Mowrator S1 – Review of My Favorite Remote Control Lawn Mower

If you’ve been considering a new lawn mower you’ve likely looked into the latest robot mowers on the market. There are autonomous robot lawnmowers for lawns of every size, including commercial robot mowers.

However, these aren’t right for every homeowner. Perhaps you found the installation to be too difficult. You may have also found that due to unique variations or layouts on your property, a robot mower simply wouldn’t work.

Well, you still have a choice if you want to go partially automated and still have full control over your mower.

The solution is a remote control lawn mower like the Mowrator S1. This heavy-duty lawn mower works like a remote control car but is built to withstand heavy use.

If this sounds like something that might interest you, keep reading to find out how the Mowrator S1 performed for us and how it compares to robot lawnmowers.

Who Is Mowrator?

You’ve probably never heard of Mowrator and that’s because they are a relatively new startup company.

Mowrator is a subsidiary of Reemo Innovation, a Chinese company that designs and builds home automation robots in Shenzhen, China.

The company was founded by former design team members from DJI, the popular drone manufacturer.

Mowrator has also created several Kickstarter campaigns to help fund some of their projects, including the Mowrator S1.

Overall, Mowrator and their parent company have produced and sold successful products in the past and they have a history of delivering on the products they develop through Kickstarter and other outlets.

The Mowrator S1

When people think of a remote-controlled lawn mower, they likely think of a standard lawn mower with some sort of controls bolted on. However, the Mowrator was built from the ground up as a remote-controlled unit.

This is truly a beast of a machine. If you need a super tough machine capable of mowing the roughest of areas and high grass, this is it. Unlike many remote control mowers on Amazon, the Mowrator is very well-designed with a tubular steel chassis that almost looks like a roll cage. There is a detachable bag on the back for clippings, but that’s about the only resemblance to a standard lawn mower.

The S1 is all-electric and has a range that is uncommon with many robot lawnmowers. The mower can tackle 1.1 acres in a single charge and mowing session. Most robot lawnmowers for home use would require two days or more to cover that area.

Charging is also surprisingly fast at only 90 minutes using their optional fast charging unit. We got about 2.5 hours from a charge, which was impressive.

The S1 also uses a traditional-style single blade. Most robot mowers use disc-cutting wheels, but the S1 goes old-school with a traditional blade that you can sharpen yourself instead of buying new ones every few months.

Another area where the mower shines over robot mowers is the cutting height. If you like taller grass, your options are limited to robot mowers. Most robot mowers only go up to about 3.5 inches, with some only going to 3 inches.

The S1 allows cutting heights up to 4.6 inches, which is unique for a partially automated mower like this. Cutting height is completely manual with a large handle on the side for making the adjustment.

Finally, the mower is all-wheel drive and can handle slopes of up to 75%. 

Mowrator S1 Unboxing

Our unit arrived in a large crate and everything was packaged securely and well-protected. There was no damage to anything upon arrival.

The unit comes almost completely assembled. You only have to attach a few items, similar to buying a traditional lawnmower from the store. However, the unit is heavier than a standard mower, so you may need some help moving the box after it arrives.

Similarly, the internal battery is also very heavy. You won’t need to remove it for normal use, but it is quite heavy so take your time if you ever have to remove it.

Overall, the mower sets up very quickly. For our test, we had it unboxed in 30 minutes and we were moving at a fairly casual pace.

Mowrator S1 Setup

Unlike robot mowers, setup with the S1 is almost non-existent. Once unboxed and charged, it’s just about ready to start mowing.

You control the unit with a remote control that features two small joysticks. One is for forward and back, the other is for turning.

Once you turn on the mower and the remote control, you enter your PIN and you can immediately start mowing.

The remote has a screen with certain telemetry features such as your battery level, wattage being used, speed, and sensor information. The remote also has a large emergency stop button that you can hit at any time to stop the mower and blade.

As mentioned, there is almost zero setup. If you’ve driven a remote-controlled car or seen one action, that’s basically how this works. Turn it on and start driving it around your lawn. It really couldn’t be more simple.

Mowrator S1 in Action

We understand this mower may not be for everyone, but we had a lot of fun driving it around the lawn. The mower moves faster than we expected, so that’s something we had to get used to. Although, there is a speed control to adjust the top speed.

The mower has a zero-turn radius so you can get around tight spots or fully turn around rather easily.

One issue we found was the range of the remote control. It’s about 30 feet, which seems limited but it’s for safety reasons. When it’s out of range, the mower will stop. So you do have to walk or be near the mower while mowing.

We didn’t mind that and it helped us get perfect edges around obstacles and along borders within the lawn. However, for some users, they may not want to follow the mower. So that’s something to consider.

Performance was exactly what you would expect from a similar-sized gas-powered or traditional mower. It powers through and with the surprisingly fast forward speed, this thing will tackle your lawn pretty fast without ever bogging down.

Unlike robot mowers, the S1 cuts like a riding mower and it was a refreshing change from the relatively slow robot mowers.

Mowrator S1 Safety Features

The S1 does have several features. Both the mower and the remote unit have oversized stop buttons that can be pressed at any time to kill the power.

There are also ultrasonic sensors on all sides as well as a physical bumper in front that will stop the mower if it contacts anything. There is also a tip sensor that shuts it off if the unit starts to tip over.

Overall, this unit is as safe as a push mower, maybe more so since you don’t have to be so close to it. But you do want to use the same level of caution when using this as you would with a push mower.

Mowrator S1 Final Review

• Mow Lawn Up To 1.125 Acres Per Charge
• All-wheel drive For 75% Slope (37°）
• Mow 0.5 Acres Per Hour
• 21 Inches Cutting Width
• Mow Grass and Weeds up to 20 Inches in Height
• 1.3 – 4.6 Inches Adjustable Blade Height
• Runtime Up To 135 minutes with 18Ah LiFePO4 Battery
• 3-in-1 System: Mulch, Rear Bagging and Discharge
• Recharge 90 minutes or Less With Super Charger
• Easy Push Button Start. No Gas, No Oil, No Emissions

We have to admit, we had fun with this unit. It unboxed quickly and we were cutting grass within 30 minutes.

The unit is well built and can almost be considered commercial quality, although we haven’t had it long enough to test how it holds up.

We do understand that some customers may be confused over who this mower is actually for. It’s not fully automated and you still have to stay close to it, so it exists in a sort of gray area between two product categories.

However, there are people who want full control over their mowers and don’t want a riding mower or want to push a normal mower. They also may not want to deal with the quirks of modern robot mowers.

So this may be a niche product, but if you are in that niche, it works very well and there aren’t many other options with this quality within the category.