I always thought robot lawn mowers were too complicated, but this Bosch one makes setup *so* easy – and it’s perfect for small gardens

If you’re new to the realm of robot lawn mowers and want a fuss-free machine that’s as easy as it is good at mowing, I have one recommendation for you: the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower, RRP £349.95 at Amazon.

Of all the models I’ve tested so far, I think it’s one of the best robot lawn mowers on the market – especially if you’re looking for a budget-friendly, wire-free machine that doesn’t compromise on intelligence and cutting ability. It’s designed for smaller lawns up to 100m², so it’s perfect for compact outdoor spaces – and the straightforward setup made it a breeze to use.

Here’s what I thought of the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower when I reviewed it on my 38m² lawn.

In a nutshell

The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 is the simplest robot mower I've tested, but by no means the least capable. Its cutting ability is impressive, tackling the areas of my lawn (specifically, around my stepping stones) that other robot mowers have missed.

It's so easy to set up – after inserting the battery, you only need to press three buttons. At 52dB, it's the quietest robot lawn mower I've tested, so you barely remember it's there during mowing!

The only downside? It's a little fiddly to remove the battery. It also doesn't connect to an app like robot lawn mowers at higher price points, so there's no lawn mapping, and less customisation.

For users who prefer a straightforward setup that cuts grass evenly using smart camera and sensor technology, though, it's a steal for the price.

Specifications

• Max. lawn size: 100m²
• Cutting height range: 20-60mm
• Cutting width: 16cm
• Max. climbing ability: 35% (19°)
• Dimensions: 42.9 x 34.8 x 22.6 cm
• Weight: 7.6kg (with battery)
• Noise level: 52dB
• Warranty: 2 years

Unboxing

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The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower, packaged, was the easiest robot mower I’ve had to lift and unpack. It came in a box that was barely larger than the mower itself, thanks to the fact that this machine doesn’t require a charging station (it’s battery-operated).

The packaging was minimal, with just a sheet of paper wrapped around the mower and a few stick-on strips and cardboard wedges along the outer edges of the mower and buttons to protect it from scratches. That meant it was far better for the environment, of course, but I suppose some people would argue that the mower could’ve been better protected. With careful transportation and delivery, though (both of which my machine had), that shouldn't be an issue.

The battery came separately (although you can buy the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower and battery as a bundle, like this one from QVC), in a cardboard box that also included the charging port.

Setup

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Setup was an absolute breeze. The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100’s quick start guide boasts a simple three-button setup – ‘Place, Press, Mow’ – and it’s not joking. The instructions are on the inner flaps of the cardboard box the mower comes in.

Before that, though, you’ll need to make sure the battery is charged. Mine was already charged when I put it into the charging dock, and the flashing green light on the front makes it easy to monitor charging progress.

Then, it was a case of inserting the battery into the robot mower. There’s a flap on the back of the mower with a red button that you press to lift. It was easy enough to push the battery in until a satisfying click let me know that it was inserted properly.

Before you turn the mower on (or when the 'Stop' button is pressed and the mower is in standby mode), you’ll need to adjust the cutting height (there's a range of 20-60mm, which rivals many of the best lawn mowers on the market) using the dial below the buttons before pressing those buttons.

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Once the mower powered on, it was time to test that three-button 'Place, Press, Mow' setup. It really was a case of just pressing three buttons (which are numbered) on the top of the mower in a simple sequence: the fourth (On/Start), followed by the third (Auto Mow), and then the fourth again.

The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 doesn’t connect to an app like other robot lawn mowers I’ve tested. That’s a drawback if you’re looking for ‘smarter’ features and the ability to map your lawn and customise setup from your phone – but for gardeners looking for a simple, fuss-free setup that will crack on with lawn mowing so they don’t have to, it’s perfect.

So, let’s dive into how it performed on my lawn…

Performance

I tested the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 on my 38m² lawn. The robot mower is designed for small gardens with lawns up to 100m², which is brilliant considering its compact size (it’s the smallest one I’ve tested so far).

After I completed the three-button setup, the mower set off on my lawn. On this ‘Auto Mow’ setting, the Bosch VISIMOW uses a SmartVision system to target uncut patches of grass. Its cameras very intelligently detect where your lawn needs to be mowed, and this process manifests as a random mowing pattern that startled me a bit, initially.

That’s because many other robot lawn mowers (usually those that map your lawn) tend to cut your grass in a classic ‘up-and-down’ pattern. Not the Bosch VISIMOW, though – it zig-zagged horizontally, vertically and diagonally across my lawn, and you could almost see it mulling everything over, thinking about where it would go next.

If you’re a fan of lawn stripes, that won’t be music to your ears – it doesn't produce a striped effect like robot lawn mowers that follow a mapped route often do – but what I can say is that the result was an evenly cut lawn. It’s one of the best I’ve seen a robot lawn mower do, actually – and stripes or not, my lawn looked like a smooth sea of green by the time it had finished. It didn't quite cut the outer edges of my lawn, but I've yet to see a robot mower that perfects that (and that's where a cordless strimmer can come in handy).

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The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 handled the stepping stones that run down the mid-to-right section of my lawn with ease, too, covering more of the margins of each stone than some of the other robot lawn mowers I’ve tested. It also trampled over dead leaves on my lawn with no qualms, and I'm pretty sure it mulched them up, too.

Its ‘semi-autonomous’ freedom means it can mow multiple lawns and zones, too, which is perfect if you have different segments of lawn on the same level in your garden. My lawn is level, but the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 can navigate slopes with a gradient of up to 35%. The instruction manual says that you should block off steeper slopes than that with a vertical border higher than 6cm prior to mowing.

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The Bosch VISIMOW uses ultrasonic sensors and bump sensors for grass recognition and obstacle avoidance. I found that object avoidance wasn’t quite as good as other robot lawn mowers have demonstrated in testing – the VISIMOW never bumped into fixed objects like my garden border, but when I threw objects like my cap in front of the mower last-minute, it would ‘boop’ them on occasion before stopping and rerouting. It didn’t actually run over the objects, but it wasn’t as responsive as other robot mowers I’ve tested at higher price points.

What I did find, though, was that the mower was good at covering patches of lawn under lower-growing shrubs in my garden border. The mower’s compact size means it was better able to achieve that coverage in my garden than some of the larger robot lawn mowers on the market. There’s also a SpotMow mode that targets specific areas of grass (an area of approximately 2m² is mowed anticlockwise), like under garden furniture, for example. It's a handy option if AutoMow missed a few patches of grass.

The VISIMOW18V-100 took around an hour to cut my grass in total, which was considerably longer than some of the more expensive robot lawn mowers I’ve tested. So, it’s not one for speedy mowing tasks – but if you’re happy to let the mower do its thing in the background, I’d say it’s a pretty good compromise.

Like most other robot lawn mowers out there, there’s no collection bag on the VISIMOW, so the fine grass clippings are dispensed onto the lawn after they’ve been cut. Any clippings up to 20mm are actually mulched, and leaving grass clippings on your lawn in this medium can have a number of benefits.

Design

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The Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 is the smallest robot mower I’ve tested, and it’s designed with small spaces in mind. At just 22.6 x 42.9 x 34.8 cm, it’s compact enough to be stored away without taking up too much space, and it’s also much lighter than many other robot mowers at 6.9kg. That means it’s easier to carry – and to make things even smoother, there’s a handle on the top of the mower, which a lot of other machines on the market don’t have.

The button layout on the top of the mower is really simple, too, with just four buttons, a cutting height dial and a large red ‘Stop’ button. There are two larger wheels on either side of the back end of the mower, and one smaller swivelling wheel underneath the mower at the front, which you can’t see when the mower is on the ground.

The battery compartment is in the back end of the mower, beneath a flap. While it was easy to get the battery into its slot, I did struggle to remove the battery afterwards. There’s a red button you press to release the battery, but I found that even after I did that, I had to wrestle with the battery a bit before it came out.

Overall, the Bosch VISIMOW feels like a robust machine, with a clear button layout and a simple design.

Cleaning and maintenance

Naturally, the Bosch VISIMOW gets a very grassy underside during mowing, but it’s easy enough to turn the mower over (once you're sure it's switched off) and brush away the debris. There are three small blades on the middle disc, so you’ll need to be careful around those – and it can be tricky to get some of the grass out from behind the wheels.

What’s really impressive about the Bosch VISIMOW, though, is that it boasts a Brushless cutter motor. Bosch says it provides superior performance and a longer motor lifetime because it has no carbon brushes that wear out over time – and as well as powerful cutting ability, that means less maintenance, too.

There's a really handy troubleshooting guide in the instruction manual that tackles any issues you might find during setup and mowing.

Robot mowers often require occasional software updates, and the same applies to the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100. The instruction manual says you'll need a USB flash drive (FAT 32 formatted), and when a new software version is available online, you'll need to load the software file onto the USB stick and follow the download instructions in the manual. That's the only thing I'd have reservations about, actually; many gardeners might find that too much of a hassle.

How does it compare to other models?

The Bosch VISIMOW 18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower is battery-operated, which sets it apart from many other robot mowers on the market that charge via a charging station. It's much better for gardens where space is at a premium, and there's less room for a charging dock. You'll just need to remember to charge the battery inside.

There's also no accompanying app for the Bosch VISIMOW, which means you can't customise and map your lawn from your phone like you can with the Eufy E15, for example. For users who prefer to set specific tasks and watch the progress from their own device, that's a downside – but the SpotMow feature on the Bosch VISIMOW does allow you to target patches of grass up to two metres away.

What sets the Bosch VISIMOW apart from other models, for me, is how quiet it is. It's considerably more subtle than other robot mowers I've tested, and it's also a lot smaller and more compact for storage.

Verdict: Should you buy the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower?

Overall, I think the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 is an absolute steal its price tag. It's so easy to setup, which makes it perfect for beginners and busy gardeners alike, and it provides a smooth cut via a random mowing pattern that relies on smart cameras and sensors.

There's less customisation to be had, since the mower can't be controlled via a companion app, but for a lot of users, that can make things even more straightforward. In terms of design, the only downside is that the battery can be tricky to remove (but as I've seen a review or two mentioning the same problem, I'm hoping this might be something Bosch fixes).

If you're after a quiet, compact robot lawn mower for a small garden that's a breeze to set up, though, I think the Bosch VISIMOW18V-100 Robot Lawn Mower is worth every penny.