GOAT A1600 LiDAR PRO
A laser-guided mower for lawns up to 1,600m², with a string trimmer on the side for the edges. Testers found it quick and neat on flat lawns, but it struggles on steep slopes and narrow gaps.
See the alternatives below, or switch market.
The short version
The A1600 sits in the middle of Ecovacs's 2026 laser-guided mowers, between the smaller O1200 and the bigger A3000. It finds its way with laser scanners and a camera, so there's no wire to bury and no satellite aerial to put up. The headline feature is a side string trimmer that follows the lawn edge, the job most robots leave to you. It shares the A3000's 33cm twin-disc deck and trimmer, but has a smaller battery, so it's rated for less lawn.
The trade-off is where it can go. The trimmer makes it wide, and one tester found it couldn't fit through a 70cm gap. It only drives the rear wheels, so it slipped on a steep slope. The trimmer is loud and has to be started by hand rather than on a schedule.
Don't mix it up with last year's A1600, which steered by satellite, needed an aerial in the garden and had no trimmer.
Our take: Buy it if you have a fairly flat lawn of up to about 1,600m² with plenty of borders, and strimming is the chore you most want gone. If your garden has steep banks, look at the Mammotion LUBA mini 2 AWD 1000, which grips better. If your lawn is under 1,200m² or has tight passages, the smaller GOAT O1200 LiDAR PRO does the same job in a narrower body.
Where it sits in ECOVACS’s range
- GOAT O1200 LiDAR PROSame trimmer idea, smaller deck, lawns up to 1,200m²
- GOAT A1600 RTK2025 model, satellite-guided, no side trimmer
- GOAT A1600 LiDAR PROThis model
- GOAT A3000 LiDAR PROSame deck and trimmer, bigger battery, lawns up to 3,000m² · $2,499.99
What reviewers found
Two independent German home tests. heise online ran it in a varied test garden with slopes, several zones and a narrow gap, and timed its mowing. SmartZone tested it on a 500m² garden. Both rate the cut and the edge trimming highly. They disagree sharply on obstacles: heise online saw hoses and toys avoided, while SmartZone had flat toys and hoses mowed over. heise online also found real limits on steep slopes, kerbs and narrow gaps. A third test by inside digital was a paid partnership with Ecovacs.
heise online, hands-on, Sept 2026 · SmartZone, hands-on
Edges: the best trimmer yet, mostly
SmartZone called its edge cut the best it had tested on a robot, reaching within 5cm of walls and paths on straight runs. heise online agreed that little grass is left along the outer edges, but found flaws: now and then it lost the edge and wandered inwards, or the trimmer stopped mid-run. Round no-go zones it kept 10 to 20cm away, so the trimmer missed them. Dense grass took two passes. Expect far less strimming, not none.
Quick, tidy mowing on flat ground
heise online timed it on a 240m² patch: 82 minutes at the slowest speed and 53 minutes at the fastest, which it calls the quickest in its price class. SmartZone called the cut excellent, with overlapping lanes leaving nothing standing. In practice it got about 70 minutes per charge and covered around 220m², less than Ecovacs's claim, because of frequent turns. heise online notes that higher speeds suit open lawns better than ones full of trees and beds.
Obstacles: the testers disagree
heise online found obstacle detection exemplary, with hoses, small balls, toys and even hedgehogs avoided, though it was sometimes overcautious round tall grass and dandelions. SmartZone had the opposite experience with flat things: sprinklers, chairs, stones and branches were fine, but children's toys and garden hoses were mowed over. Different objects and gardens may explain it. Until more testers report, clear hoses and small toys off the lawn first.
Slopes, kerbs and narrow gaps
Ecovacs claims 50% slopes, per the specifications. heise online ran it on a 30° bank: it coped mowing up and down, but slid when mowing across the slope or on wet grass, and the turns could damage the lawn. Kerbs of 4 to 5cm stopped it reaching one of three zones, and it couldn't get through a 70cm gap that Ecovacs's older model managed. Ecovacs itself asks for 90cm. SmartZone's garden was flatter and didn't test this.
Setup, app and the loud trimmer
heise online had it running in about 30 minutes, though one trimmer screw needs a long screwdriver. Auto-mapping needs clear borders, so both testers drove the boundary by hand, which took SmartZone about 30 minutes for 500m². SmartZone found mowing settings apply to every zone at once and the body flexes, so lift it by the rear handle. Normal mowing is a quiet 62dB, but the trimmer reaches 82dB, per the specifications, and heise online suggests saving it for daytime.
Before you buy
The questions people ask about this one
Does it need a boundary wire?
No. It maps the garden with laser scanners and a camera, per the specifications. Automatic mapping needs clearly defined edges, so heise online steered it round the boundary by hand in the app, and SmartZone did the same in about 30 minutes for a 500m² garden.
How close does it cut to the edge?
Closer than most robots, thanks to the side trimmer. SmartZone measured about 5cm from walls and paths on straight runs. heise online found outer edges well trimmed after two passes, but it stayed 10 to 20cm away from no-go zones. You start the trimmer by hand in the app; it doesn't run on a schedule.
Will it cope with my slope?
Ecovacs claims 50%, or 27°, per the specifications. On a 30° bank, heise online found it fine mowing up and down but slipping when mowing across or on wet grass, which could scuff the lawn. It suggests an all-wheel-drive mower for steep gardens.
Can it handle two lawns or a narrow passage?
Several zones are easy to set up, and heise online found the app links them with paths automatically. Narrow gaps are the problem: it couldn't pass a 70cm passage, and Ecovacs asks for 90cm, per the specifications. It also couldn't climb 4 to 5cm kerbs between zones.
How noisy is it for neighbours?
Normal mowing is rated at 62dB, but the trimmer reaches 82dB, per the specifications, roughly a handheld strimmer. heise online recommends trimming only in daytime, and SmartZone says weekdays only. The partnership test by inside digital also called the trimmer incredibly loud.
Is there a subscription for 4G or anti-theft?
It uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as standard. heise online found a PIN, a lift alarm and account locking, which stop a thief pairing it again. A 4G module with GPS tracking is an optional extra for remote control away from your Wi-Fi.
Compare with
GOAT O1200 LiDAR PRO
Also laser-guided with a built-in string trimmer, in a smaller mower for lawns up to 1,200m².
The trimmer is loud, and one tester's trimmer failed after two months.
GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO
The same 33cm deck and side trimmer with a bigger battery, for lawns up to 3,000m².
Testers with bumpy ground or long tufts found it stuck in holes or steering round grass.
LUBA mini 2 AWD 1000
All-wheel drive and a side edge disc that reviewers found cut grass other mowers leave behind.
Raised borders still need a strimmer, and a tester hit app limits on how far apart zones can be.
Full specifications
Figures come from the manufacturer’s product page unless a source is named. A blank means nobody we trust has confirmed it.
Owner reviews
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Sources
Everything cited on this page. Expert scores are shown as the reviewer gave them.
- heise online: Mähroboter Ecovacs Goat A1600 Lidar Pro im Test: Top-Leistung für knapp 1000 EuroHands-on
- SmartZone: Ecovacs Goat A1600 LiDAR Pro im Test - Trimmender RasenmähkünstlerHands-on
- inside digital: Ecovacs Goat A1600 Lidar Pro im Test (paid partnership with Ecovacs)News
- ECOVACS: GOAT A1600 LiDAR PRO product pageManufacturer
- Notebookcheck: Mähroboter-Neuheiten 2026 von Ecovacs erhältlichNews