Robot lawn mowerhave traditionally been the weak link in smart home tech, but CES 2026 is proving that they may finally be ready for the real world. While the show floor is packed with competitors Mammotion is currently dominating the conversation with a lineup that looks more like rugged off road vehicles than garden tools. We spent some time at their booth to see if the hype around the new Luba 3 AWD and the Mini series actually translates to a better looking yard.
The Luba 3 AWD is clearly designed for homeowners who have given up on robots in the past because of steep hills or complex landscaping. During the live demos this thing handled extreme inclines and obstacles with the kind of agility you usually only see in high end drones. It even managed to recover instantly after a minor run in with a lawn ornament which is a huge deal for anyone who has ever had to rescue a stuck mower from a flower bed in the middle of a rainstorm.
Beyond the raw power of the all wheel drive system the real story here is the improved navigation and the introduction of the more compact Mini models. These smaller units bring that same high level obstacle avoidance to tighter urban yards without the massive price tag of the flagship models. Mammotion is effectively closing the gap between expensive professional equipment and something the average person can actually use to reclaim their Saturday mornings.
Mammotion’s Luba 3 AWD robot lawn mower bumped into the fake hedgehog on the lawn, but it corrected quickly and moved away from it.
Ajay Kumar/CNET“I think there’s more credibility to the claims that navigation on these is improving,” said Kumar. Maybe the most impressive feature on display was the Luba 3’s hill-climbing abilities. The Mammotion demo had a wall-like incline set up to showcase the Luba 3’s ability to mow steep inclines. “The incline is enough that even as a person with two legs I’d hesitate to climb it,” said Kumar. We watched the Luba 3 run up and down it with ease. The Luba 3 AWD Series has a maximum slope capability of 38.6 degrees — far steeper than anything you’re likely to need mowed, according to Mammotion.
Mammotion says the Luba 3 AWD Series can handle inclines up 38.6 degrees.
Ajay Kumar/CNETGoing wire-free is another major innovation for robot mowers, and none of the three new Mammotion mowers require physical boundary wires. Instead, the new Mammotion mowers rely on a combination of lidar sensors that scan “from the ground to the treetops,” dual-camera AI vision, and Real-Time Kinematic positioning, which uses beacons to correct a mower’s coordinates to improve accuracy.
We’ll still have to get our hands on the new Mammotion mowers to see how they perform under real-world conditions, but the early returns at CES 2026 were promising. The Luba 3 AWD is currently available for pre-order for $2,399 with an estimated delivery date of early March.
