This page explains where our verdicts come from, so you can decide how much weight to give them.
The verdict system
Every product we cover gets one of four calls:
- Buy Worth the money at the current price for the use case named.
- Buy on sale Good machine, but the regular price is too high. We tell you the price that makes it a Buy.
- Wait A newer model, a known issue, or a seasonal price drop is close enough that buying now is a mistake.
- Skip Owners report problems we cannot explain away, support is poor, or a competitor is clearly better for the same money.
What goes into a verdict
- Specifications from the manufacturer. Rated area, slope, runtime, filter size, navigation type, warranty. We record the source URL for every number.
- Owner review synthesis. We read reviews on Amazon, Reddit, and owner forums and tag each complaint or praise by type (signal loss, app problems, battery, support, cleaning quality). A pattern that shows up repeatedly across sources counts. A single angry review does not.
- Price history. We check prices weekly and keep the history. A “deal” is measured against what the product actually sold for, not the list price.
- Published independent tests. When Consumer Reports, a major publication, or a credible independent has lab-tested a machine, we cite it and say what they found.
- Fit. The best mower for a flat quarter acre is the wrong mower for two wooded acres on a hill. Our best-of pages are organized by yard and pool type for that reason.
- Regulatory status. For mowers, whether the model was authorized for US sale before the FCC’s July 2026 Covered List action, and whether the brand has received a conditional approval since.
What we do not do
- We do not claim hands-on testing we have not done. If we have not run a machine in a pool or on a lawn, we say so, and we lean on owners and published tests instead.
- We do not let commission rates pick the winner. Some brands pay us more than others. The verdict logic above does not have a column for that.
- We do not accept payment for reviews or placement. Brands can send review units; if one does, the article says so.
How we use AI
We use AI tools to help gather specs, organize owner reviews, and draft. A person sets the editorial rules, checks the claims against sources, and signs off on what goes live. Every factual statement on this site traces back to a manufacturer page, a review corpus we can show, or a cited test.
Corrections
If a spec, price, or claim is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and note the change on the page.