The Yarbo S1 Snow Blower is the first electric multi-purpose yard tool we’ve ever reviewed, and is in fact the world’s first ever electric snowblower! While Jimmy went on vacation to the Caribbean during a record-breaking Denver snowstorm, Andrew tested out the autonomous and not-so-autonomous features of the Yarbo.
Overall, we were very impressed with the S1’s sturdy build quality, Yarbo’s excellent customer service, and the intuitive feature-filled Yarbo app. Major downfalls of the Yarbo S1 include it’s difficulty in removing wet, chunky snow, and the need to drill the docking station into the cement of your driveway. Keep reading for our full review of the pros and cons!
Click here to purchase the Yarbo S1 Snow Blower.
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Yarbo S1 Snow Blower – Things We Love
There’s a lot to love about the Yarbo S1. Here are the main points:
Packaging + Assembly
Although the Yarbo came in 4 hefty boxes, assembly was relatively easy, and was made much easier by the meticulous instructions provided in both the manual included with the Yarbo, and the set-up video accessible by QR code on the box. Everything appeared to be housed in multiple layers of packaging to ensure defect-free delivery, and our Yarbo arrived in perfect condition.
Build Quality
Each component of the Yarbo feels solid and substantial. The main Yarbo body has a low center of gravity, which helps with stability even with various heavy modules attached. The Yarbo and it’s various attachments also feature IPX6 waterproofing.
Customization Options
Using the app, you can set values for the Yarbo’s starting and ending points, path to travel, snow disposal direction, throw distance, and blade power. There is also an AI-driven scraper-height adjuster. The Yarbo comes with a few different attachments, including a plow and an auger, for various types and thicknesses of snow. There is also a mower attachment which we will provide a separate review on when the grass starts growing in Denver!
Motion Detection
With such a heavy, high-powered autonomous machine such as the Yarbo, you might wonder what would happen if it ran over a person, or a pet. Luckily, the Yarbo detects movement up to 5 feet away on both sides, and in front of the travel path, and automatically pauses until the object has passed. Andrew did have an issue with this feature malfunctioning once when he was attempting to clean out the auger while standing right next to the Yarbo.
Navigation Abilities
The Yarbo S1 Snow Blower moves on tracks, like a tank, which allow it to move freely across pretty much any type of terrain you would encounter in the typical suburban lawn. Inclines aren’t a problem either, thanks to the adaptive height adjustment. One limitation of the track design is that it doesn’t work well with icy conditions, but the Yarbo also comes with track studs that you can install for this purpose.
Yarbo S1 Snow Blower – Room For Improvement
Unfortunately, the Yarbo is far from perfect. Here were our main complaints:
Price
It’s hard to justify a $7499 purchase on a fancy snowblower when you can get a regular, manual snowblower on Amazon for $160. Purchasing a Yarbo S1 Snow Blower is an investment in the future, however, as Yarbo is constantly innovating and adding new features (such as mowing + fertilizing). Hopefully the price will come down in the future as Yarbo ramps up production.
Difficulty Docking
When our Yarbo headed back to the wireless charging station after it’s first plowing-session, it was unable to dock properly due to snow covering the charger. The Yarbo did attempt to plow the charging station before mounting, but wasn’t able to get all the snow off, thus blocking access to the electrical connection.
Wet Snow
While we are sure that most users of the Yarbo S1 Snow Blower won’t be experiencing record-breaking snowstorm conditions on a regular basis, we were still disappointed to find that the particular variety of snow that fell on our property presented significant challenges to our Yarbo. It wasn’t able to clear the snow properly due to its weight and wetness, and Andrew had to clean out the auger at frequent intervals so it could resume blowing. This isn’t ideal, especially for a machine that is supposed to be hands-free, sort of like an snow Roomba. Having to clean out your Roomba every 5 minutes would kind of defeat the purpose of a robot-vacuum.
Power Drain
We wish there were a way to remotely power down the Yarbo to reduce battery drain if the robot were to ever get stranded. This isn’t possible currently, unless you physically press a button on the Yarbo itself.
Pictures
The Yarbo App
Packaging
Yarbo In Action
The Freshly Charged Take
Overall, the Yarbo S1 Snow Blower exceeded our expectations, and we will certainly be having some fun with it in the months to come. Stay tuned for our review of the S1’s mower attachment once the weather warms up. We hope the price eventually becomes a bit more affordable for the average consumer, but if you can’t wait until then, pick yours up here, and use the code YARBOGIFT to save $1000.
Check out the “Tech” section on our website for more awesome non-PEV products.