ANTHBOT M5 LiDAR Review

Anthbot M5 LiDAR specs

• Covers 500 m² (about 1/8 acre). Slope is 45% (24°).
• Drive type isn't stated (assumed 2WD like the rest of the M series). Whether 4G is included or a paid service is unconfirmed.
• The standard M5 (a budget model) uses RTK with an antenna and is essentially a smaller M9.

Specs are compiled from manufacturer listings and may change between production runs. Confirm on the retailer page before buying.

ANTHBOT M5 LiDAR video review

Video by Ninja Tech AI on YouTube. Independent creator content, shown as a reference. It is not part of our scoring.

The Anthbot M5 LiDAR is the cheapest LiDAR robot mower in our database, a budget-tier pick that’s often on sale. For the money you get antenna-free 360° LiDAR navigation, dual cameras and a quiet, compact body suited to small lawns under trees. The catches are a tiny one-eighth-acre rating, a short battery, and no independent professional reviews yet, so this is a calculated bet on a small yard.

Who the Anthbot M5 LiDAR is for (and who should skip it)

It’s for owners of small, mostly flat lawns up to about 5,400 sq ft, such as townhouse plots, small backyards and fenced side yards, especially ones shaded by trees or buildings that make RTK mowers lose their fix. If you’ve been eyeing a LiDAR mower but couldn’t justify $1,000 or more, this is the lowest entry price right now.

Skip it if:

• Your lawn is bigger than about an eighth of an acre. Owners who stretch it will spend a lot of time waiting on recharges.
• You have real slopes. It’s 2WD with a 45% (24°) rating.
• You keep grass tall. Maximum cut height is 2.8”, short for tall fescue in summer.
• You want a proven product. We found no professional reviews of the M5 LiDAR.

Navigation and setup

The M5 LiDAR uses a spinning 360° LiDAR sensor (Amazon’s listing cites a 150° vertical field of view and 60 m detection radius) plus two 150° wide-angle HDR cameras. No satellites are involved, so tree canopy, fences and house walls shouldn’t matter. That’s the reason to buy this over the standard M5, which uses RTK with an antenna and is essentially a smaller Anthbot M9.

Anthbot pitches “Drop & Mow” setup in three minutes, with one-tap auto-mapping that traces the lawn on its own. Early owner reports on Amazon are mixed on that point. One owner said setup was simple: plug in the dock, drive the perimeter once, set a schedule. Another said the mower couldn’t auto-detect the boundaries of a fully fenced yard and had to be driven around the perimeter manually with on-screen joysticks. That owner also reported the dock needed Wi-Fi coverage and about 6 feet of clearance on three sides, and that the mower holds one map, so separate front and back yards divided by a fence meant remapping. Our setup guide covers dock placement and mapping tips.

Anthbot says the cameras recognize more than 1,000 obstacle types. One owner reported it navigated cleanly around a nearly buried sprinkler head, but also skipped patches of very tall grass it treated as obstacles until they were mowed down by hand. Start with a freshly cut lawn. For background on why LiDAR suits shaded yards, see our navigation explainer.

Mowing performance, slopes and terrain

Anthbot rates the M5 LiDAR for a 45% grade (about 24°) and 3 cm (1.2”) obstacles. Drive type isn’t stated, but every sign points to 2WD like the rest of the M series. Manufacturer slope ratings assume dry, short grass, and one owner review on Anthbot’s own store says it was “limited as soon as it comes across a even less than 45% slope and when the grass is wet,” adding they should have bought a four-wheel-drive model. Another Amazon owner said it handled an awkward camber along a fence line without trouble. Check your grade with our slope checker before ordering.

Coverage, cutting and battery

The mower uses a 5-blade, 7.9” (20 cm) disc, and Anthbot quotes about 150 m² (roughly 1,600 sq ft) of mowing per hour. Cutting height adjusts in the app from 1.2” to 2.8”.

Battery life is the most common complaint in the early reviews. One Amazon owner with a roughly 1,000 sq ft backyard said the mower covered about 90% of it before returning to charge, and split the lawn into two zones to work around it. Another gave it three stars because it needed three to four recharges to finish a small yard, noting the M9 shares the body with roughly double the battery capacity and that Anthbot told them a battery upgrade isn’t possible. Treat the 500 m² rating as a ceiling, not a comfortable target.

Anthbot says the mower can tell grass from paths and drive right along the edge, and one owner said it gets “pretty close” to edges depending on how carefully you map. Plan on some trimming anyway.

App, connectivity and anti-theft

The Anthbot app handles mapping, up to 20 zones, no-go areas, schedules and cutting height. It can schedule around local sunrise and sunset and uses the rain sensor to reschedule. Anthbot lists 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but its store presents connectivity as an optional add-on, and we couldn’t confirm whether 4G data is included. Anthbot doesn’t detail anti-theft features.

One practical plus: because LiDAR doesn’t need open sky at the dock, Anthbot says you can put the charging station in a shed or tool house, which reduces theft risk. Our theft protection guide has more ideas.

Ownership notes

• Evidence: no professional reviews yet. The Amazon listing showed about 10 ratings averaging 4.2 stars when we checked, and some reviews on the page appear to cover other Anthbot variants.
• Weather: IPX6-rated with automatic return when it rains. One owner noted the charger’s power supply isn’t waterproof and needed sheltering. See do robot mowers work in rain.
• Noise: 58 dB or less in standard mode. One owner runs it at night with its headlight.
• Size: about 19.6 x 15.4 in. Amazon’s listing says it fits through gaps as narrow as 27.6”.
• Support: Anthbot already sells the M9 and standard M5 in the US. One longer-term Anthbot owner on Amazon described support via the app and Facebook Messenger as quick.

How the Anthbot M5 LiDAR compares

The Sunseeker S4 costs a bit more, covers twice the area and has been reviewed by Tom’s Guide and Bob Vila. The ECOVACS GOAT O1000 LiDAR Pro adds a built-in edge trimmer for a similar premium. If your yard has slopes as well as shade, the mid-range Dreame A3 AWD 1000 brings LiDAR, AWD and an 80% rating. See our roundups of the best mowers for small yards and the best budget robot mowers.

Bottom line

The Anthbot M5 LiDAR gets antenna-free LiDAR navigation at a budget price, which is useful for small yards under trees where RTK mowers struggle. But its coverage is tiny, owners already flag the battery, and no professional reviewer has tested it. Buy it for a flat lawn well under an eighth of an acre. If your yard is bigger or you want proven performance, spend the extra on the Sunseeker S4.

Check the current price on Amazon

Sources

• anthbot.com
• amazon.com