€700 now buys a genuine robot mower — the question is which compromises each brand chose: wire vs wire-free, capacity vs features, app depth vs simplicity. For typical sub-300 m² Irish gardens, the budget class honestly covers the need. Five machines, every trade-off labelled, including the one that embarrasses mid-range pricing.
Price and availability accurate as of publishing; subject to change.
Buying guide: how to choose
Wire-free changed everything
Traditional robots need a perimeter wire buried around the lawn — €100–300 of installation or a weekend of your knees. New RTK-GPS and vision models map boundaries from an app walk-around. If your budget allows, go wire-free: relocation, repairs and layout changes become trivial.
Size honestly, then add 20%
Quoted capacity assumes ideal flat lawns and daily runs. Slopes, narrow passages, trees and complex shapes eat capacity. Measure your actual grass area (apps or Google Maps work) and buy the next size up — an under-specced robot leaves mohawks.
Mulching is the secret lawn upgrade
Robots cut a few millimetres daily and drop the dust-sized clippings as mulch — feeding the lawn continuously. Owners consistently report thicker, greener grass within a season, with no clippings to collect, bag or dump. It's lawn care that compounds.
Rain, slopes and Irish realities
All serious robots mow happily in Irish drizzle (most park themselves in heavy rain). Check slope ratings against your garden: 25–35% covers typical suburban gradients; banks and ditches need specialist models. Wet long grass in spring growth spurts may need a catch-up manual cut.
Frequently asked questions
Robot mower vs paying someone to cut grass?
A €25/cut service fortnightly across an Irish March–October season runs €350–450/year, every year. A €700 robot plus ~€40/year consumables overtakes it inside two seasons — and mows daily instead of fortnightly. The maths rarely favours the van.
What about clippings — do I need to collect them?
No — robots mulch. Cutting daily means clippings are millimetre dust that drops into the sward, feeding it. No collection, no brown bin runs, and a measurably thicker lawn within a season. Spring growth spurts may briefly outpace mulching.
Are robot mowers safe with children and pets?
Modern units stop blades instantly on lift or tilt, have collision sensors, and the premium tier adds camera object detection. Blades are small pivoting razors, not mower blades. Standard sense applies: schedule around toddler garden hours; hedgehog-friendly night-off settings are recommended.
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