My British passport never works the automated gates at Stansted and Heathrow. However, it does work the gates at Gatwick North (which appear to be a different model).

My chip reads correctly when scanning it on my phone and never had any issues at any country's manned checkpoints (including several who routinely read the chip).

I still queue at the e-Passport Gates though. The "exit lane" to see a real person tends to have no (or minimal) queue, so it is often quicker than queuing up to see a person in the first place.