GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO
Rated for 0.74 acre3,000 m² of lawn. It maps the lawn with a spinning laser and a camera. It needs no clear view of the sky, so it keeps working under trees. It runs quieter than the LUBA 3 and costs a little less.
Best for: A big lawn with trees over part of it
- Rated for 0.74 acre3,000 m²
- Works under trees, no antenna to mount
- Drives only two wheels
- Lawn edge limit: 20 ft20 m of rise per 100 ft100 m
LUBA 3 AWD 3000
Rated for 0.74 acre3,000 m², the same as the A3000. It drives all four wheels and climbs a rise of 80 ft80 m for every 100 ft100 m forward, the steepest here. It cuts the widest strip of the three, 16 in40 cm, and it is the loudest.
Best for: A big lawn with a steep slope in it
- Climbs 80 ft80 m of rise per 100 ft100 m forward
- Widest cut here: 16 in40 cm
- Loudest here at 70 decibels
- Cannot cut shorter than 2.2 in55 mm
GOAT A2500 RTK
Rated for 0.62 acre2,500 m², and it costs less than half as much as the A3000. It works out where it is from satellite signals, helped by a small antenna on a pole. The antenna and the mower both need a clear view of the sky, so trees over the lawn will stop it.
Best for: An open big lawn with clear sky over all of it
- Costs less than half the A3000
- Rated for 0.62 acre2,500 m²
- Needs clear sky over the whole lawn
- Drives only two wheels
The numbers, side by side
The table below shows what each brand says its mower can do. We copied every number from the brand's own spec sheet or manual into our mower database, and every page on this site reads from that one record. Before we say a mower fits a lawn we take about 20% off the rated area and about 15% off the rated slope. The sections under the table say what each number means on your lawn.
| What we are comparing | ECOVACS GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO | Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD 3000 | ECOVACS GOAT A2500 RTK |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it knows where to go | A laser and a camera. No wire, no satellites. | A laser, satellites and a camera. No wire to lay. | Satellites and a camera. No wire to lay. |
| Biggest lawn it can keep cut | 0.74 acres3,000 m² | 0.74 acres3,000 m² | 0.62 acres2,500 m² |
| Steepest hill it can climb | 50% — a rise of 50 ft per 100 ft (about 27°) | 80% — a rise of 80 ft per 100 ft (about 39°) | 50% — a rise of 50 ft per 100 ft (about 27°) |
| Cutting width | 33 cm (13 in) | 40 cm (15.7 in) | 33 cm (13 in) |
| Can remember more than one lawn | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| How it gets around things in its way | A laser that measures what is around it, Camera, A bumper it nudges things with | A laser that measures what is around it, Camera, A bumper it nudges things with | Camera, A sensor that measures how far away things are, A bumper it nudges things with |
| No boundary wire to lay | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What to look for on a big lawn
- Lawn area. Rated area assumes a flat, open lawn, so take about 20% off the rated area for beds and paths. That leaves about 0.6 acre2,450 m² for the A3000 and the LUBA 3, and about half an acre for the A2500.
- Slope. A 50% slope rises 50 ft50 m for every 100 ft100 m forward, an angle of 27 degrees. Brands measure slope ratings on dry grass, so take about 15% off for wet grass. That leaves a rise of about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m for the two ECOVACS mowers and about 68 ft68 m per 100 ft100 m for the LUBA 3.
- Sky over the lawn. The A2500 works out where it is from satellite signals, and branches block those signals. The A3000 and the LUBA 3 measure the distance to fences and trees with a laser, so they keep working under trees. Our guide to satellite mowers shows how to check the sky over your lawn.
- Gate width. The A3000 needs a passage at least 35 in89 cm wide, and the A2500 needs 31.5 in80 cm. Mammotion gives no passage figure.
- Noise. All three run at about the level of a normal conversation. The LUBA 3 is the loudest at 70 decibels.
Best overall: GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO
ECOVACS rates the A3000 for 0.74 acre3,000 m², the same as the LUBA 3 and more than the A2500. Take the 20% margin off and it fits about 0.6 acre2,450 m². It works out where it is with a spinning laser on its lid and a camera. The laser measures the distance to fences, walls and trees. It never needs a view of the sky, so branches over part of the lawn do not stop it. The LUBA 3 also works under trees. The A2500 does not.
The A3000 handles less steep slopes than the LUBA 3. ECOVACS rates it for a rise of 50 ft50 m per 100 ft100 m forward in the middle of the lawn. Along the lawn edge the limit drops to a rise of 20 ft20 m per 100 ft100 m. Mammotion rates the LUBA 3 for a rise of 80 ft80 m per 100 ft100 m, and the LUBA 3 drives all four wheels. The A3000 drives two. If any part of your lawn rises more than about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m, do not buy the A3000.
It runs at 62 decibels, close to the A2500 and well below the LUBA 3. It cuts a 13 in33 cm strip, the same as the A2500. The LUBA 3 cuts a 16 in41 cm strip, so it crosses a big lawn in fewer passes. The A3000 costs a little less than the LUBA 3 and more than twice as much as the A2500.
There is no antenna to mount. You set up the charging station, then drive the mower around the lawn edge with the phone app to draw the map. The app reaches the mower over Bluetooth or your home Wi-Fi. The mower has no cell signal of its own. Away from home, the app cannot reach it.
A string trimmer on one side cuts the lawn edge, and the trimmer runs at 82 decibels. Because the trimmer is loud, set it to run in the middle of the day. The mower cuts with blades you replace, and the trimmer uses line you replace. With the trimmer fitted, the manual asks for a passage at least 35 in89 cm wide. Our A3000 LiDAR PRO review covers the theft alerts and the cell add-on.
- 0.74acre3,000m²
- Rated lawn area, from the ECOVACS manual
- 50ft50m
- Rise per 100 ft forward, middle of the lawnRise per 100 m forward, middle of the lawn
- 20ft20m
- Rise per 100 ft forward, along the lawn edgeRise per 100 m forward, along the lawn edge
- 62dB
- Noise from the mower body
Buy the A3000 if trees shade part of your lawn and no part of it rises more than about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m.
Best for a big lawn with slopes: LUBA 3 AWD 3000
AWD in the name means all-wheel drive. The mower drives all four wheels, and the two ECOVACS mowers drive two. Four driven wheels grip a slope better than two. Mammotion rates it for a rise of 80 ft80 m per 100 ft100 m forward, against 50 ft15 m for both ECOVACS mowers. Say your lawn rises more than about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m somewhere. Then the LUBA 3 is the only one of the three that can mow that slope.
Mammotion rates it for 0.74 acre3,000 m², the same as the A3000 and more than the A2500. With the 20% margin off, that is about 0.6 acre2,450 m². It cuts the widest strip here, 16 in41 cm on each pass. The two ECOVACS mowers cut 13 in33 cm. So it crosses a big lawn in fewer passes, and it drives over your grass fewer times.
It works under trees, like the A3000. It works out where it is from satellite signals, and a second signal corrects them. That correction comes over your home Wi-Fi or a cell signal, so there is no antenna to mount. It also has a laser scanner on top that measures the distance to fences and trees. Setup is the charging station and a drive around the lawn edge with the phone app. Our A2500 and LUBA 3 head-to-head compares the two ways of working out where the mower is.
It is the loudest and the most expensive of the three. Mammotion rates it at 70 decibels, 10 decibels above the A2500. It costs a little more than the A3000 and nearly three times as much as the A2500. Its lowest cut is 2.2 in6 cm, and both ECOVACS mowers cut down to 1.2 in3 cm. If you keep your lawn shorter than 2.2 in6 cm, the LUBA 3 cannot cut it that low. Mammotion gives no figure for the narrowest passage it fits through, so measure your gate against the mower itself.
The app reaches the mower over Bluetooth, your home Wi-Fi or a cell signal. So you can check on it away from home. For theft, Mammotion lists GPS tracking and a PIN code. It has a rain sensor, and it cuts with blades you replace.
Buy the LUBA 3 if any part of your lawn rises more than about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m, or for the widest cut.
Best value for a big lawn: GOAT A2500 RTK
It costs less than half as much as the A3000 and about a third of the LUBA 3. ECOVACS rates it for 0.62 acre2,500 m². Take the 20% margin off and it fits about half an acre. The two bigger mowers fit about 0.6 acre2,450 m². So it suits a lawn closer to half an acre than to three-quarters of an acre. It runs for 64 minutes on one charge and then charges for 45 minutes. On a lawn near its rated size, it spends most of the day mowing and recharging.
RTK in its name stands for real-time kinematic. That is a way of using satellites plus a fixed antenna to work out where the mower is. The mower receives satellite signals, and so does a small antenna you mount on a pole. The antenna never moves, so it can tell how far off the satellite signal is. It passes that correction to the mower. Both need a clear view of the sky. Branches over one corner of the lawn block the signal. In that corner the mower cannot work out where it is. The A3000 and the LUBA 3 both keep working there.
On an open lawn, setup takes one afternoon. Put the charging station where you want the mower parked. Put the pole where the sky above it is clearest. The cable between the pole and the station is 33 ft10 m long, so that is the most the two can be apart. Then drive the mower around the lawn edge with the phone app to draw the map. The app reaches the mower over Bluetooth or your home Wi-Fi only, the same as the A3000.
ECOVACS rates it for the same rise of 50 ft50 m per 100 ft100 m forward, and it drives two wheels. It cuts the same 13 in33 cm strip, with two spinning blade discs underneath. It runs at 60 decibels, the quietest here. It needs a passage at least 31.5 in80 cm wide, so it fits a gate too narrow for the A3000. It weighs 34.8 lb15.8 kg and it has a rain sensor. Leave the rain sensor switched on if your lawn gets wet and muddy.
Buy the A2500 for a half-acre lawn with clear sky and no slope steeper than a rise of about 42 ft42 m per 100 ft100 m.
Which one for your lawn?
- If trees or a building shade part of the lawn → the A3000 LiDAR PRO.
- If any part of the lawn rises more than about 42 ft42 m for every 100 ft100 m forward → the LUBA 3 AWD 3000.
- If the lawn is open to the sky and about half an acre → the A2500 RTK.
- If you want the quietest mower → the A2500 RTK, then the A3000.
- If your narrowest gate is under 35 in89 cm wide → the A2500 RTK, which fits through 31.5 in80 cm.
Questions people ask
Can one of these mow a full acre? No. The biggest rated area here is 0.74 acre3,000 m², and we take about 20% off that for beds and paths. For a full acre you need a bigger mower than we feature, or two of these, one for each half.
Do any of these need a boundary wire? No. Some robot mowers follow a cable you bury around the lawn edge, and they stop at it. None of these three uses one. The A2500 needs its antenna and clear sky instead. The other two use a laser and a camera to measure the distance to fences, walls and trees.
Our verdict
For most big lawns, buy the GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO. ECOVACS rates it for 0.74 acre3,000 m². It keeps working under trees and runs at 62 decibels. Pick the LUBA 3 AWD 3000 instead if any part of your lawn rises more than about 42 ft42 m for every 100 ft100 m forward. It drives all four wheels and Mammotion rates it for a rise of 80 ft80 m per 100 ft100 m. Pick the GOAT A2500 RTK if your lawn is open to the sky and closer to half an acre than three-quarters of an acre. It mows a lawn that size for less than half the price of the A3000.