What robot mower area ratings mean
Updated
Two numbers decide whether a mower is big enough: the rating, read on the right basis, and the area your lawn needs once its shape and mowing hours are counted. This guide covers both.
Four ways makers state area
| Basis | What the number means | Models | How the sizer reads it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum | The largest lawn the mower can handle | 50 | The rating itself |
| Recommended | The lawn size the maker suggests, not a ceiling | 13 | 1.2 × the rating |
| Per day | The area it cuts in 24 hours | 2 | The rating itself |
| Not stated | The maker gives a number without saying what it means | 0 | The rating itself |
Segway Navimow, Roborock and ANTHBOT publish a recommended area. Segway Navimow X330, for example, is recommended for 4,047 m² (43,560 sq ft). A recommended figure is the lawn size the maker suggests, not the most the robot can handle, so comparing it with another brand's maximum would make the recommended model look smaller than it is. Botsize allows 1.2 times a recommended rating. That allowance is a rule of thumb of ours, and the model page shows both numbers.
Kress rates its EyePilot models by the area cut per day: Kress EyePilot RTKⁿ KR251E cuts 1,000 m² (10,764 sq ft) in 24 hours. Yarbo goes further: Yarbo Y40 Core with Lawn Mower Pro Module lists 25,000 m² (269,098 sq ft), which the maker's page describes as weekly coverage when the lawn is cut twice a week. The sizer compares both with your lawn the way it compares a maximum, the most generous reading, so read the model page before you plan a lawn near those numbers.
Why the lawn needs more than its own area
A mower rated for a given area reaches it on an open lawn with time to work. Beds, trees and narrow strips add turns and overlapping passes. A mower that may only run in daytime loses the night hours. The sizer turns your lawn area into the rating it needs with two factors.
| Your lawn | Factor |
|---|---|
| Open: one simple shape | 1.2 |
| Typical: some beds, trees and corners | 1.35 |
| Complex: many obstacles and tight spots | 1.5 |
| Mows at any time | 1.0 |
| Daytime only | 1.5 |
A lawn of 800 m² (8,611 sq ft) of typical shape, mowed at any time, needs 800 × 1.35 × 1.0 = 1,080 m² (11,625 sq ft). A mower rated for up to 1,200 m² fits. One recommended for 1,000 m² fits too, because 1.2 × 1,000 is 1,200. One rated for up to 1,000 m² is tight: it covers the lawn but not the margin. One rated for 700 m² is too small.
The factors are rules of thumb. No maker publishes how much its rating shrinks on a complex lawn, and the methodology says so next to the numbers.
The same robot, two ratings
Some makers rate one machine differently by market, or sell it under another name. 6 records in the dataset carry a different rating in at least one market. Roborock RockMow Z130 is rated for 3,000 m² (32,292 sq ft) in Europe and sold in the US as the RockMow X130H, rated for 1 acre (4,047 m²). The sizer and the model pages use the figure for the region you choose in the header. Where a maker's figures conflict, the dataset keeps the lower one.
Reading a model page
- Rated area with its basis in words: rated for lawns up to, recommended for, or per day.
- Sized for a range of lawns: the limit divided by 1.5 (a complex lawn) to the limit divided by 1.2 (an open one). A limit of 1,500 m² reads "sized for lawns of about 1,000 to 1,250 m²".
- Oversized as a note when the limit is more than 6 times your lawn. It never rules a model out, but you pay for capacity you do not use.
Bigger is not better
Inside the fits group the sizer puts the closest fit first: the smallest limit that still covers the rating your lawn needs. The extra capacity of a larger model does nothing for a lawn the smaller one already covers, and the price sort in the sizer shows what it costs. Pick the next size up when you expect to add lawn or want to mow less often, and check the price against the closest fit for a quarter acre or your own sizer result.