I mainly associate Segway with electric vehicles, so it was a little surprising that they are releasing a robotic lawnmower. On the other hand, it is not rocket science to get a mowing engine, the advanced technology in a machine like this is navigation and sensors. And here Segway has been around for a while. During Robotics-delen on their site there is a lot of exciting stuff.
Rating 4 out of 5
Opinion
The Visionfence technology does not impress very much, on the other hand, the Navimow H3000E cuts really nicely with impressive precision. As long as your lawn doesn’t have any damage and you don’t leave things out, it will do the job just fine. Big plus also for discreet installation without visual delimiters.
Positive
- The precision
- Discreet installation
Negative
- The base station must stand completely free
- Poor obstacle detection
- Slips a bit with the rear wheels
Navimow is available in four different sizes depending on how big or small your lawn is. The smallest version is called H500E and can handle up to 500 square meters of surface. Then you can probably guess how large a plot our tested H3000E model will be able to handle. The reason I chose to bring in the largest model is that I want to see how it performs at its best, with the Visionfence accessory. I test the mower on a patchy challenging lawn of about 1500 square meters.
The installation is smooth. The crux is that you need to place the docking station at least two meters from houses, trees or other things that can interfere with the GPS signal from the sky. It’s not nice to put it out in the middle of the lawn, so it can get a bit sharp. In addition to connecting the station to an electrical outlet, the GPS receiver must also be plugged in and placed on a spike that you push into the hill, next to the dock.
Next, I screw on the Visionfence module, a step that takes a few minutes. All the instructions are in the app you download and aside from having to sit through a number of 4-5 minute instruction videos (you have to watch them. Sometimes several times…) it’s easy to get started. After half an hour I’m out teaching the robot what Santa looks like.
With the phone in landscape mode, you control the mower with a two-handed grip. It goes well, with decent speed, and you can easily undo stretches if you miss and get too close or too far from the edge. You must stay 15 centimeters from the border and it is important to drive in the right direction when programming the map. This also applies to “forbidden islands”, i.e. areas the mower must not wander into.
Once I’ve stored the map, the machine goes for a test run and it’s impressive how accurately it follows the virtual track. We are really talking about centimeter precision, even when it comes to limited surfaces. Really good! The mower uses a technology Segway calls EFLS (Exact Fusion Locating System) which is based on GPS, but also other sensors.
What is less good is the obstacle detection. Sure, big obstacles like buckets and baskets slow it down and take a detour around. But a toy? Or a water stroke? Then it just drives straight over and cuts on.
Stops for animals
Fortunately, there is in any case a mode where it detects animals and stops the knives (“Blade Halt”). My little jycke felt it from 1-2 meters away, the question is if it is suitable for a hedgehog? I’m skeptical… The Vision Fence module looks really impressive on paper, with the “AI Inside” that Segway boasts about. Maybe it will get smarter over time, but like this the first few days during the test, it gets the thumbs down.
The Visionfence module is sold bundled with this larger Navimow mower, but is also sold separately. If you would rather use an ultrasonic sensor at the front, it is also available as an accessory for just over SEK 2,000.
Another minus with this mower is that the rear wheels have a tendency to slip. If the plot has unevenness and small pits, then it can easily get stuck. But even if it’s just some leaves or moss, it has problems. During the first days of the test, I had to help it in several places where a bunch of other mowers I tested last season (with similar conditions) had no problems.
The Navimow app is easy to use and of course there is a scheduling function, rain sensor, anti-theft protection (pin code and geofencing with alarm) and the ability to adjust the mowing height (30-60 millimeters). However, there are no funny extra functions, such as camera surveillance or person detection. However, you see in real time how the machine moves over the site and it is relatively fast when it grazes the lawn. The result is smooth and fine and it cuts methodically in straight lines.
In terms of price, it is roughly in the same class as the competitor from Ecovacs, when we compare it to a Navimow model for the same size of lawn. And as with other tested robotic lawnmowers, it is only when they have been used for a number of weeks that we get a good picture of their reliability. Therefore, I will continuously update this article throughout the season.
Specifications Navimow 3000E
Tested: Maj 2023
Manufacturer: Segway
Klippyta: up to 3,000 square meters
Cutting height: 3-6 cm
Obstacle detection: Visionfence
Theft protection: Yes, pin code & alarm
Connection: Wifi, bluetooth, 4G
Protection class: IPX6
Lawn Mower Dimensions: Data not available
Base station dimensions: Data not available
Taken: SEK 29,999 on Prisjakt (inklusive Visionfence)
