Plain-English explainers for home robots: how RTK, lidar, and vision navigation differ, how to size a mower to your lawn, why pool robot reviewers disagree, and when to buy.
Corded robots run on a timer forever and cost you a $115 to $440 cable every few years. Cordless robots have no cable and a sealed battery that makes the warranty your replacement plan. Independent lab tests show no floor-cleaning gap. Here is who should buy which.
Five respected outlets tested robotic pool cleaners in 2026 and named five different winners. Different pools, corded-vs-cordless priors, dealer channels, test length, review units and Amazon review volume explain the split. A six-question checklist helps you decode any review.
Look up. Mostly sky, buy RTK. Mostly leaves, buy LiDAR or a fusion model. Small, flat and fenced, vision-only is cheapest but goes home at dusk. Here is how each system works, how it fails, and representative models with prices.
A 3000 is three-quarters of an acre and a 5000 is one and a quarter. Here is the conversion table, why the rating is a weekly number not a daily one, the headroom rule, and 3 to 8 models with prices for every yard from 1/8 acre to 3+.