Worx Landroid M 20V Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower (WR140) Review

The Landroid M 20V Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower (WR140) is a fully automated lawnmower that can take care of your lawn for you while you sit back and relax. But is all of this a little too good to be true? We hope to answer that question with this in-depth look at the WR140. We’ll cover things like its operating range, additional features, its ease of use, and more. Read on to find out if this robotic mower is the right choice for your grass cutting needs.

Features

Let’s begin by going through exactly what the Landroid M 20V offers. Worx have packed quite a lot into this little package, so we’ll break things down a bit at a time.

Cutting Edge Tech

The WR140 uses a spinning disc system with three cutting blades. It can handle different cutting heights ranging from 2 to 3.5 inches. The maximum cutting surface-that is, the largest area of ground the M 20V can cover-is one-quarter acres. This is more than enough for the average garden, but for those with more land to cover, there is the alternative Landroid L 20V, which can cover up to half an acre of land.

You’ll also find that robotic lawn mowers are designed to cut grass in small pieces at a time. As Wired once observed, they cut “a small amount of grass over a long period, like getting a haircut every few hours for a month.” This type of cutting means you won’t need to rake the clippings. Instead, they add fertilization back to the soil.

Powered By…

The M 20V is powered by a Worx 20V 4.,0Ah battery that, conveniently, is compatible with other 20V Worx tools. This makes it a particularly nice addition to your tool shed if you already own other Worx equipment, such as strimmers, and edgers. The Landroid makes use of two brushless electric motors to get going. This allows it to run quietly enough that it could even be operated at night without getting complaints from the neighbours, though it is slightly louder than comparable models from other brands.

Safety

Landroid M 20V is equipped with anti-collision system capabilities to avoid things you dont’t want to mow. The M 20V is safe for childrens and pets. The Landroid detects and avoids obstacles or bump them and back away. But for guaranteed safety, we dont’t recommend using the robotic mower if small children are playing on the lawn.

Connectivity

Being an automated cordless lawn mower, connectivity is critical for the comfortable operation of the device. Fortunately, the M 20V comes with both GPS and WiFi radios built-in. The WiFI grants connection to the Landroid’s mobile app, allowing you to adjust the settings of the Landroid without having to physically walk over to it. It is worth remembering that the Landroid will need to be in the range of your WiFi network for these features to work, however.

The app is easy to use and contains many useful features, such as the ability to “Find My Landroid” using the GPS. The app will also tell you the current state of the mower, whether it be mowing, charging, or just sat in its base, idle. It will also report if there is some kind of error. You can even keep track of usage statistics from here, such as how far your Landroid has travelled, how many times it has been charged, and more.

Controls

In addition to the app, which allows you to control most of the robotic lawn mower functions from your phone or other mobile devices easily, there are easy-to-access to controls on the top of the M 20V itself. These include a dial for adjusting the height of the cut, as well as a big, clear, red button for stopping the mower immediately in the event of a problem. The centrepiece of the controls is a nine-button control panel and LCD screen combination. From the 2.5-inch screen, you can navigate through the various menus to do things like define cutting zones, create cutting schedules, and perform initial setup functions, such as entering your WiFi details.

The Tech Specs

No hardware review would be complete without a breakdown of the technical specifications, so here they are.

Cutting and Power

In addition to having a cutting height range of 2-3.5 inches, the Landroid M 20V has a cutting width of 7 inches. This is a little on the narrower side but there are other Worx models that offer a wider cut. It takes around 90 minutes for the 4.0Ah battery to reach full charge, which can be achieved either by letting the mower dock with its charging base or taking the battery out and plugging it into a compatible charger.

According to the official site, the Worx offers 3 year warranty and 30 day guarantee.

Sensors

As far as sensors go, we have already touched on the WiFi and GPS. There is also a rain sensor that will the Landroid know if it as started to rain, causing the mower to stop and return to its charging base. There are also connections for adding an Anti-Collision-System. This is an optional extra that makes use of ultrasonic to detect and avoid obstacles, such as garden furniture, or trees.

Weight and Dimensions

In terms of operation, the M 20V runs on two 8 inch wheels that are powered brushless electric motors, making for a maximum noise level of 63dB. It weighs in at 21.2lbs and it measures up at 22″ W x 15″ D x 10″ H.

Installation and Usage

Installation and operation of the Landroid M 20V is very simple. In the box, you will find a charging station. Your first point of order should be to find a suitable location to plug that station in and slide your Landroid into place so that it can begin charging while you prepare the area of land that is to be cut. Fortunately, preparation is not a particularly involved process. Back in the box, you should find a collection of ground pegs and some perimeter wire. All you need to do is peg this wire around the area of lawn you are planning to have you Landroid cut. The wire acts as a detectable boundary to the mower, letting it know if it has reached the edge of the area it is supposed to be cutting.

The most effective usage of a robotic mower is a trimming a small amount of grass over a long period. As WSJ observed,  “that way, the clippings are fine enough to sift back to the ground (instead of sitting on top of the grass to yellow in the sun.)”

Using the App

If you wish to use the app to control your robot lawn mower, then setting that side of things up should be next on your agenda. Using the control panel on the mower itself, find the WiFi setup option and go through the necessary steps to get that connected up. If you are using the Find My Landroid module, you will need to connect that next. There may be firmware updates for this module which will require additional steps, but you will be guided through the process. There may also be a bit of a wait the first for other updates, but your Landroid will keep you informed.

You can then use the app (or the controls on the mower itself) to instruct the Landroid about the area it will be cutting, set cutting schedules, and set it to work. The app also save your mowing progress and can recommend an auto schedule of moving based on your gardne’s parameters.

The L 20V (WR150)

We’ve referenced the L 20V a couple of times in this review, so it’s only fair that we give you a little more information. For the most part, the specifications between the M 20V and the L 20V are similar. Just a little… bigger. The power rating, charging time, and noise level is all the same. The L 20V has a larger cutting height range (1.6″ – 3.9″), a wider cut (9″) and can over 1/2 acre. As you might imagine, this results in the L 20V being a little bulkier than the M 20V. In terms of features and operation, however, they are basically identical.

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In Conclusion

As with any piece of hardware, how suitable it is for you will largely depend on your use-case. If you have a large parcel of land to cut, it a different mower with a larger cutting surface will be better. Similarly, if you only have a small piece of grass, a smaller (and cheaper) option may be the way forward. But in the niche that the Worx M 20V Robotic Lawn Mower fills, it stands tall with comparable models, and at significantly less cost than many of those options. The only real disadvantage over competitors is that the M 20V is slightly louder. But, given that it is still, in the grand scheme of things, very quiet, that probably won’t be a problem for most.

If you have up to a quarter acre of land you need mowing, the Worx M 20V Robotic Lawn Mower would be a great solution.