0:06
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today
0:08
to give you a review of the Luba Mini
0:11
all-wheel drive series. I recognize that
0:14
not all of you have massive lawns like
0:17
mine and not everyone needs the higher
0:19
capacity mowers like those that I've
0:21
reviewed in the past. I'm continuing to
0:23
use a Luba 2 all-wheel drive model
0:26
myself, except for I'm using one that is
0:29
designed for basically acre sized lawns.
0:33
In this case, many of you don't need
0:34
that big. And so, Luba offers a mini
0:37
mower that allows you to save some
0:39
money, but also have a mower that is a
0:42
better fit maybe for the size of your
0:44
yard. This comes in two flavors. You can
0:47
get the Mini 800 or the Mini 1500. This
0:51
is the 1500 that I'm going to be
0:53
unboxing, testing, and reviewing as a
0:55
part of this series. And so the 800 is
0:58
that refers to 800 square meters. And so
1:01
that is about a fifth of an acre. This
1:05
is up to this is the 1500 or 1500 square
1:08
meters. And so that is right over a
1:11
third of an acre. And so for those of
1:14
you that have more manageable size
1:16
lawns, this might be the better option
1:18
for you. So today we're going to start
1:20
by first unboxing, putting it together,
1:22
assembling it, setting it up, and then
1:24
I'm going to be testing it over the next
1:25
few weeks to see how well that it does.
1:28
So earlier in the year, I actually
1:29
agreed to review this mower. And I said,
1:32
you know, send it to me in August and
1:34
I'll do August, September, somewhere in
1:36
there. And so sure enough, I went away
1:38
to travel for several weeks. It had
1:40
already been dry and hot before I left,
1:42
but it was extremely dry and hot while I
1:45
was gone. And I came back and my lawn
1:47
was completely burnt over, just crunchy
1:50
brown. And so I've been working over the
1:52
last few weeks to try to resuscitate the
1:54
lawn and get things growing again. And
1:56
now I have enough going here that I've
1:59
turned off my typical mowing system. And
2:02
so it's starting to grow back up. And
2:03
what I'm going to do is I'm going to
2:04
over the test period, I'm going to have
2:06
it cut at a different angle. And so we
2:08
can see what is being done directly by
2:10
the Mini as opposed to my typical Luba
2:14
all-wheel drive, which after a couple of
2:15
years, I'm very comfortable with the
2:17
performance it does. By the way, it
2:19
usually does such a good job that my
2:20
next door neighbor actually bought one
2:22
just like it because he loved the way
2:24
that it cut my yard. That's pretty good
2:26
advertising right there. And so we're
2:28
going to do the unboxing. We're going to
2:29
do the assembly and then dive into the
2:49
Okay, we've got everything all set up.
2:51
By what I clocked on the camera itself,
2:54
it seemed to take me about 15 minutes to
2:56
get everything set up. That included
2:58
working in two different locations and
3:00
also documenting some things along the
3:02
way. So, the setup is really quite
3:04
simple. You're just going to have to
3:05
mount on the camera at the top of the
3:07
unit. And basically, everything beyond
3:09
that is a simple matter of setting up a
3:11
few simple steps on the docking station
3:13
and then the reference station. Now, a
3:15
couple of things that I do want to point
3:17
out about that. First of all, you can
3:18
see I've got it set up here next to the
3:20
full size Luba all-wheel drive. You can
3:23
see that the reference station, which is
3:24
this pole with the module at the top, it
3:27
is much smaller here in the mini. and
3:30
and so that reflects the fact that it's
3:32
designed to use in smaller lawns and
3:34
smaller situations. However, I will
3:36
raise the point that I've just set it up
3:38
here in the ground as I have with the
3:41
original unit. But if you happen to be
3:43
setting up your reference station maybe
3:46
a ways away from where the actual mower
3:48
is going to be operating, you may be
3:50
better served putting it on the side of
3:51
a building or up in a higher position
3:53
depending on how far it's going to have
3:55
to communicate. The reference station is
3:57
all about communication. That's how that
3:59
you're able to communicate really to the
4:01
from the app to the mower unless you're
4:03
close enough to the mower to establish a
4:04
Bluetooth connection. And it's through
4:06
the reference station that it helps to
4:08
not only to keep everything mapped, but
4:11
then also to keep it in reference to
4:13
where it should be in terms of cutting
4:15
lines and so that you get that
4:16
precision. So, it's really important two
4:19
things to have this set up in an area
4:20
where it can communicate well. But
4:22
number two, make sure that when you're
4:24
adding the mower into the app to set it
4:26
up, you also set up the reference
4:28
station. My neighbor next door when he
4:30
bought his, he finally came over and
4:31
knocked on my door and says, "Hey man,
4:33
can you help me get it set up?" He had
4:34
done everything right except for one
4:36
step. He had forgotten to add the
4:38
reference station in the app. Uh not and
4:41
so he added the mower but not the
4:42
reference station. And so he wasn't able
4:44
to properly communicate. And so be sure
4:46
to do all of that. One other thing is
4:48
that right now I've just got things
4:50
quickly hooked up and I'm only using one
4:52
outlet here because I have got the
4:54
docking station for the mower and the
4:56
reference station in the same location.
4:58
If you're doing that, you can actually
4:59
plug the reference station into the
5:02
docking station itself and thus only use
5:04
one power outlet. However, if you have
5:06
the reference station on the side of a
5:08
building or in some location other than
5:10
the dock, you actually do have a an
5:13
included separate AC adapter and so that
5:15
you can power that separately. Outside
5:17
of that, however, everything was very
5:20
simple to set up. I am familiar with
5:22
MMO's uh process at this point, but
5:25
setup really is simple enough. And of
5:27
course, you've got this really big nice
5:30
guy that is like almost like a waxed
5:32
reinforced kind of um almost like a
5:35
presentation board. And so it does make
5:38
everything nice and simple. And it
5:39
didn't even blow away on me and it's
5:41
very windy out here right now. So all of
5:43
that is good. So next step is we're
5:45
going to set this up in the actual app.
5:47
We're going to map out the space and
5:49
we'll see how well it mows. So you've
5:51
seen that actually setting them up in
5:53
the app is really, really simple. It's
5:55
just a matter of finding the units, uh,
5:59
adding them, doing any kind of your
6:00
Wi-Fi information if you're going to
6:03
connect via that way, and then you run
6:05
firmware updates to make sure that
6:06
everything is up to date. Everything is
6:08
one click as far as the firmware
6:10
updates. And I will give MMO this, they
6:12
are always really fantastic to continue
6:14
to update and improve their products
6:16
through firmware updates. And once you
6:18
have run those firmware updates, you
6:20
move on to the mapping stage. It's just
6:21
as simple as using these controls to go
6:23
right and left, backwards and forwards
6:25
and controlling the unit and I'll follow
6:27
it around to make sure I get where I
6:29
want. So, if you have a normal shaped
6:33
lawn, particularly if it's enclosed by a
6:35
fence, there's an auto mapping feature
6:36
you can use. If you have an irregular
6:38
shaped lawn like mine does that has some
6:40
undefined edges, you're going to be
6:42
better off to do the manual mapping as
6:44
I've been doing, which you really just
6:46
kind of follow along on the perimeter
6:47
and you guide the mower along and you
6:50
map out the perimeter. But then you also
6:52
have the option of creating things like
6:54
this, which I'm doing right now, called
6:56
a no-go zone. So, I don't want it to
6:58
always have to negotiate around this
7:00
tree that's in the yard. So, I'm going
7:02
to go ahead and map out that I don't
7:04
want it to come into this area. goes
7:07
So, I just guide the mower around that
7:11
perimeter of that area I don't want it
7:14
to go, map that out, and once I have
7:17
completed the loop, and it'll always
7:19
wait until you have fully completed the
7:21
loop before it says it's complete. But
7:23
once I have that mapped out, it will
7:25
inform me that it's finished. And I'm
7:27
going to save that. That no-go mapping
7:30
is now completed. And so, I can do that
7:32
for any kind of other obstruction that I
7:34
might have in the lawn. Now, once you
7:36
have got your area set up and everything
7:38
mapped out, you then have the option to
7:40
either just start it mowing in the area
7:43
that you want and you can set up
7:44
specifics of how you want to be cut. In
7:46
this case, I am actually going to cut at
7:48
a different angle from what I do the
7:49
normal my own luba because I want to see
7:52
how this cuts and allow you to see a
7:55
distinct pattern that will start to
7:56
emerge after this has cut the lawn for a
7:58
few times. So you can go right into
8:00
mowing or you can actually set this up
8:02
and schedule it to where it mows a
8:04
specific area at a specific time and you
8:07
can really be very specific about that.
8:09
You can dial in all kinds of functions
8:11
about the pattern that you want it to
8:12
use. Uh you can set the mowing height.
8:16
You can set the frequency whether or not
8:17
you want it to mow on days. It detects
8:19
rain. All of those types of things.
8:21
You've got a huge wide range of options.
8:24
But it is fairly user friendly,
8:25
particularly after you've done it a
8:26
couple of times. And it's pretty easy to
8:28
get everything set up and mapped out.
8:29
And then after you've got all that set
8:31
up, you just let it do its thing. Okay,
8:33
I've told it to get started on its first
8:36
task. And so we'll track along here and
8:39
see how it does as it sets out to cut my
8:41
lawn. You probably can't hear it, but
8:44
that motor has fired up and it is
8:47
starting the process of its cut.
9:02
All right. So, it is now late September.
9:04
I have been using the Luba all-wheel
9:08
drive Mini for a little over a month at
9:11
this point, and I've exclusively had it
9:13
cutting this area. So, now that I've
9:15
used it for a while, I feel like I can
9:17
come back to you and report on how well
9:20
that has gone. and then also the things
9:21
that stood out to me that I liked and a
9:24
few things that I didn't like as well.
9:26
So, let's jump in and talk to some of
9:27
the things that I like. I really really
9:30
love the whole Mimotion kind of
9:32
ecosystem. So, for example, my lawn's
9:34
been a bit of a mess this year and so I
9:36
involved some professional help and I
9:38
got the weed man to start to come and so
9:40
one of the first things that they said
9:41
to me is that you're cutting your lawn
9:43
too low. You need to have the cut at a
9:45
higher height to help to uh you know to
9:47
shade off those those weeds. says,
9:49
"Okay." I pulled out the app from
9:50
Emotion. I says, "How high do you want
9:52
it cut?" And right there, I was able to
9:54
set it at the exact height uh that they
9:56
wanted to be cut at. So, that's just one
9:58
example of how much precision you can
10:00
bring to that. I mean, I could literally
10:02
control by the millimeter how high that
10:04
my lawn was going to be cut. So, that's
10:06
pretty fantastic. I've noted before, but
10:09
Memoion is fantastic in continually
10:11
doing firmware updates that not just uh
10:14
add features or squash bugs, but also
10:17
just make everything a little bit more
10:19
intuitive and more effective, they have
10:21
a really, really great followup on their
10:24
products. And I will note that even
10:25
though I've had the Luba 2 for a couple
10:27
of years now, there are still periodic
10:29
firmware updates as they continue to
10:31
invest in that product and so they
10:33
aren't abandoning it. The app also keeps
10:35
you in the loop. you get notifications
10:37
about when the tasks start, when it's
10:39
going to charge, that it's, you know,
10:41
recharging. And so, it allows you, even
10:42
if you're offsite to stay kind of
10:44
checked in with your mower, and I will
10:46
note that there are a lot of safety
10:48
features that are built in to make sure
10:50
that it doesn't go off your property,
10:52
that no one else is able to use it. And
10:54
so, uh, some pretty cool things in that
10:55
regard, I think, that give a little bit
10:57
of peace of mind for that. I find that
11:00
once you learn how to use the app and
11:02
you learn how to create your maps and
11:04
your schedules, everything becomes
11:06
basically just forget about it. It is
11:08
plugandplay. You just let it do its
11:10
thing and it does it very very reliable.
11:13
The other thing that I I noted that I
11:16
kind of critiqued back when I did the
11:17
Yuka review earlier in the year is that
11:19
I I really found it kind of difficult to
11:21
get the uh the cutting angle that I
11:24
wanted through the app itself and it
11:25
felt like it was kind of trial and error
11:27
to get there. They've dramatically
11:29
improved that now to where you have this
11:30
very cool kind of transparent overlay
11:33
that with your exact property, you can
11:35
see how each of the cutting angle, how
11:38
those lines would look on your lawn. So,
11:40
it really allows you to precisely choose
11:42
exactly what you want. So, that's a huge
11:44
improvement. It's just an example of
11:45
what I was talking about how that they
11:47
continue to just make everything more
11:49
user friendly. I love the mathematically
11:52
perfect lines. And though my lawn still
11:54
isn't great, you can see how that you
11:57
have these really precise lines that you
11:59
just couldn't do on your home. And so it
12:01
when it's when it's done right and
12:03
particularly when your lawn starts
12:04
looking lush, it really looks fantastic.
12:07
Your lawn will be the envy of the
12:08
neighborhood. No doubt about it. It's
12:10
also worth noting that everything is
12:12
automated up to including the
12:14
recharging. I get asked that question
12:15
quite a bit and yes, everything is is
12:18
fully automated. And so when it starts
12:20
to get low, it gets down to 15% and then
12:23
it takes itself back to recharge and it
12:26
doesn't pick back up charging until you
12:28
know it's ready to move once again. But
12:30
that whole process is automated. You
12:32
don't have to think about it. It's just
12:33
going to do it all itself.
12:35
This the mower itself is incredibly
12:37
reliable. And one thing that I will note
12:39
that is an improvement on this mini unit
12:41
as opposed to my own uh Luba 2 all-wheel
12:44
drive unit is that the battery is
12:47
userreplaceable on the Mini. And so
12:50
that's great because that really frankly
12:52
is probably the most likely thing you're
12:54
going to have issues with. I mean, if
12:55
you do the basic maintenance, you change
12:57
the the blades periodically, you keep it
13:00
clean, there's not much else that's
13:01
likely to go wrong. And so, uh, being
13:03
able to actually go through and to
13:06
replace that battery yourself is going
13:07
to be really, really useful. And so, I
13:10
appreciate that improvement as well. I
13:12
also know with this particular unit, it
13:14
is an all-wheel drive unit, and over the
13:16
whole time I've had it cutting, that
13:18
includes going down into a bit of a
13:19
gully at the front of my property, it's
13:21
never gotten stuck one time. Uh, when
13:23
they say it can tackle steep grades that
13:26
it's all-wheel drive, literally nothing
13:28
stops that thing. It just keeps going.
13:30
And I've had zero issues with it. I've
13:32
not had to go out and rescue it once
13:34
during that time. So, that's great. It
13:36
is also super super quiet. And you may
13:38
have picked up on the fact that I'm
13:40
filming while it is running right next
13:42
to me. It's no problem because frankly
13:44
at the distance it is from me right now,
13:46
20 ft or so, I can't hear that it's
13:48
running at all. It's only when it's
13:49
basically right next to me that I can
13:51
hear it. And so, that means that you can
13:53
run this anytime. Your neighbors aren't
13:56
going to be concerned. You're not going
13:57
to be concerned. And the other thing
13:59
that I noted is that as it's starting to
14:01
get, you know, darker faster right now
14:03
and it hadn't finished its cycle. I came
14:05
home one time and I saw a light moving
14:07
along and I realized that this unit
14:09
actually has a headlight and so it was
14:11
lighting its path as it went along to
14:13
make sure it could do all of the
14:14
obstacle detection more safely at that
14:16
point. It's a feature I was not aware
14:18
of, but a cool additional feature there.
14:21
And so a lot of just great things. It's
14:24
just it's it's reliable. I mean, this
14:26
whole time I've not had to think about
14:27
it. It just runs its once I set it up,
14:30
as we showed at the beginning of the
14:31
video, it's just run and it's done its
14:33
thing. So, how about some things that I
14:35
don't like? Well, as you can see here,
14:37
as I demonstrate, if I flip these units
14:40
over, the cutting deck here on the Mini
14:43
is only a single deck. And so, while it
14:46
does have six blades instead of four on
14:48
that deck, it is only about 7.9 in wide,
14:51
whereas the my Luba 2 is double that.
14:55
And so it means that it's cutting a much
14:57
smaller swath every time, which means
14:59
that it takes that much longer to cut.
15:01
This is definitely better for a smaller
15:03
lawn because it basically has to uh do
15:06
twice as many rows to cut the same
15:08
amount of area compared to the bigger
15:10
luba unit. And so I do just find that
15:13
the task that I'm kind of familiar after
15:15
years of essentially in my head I know
15:17
how long it's going to take to cut this
15:19
section of the lawn. Well, I'm having to
15:21
recalibrate with that because it does
15:22
take longer. basically twice as much to
15:25
cut the same amount of lawn. I also find
15:28
that these smaller row lines to me don't
15:31
look as good on a bigger lawn. Again, on
15:34
a smaller lawn, it's scaled down. It's
15:36
more appropriate. I like the bigger path
15:39
on um of the the Luba 2 uh as opposed to
15:43
the mini, at least on my lawn, which is
15:45
very large and obvious at that point.
15:47
And obviously it is going to need more
15:49
frequent recharges if you're um you know
15:52
if you're having to cut to uh whatever
15:54
area. For example here my Luba 2 even
15:57
after running for a few years it will
15:59
get to about 95 96% on one charge of
16:03
this lawn that I've tked the mini with.
16:05
And so then it'll go back and charge for
16:06
a while and then finish it off. I find
16:08
that it it's a minimum of two charges
16:10
and sometimes even right a bit of a
16:13
third to cover the same amount of area.
16:15
So, that brings me to my conclusion. The
16:19
Luba all-wheel drive Mini, it's
16:22
everything that the Luba is in a lot of
16:24
ways. It's got that same amazing setup.
16:27
You don't have to worry about wires on
16:28
the perimeter. It's very easy to set up
16:30
once you figure it out the process and
16:32
it's super reliable. It does all of the
16:35
great things that Mimotion does. It's
16:37
got that great app. It's got great
16:38
precision and it's got great
16:40
reliability. However, you really need to
16:43
buy appropriate to your lawn size. I
16:45
would say that if you have a lawn that
16:47
is bigger than a/4 acre, even though
16:49
technically the unit that I'm doing, the
16:51
1500, should handle that very
16:53
adequately, I think I would move up to
16:55
the full size Luba if you're willing to
16:57
spend the extra money. I just feel like
16:59
you're going to be happier with how
17:02
quick your task gets done as opposed to
17:04
the smaller unit. If you got a small
17:06
lawn, however, and you want the all of
17:08
the the perks that come with having a
17:10
robot lawn mower, then absolutely the
17:13
Luba all-wheel drive Mini is a fantastic
17:15
choice for a small lawn. But I do think
17:17
that you need to buy relative to that.
17:19
So, to give you an idea of that price
17:21
difference right now, the Luba 2
17:23
all-wheel drive, uh, that's a 3000, it's
17:26
going to cost you about $2,400.
17:29
The 1500 that I've reviewed here is
17:32
going to cost you about $1,800. So, yes,
17:34
that's a $600 savings. That's 25% less
17:37
than the more expensive unit. And if you
17:39
have a smaller lawn, great. Go for it.
17:42
It's going to be a great choice. And of
17:43
course, your if your lawn is smaller
17:45
still, you can go for the even less
17:47
expensive uh 8 mini 800, which is more
17:51
in like the 1400, $1,450 range. And so,
17:54
you can save even more money there.
17:56
However, if you are anywhere near that
17:58
quarter acre lawn size and you're on,
18:01
you know, kind of on the fence as to
18:02
which one you would buy, if your lawn is
18:04
bigger at all, I would go to the bigger
18:06
unit. I think at the end of the day,
18:07
you're going to be happier with that in
18:09
product. So, I hope that this has helped
18:12
you to determine whether or not this is
18:13
the mower for you. As always, thanks for
18:16
watching. Have a great day and let the
