Segway Navimow i208 AWD

What the tests say

Three independent tests of the Segway Navimow i208 AWD (Maison et Domotique and Lavelab in France, Senses.se in Sweden) all confirm wire-free NRTK installation judged fast and simple. Two of them also confirm a genuine traction gain from the third motorized rear wheel on slopes: Maison et Domotique compares it to a standard two-wheel-drive robot that, on the same sloped sections of its garden, sometimes drifts far enough to touch a fence, while also noting that Segway's claimed 45% slope figure should be read with caution depending on ground condition, moisture and grass height; Lavelab watched the robot climb that same 45% slope (roughly 24 degrees) with ease thanks to the third all-terrain wheel, which also helps it turn in place without damaging the lawn. Senses.se, whose test garden is flat, only cites the 45% figure from the spec sheet, but praises excellent overall maneuverability from the all-wheel drive, including navigating under a trampoline and around currant bushes and a wooden deck; this outlet also flags a downside of that same third wheel, absent from the other two tests: on slightly damp lawns, the single rear wheel, which turns quite decisively to allow a very tight turning radius, can easily leave marks in the grass, the opposite of the "no lawn damage" benefit Lavelab reports. All three testers also judge obstacle detection reliable on everyday objects, each with its own inventory (ball, pot, branch, toy, furniture, person or animal for Maison et Domotique; ball, plush rabbit, bucket, pencil case and chair for Lavelab; trampoline, deck and trees for Senses.se), and two of them, Maison et Domotique and Senses.se, add the same reservation in different words: a very low object, a thin string or something lying flat in the grass can still be a problem according to Maison et Domotique, and small, thin objects such as tulip bulbs can escape the camera despite it recognizing over 150 object types according to Senses.se. On range, all three cite Segway's claimed 250 m2 per charge without drawing the same conclusion: Senses.se makes it one of its main complaints ("small battery," "short battery life"); Lavelab, on its own 26 m2 test lawn, measured only a 10% battery drop, deriving an independent estimate of about 200 m2, a bit below the official figure, while itself calling this range "good endurance"; and Maison et Domotique confirms a single charge won't be enough for a full 800 m2, a pattern it considers normal for this type of robot. Mowing speed points the same way: Senses.se calls it out as an explicit flaw, and Lavelab, the only one to time it, measured 18 minutes for its 26 m2 test area (about 1.44 m2 per minute), a result it itself calls "average" rather than fast, and clearly below the 125 m2/h rate that can be derived from Segway's own claimed 250 m2 and 120 minutes; the direct consequence on an 800 m2 lawn is that Lavelab puts full coverage at "a whole day" and Senses.se says "well over half a day." On edges, all three agree on the same structural limit: the cutting disc, mounted under the chassis rather than extending past it, always leaves a strip of uncut grass near walls, fences or flower beds; Maison et Domotique describes it without a figure, Lavelab calls it the robot's "biggest flaw" despite the dedicated "mow along the boundary" mode, and Senses.se puts a number on it, 8 to 10 centimeters, noting this limitation is not unique to this model but applies to most robot mowers of this format; this last outlet alone also flags the lack of a floating cutting deck, with a less even cut on very bumpy terrain than pricier models offering that technology. Two testers, Maison et Domotique and Senses.se, finally flag imperfect weather handling, driven by forecast data rather than a physical rain sensor: Maison et Domotique reports the robot sometimes staying docked because the forecast calls for rain even though the garden itself is dry, and Senses.se describes a concrete case where, after reaching 98% of a mow with enough battery left to finish, the robot chose to fully recharge instead and then judged it too dark to continue; combined with a twice-weekly schedule (Monday and Thursday), finishing that mow was pushed from Monday to Thursday. On the recurring cost, the paid 4G subscription after the first free year comes to a very similar figure across all three sources: EUR 29.99/year for Maison et Domotique, EUR 29.9/year for Senses.se, "about thirty euros" for Lavelab. Finally, the "from EUR 899" price Maison et Domotique cites actually belongs to the 500 m2 i205 AWD in the same lineup, not the 800 m2 i208 AWD tested here, whose official Segway EU price remains EUR 1,099.