Morava without cables for less than 1,000 euros: The Goat O800 RTK amazed me

The ECOVACS Goat O800 RTK in the everyday test: How well does the robotic lawnmower do without a boundary cable?

In the spring of 2025, Ecovacs released several new robotic lawnmowers, including the Goat O800 RTK from this test.

The model dispenses with a boundary cable and instead relies on a GPS navigation with reference antenna. This is intended to drive through the garden in an centimeter accuracy and, thanks to lidar sensors including AI support, recognize over 200 obstacles.

Nevertheless, the price is less than 1,000 euros. This is a announcement.

I had the robotic lawnmower whispered through my garden for several weeks and put it to the test: How good is the obstacle detection? Is that satisfactory? And how precisely maneuver theGoatreally?

You can find out all of this in my test.

Scope of delivery & design

The Ecovacs Goat RTK 800 comes with everything that is necessary for the company. Included in the scope of delivery:

• The robotic lawnmowers themselves
• The charging station including screws for fastening in the ground
• an RTK antenna for precise position determination
• A power supply and extension cable for the station
• A few replacement blades
• A operating instructions

Unpacked, the Goat O800 RTK makes a robust impression. The housing is made of stable plastic. There are no striking gaps or wobbling parts - except for the bumper, which easily gives way to obstacles when impact.

Thanks to the good obstacle recognition, the model hardly jostles against objects anyway (more on that later).

Visually, the Goat RTK 800 looks modern, but functional. I find it a bit massive in the competitive comparison. For example, the Dream models seem significantly sleek. However, the look is rather a minor matter.

Installation & setup: simple, but ...

As expected, the facility was much easier than with classic robots with boundary cables. Instead of laboriously laying a wire and carefully paying attention to recesses and loops, you can save yourself all of this with the O800.

So that the robot works at all, two things are needed:

• RTK antenna:The satellite -based navigation system does not work without them. Since high objects such as trees disturb the reception, you should find a suitable place in your garden.
• WLAN:Nothing works without continuous internet connection. So it is certain that you have reception in the garden.

Important:If you either have no WLAN reception in the garden or too many trees that could disturb the antenna signals, RTK models like the O800 are not suitable for you.

However, these are the biggest hurdles. If you meet the requirements mentioned, all you have to do is connect the charging station to the power grid, put the antenna into the ground and pair the robot with the smartphone app.

Then the robot is already itching, because in contrast to some other models, the O800 RTK maps your garden completely automatically. You just have to run with him on the edge of your lawn. That worked surprisingly well, even in a narrow small garden.

If necessary, you can also take your lawn with a manual joystick control in the app. In this way it is also possible to mark trampolines, trees or shrubs as no-go zone if the robotic lawnmower is to avoid them.

In addition, several zones can be determined in the app (if you want to mow them separately), divide zones in surfaces and define crossing passages.

The initial setup takes about 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how complex the garden is, and must also be mastered by absolute beginners. It could hardly be easier.

Navigation and obstacle recognition: The location determination works so well without limitation cables

If you have placed the RTK antenna into the sky with a clear view, the O800 RTK can determine its location to a few centimeters.

The result is impressive:While conventional robotic lawnmowers with cables often move through the garden like a drunk hedgehog, the O800 RTK robot drives beautiful, straight tracks in a logical pattern.

This not only looks neat, but also ensures that every job is really recorded.

He also mastered tight passages surprisingly well. Even the 90 centimeter narrow area next to our climbing frame it drives unerringly. He never stuck himself.

The obstacle recognition also convinces:The robot recognizes large environmental objects such as climbing scaffolds, furniture or shrubs and saves them generously. There was no single collision in the test.

No comparison to my Gardena with a boundary cable that constantly thunders against any object (and leaves the corresponding scratch).

Even small items such as a toy excavator or balls reliably recognize the O800 RTK and skilfully extends them. Sometimes a bit rough, but without colliding.

A lying down lying down was apparently too small for camera detection, but the robot registered the obstacle thanks to its bumper and turned around.

Small objects, on the other hand, are problematic, including garden tubes, branches or smaller animals, although he should recognize them according to the manufacturer. However, this is probably also related to the lighting conditions.

In my test, the O800 RTK drove over a thick branch without batting the lidar lens and torn it away.

Speaking of tearing:Sometimes the robot leaves clear traces in the lawn, especially when the floor is damp. A few times he sprinkled my garden with sparkled earth crumbs.

A problem that many robotic lawnmowers with a strong cycling profile have. The positive news: he also gets along with gradients and gets less stuck. It should even cope with tendencies up to 45 percent, which I could not test.

How well mow the O800 RTK?

As with most of the robots, the O800 RTK also has a mower with three rotating blades.

The cut is clean and even, especially since the robot leaves systematic paths as already described, instead of poaching across the garden.

For an even more uniform section, the robot changes the motto at a week on request. In addition, the cutting height between three and eight centimeters can be easily adjusted over a rotary wheel on the housing.

Which:After only three days, an error message in the app flashed that the bladeswornshould be and should be replaced urgently. They were said to have been in use for 50 hours.

This obvious error message appeared twice in my test. It is possible that ECOVACS still has to remove a software bug here. In any case, I can't explain it otherwise.

The lawn edges are a double -edged sword: On the one hand, the robot reliably recognizes lawn edges and can run over it on request to better mow them. However, I have conifers as a natural limitation that the robot recognizes as an obstacle - and therefore does not dare as close as it should.

My Gardena Sileno Minimo would simply drive up to 30 centimeters over a boundary cable. The O800 RTK has none. My solution: map the garden manually and let it drive it right along the edge of the conifers.

Since the O800 RTK cannot extend its mower, edge neck will inevitably stop. Here you have to help with a hand trimmer depending on the garden.

And how efficiently does he mow?The mowing speed depends heavily on your garden. Depending on the obstacles and bumps, it creates the 800 m² specified by the manufacturer in 4-6 hours.

In between he invites himself to (100 minutes from 0 to 100) and then returns to the place where he stopped.

Volume, maintenance & security

Pleasantly quiet:With only 57 decibels, the O800 RTK can hardly be heard outside. This lies in the lower area of ​​the typical volume of robots and no comparison to conventional lawn mowers (90 decibels), some of which sound as if they were trying to mill through the ground.

However, the robot always gives bey tones that I cannot interpret. Apparently he recognizes objects orthink loudly after, because he also takes a little break while catching. It doesn't bother me, but should be mentioned here.

What about security?Here Ecovacs installed the following features:

• Obstacle recognition:Thanks to the camera and sensors, he recognizes people and animals in good time. He should also be able to recognize hedgehogs, although you should generally not mow at dusk.
• Automatic shutdown:If the robot is raised, it stops immediately. There is also the obligatory emergency shutdown button on the top.
• Theft protection:Without a connection to the app, the Goat RTK 800 is unusable, so it is not very attractive to thieves. The device is also secured with a PIN.

The maintenance is uncomplicated:Thanks to IPX6 water protection, you can simply burn the device out or leave it outside in the rain. The blades can be easily replaced - three replacement blades are included.

App & control: What functions does the app offer?

Finally, a few words about the Ecovacs Home app. It is pleasantly clearly designed and offers the following options:

• Virtual zones:You can divide your garden into several areas.
• No-Go-Zonen:Certain areas can be defined as the blocking zone.
• Submission plans:You can set individual mowing times, even for every zone.
• Obstacle recognition:You can set the detection for obstacles between 10-20 centimeters depending on the grass height.
• Multural poem:You can change them weekly.
• Rain sensor:You can set breaks and mowing behavior when it rains.
• Animal welfare:You can set up a protection time in which the robot returns to the charging station.

The operation is intuitive, every function can be found exactly where I would expect it. There were occasional bumpy or missing translations (for example in notifications), which are not significant.

Cool also:The robot also serves as a surveillance camera, because you can watch live in the app while mowing.

However, the control does not work from afar despite the WLAN connection. I couldn't even send the O800 RTK out of vacation to mow, as I am used to from my vacuum robots. Too bad.

Should you buy the Goat O800 RTK?

The Goat O800 RTK is worth it for you if you ...

• ... looking for a robotic lawnmower without a boundary cable at an attractive price.
• ... not many trees or other disturbing obstacles for the RTK antenna in the garden.
• ... value on good obstacle detection for objects places larger than 10 centimeters.

Who is it rather not suitable for?

• If you don't have a stable WiFi in the garden, you can't do anything with the model.
• Perfectionists who expect absolutely flawless lawn edges - rework is necessary here.
• Have a very small (<100 square meter) garden: there are smaller models.

PossibleAlternatives to Goat O800 RTK:

• The Ecovacs Goat G1 for just under 1,000 euros, for which you place beacons in the garden.
• The, if you want to do without antennas, beacons or cables
• The Segway Navimow i105 for larger areas up to 1,500 square meters

The Ecovacs Goat RTK 800 is an exciting option for everyone who is looking for a modern, wireless robotic lawnmower.

The navigation is well thought out, the furnishings are super easy thanks to automatic mapping, and the mower result is very good. However, the device is strongly dependent on a stable WLAN and antenna connection. For less than 1,000 euros, an astonishingly good overall package.

Do you have experience with robots or questions about the device? Let me know in the comments. Also likes to make suggestions about other models that we should test.