous when on an incline – I found that my Landroid would initially struggle to turn around when it was facing downhill, but adjusting the cable to give it more room helped to rectify this.

WORX also attests to how the Landroid is able to cut a lawn 30% faster than other robot lawn mowers due to the cutting pattern that it uses. This is a difficult claim to fairly test out, but I definitely noticed that the Landroid spent more time in its base than the Flymo that I also reviewed. It remains in its base once it has completed its job and will only drive around when your grass actually needs to be cut, so it did seem to be a faster worker than the Flymo.

The only potential downside to this machine’s performance is when it comes to edges. If your lawn has a flat edge, then the Landroid is capable of cutting right up to your borders. However, if your lawn is edged by a raised path or a wall, then the Landroid will leave a fringe behind that you’ll need to manually cut. This wasn’t an issue for me but if you’re hoping for neat edges, some of the larger Landroid models come with an Edge Cut feature that enables them to cleanly cut right up to every type of edge.

There are several noteworthy features to this lawn mower that could easily sway a person to buy a Landroid over other brands. 

However, before we talk through those, I wanted to first mention a feature that this lawn mower doesn’t have; a self-levelling cutting deck, meaning a deck that automatically adjusts blade height on bumpy ground. If you scroll through the product’s Amazon reviews, you may think that this model comes with that feature. However, read through the small print and you’ll see that only certain Landroid models have this deck, and the S WR130E isn’t one of them. 

Would the self-levelling cutting deck be worth forking over more money for? Perhaps, but only if you have a very bumpy lawn and want a short cut. My lawn is pretty bumpy but by keeping the cutting height relatively high, the machine was still able to provide an even-looking finish without scalping any bumpy mounds.

Now, let’s move on to the features that this lawn mower does have:

Intelligent Grass Care System

This lawn mower is fitted with an Intelligent grass care system. In essence, this means that it’s able to recognise changes in temperature, sunlight, rainfall, soil nutrition, grass type, and more. It does this via a variety of sensors, as well as by connecting to WiFi. It then adapts to this information so that it can take the best possible care of your lawn.

Rain Sensor

Interestingly, the Landroid doesn’t cut the grass in the rain, which is something that other robot lawn mowers, such as the Flymo, do. I’m not sure why this is because it’s light enough to move through wet grass without leaving tracks but, either way, this doesn’t really put the machine at any sort of disadvantage. 

AIA Patented Navigation Technology

WORX heavily promotes the Landroid’s AIA patented intelligent navigation technology. This feature enables the machine to make its way through narrow passages without the need for a guide wire. I found that it did this very well – it always manages to find its way back to its base before running out of power, even when given a complex route to follow.

The App

All of those above features are already set up in your Landroid when you receive the machine. However, if you download the app, you’ll find even more customisable options. You can create an invisible fence, which allows you to section off parts of your lawn that you don’t want the Landroid to cut, add in a second zone, and even set the machine to Save the Hedgehogs mode. This keeps the machine in its base from dusk to dawn, which is when hedgehogs are most likely to roam a garden. 

This lawn mower comes with a scheduling feature too. You can set it to run at specific times of the day, meaning that you can keep it in its base in the evenings if you don’t want it to bother your neighbours. That said, it’s much quieter than a standard lawn mower, so it’s unlikely to disturb anyone!

Extra Add-Ons

If you want to customise your Landroid even more, WORX has a few extra modules that you can purchase separately, such as an Anti-Collision System. This uses ultrasonic technology to detect obstacles in advance. So, rather than bumping into them, it will drive around them and completely avoid them. 

The Find My Landroid module may also appeal if you live in a high-crime area. It connects the machine to the internet even if it’s not hooked up to your own WiFi, enabling you to track it down if it happens to be stolen.

Since the Landroid drives at a very slow walking pace, you won’t have to worry about it running anyone over. When it does bump into an obstacle, it does so extremely gently – it doesn’t hurt in the slightest, which my chickens and dogs will confirm!

The only real safety issue is in relation to the blades. However, the machine is fitted with tilt and lift sensors. These detect when the lawn mower’s blades aren’t evenly touching the grass, and so it stops them from moving. It’s ideal if you have young children going around who may curiously pick the machine up or knock it over.

While those are the main safety features that will keep you and your family safe, this machine also comes with a few that are designed to keep the Landroid safe. In addition to the Find My Landroid module that can be purchased separately, this lawn mower is also fitted with a lock and an alarm, both of which can be activated via the app. You also need to enter a pin number before the machine will start working, making it useless to the average thief.

Although the Landroid costs a little more than some of its competition, its vast array of features makes the slightly higher investment worthwhile. The fact that its battery is easily interchangeable is a huge bonus too. With a bigger battery and some extra boundary wire, you could set this lawn mower up to cut a much larger lawn than 300m², and it would most likely cost you less than if you were to purchase one of the larger Landroids available.

To sweeten the deal even further, WORX has included four sets of new blades with the Landroid, along with the necessary screws to put them in. Leave the machine running all spring and summer and the extra blades should keep you going for 1-2 years.

You also won’t need to worry about your Landroid falling behind when it comes to new technology. WORX continually creates updates for their Landroid range. These are sent wirelessly to the machine itself, or, alternatively, they can be transferred via a USB cable.

At first glance, it may seem as though there isn’t much that separates the Landroid from its competition. However, now that I have given the machine a good run for its money, it’s easy to see its superiority. From its well-designed, easy-to-use interface to its high-speed performance to its incredible range of customisable options, the WORX Landroid S WR130E would be a great purchase for anyone needing to maintain a small or medium lawn in an effortless and hassle-free manner.