Introduction
The Robomow RS625 Pro is a robot lawn mower from Friendly Robotics that is designed for larger lawns of between 2600 m² and 4000 m². The Robomow RS625 Pro is one of the high end models from Robomow’s RS Royal range, and contains all of the features that the best robot lawn mowers from Robomow have to offer.
In my opinion, it is the best robot lawn mower for lawns of between 2600 m² and 4000 m² that is currently on the market. It has the edge over the competition due to a number of features including its superior edge cutting ability, turbomow feature, and excellent integration of smart features. You can check the current price of the Robomow RS625 Pro at the following link.
Friendly Robotics, the company behind the Robomow range are one of the market leaders in the robot lawn mower market. They have been producing domestic and commercial robot lawn mowers since 1997, and have continually improved their machines through research and development. Their robot lawn mowers have a number of differentiating features, which give them some unique benefits and a few drawbacks compared to their competitors.
Design And Main Features
The Robomow RS625 Pro can cut lawns of up to 4000 m² in size. However, Robomow actually recommend that the ideal size of lawn for this model is 2600 m². For it to be able to manage up to 4000 m², your lawn must be flat, fairly regular in shape and have minimal obstructions in the middle of it.
If you have a complicated lawn, you may wish to be cautious and get the next model up, the Robomow 635 Pro SX, which will manage lawns of between 3600 m² and 5000 m². Alternatively, if your lawn is very simple and less than 3000 m², you could opt for the model below, which is the Robomow RS615 Pro X.
I have been impressed with all of the Robomow RS Royal range of robot lawn mowers, so I think any of these models would be a good choice. It is definitely a good idea to measure the area of your lawn roughly before ordering to ensure you are getting a model that will meet your needs.
The Robomow RS625 Pro is a solidly constructed robot lawn mower that uses a pair of solid cutting blades to effortlessly cut your lawn. It has a cutting width of 56cm, and the cutting height can be adjusted from between 20 to 80 mm. It has a cutting power of 400 watts, which is considerably higher than a number of competing machines.
It has a Turbomow feature, which provides increased power to the blades, enabling it to cut through grass of almost any height. This is particularly useful for the first cut of the growing season.
The Robomow RS625 Pro has good slope performance, being able to manage a gradient of 36% or a slope angle of 20 degrees. It has advanced navigation features, which robomow call Smartmow, which allows the robot lawn mower to cut your lawn in a more efficient manner than some of the other robot lawn mowers on the market.
Due to the Robomow RS625 Pro’s solid cutting blades and high power motor, it is more noisy in operation than some other competing robot lawn mowers. However, robot lawn mowers from Robomow have a number of advantages which can outweigh the disadvantage of this. Firstly, the Robomow RS625 Pro takes less time to cut your grass, so it will spend more time in it’s charging station than other robot lawn mowers. Secondly, it will cut through grass of any height, where other robot lawn mowers may struggle.
For very small gardens, where a robot lawn mower is likely to be in close proximity to people in the garden enjoying themselves, I tend to prefer quieter robot lawn mowers from companies such as Husqvarna, Flymo, and McCulloch.
For larger gardens, I think the benefits of having a heavy-duty cutting system outweigh the disadvantages of having a more noisy machine.
The Robomow RS625 Pro also has an excellent edge cutting feature. This can be turned on through the settings menu or via the smartphone app. This will cause the robot lawn mower to do a circuit of the perimeter wire, focusing on cutting the edges of the lawn.
The Robomow RS625 Pro does a better job of cutting the edges of your lawn than most other robot lawn mowers on the market. However, the edge cutting is still not perfect, and you will likely need to spend a little time once or twice per month trimming the edges of your lawn to make them look neat.
Pros And Cons
Pros
- Cuts your lawn faster and more efficiently than most other robot lawn mowers
- Excellent lawn edge cutting ability
- Turbomow mode makes light work of longer grass
- Excellent dealer network for spares, repairs and installation if required
Cons
- Louder than comparable robot lawn mowers
- Greater power consumption than comparable robot lawn mowers
- Average slope performance compared to similar models
Comparison To Similar Models
The following tables outlines the main alternatives to consider if you are looking for a robot lawn mower and your lawn is approximately 2500 m² to 4000 m².
| Mower | Robomow RS625 Pro | Honda Miimo 3000 | Husqvarna Automower 430X |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Cutting Area | 4000 m² | 4000 m² | 3200 m² |
| Maximum Slope | 20 ° | 25 ° | 24 ° |
| Cutting Time | 55-70 minutes | 90 minutes | 145 minutes |
| Charging Time | 90-110 minutes | 45 minutes | 50 minutes |
| Noise Level | 66-74 dB | 59 dB | 58 dB |
| Weight | 20kg | 13.8 kg | 13.2 kg |
| Dimensions | 31x66x73.5 cm | 71x 55x30 cm | 72x56x31 cm |
| Current Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
Installation
Installation of the Robomow RS625 Pro is quite a simple process and should take 1-2 hours to complete. Once this is done, the machine should be able to cut your lawn without any intervention from you. The manual is very well presented and provides clear guidance about how to install the Robomow RS625 Pro. Robomow also have a setup video on Youtube which is excellent. The manual has a QR code which will take you directly to the video or you can go to the Robomow Youtube channel to access this.
Contents Of The Box
The Robomow RS625 Pro comes well packaged in a box containing everything you need to get started. In the box, you will find the following.
- Robomow RS625 Pro
- The Base Station
- Perimeter wire
- Power supply
- Blade removal tool
- Pegs
- User guide
- Roboruler for measuring the distance from the edge of the lawn to install the perimeter wire
- Base station stakes
- Plot connectors
- Wire connectors
To install the Robomow RS625 Pro, you will need a hammer, a pair of pliers and a small flat screwdriver.
The main steps of the installation process are as follows.
- Determine what category of lawn you have. The Robomow RS625 Pro will work whether you have one main lawn or several sections that are eirther connected by thin strips of grass or not connected at all. The setup process differs a little depending on your lawn type.
- Pick a location for the charging station. The manual will guide you through how to determine the best location.
- Install the perimeter wire around the edge of your lawn. You will also need to lay perimeter wire around any soft obstacles in the centre of your lawn, such as flower beds or ponds.
- Connect the perimeter wire to the charging station and connect the charging station to the power socket.
- First start up. The Robomow RS625 Pro will guide you through a calibration process to input some basic settings and to ensure that the machine can successfully dock and undock from the charging station. It will also do a circuit of your lawn to clarify if the perimeter wire is installed correctly.
- Sit back and watch your robot lawn mower get to work.
Operation
After the Robomow RS625 Pro has been installed, you should have to provide minimal input to keep it working. It will determine how often it needs to work, based on the size and complexity of your lawn. Cutting frequency and duration can be adjusted to your liking within the settings panel or via the smartphone app.
If you’re making the switch from a conventional lawn mower, you may be used to cutting your lawn somewhere between twice per week and once per fortnight. Robot lawn mowers cut your lawn much more frequently than you would with a conventional lawn mower. They are designed to keep your lawn looking freshly cut at all times. This is partly for cosmetic reasons, but it is also due to the way that robot lawn mowers work.
A robot lawn mower does not collect the clippings of grass that it cuts, but rather it mulches them and returns them to your lawn. The cutting system is designed to make sure that the cuttings are fine enough that they fall into your lawn rather than gathering in piles on top of it.
Certainly, I wouldn’t be particularly happy with a robot lawn mower if it left my lawn looking untidy with lots of cut grass on top of it. Once your Robomow RS625 Pro has cut your grass a few times, there should be very little or no visible evidence of cuttings on the surface of your lawn.
The settings of your new robot lawn mower can be adjusted on the control panel on the robot lawnmower itself. Alternatively, you can install the Robomow app on your smartphone or tablet, and use this to adjust all of the settings on the machine. You can also use the app to check the vital statistics of your robot lawn mower at any time.
The Robomow RS625 Pro has an optional rain sensor, which will detect rainy or very humid conditions. If triggered, it will either defer a cut, or return to its charging station, before returning to work once it is dry. You can toggle the rain sensor off and on and also adjust its sensitivity within the settings menu.
Generally, using a conventional lawn mower in wet conditions leads to poor cutting performance. Robot lawn mowers are also impacted by wet weather, but not as significantly as conventional lawn mowers.
I think my robot lawn mower works well in wet weather, but the cuttings will tend to clump together more frequently and more cutting accumulate on the underside and around the wheels of the machine. A robot lawn mower can also lose traction on steep slopes in wet conditions. Whether you use the rain sensor will be down to your personal preference and the unique characteristics of your lawn.
Although the Robomow RS625 Pro will avoid the edge of your lawn, any obstacles marked out with perimeter wire, and any solid obstacles such as garden furniture or walls, it will not avoid small obstacles that are left on the grass. Anything small that could be run over, such as a hosepipe or children’s toys, could potentially be damaged by the robot lawn mower. For this reason, you will need to take care that your lawn is free of any small obstacles when the robot lawn mower is scheduled to work.
The Robomow RS625 Pro need not get in the way of you enjoying the garden. Generally, there is no problem letting the robot lawn mower continue to work while you are in the garden. However, if it is getting in the way of you enjoying the garden, you can simply instruct it to return to its charging station, where it will stay until you reactivate it.
Mowing Features
The Robomow RS625 Pro does an excellent job of cutting your lawn. It has a number of cutting features which differentiate it from the competition.
Firstly, it has tougher blades and a stronger motor than a number of other robot lawn mowers from other manufacturers. It is able to cut through longer, more dense patches of grass and leads to a well cut lawn after one pass.
The Robomow RS625 Pro has a Smartmow feature which improves the efficiency of the cutting. It is able make smooth turns as it approaches the perimeter wire, and this prevents it from having to stop, back up and turn, like some other robot lawn mowers.
The Robomow RS625 Pro has a Turbomow feature as mentioned previously. This is a feature which is toggled on by the user whenever the lawn is longer than normal. This causes the machine to increase the RPM and power to the blades and decrease its movement speed.
This ensures that it powers through any long grass without getting stuck. The downside of this is that the battery does not last as long and it will take longer to cut your lawn. However, it does a great job and puts it ahead of the competition in this area. It is particularly useful for the first cut of the season, where the grass will typically be a bit longer after being unattended over the winter.
The edge cutting feature of the Robomow RS625 Pro is a really nice addition. There is no robot lawn mower currently available that will cut the edges of your lawn perfectly. Depending on what there is on the border of the lawn, there may be a strip of up to 10-12cm which is left uncut.
The Robomow RS625 Pro is able to do much better. It should cut right to the edge where your lawn borders a drop or flat path and will only leave a small uncut strip next to walls and fences. This can be easily attended to with a strimmer every 2-4 weeks.
Power And Charging
The Robomow RS625 Pro is powered by a 6 amp hour lithium ion battery. It takes 90 and 110 minutes to charge in the charging station and provides an average work time of 55 to 70 minutes.
You may notice that the charge time is significantly higher and the work time is significantly lower than some of the competitors. This is due to the major difference in cutting technology between the Robomow RS625 Pro and a number of other competitors. It has a much wider cutting diameter, more powerful blades and a more powerful motor. As a result, the Robomow RS625 Pro will be able to cut your lawn much quicker than the likes of the Husqvarna 430X.
Maximum Slope
The Robomow RS625 Pro can manage slopes of up to 35% gradient (20 degree slope angle) within the working area of the lawn. While this will be sufficiently capable for the vast majority of gardens, it is not as good as either the Husqvarna 430X or the Honda Miimo 3000, which can manage 24° and 25° respectively.
You should note that the slope capability refers to slopes within the body of your lawn. Robomow advise that you should not lay the perimeter wire across a slope of more than 10% gradient. This is due to the risk of the robot lawn mower losing traction at the edge of the lawn and slipping across the perimeter wire. This would lead to the robot lawn mower from stopping until it was manually placed back into the working area.
You may wish to calculate the slope of your lawn before you order a robot lawn mower to ensure that your choice of robot lawn mower will manage to cut your lawn. I have written a guide to calculate the slope of your lawn here.
Safety Features
The Robomow RS625 Pro has a number of safety features that are fairly standard across all robot lawn mowers. It has lift, tilt and obstruction sensors. The lift and tilt sensors cause the blades of the robot lawn mower to stop instantly if they are triggered.This almost eliminates the risk of injury from the blades, as it is extremely difficult to access the underside of this robot lawn mower without either lifting or tilting it.
The obstruction sensor detects whenever the robot lawn mower comes into contact with a solid obstacle. Examples could include garden furniture, a climbing frame, or even a person that is in the garden. The obstruction sensor is activated by contact with the chassis of the robot lawn mower. This means that if the robot lawn mower was to come in contact with a solid obstacle, it would stop and move in a different direction without causing any damage.
The Robomow RS625 Pro also has a child lock feature, which prevents the robot lawn mower from functioning without the correct combination of buttons being pressed on the machine. This provides some reassurance to owners with children. Personally, I would be happy for my children to play in the garden while the robot lawn mower was charging in the charging station. The child lock feature which prevents intentional or unintentionally activation the robot lawn mower, is a very useful feature.
The safety of robot lawn mowers compared to conventional lawn mowers is quite dramatic. Conventional robot lawn mowers are consistently shown to be the most dangerous piece of garden machinery. Domestic robot lawn mowers on the other hand, have not been involved in any serious injuries.
Having said this, the blades of the Robomow RS635 Pro are much larger and more powerful than some other robot lawn mowers. The potential for injury would be greater, but I feel that the safety measures on this model safeguard well against injury.
Anti-Theft Features
The Robomow RS625 Pro has a number of security features which help to protect your machine from the risk of theft and unauthorised use. It has a PIN code function which can be toggled on or off via the settings menu. You can adjust the frequency with which the machine asks for the PIN code. The robot lawn mower will not function without correctly in putting the PIN code.
An optional alarm can be set to alert nearby users to any unauthorised use or movement of the robot lawn mower. In the event of your robot lawn mower being stolen, the alarm will be activated, and this will hopefully deter the thief.
The Robomow RS625 Pro also has a GSM module, which provides a useful security function. If your robot lawn mower detects that it has been moved out of its designated mowing area, it will send a mobile notification to your mobile device. This could then prompt you to check to see if your robot lawn mower has been stolen.
Smart Features
The Robomow RS625 Pro has bluetooth built in so that you can remotely connect to the machine to adjust the settings. There is a Robomow app which is available for IOS and Android smartphones and tablets. This will pair with your model, and allow you to adjust all of the settings on the robot lawn mower. You can also check on the battery charge state and progress through a scheduled cut.
You can also manually control the Robomow RS635 Pro via the Robomow app. You can use the controls within the app to drive the robot lawn mower around your garden and cut any areas which you want to cut manually. This is certainly good fun and I’m sure that some people will have a practical use for it.
As mentioned previously, the Robomow RS625 Pro also has a GSM module built in, which allows the robot lawn mower to send notifications to your mobile device providing information such as if it has had a fault or been moved outside of the working area.
Spares And Repairs
Robomow have an extensive dealer network which makes servicing and repairing your robot lawn mower very easy. Spare parts are available widely online, and I have no difficulty ordering a replacements when needed.
Robomow recommend that you should change the blades of your robot lawn mower once per year. This is probably about right. However, as the dual blades are counter rotating, each blade only uses one edge to cut your grass. After a year of cutting, it is likely that one side of each blade will be dull, but the other side should still be sharp, as it has not been doing much at all.
One option would be to switch the position of the blades, so that they are each cutting with the opposite side that is still sharp. This would mean you would only have to order new blades once every two years. I have spoken to a number of people who are very happy using this technique. Blade replacement is very easy, and is done with the blade replacement tool that comes with each Robomow model. This allows you to replace the blades in less than one minute using only the blade replacement tool.
Replacement batteries for the Robomow RS625 Pro are quite expensive. The battery will need replaced every 2-3 years, and you should watch for the cutting time of your robot lawn mower reducing over time, which will indicate that it is time to change it. Changing the battery is very easy and can be done in a few minutes at home. Robomow have produced a good tutorial video on their Youtube channel which explains the process really well.
Conclusion
The Robomow RS625 Pro is a great option if you have a reasonably large lawn and are thinking about purchasing a robot lawn mower. It will handle any lawn up to 2600 m² with ease and can manage simple shaped lawns of up to 4000 m². If your lawn is smaller than this, I think there are more cost effective options. Robomow also make two similar models, the RS615 Pro X, for slightly smaller lawns, and the RS635 Pro SX for slightly larger lawns.
This robot lawn mower has two minor drawbacks. Firstly, the noise that it makes in operation, is significantly louder than other competing robot lawn mowers. While much quieter than a conventional lawn mower, it is noticably louder than either the Honda Miimo 3000 or the Husqvarna 430X. The other negative point is the slope performance, which is not as good as the competition. However, this will only really be an issue if you have a very hilly lawn.
Robomow RS625 Pro
Pros
- Cuts your lawn faster and more efficiently than most other robot lawn mowers
- Excellent lawn edge cutting ability
- Turbomow mode makes light work of longer grass
- Excellent dealer network for spares, repairs and installation if required
Cons
- Louder than comparable robot lawn mowers
- Greater power consumption than comparable robot lawn mowers
- Average slope performance compared to similar models