I tested the most popular robot mower on the market – and it was a $5,000 crash out

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Yarbo is a modular yard care robot starting at $5,000.
• It does well caring for large yards with complex layouts thanks to its tracked design, and its modular features make it easy to use year-round.
• The Yarbo is one of the most expensive robot mowers on the market; it presented multiple connection issues, and its attachments are heavy and bulky.

The Yarbo is one of the most visually appealing robot mowers I’ve seen. It’s more of a modular yardwork assistant with a variety of  uses than a single-purpose machine. It can act as a lawnmower, leaf blower, or even as a snow blower, thanks to the different attachments it comes with. 

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The Yarbo Core is strong enough to tow up to 3,500 pounds and can follow you around the yard to wherever you’re working. You can also drive it around using the app or the included remote control and add other tools to the included tow hitch, like a dethatcher, aerator, and more.  

I’ve been using the Yarbo for a few months, but I encountered too many issues that required troubleshooting to get this review out any earlier. For example, the first time I tested the mower module, the rotating disc that holds the blades broke. Upon researching this issue online, I found it’s more common than I expected, as there are many reports of the same problem happening to more users. 

The disc is made of plastic and appears to have hit a protruding tree root that sticks out about an inch from the ground. This same spot had been covered by several other robot mowers before and after the Yarbo, and none have ever had this problem. 

Thankfully, Yarbo remediated the issue immediately and sent me replacement discs. While the new disc was made of the same material, it withstood my rough backyard’s landscape and hasn’t broken again, so I chalked up the first one’s demise as a freak accident.

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I didn’t get snow after getting the Yarbo, so I haven’t been able to effectively test the Snow Blower Module yet. However, my Yarbo struggles reemerged when I decided to test its leaf blower module, so I couldn’t get it set up.

The idea of having a robot leaf blower sounds fantastic, especially for large yards with a lot of trees. My backyard backs up to the woods, so I get way more leaves in the fall than I’d like. I try to mulch them as my mower cuts the grass, but there are so many that I eventually have to pile together a huge quantity with a rake. 

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My Yarbo Core, the robot to which you attach the different modules, had issues with the lateral and rear cameras. The Yarbo app showed the front camera working as intended, but the left, right, and back cameras weren’t detected. I’m not sure if they were experiencing an issue, but the version and MAC (Media Access Control) addresses for them are missing. 

The error code for the malfunctioning cameras was classified as “3”, which Yarbo’s diagnosis page indicates as ‘Camera ping failed’ or that the camera module isn’t reachable. The Yarbo’s cover is removable, so you can attach the Robot Mower module. Though the sight of the Yarbo’s innards is a bit jarring the first time, Yarbo ensures the cover should protect everything from the elements. You should avoid leaving the cover off and never use high water pressure to clean the unit. 

I could still steer the Yarbo around with the remote control, even if it was a bit slower than my other go-to remote control mower, the Mowrator. However, I couldn’t get it set up to mow and run autonomously. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

In the end, I can’t really tell you how good a robot mower the Yarbo is when it runs autonomously, though I hope to continue troubleshooting the issues I’ve experienced with it thus far. It works well when you steer it with the app or remote control, and can cut grass and mulch leaves after piling them together. 

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the Yarbo as an autonomous robot mower without using it as such on a schedule. Unfortunately, the delay associated with my troubleshooting the various issues I encountered kept me from getting to that point. 

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That being said, the Yarbo Core is a promising device as a yard assistant, especially due to its compact size, towing capacity, and ability to steer it wherever you want it to go. You can control it remotely with the snow blower or leaf blower module, or attach a tow-behind aerator to aerate your lawn. I’m looking forward to testing the leaf blower once my unit’s issues are resolved, and will update this review as the testing process continues.