Ambrogio L60 Review, Manual, and Comparison to Flymo, Miimo and Yard Force Automatic Lawn Mowers

The Ambrogio L60 is a different kind of robot mower.

It's a mower for people who don't want to mess with full-on automation.

There's no boundary wire, for example. Nor is there a charging station.

In essence, this is a mower that replaces a person, even down to the fact that it can only really mow when you can be bothered to take it out of the garage.

Ambrogio L60 Features

For all that, it's a clever box.

It can tell the difference between grass, and not grass; coupled with bumpers that help it figure out if there is an obstacle such as a family pet, small child or tree.

The mower has 4 wheel drive, and can mow for about 3 and half hours on a three hour charge. It just can't get back to it's refuelling point by itself.

That means that if your lawn is big enough that 3:30 of cutting leaves some areas untouched (bearing in mind that the mower covers the ground at random), you have to pick it up, take it inside, and charge it up.

The advantage is that installation is easy. You just drop the mower in the middle of the lawn, press a button, and go about your business.

Ambrogio L60 Manual

The Ambrogio L60 Manual is one of the clearest, and easiest to follow that I think I've seen.

However, that's not surprising, as the robot mower is pretty much plug-in-and-go. There's no messy perimeter wire installation, and for those with a simple garden, not much extra landscaping to do.

On the other hand, it is clear from the manual that if you have ponds, walkways, and flower-beds, that you need to make sure your garden is up to the job.

There are some pretty tight guidelines for things like the height of delimiting curbs, and the kinds of materials that the Ambrogio will recognise as 'not grass'.

The screen needs very little explanation: it's so basic that there's nothing more than some descriptions about starting, stopping, and charging the mower.

The manual, is, in short, as complicated as it needs to be for a device that is clever, yet pretty dumb.

Ambrogio L60 Price

Here's where I have a problem. Price-wise, the L60 sits somewhere between the Flymo 1200R (which I own) and the es of the Honda Miimo or Yard Force machines.

The blades are non-standard, making them more expensive to replace.

For a machine that needs so much manual intervention, I find that the £1,500 plus price tag is a bit excessive.

However, the manufacturer would probably cite the admittedly clever technology that powers the robot in their defence. I have a friend with an earlier model, and for what it's worth, it works.

I just think that, for me, I'd rather have the mower on-call 24/7 than have to haul it around between charges.

Then again, I enjoy messing around with the perimeter wire, too. That's not for everyone; perhaps the Ambrogio L60 will find a market with the less technically inclined gardener whose garden is large, with complex shapes, and yet with well defined boundaries...

Are Robotic Lawn Mowers Any Good?

Anyone reading my review of the Robomow RL 555 in 2013 would be forgiven for asking whether, despite all the hype, are robotic lawn mowers any good at all?

What a difference 4 years makes.

Not just in the technology, but also in my own opinion of robotic vs. standard walk behind mowers.

Back in 2013, I had a few choices to make regarding which mower to buy. If this report of robot mower trends to 2020 is to be believed, the field is going to widen a bit, despite the various legal challenges brought by Husqvarna in trying to protect their technology, but back then, my choices were limited to:

• Gardena (Husqvarna / Flymo / Gardena are all the same group)
• Bosch (Indego)
• Worx (Landroid, since subject of a patent infringement case)

Regular readers will know which I chose, and will have followed the last 4 years of blade changes, wheel replacement, repairing rubber bumper supports, and repairing broken perimeter wires...

...and yet despite the various trials and tribulations, I'd willingly go through it all again.

The Lawn Has Never Looked Better!

Okay, so you'll have to take my word for it, but having a robotic lawn mower has led to a greener lawn.

Why? Because the grass, when cut, is mulched.

Mulching basically reduces the clippings to a fine mist that falls back into the lawn, between the blades of grass, and helps to nourish it. Hence: a greener lawn.

The lawn is trimmed daily, regularly, and at a constant level.

It all contributes to a better looking lawn.

Yes, I still have to trim the edges, but that's more a design choice than anything else. I could have replaced the edging with little paving stones that the mower would roll over and trim right up to the edge, but I like my wood effect edges that separate the raised flowerbed from the lawn.

Once the wood rots away, as it will, I might rethink, but until then, I'll just have to do the edges myself.

Choosing the Right Robot Grass Cutter

I think that, reading the reviews on Amazon, that the biggest issue that people have is in choosing an appropriate robotic lawn mower for their lawn and level of expertise.

For example, almost without exception, robot mowers use a perimeter wire to prevent them going outside your lawn and chopping up the flowerbeds. One of the biggest ownership bugbears seems to be installing and maintaining the perimeter wire.

However, it needn't be the case.

Just be prepared to spend a little time designing the perimeter boundary, and a little more time checking that you made all the right decisions by observing the mower in action, and then relax for the rest of the season.

• Don't dig it into the lawn; just let the wire sink in naturally.
• Don't have sharp turns at the corners; either cut them or round them, checking as you go along that the mower still reaches into the corner as required.
• And don't forget that if you have height changes, pin down the wire with a peg so that it always follows the gradient of the lawn; otherwise it might just get clipped!

Make sure you choose the right mower: if you have a complex lawn shape, pick one that is designed to cover an area just a bit bigger than the actual lawn.

At the same time, if you like lines, and have a regular, rectangular lawn, then pick a mower that cuts in stripes, like the Bosch Indego, for example. It's a bit more expensive than some of the Flymo and Landroid rivals, but it does a good job provided you have a regularly shaped lawn.

In my case, the Gardena R40Li (Flymo 1200R) was more appropriate, just because of the shape of the lawn, size of cutting area, and price.

More modern mowers also exist now, complete with WiFi connection to your mobile phone and GPS to help monitor the job that they've done. I'm not convinced that app connectivity is anything more than a gimmick, but I'll admit that there is a part of me that is attracted to the idea of controlling my mower with my phone.

However, I think that it will be a while before the tweaking that you can do with such a connection actually brings something new to the party. Meanwhile, for £600, the Flymo 1200R remains my personal recommendation.

The Cost of Ownership

Another potential bugbear is the cost of owning and running a robot mower.

Sure, you don't need to spend hours actually cutting the lawn, but that's not much of a saving if you then have to spend hours in maintenance.

Luckily, most robot mowers only need seasonal maintenance, and that's mainly about replacing blades. These vary in cost: from the cheap but slightly flimsy blades used by Bosch, Flymo and Gardena that wear down often and need replacing at least twice per season and can be broken if they so much as clip a bit of gravel, to the solid traditional style blades used by John Deere robot mowers which are expensive but durable.

In between there are all manner of spinning cutters, such as those used by Robomow and Worx in their Landoid mowers, which have multiple cutting edges and spin independently.

It's worth checking, before you buy, which type of blade is needed, and the replacement cost, as well as picking the right kind of blade for your lawn. Rougher lawns with tough grass will benefit from a more solid blade, whereas lawns that have finer grass will benefit from multi-edged blades such as Bosch, Flymo and Worx use.

The important point is that, if the ends of the grass seem to be tinted slightly brown, and a ragged cut, it's time to replace or sharpen the blade. Just like with a regular mower.

One thing people forget is that a regular, walk behind mower, also needs maintenance!

So, in the final analysis, and after 4 years of robotic mower ownership, I would say that robotic lawn mowers have come into their own in 2017, and will no doubt continue to grow in popularity.

Are robotic lawn mowers any good? Yes. But, as with all purchases, be prepared to do your research, hunt down the best deal, and compromise on features that don't bring any real benefits.

To find out if a robot mower is right for you, check out our free robot mower buyer's guide, or, for a summary of all the makes and models on the market, take a look at our robot mower brand and model guide.

The Perils of a Robot Lawnmower with No Perimeter Wire

I get a lot of questions directed to me about installation of a perimeter wire and the reason why all of the major brands (Bosch, Worx, Husqvarna, Flymo, Gardena, etc.) rely on this technology. The fact of the matter is it wasn't always the case, and it's also still possible to buy robot lawnmowers that don't rely on a perimeter wire to delimit the mowing area.

But, is that a good thing?

Let's look at a few of the options available to manufactures using today's technology.

Robot Mower with Sensors

Mowers like the LawnBott Spyder, for example, don't use a perimeter wire. In fact, according to the LawnBotts web site, this is hailed as "a new beginning for robotic lawnmowers."

However, I would dispute this, as I have a friend with a sensor-based mower that pre-dates my own Husqvarna/Gardena R40Li, which he inherited from a family member who I assume had upgraded to a better version.

A quick question and answer session later revealed that while there are issues with sensor based mowers, largely my friend was well satisfied with the performance of the mower. However, there were a few basic flaws.

The first is that without a ground wire, the mower has to way to find it's way "home" for recharging. Therefore, it has to be charged indoors.

In fact, the mower has no way of knowing where it is, or where it has been; it's a dumb mechanical device, with none of the intelligence built into more modern models.

The way that they work is simple: they have sensors facing down which detect grass, and bump sensors to prevent chopping up the family pet. The lawn sensors rely on moisture detection, and the ability to tell the difference between mildly damp grass and, say, concrete or gravel.

My own feeling is that this is fine for most regularly shaped, enclosed areas, but as soon as you add a pond, or something that can become overgrown and poses a threat to the mower -- either damaging it, or allowing it to 'escape' -- I wouldn't feel personally comfortable relying on a few sensors to keep it in check.

Then there's the security aspect: one can imagine that stealing a plug-in to recharge mower that doesn't rely on a coded perimeter wire signal is a bit more of an attractive option than one which relies on a fully wired-in installation.

However, there are other options.

Robot Mower with a Virtual Perimeter Wire

These fall into two categories:

• Roomba style transmitters;
• Remote control / smartphone control plus learning.

In 2015, iRobot secured the go-ahead from the FCC to develop and deploy the same kind of technology that is used for their Roomba robot vacuum cleaners for outside use. This would allow them to create an iRobot lawnmower. Because it is guided by localised positioning using radio waves, however, it sparked anger amongst radio astronomers.

Of course, since then, their flagship technology has moved up a gear, and now uses all kinds of visual cues and smartphone interaction to "map and adapt" to the task in hand, rather than using navigation pods. Perhaps this move away from the older technology explains why we haven't seen the iRobot lawnmower as yet.

That leaves remote control or smartphone control plus learning. In fact, SmartMow has pinned their hopes on this approach, and have patented "Virtual Boundary Technology" which they explain as the ability to "Just walk SmartMow around the perimeter of your yard".

I'm actually looking forward to reviewing the SmartMow, because it appeals to me on a number of levels, including some exciting technology for connecting to it via a web portal.

The idea seems to be that the mower will learn where the perimeter is by being "shown" it, and then left to its own devices. Of course, the mower also has the regular sensors to allow it to avoid unexpected objects, but because the solution is software rather than hardware, my reservations re: ponds and robots going mad (as in the movie Short Circuit) still hold.

Robot Mower with GPS

Everything from farm machinery to those massive machines that rake the pistes in the Alps use GPS, so why not home robot mowers?

Husqvarna's Automower does just that. It even has its own app to help you fully take advantage of the set and forget nature of automatic robot lawn mowing.

(By the way, these are at the expensive end of Husqvarna's range -- the affordable models still use a perimeter wire... as do the ones with GPS!)

But here's the thing; it still uses a guide wire, presumably for security reasons.

In fact, aside from this experimental design from 2016, I was unable to find an example of a commercial automatic lawn mower that relied 100% on GPS for its perimeter detection and mowing capability.

So, all in all, it seems as if the good old perimeter wire is here to stay: sometimes lo-tech is really the best tech! If you're still wavering, read our Perimeter Wire Tips & Tricks Post; I'm pretty sure you'll agree that it's still the easiest, safest and most reliable method of keeping your robotic mower in check.