I love an Aldi special buy, my home includes many things I’ve snapped up from the middle aisle during a weekly shop. However, when I was considering recommending the new bargain Aldi robot mower to a friend, I was warned off it by Ideal Home’s robot lawn mower tester, who recommended the budget Bosch VISIMOW at B&Q instead.
At Ideal Home, we’ve recently tested out a whole load of the best robot lawn mowers, and after gaining hands-on experience and interviewing a number of industry experts, we’ve learned a lot more about robot mowers since we first covered Aldi launching the Yard Force robot mower in 2025.
The Aldi robot lawn mower can cut grass in up to 400 m² gardens, and can be connected to an app on your phone. However, it requires boundary wire installation
This robot mower is ultra-simple to set up, whisper-quiet and provides an even cut. It doesn’t use a boundary wire, but you also can’t control it via an app.
Sophie has tested all the latest robot lawn mowers at Ideal Home, and would personally never recommend choosing one with a boundary wire. A boundary wire is a physical cable you have to lay around the edge of your lawn to define the operating area for the robot lawn mower. They’re part of why early robot mowers had a reputation for being quite a faff to set up.
‘There definitely seems to be a shift away from robot mowers with boundary wires, with more and more brands releasing wire-free models that use GPS tracking and smart cameras to navigate a lawn,’ explains Sophie. ‘I’ve tested lots of robot lawn mowers without boundary wires, and they’re so much simpler – setup is fuss-free, super simple, and a lot quicker than those that require wire installation.’
If the low price is the most important factor to you and you’re not bothered by the prospect of a wire installation, you can give the Aldi robot mower a go. However, if you’re after something that’s a tried and tested easy-to-set-up robot mower, Sophie recommends the Bosch VISIMOW, which she gave 4 out of 5 stars in her review. The Bosch VISMOW can be picked up for £354 at B&Q right now, so it’s around £150 more expensive than Aldi’s
‘For faff-free setup, the Bosch VISIMOW is well worth the extra £150 – it’s ready at the press of three buttons, it gives grass a smooth cut, and its camera technology is so intelligent for the price,’ Sophie explains.
The Bosch VISMOW is designed for smaller lawns up to 100m², while the Aldi one is suitable for lawns up to 400m². There isn’t an app for it to connect to like more expensive mowers like the Eufy E15 that can map your lawn. However, it is quiet, compact and easy to set up for beginners testing the waters with a robot mower.
If you are looking for something a little more sophisticated, these are the two other boundary wire-free robot mowers we’d recommend.
Eufy
Eufy E15 Robot Lawn Mower
This mower is an investment, but it’s from the brand behind one of the best robot vacuums we’ve tested, and the lawn mower option also impressed us. It provides an even cut and top-notch obstacle avoidance.
Mammotion
Mammotion YUKA Mini 2 1000 Robot Lawn Mower with LiDAR
If you don’t want to give up your lawn stripes, this is the robot mower for you. It has efficient mapping and mowing ability with great object avoidance.
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