Hello! I’m wondering if the current generation of Yarbo tools are still worth buying today, in February of 2026, given the fact that a new generation is set to launch this year?
I live in the Northeast where we have four seasons, so I deal with snow, grass, leaves, etc. When I say I deal with it, I mean I pay someone to deal with it. I’m extremely busy and don’t have time for things like dealing with grass. Having my driveway plowed when it snows is expensive; I pay $85 a week to have my grass cut.
I live on 6 acres, but only about half of it is cut. My driveway is super long, and it costs about $300 every time it snows to have it plowed. That said, having someone else do it is super easy, but it’s not cheap.
I’ll probably need two yardos to maintain my yard autonomously since some of my property is fenced in.
Should I just wait and buy the new model or would you buy now?
I’m also in the NE. There tends to be quite a bit of time needed for initial set up and mapping. Do you have a spot high up for the data center install? This needs to have a stable, unobstructed, 120 degree, view of the sky. Next would be planning your mow areas, leaf blowing areas, & snow blowing areas. Then you’ll need to spend the time physically mapping those areas with Yarbo. Ideally, you’ll then have test runs to watch how well Yarbo takes care of those areas and if anything needs to be adjusted or remapped.
Yarbo marketing is top-tier but the reality is, you’ll probably be spending quite a bit of time in the mapping → send out and watch how it does → make corrections to the map → send out again → fine tune other aspects of the mow/blow/snowblow plan. Once you have it all set up, it’s so cool and does save time but you’ll probably need to spend quite a bit of time getting it up and running then fine tuning it.
Most of us don’t know what the M Series will be like yet but it sure looks nice. The current, Y Series, model is a beast and can handle a lot. I have the Mower Pro and Snowblower and I’m very happy with them. The Pro blades will need maintenance pretty much every month. I’ve noticed mine need to be sharpened but if you decided to go with the standard kit, you’ll need to replace the razor blades to keep the cut quality high.
I think it’s worth buying the Y Series in 2026 but it’s not perfect. Understand there is quite a bit of time needed to tune and fine-tune Yarbo along with needing to deal with changes with new firmware updates. When I got mine I mapped out the easiest mowing areas of my yard and sent it out so I could see how it worked. I actually started trusting it very early on with those areas and would leave the house during work plans. This year I’m going to remap everything with more accuracy and with the trimmer attached. I can see this taking me quite a bit more time as I’ll need to get much closer to objects than I was. This does make me a little nervous as Yarbo has a TON of torque and can do some damage should it get out of sorts but with enough testing I hope to get back to the set-it-and-forget-it state I was in previously with the mower.
Based on the information you provided, the current Yarbo may be a good choice for you. You mentioned that you live on 6 acres, and for that size of area, the current Yarbo model can handle the work. It is designed to manage large properties and can take care of mowing, leaf blowing, and snow removal throughout all four seasons, which fits well with living in the Northeast.
If you are looking for a solution now, the current generation is capable of meeting your needs. If you prefer to wait for the new generation launching later this year, that is also an option. However, based on your property size and maintenance requirements, the current model should be able to handle the workload effectively.
My quick answer for you is YES, the Y series is ideal for your use cases with a 6 acre property to maintain.
The Y series was designed specifically for large properties. The upcoming M series is designed for smaller suburban sized yards and driveways.
Initial setup and iterative adjustments will take some time to dial in and get just right, but are well worth the effort. The net result will be a Yarbo that maintains your property throughout the year. Like any other yard care mechanical device, there will be periodic maintenance, but nothing significant or over burdensome.
I think you seem to be an ideal Yarbo customer. You are asking the right questions in advance to ensure you are well informed and that you have the proper expectations. That’s what I did, and I was not disappointed in any way.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can do in terms of giving you a well rounded opinion of what to realistically expect.
I now own two Yarbos and I am contemplating buying 1 or 2 of the new M series. Is Yarbo worth purchasing? Difficult question to answer. After the initial setup, when it works, it works well. But when it doesn’t, you have to spend a lot of time troubleshooting and waiting for responses. Common issues include GPS coverage, SB malfunction at the height of the snow season, Yarbo needing to rescued, etc. I bought a second one for back-up whenever I have issue with the first.
I am investor in a lot of new technology so I understand that kinks need to be worked out. I tend to have a back-up in case things go south. However, more recently things keep piling on. Just had a new SB sent and and now having GPS issues (is it cloud cover or the new update, who knows.) If you have the time to tinker then it is a good purchase. Yarbo is not a complete product yet but in the next 5 years, just like most new technology, this will be sorted out.
…then you probably don’t have time for dealing with a robot. Not this year, at least.
They are time-intensive until you get them tuned, and you’ll be keeping your existing solution until then, and bringing them back when something breaks.
If you have a kid or a spouse who can put the time in, that’d be a different story. But if its all on you, these things require several hours per day when you start out, and parceling up six acres into a strategy without quirks is a lot of “starting out”.
Spring of 2027 might be a different story. But not 2026.
If you truly don’t have time to deal with yard/driveway stuff, Yarbo still takes a decent amount of time up front (setup, mapping, tuning, troubleshooting).
If you already have reliable mowing + plowing services, you may not feel much benefit right away—especially in the first season while you’re getting everything dialed in.
Unless you’re comfortable with some basic mechanical/electrical troubleshooting, you may end up hiring someone just to help with setup/maintenance.
Also, for ~6 acres, the M series is likely too small. You’d be looking at the Y series (and possibly more than one unit), which is a big investment. If you want a “hands-off” solution this year, waiting for the next generation (or at least until the platform is more mature) might be the safer move.
I highly recommend it for grass and leaves. I have 2.5 acres in NH and love it for those.
Look elsewhere for snowblower or be prepared to babysit and rescue it while it runs, because it will get stuck. Sometimes you can fix it from inside by manually driving it backwards to clear a collision (usually with a snowbank). but most of the time it just digs itself deeper into the snow requiring a hands on visit.
Definitely great for grass and leaves. Not so much as a snowblower. They definitely need more R&D regarding the snowblower module. I would not recommend the snowblower module at this point.
This last storm we had, my experience snow blowing was actually pretty good. I manually drove it vs it being autonomous as I had my car in the driveway and didn’t trust my programming to not do something to the car.
We officially got 9” during the storm and I didn’t have any issues removing the bulk. I then put the plow on and pushed the last 1/8” to the edges of the driveway which worked really well.
Personally, I was happy with the performance during that storm as the snow was not a wet heavy snow. We did have a wet heavy snow before and that experience with the snow blower was not good but I do think I took too much at once and was going too fast plus, it would have been tough for any snow blower to deal with. For that storm I abandoned the S1 then used the plow, which worked out great.
Both times it was so much better controller Yarbo than being outside dealing with it.
My experience with the snowblower so far has been very positive.
Nothings ever perfect, but I’ll say that I have not manually cleared ANY snow this year at all. Not once. Even sold my really nice 2 stage snowblower cause Yarbo has done so well keeping things cleared.
I did end up needing to have the snowblower module replaced due to a wiring issue, but the replacement process was very simple and pain free.
I think a lot of people don’t realize that no 2 stage snowblowers do well in heavy wet snow, so there are a lot of complaints when Yarbo gets clogged up with wet slushy snow.
They did make a recent change to Yarbo’s control logic and I think it’s more likely to get stuck in perimeter snow drifts currently, but I would suspect that issue to be resolved soon via software update.
As for the other modules, I similarly have had very good success with both the mower and leaf blower modules the leaf blower saved me a ton of time and effort over the fall.
Would I buy it again? Yep. No question. Just be aware that all home robots of any type require planning and a thoughtful installation, and they all require a measure of periodic maintenance.
If that’s true you should look into replacing your robot vacuum. I’ve only had to rescue mine once in 15 months. I vacuum twice daily and mop twice a week.
Sounds like mine. I have the Roborock s8 maxv ultra and I only had to manually intervene one time when some long hair got wrapped around the LiDAR sensor causing it to no long spin. After cleaning it out it’s been problem free. That was almost two years ago.
Roborock is my brand as well. I had been using a super reliable S7 MaxV Ultra for the past couple of years, but upgraded to the Saros Z70 (the one with the robot arm) a few months ago.
It’s an early beta unit, so right now I am giving it a pass. Although the two others we’ve had over the years have gotten stuck or trapped a few times a month too. I’ve had so many people tell me that Roborock is rock solid though. I will definitely have to check them out.
I have two Roborock Saros 10R and they both work great. I tried out the Z70 but found the robot arm to be a bit gimmicky and limited in real world use.
I’d like to get the Roborock Saros Rover once its released. That way it can climb my stairs and I won’t need two robots. @rgloverii did you see this at CES? If so, what are your thoughts?
The 10R is a really good robot. Great performance across the board. And much larger dust bin compared to my Z70.
The Saros Rover is just a concept right now, and if they do release it, I don’t think I would buy it.
The prototype at CES was very rough and barely worked. There was no vacuum or any other cleaning mechanism inside. Of course it’s just a prototype, but I think that speaks to where they are in the development process. The demo was cool, watching it climb the stairs. But it was EXTREMELY precarious and delicate, barely making it. And I watched it fall once.
When I get a few minutes, I’ll find a couple of videos I took and upload them.
Roborock is the shite. I wouldn’t consider anything else. The downside is it will highlight the shortcomings of Yarbo. I know they’re different animals, but the vacs are set and forget less some quick maintenance.
I still watch Rocky (our Roborock) cruise around and I’m still amazing how tight he gets to chair legs and moldings. Like I said, I had one intervention, that’s it. If I decided to plumb a dock vs refilling/emptying the tanks, I’d have even less to do.