ECOVACS GOAT A2000 LiDAR PRO

Cutting & Edges-1 pts
TrueEdge, yeah right... It really does nothing.
Setup & Mapping-1 pts
Mapping itself is a disaster.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges+1 pts
The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid.
Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
TL;DR: Great robot, but the wrong robot for my yard. The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid. However, the castering front wheels, not quite enough power, and tall St. Augustine stolons all added up to too much of a fight. Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules. I'm sending it back and looking at AWD options. *UPDATE:* I decided to keep it. I spent more time with it and figured out how to make it work in my yard. It's a great mower and its pros are hard to match with other mowers in the price class, and it doesn't tear up my yard since it has omni wheels. It's the most diligent mower at unstucking itself I've ever seen. While AWD would be nice, it handles my yard without it. I really appreciate the dual cutting discs and outstanding navigation. It has yet to fall into my pool. I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now. That was early on. I've gone 70 cuts without a rescue. Why I bought it Full LiDAR, dual cutting disks, an edge trimmer, and a 3.54" max cutting height. That last number matters: for St. Augustine in Texas heat, the recommendation is roughly 3.5" to 4", and I'd been running 4" to help the lawn survive. So I was buying in at the absolute bottom of my acceptable range and hoping more frequent cutting would offset it. I also liked how light it is. Day 1 Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Assembly was straightforward. Siting the dock was harder than I expected because of my driveway, so budget more thought there than I did. Pairing was simple, it pulled an update immediately, and I appreciate that it requires a PIN. Initial mapping did not go well. The trimmer side should be to the inside, but automap ran it with the trimmer to the outside, so the housing kept bumping into things. (Not cutting, just contact.) The two-speed problem. Manual driving has essentially two speeds, and the faster one is only available going dead straight. The moment you turn, it drops to the slow speed. That's a real problem turning in deep grass, turning onto an uphill, or working across a slope. My slope isn't steep, but it isn't gentle either. It sits right in the annoying middle. Straight up the hill and straight down the hill: no issues at all. The trouble is turns at the bottom and traversing across the face. I planned a wider buffer along the downhill side near the curb because of it. Getting it to track straight across the hill under manual control is a fight, and the castering front wheels are the culprit. I started wondering whether I should have gone AWD, but most AWD models I looked at use omni wheels, and the tank turns those do would shred parts of my yard. (I've seen what they did to my neighbor's.) Grass height. My St. Augustine was too tall and the little teeth on the front kept snagging stolons, so I went back out with the push mower and took it down. That helped navigation a lot, but it also confirmed that the slow manual speed is *too* slow and the fast speed is too fast. I want a slower fast speed. This probably reads like a lot of complaining. Honestly some of it is my learning curve, some is a manual that leaves out important things, some is a genuine product limitation (those castering wheels), and some is just my yard. Day 2 Front yard, \~8,400 sq ft. Slopes from house to street, about 5 degrees across most of it, steepening just before a 6" curb. I re-mapped it manually and left a solid 18" buffer off the curb. Then I sent it on a test run. Remember I'd just cut to 3.5" with the push mower and the machine's max is 3.54", so there was essentially zero margin. It went much better than Day 1. The dips where my shutoff valves sit are deep, and it struggled dropping into the "bowl," but it worked out a path around, up, and out. Not a stunning success, but it solved it. The bigger issue stayed the same: stolons catch [truncated]
Setup & Mapping-1 pts
Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules.
App & Everyday Use0 pts
I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now.

The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid. **TL;DR:** Great robot, but the wrong robot for my yard. The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid. However, the castering front wheels, not quite enough power, and tall St. Augustine stolons all added up to too much of a fight. Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules. I'm sending it back and looking at AWD options. ***UPDATE:*** I decided to keep it. I spent more time with it and figured out how to make it work in my yard. It's a great mower and its pros are hard to match with other mowers in the price class, and it doesn't tear up my yard since it has omni wheels. It's the most diligent mower at unstucking itself I've ever seen. While AWD would be nice, it handles my yard without it. I really appreciate the dual cutting discs and outstanding navigation. It has yet to fall into my pool. I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now. That was early on. I've gone 70 cuts without a rescue. **Why I bought it** Full LiDAR, dual cutting disks, an edge trimmer, and a 3.54" max cutting height. That last number matters: for St. Augustine in Texas heat, the recommendation is roughly 3.5" to 4", and I'd been running 4" to help the lawn survive. So I was buying in at the absolute bottom of my acceptable range and hoping more frequent cutting would offset it. I also liked how light it is. **Day 1** **Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover.** Assembly was straightforward. Siting the dock was harder than I expected because of my driveway, so budget more thought there than I did. Pairing was simple, it pulled an update immediately, and I appreciate that it requires a PIN. **Initial mapping did not go well.** The trimmer side should be to the inside, but automap ran it with the trimmer to the outside, so the housing kept bumping into things. (Not cutting, just contact.) **The two-speed problem.** Manual driving has essentially two speeds, and the faster one is only available going dead straight. The moment you turn, it drops to the slow speed. That's a real problem turning in deep grass, turning onto an uphill, or working across a slope. My slope isn't steep, but it isn't gentle either. It sits right in the annoying middle. Straight up the hill and straight down the hill: no issues at all. The trouble is turns at the bottom and traversing across the face. I planned a wider buffer along the downhill side near the curb because of it. Getting it to track straight across the hill under manual control is a fight, and the castering front wheels are the culprit. I started wondering whether I should have gone AWD, but most AWD models I looked at use omni wheels, and the tank turns those do would shred parts of my yard. (I've seen what they did to my neighbor's.) **Grass height.** My St. Augustine was too tall and the little teeth on the front kept snagging stolons, so I went back out with the push mower and took it down. That helped navigation a lot, but it also confirmed that the slow manual speed is *too* slow and the fast speed is too fast. I want a slower fast speed. This probably reads like a lot of complaining. Honestly some of it is my learning curve, some is a manual that leaves out important things, some is a genuine product limitation (those castering wheels), and some is just my yard. **Day 2** **Front yard, \~8,400 sq ft.** Slopes from house to street, about 5 degrees across most of it, steepening just before a 6" curb. I re-mapped it manually and left a solid 18" buffer off the curb. Then I sent it on a test run. Remember I'd just cut to 3.5" with the push mower and the machine's max is 3.54", so there was essentially zero margin. It went much better than Day 1. The dips where my shutoff valves sit are deep, and it struggled dropping into the "bowl," but it worked out a path around, up, and out. Not a stunning success, but it solved it. The bigger issue stayed the same: **stolons catch [truncated] Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules. I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now.

Redditdiscussion

Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
The highlight really is the navigation once mapped.
App & Everyday Use0 pts
I can actually go away and let it mow and never need to rescue it.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges+1 pts
Overall I am very happy with the cut quality and very few missed blades.
App & Everyday Use-1 pts
the controls for that are pretty terrible.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges-1 pts
the string trimmer looks like it wouldn't work real well unless you have a flat yard with very standard edges.

Redditdiscussion

Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
I thought I'd try different mowing angles on my yard. To its credit, the A2000 handled my front yard quite well. Never got stranded, never fell off the cliff. Tangled with a few stolons and mowed around one. It didn't fall off the cliff either. Overall it did much better. I'm still very impressed with the navigation. Overall it's "The Little Engine That Wants To" and today it actually did. I'm going to give the backyard another try. I thought it would be easier at first than the front, but it turned out to be more challenging. Maybe better luck this time. I had a neighbor who has one of the Luba AWD models. He was very impressed with the A2000's navigation along my sort of drop off and curb down to the street. It threaded the needle in some tight sections pretty well. I can say it is NOT the ideal mower for my yard, but if it can make it through mine, many others would be much easier. I also carefully looked at the tree cover, walls, and house positioning, and RTK is absolutely not an option for most of my yard based on what I read. So I definitely need LiDAR and I probably will end up with the Roborock x120H if it goes back on sale. Currently about $2k more, it isn't worth it for me.

I thought I'd try different mowing angles on my yard. To its credit, the A2000 handled my front yard quite well. Never got stranded, never fell off the cliff. Tangled with a few stolons and mowed around one. It didn't fall off the cliff either. Overall it did much better. I'm still very impressed with the navigation. Overall it's "The Little Engine That Wants To" and today it actually did. I'm going to give the backyard another try. I thought it would be easier at first than the front, but it turned out to be more challenging. Maybe better luck this time. I had a neighbor who has one of the Luba AWD models. He was very impressed with the A2000's navigation along my sort of drop off and curb down to the street. It threaded the needle in some tight sections pretty well. I can say it is NOT the ideal mower for my yard, but if it can make it through mine, many others would be much easier. I also carefully looked at the tree cover, walls, and house positioning, and RTK is absolutely not an option for most of my yard based on what I read. So I definitely need LiDAR and I probably will end up with the Roborock x120H if it goes back on sale. Currently about $2k more, it isn't worth it for me.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges-1 pts
TrueEdge, yeah right... It really does nothing.
Setup & Mapping-1 pts
Mapping itself is a disaster.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges+1 pts
The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid.
Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
TL;DR: Great robot, but the wrong robot for my yard. The LiDAR and obstacle avoidance were excellent, cut quality was excellent, and it never did anything stupid. However, the castering front wheels, not quite enough power, and tall St. Augustine stolons all added up to too much of a fight. Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules. I'm sending it back and looking at AWD options. *UPDATE:* I decided to keep it. I spent more time with it and figured out how to make it work in my yard. It's a great mower and its pros are hard to match with other mowers in the price class, and it doesn't tear up my yard since it has omni wheels. It's the most diligent mower at unstucking itself I've ever seen. While AWD would be nice, it handles my yard without it. I really appreciate the dual cutting discs and outstanding navigation. It has yet to fall into my pool. I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now. That was early on. I've gone 70 cuts without a rescue. Why I bought it Full LiDAR, dual cutting disks, an edge trimmer, and a 3.54" max cutting height. That last number matters: for St. Augustine in Texas heat, the recommendation is roughly 3.5" to 4", and I'd been running 4" to help the lawn survive. So I was buying in at the absolute bottom of my acceptable range and hoping more frequent cutting would offset it. I also liked how light it is. Day 1 Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Don't lose the LiDAR cover. Assembly was straightforward. Siting the dock was harder than I expected because of my driveway, so budget more thought there than I did. Pairing was simple, it pulled an update immediately, and I appreciate that it requires a PIN. Initial mapping did not go well. The trimmer side should be to the inside, but automap ran it with the trimmer to the outside, so the housing kept bumping into things. (Not cutting, just contact.) The two-speed problem. Manual driving has essentially two speeds, and the faster one is only available going dead straight. The moment you turn, it drops to the slow speed. That's a real problem turning in deep grass, turning onto an uphill, or working across a slope. My slope isn't steep, but it isn't gentle either. It sits right in the annoying middle. Straight up the hill and straight down the hill: no issues at all. The trouble is turns at the bottom and traversing across the face. I planned a wider buffer along the downhill side near the curb because of it. Getting it to track straight across the hill under manual control is a fight, and the castering front wheels are the culprit. I started wondering whether I should have gone AWD, but most AWD models I looked at use omni wheels, and the tank turns those do would shred parts of my yard. (I've seen what they did to my neighbor's.) Grass height. My St. Augustine was too tall and the little teeth on the front kept snagging stolons, so I went back out with the push mower and took it down. That helped navigation a lot, but it also confirmed that the slow manual speed is *too* slow and the fast speed is too fast. I want a slower fast speed. This probably reads like a lot of complaining. Honestly some of it is my learning curve, some is a manual that leaves out important things, some is a genuine product limitation (those castering wheels), and some is just my yard. Day 2 Front yard, \~8,400 sq ft. Slopes from house to street, about 5 degrees across most of it, steepening just before a 6" curb. I re-mapped it manually and left a solid 18" buffer off the curb. Then I sent it on a test run. Remember I'd just cut to 3.5" with the push mower and the machine's max is 3.54", so there was essentially zero margin. It went much better than Day 1. The dips where my shutoff valves sit are deep, and it struggled dropping into the "bowl," but it worked out a path around, up, and out. Not a stunning success, but it solved it. The bigger issue stayed the same: stolons catch [truncated]
Setup & Mapping-1 pts
Automapping was worthless for me; manual mapping worked fine once I figured out the undocumented rules.
App & Everyday Use0 pts
I've had one rescue in about 80 mows now.

Redditdiscussion

Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
The highlight really is the navigation once mapped.
App & Everyday Use0 pts
I can actually go away and let it mow and never need to rescue it.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges+1 pts
Overall I am very happy with the cut quality and very few missed blades.
App & Everyday Use-1 pts
the controls for that are pretty terrible.

Redditdiscussion

Cutting & Edges-1 pts
the string trimmer looks like it wouldn't work real well unless you have a flat yard with very standard edges.

Redditdiscussion

Navigation & Terrain+1 pts
I thought I'd try different mowing angles on my yard. To its credit, the A2000 handled my front yard quite well. Never got stranded, never fell off the cliff. Tangled with a few stolons and mowed around one. It didn't fall off the cliff either. Overall it did much better. I'm still very impressed with the navigation. Overall it's "The Little Engine That Wants To" and today it actually did. I'm going to give the backyard another try. I thought it would be easier at first than the front, but it turned out to be more challenging. Maybe better luck this time. I had a neighbor who has one of the Luba AWD models. He was very impressed with the A2000's navigation along my sort of drop off and curb down to the street. It threaded the needle in some tight sections pretty well. I can say it is NOT the ideal mower for my yard, but if it can make it through mine, many others would be much easier. I also carefully looked at the tree cover, walls, and house positioning, and RTK is absolutely not an option for most of my yard based on what I read. So I definitely need LiDAR and I probably will end up with the Roborock x120H if it goes back on sale. Currently about $2k more, it isn't worth it for me.