Ecovacs Goat A1600 Lidar Pro review: 1,600 m², no wire

Between two lawns is a connection that is only 70 cm wide. The Ecovacs Goat A1600 Lidar Pro fails there in heise online’s review. The robotic mower’s maximum coverage is limited to 1,600 m²; it costs just under €1,000.

Its navigation is based on the interaction of 360° LiDAR, a 3D ToF sensor and an AI camera. The LiDAR sensor supports spatial orientation, while the sensor array records the surroundings. This allows Ecovacs to do without boundary wire and a separate RTK antenna. That is particularly useful when dense tree canopies or backyard locations block satellite signals.

The results are better in open areas. According to heise online, the robot can mow relatively quickly thanks to its 33 cm cutting width. The integrated trimmer works along the lawn edge, leaving almost nothing standing there. According to the review, the A1600 can keep up with the top-of-the-range A3000 Lidar Pro in terms of speed and edge cutting.

The battery is the most notable difference: At 3,000 mAh, it is significantly smaller and limits the maximum coverage. The design also has a drawback. The trimmer module apparently makes the robot so wide that it can no longer negotiate the 70 cm passage that the previous model managed to pass through the year before. Beneath overhanging branches, the lawn also remains unmowed in standard mode; the app offers a zone with reduced obstacle avoidance, in which only the bumper—that is, the contact sensor—detects obstacles.

In practical terms, the A1600 mainly changes installation for owners of larger, more intricately laid-out gardens: They can do without boundary wire and an RTK antenna and leave edge maintenance to the integrated trimmer. For most home gardens, however, the 1,600 m² limit should still be more than sufficient. Anyone with a connection between lawns that is only 70 cm wide will have to plan around this limitation. Integration with Home Assistant is also based on the Ecovacs cloud.