Is it time to fire the neighbor kid and hire a robot lawnmower instead? Last year I wrote that “in all but a few scenarios, robot lawnmowers still aren’t worth your money,” but there’s a new class of Roombas with razor blades ready to tackle bumpy terrain and dodge crazy chickens. Realtor and smart home reviewer Brandon Doyle joins me to talk about our experiences with 2026’s newest robotic mowers and to let you know if they're finally worth all that money. Further reading: * It looks like Apple’s iPhone 18 really will skip the fall launch this year [https://www.theverge.com/tech/979231/apple-base-iphone-18-launch-delayed] * Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’ [https://www.theverge.com/policy/979339/flock-ceo-audits-data-retention] * Cats and dogs are missing meals after a popular smart feeder went down [https://www.theverge.com/tech/979295/petlibro-outage-smart-pet-feeders] * I finally found a robot lawnmower I’d trust with my yard [https://www.theverge.com/tech/978664/robot-lawnmower-review-segway-mammotion-husqvarna-roborock-dreame?preview=true&vm_preview=6538f5d4025d0d250428c18afb4f6979] * I put four robot lawnmowers through a brutal backyard battle — and only one person got injured [https://www.theverge.com/reviews/661136/robot-lawnmowers-husqvarna-navimow-mammotion-dreame-head-to-head] * A hacker ran me over with a robot lawn mower [https://www.theverge.com/tech/925696/yarbo-robot-lawn-mower-hack-remote-control-camera-access-mqtt] * The US government just banned Roombas [https://www.theverge.com/policy/972312/us-robot-ban-sweep-up-chinese-vacuums] * 5 Robot Mowers, 90 Days, 1 Winner — My 2026 Picks (and One to Avoid) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emU2S2zKisw] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] for unlimited access to theverge.com [http://theverge.com/], subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed [https://www.theverge.com/bulletin/795051/verge-podcast-ad-free-set-up-how-to]. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]