Robotic garden mowers are not any small buy. Many are hundreds of {dollars}/kilos and whereas robot vacuum cleaners have come down in worth through the years, with a lot of funds choices obtainable, the identical cannot actually be mentioned for robotic garden mowers.
There is a breadth of selection obtainable, nonetheless, a lot of which comes from Swedish firm Husqvarna. It has been doing robot lawn mowers for over 25 years. The corporate launched its first – and the world’s first industrial one – in 1995, so it is protected to say it is had some follow. The Husqvarna portfolio is broad, however you do not essentially want one in all its prime fashions. The Automower Aspire R4 sits on the backside of the vary and it is sensible. Right here, we’re speaking concerning the Automower 305 which is a slight step up from the Aspire R4. Is it price it, and must you purchase it?
Husqvarna
Husqvarna Automower 305
Really useful
The Husqvarna Automower 305 is an excellent robotic garden mower. It is not as good as a few of its competitors, however by way of efficiency the Automower 305 brings its A-game, together with an awesome design and being simple to make use of (as soon as you have bought the setup out of the best way).
- Very good efficiency
- Beautiful and strong design
- Easy to make use of
- Intensive setup
- No app management as commonplace
- No Alexa, Google or IFTTT help
Difficult setup
The Husqvarna Automower 305 requires you to put in a boundary wire across the perimeter of your backyard for setup, so it would not go for the faster GPS mapping technique you will discover on others, just like the Segway Navimow H1500E.
Which means its arrange just isn’t the quickest course of, although you possibly can decide to pay for set up and Husqvarna will do all of it for you. In the event you do it your self, you possibly can count on it to take a number of hours, relying on how a lot area there may be to cowl in your backyard. Mine is round 100sqm, and it took me round three hours to finish. A member of the family of mine has the identical robotic mower nonetheless, they usually paid for set up, which solely took round an hour for a a lot larger (and extra difficult) area, so it’s price contemplating that further funding.
In the event you select to do it your self nonetheless, you will want to position the boundary wire across the whole perimeter of your backyard, in addition to round any obstacles like a tree or climbing body. There is a very useful video on Husqvarna’s YouTube channel that can information you thru the method. Each couple of centimetres, you will have to knock in one of many plastic pegs into the bottom, except you select to dig a mini trench, which I might advocate. In the event you go for the previous, count on to have to repair the boundary wire a few occasions within the first couple of weeks – although that is fast and straightforward fortunately.
Together with the boundary wire across the perimeter, you additionally have to arrange a information wire that runs both by the centre of your backyard or a transparent path. That is designed to assist the Automower 305 get again to its charging base. As soon as you have completed all of that, the remainder of the setup is comparatively simple. It is completed on the keypad that you will discover beneath the highest part of the Automower, which pops up whenever you hit the Cease button. It is doable to attach the Automower 305 to the Automower Join app, although that is one thing you pay for as an additional quite than it coming with the mower by default.
Substantial design
The Husqvarna Automower 305 has an awesome design. It’s extra substantial than the smaller and extra discreet Automower Aspire R4, nevertheless it shares similarities, together with a gray and orange color scheme. It seems to be fabulous on the garden, with a beautiful symmetry that is actually quite pleasing to the attention.
On the entrance, there is a Husqvarna emblem positioned proudly within the centre with the charging pins above it, whereas in the direction of the rear of the highest, you will see the massive Cease button I discussed, and the flap that pops up when that button is pressed to disclose the keypad, 2.8-inch monochrome graphical show and blade dial – extra on these in a second.
The Husqvarna Automower 305 has what can solely actually be described as broad shoulders on the again, beneath which you will discover a big wheel both facet with first rate tread, delivering good grip. Each the wheels have a Husqvarna emblem within the centre, which is a pleasant contact, whereas on the entrance, there are two smaller wheels that assist information the Automower 305 round your backyard. There is a Husqvarna emblem on the rear too for good measure, whereas beneath you will discover the blades protected by a round disc.
Returning then to the keypad and show. These are weatherproof (IPX5) so whereas the hatch protects them, the keypad will survive if it will get moist – so do not panic. The keys want some strain utilized for them to register every press – it is not as responsive as you is perhaps used to from a touchscreen – however the show may be very simple to navigate, has a major variety of options and retains all the things quite simple. Every time the hatch is popped, you will have to enter the four-digit pin code you set throughout setup to entry options. It is a type of theft safety, although this is not as substantial as what is obtainable on the Segway Navimow H1500E.
Above the keyboard is a big dial for adjusting the blades and subsequently how lengthy or quick you need your grass to be lower. Flip all of it the best way to the left and the grass shall be trimmed shorter, whereas to the fitting, will probably be longer. There are extra grass top choices than the cheaper Automower Aspire R4 – eight as a substitute of 4 – and it is also simpler to regulate than the Aspire R4 too. It is not as simple because the Segway Navimow H1500E that allows you to regulate the grass reducing top through an app, nevertheless it’s nonetheless very a lot most popular in comparison with adjusting the blades manually. I had my Automower 305 set to 3 as I discovered that decrease than this resulted in a few nicks to the boundary wire that required fixing every time, so I selected a bit of longer over the fixed repairs.
Sensible options
The Husqvarna Automower 305 is packed to the brim with options, although it is not as good because the Automower Aspire R4. For starters, when you can add app connectivity to the Automower 305, you possibly can’t join it to the likes of Google Home or Amazon Alexa. It additionally cannot be linked to IFTTT – which stands for If This Then That. It allows issues like connecting the Automower 305 to your Google Calendar, so it would not mow if it sees there’s a backyard celebration occurring for instance.
Now, no Google Assistant, Alexa or IFTTT support is not a difficulty by way of this robotic garden mower’s efficiency – it would not impression it in any respect in reality. However, for those who’re on the lookout for good house integrations like these, then the Aspire R4 is perhaps a greater possibility for you.
I do assume you will need to be aware that simply because you possibly can’t ask Alexa to begin mowing your garden although, that does not imply the Automower 305 is not good. There are a number of sensors on board, together with a raise sensor, tilt sensor and an alarm, and you will additionally discover options like a climate timer, Frost Guard and Spiral Reducing. When turned on, Spiral Reducing kicks in when longer grass is detected, reducing it sooner utilizing a spiral reducing mechanism, whereas Frost Guard will use temperature sensors within the Automower 305 to verify mowing would not begin if the temperature is under 5-degrees Celsius.
There is not any object detection on board so the Automower 305 will not see an individual or an animal earlier than it hits it, nor the rest in your garden like toys or the hose. It does nonetheless have Spot Reducing and you may add a Secondary Space too, for instance a entrance garden alongside a again garden. You may also schedule on the Automower 305 and that is maybe a very powerful characteristic as that is the one that permits this robotic garden mower to run like clockwork. You set the schedule on the keyboard and show, and you may just about neglect about it after that.
Strong efficiency
There are some options I miss on the Automower 305 in comparison with the Aspire R4 robotic garden mower – significantly the flexibility to remotely begin it from the Automower Join app, however I’ve completely no complaints by way of its total efficiency. The app management is nice because it means you need not go exterior to manually examine the mower for any errors, or as I mentioned, manually begin it, nevertheless it’s a comfort characteristic quite than a obligatory one.
The truth is, after the primary week of the Automower 305 being put in, I’ve not had a single situation and I’ve needed to repair lower boundary wires considerably fewer occasions than I needed to with the Husqvarna Automower Aspire R4. That is not essentially the garden mower’s fault – it is extra doubtless the form of the backyard (the Aspire R4 is on the entrance garden), unevenness and a lot of different contributing elements, however the level is, the Automower 305 is a kind of robots you actually can depart to do the job with none human enter actually as soon as it’s arrange.
It has completed an excellent job of conserving my grass trying immaculate, and it is pretty and quiet too. I’ve a path on the sting of my backyard that has massive porcelain slabs embedded into the bottom with grass in between every slab. After I reviewed the Segway Navimow H1500E, it wasn’t in a position to navigate the grass in between. The angles between the decking, path and raised flower mattress had been a bit of an excessive amount of to deal with and the Navimow’s wheels would slip on the tiles. The Automower 305 had no points in any way with that setup, nonetheless. It could actually’t get proper into the corners of the backyard the place I’ve raised flower beds because it wants area to show, nevertheless it does a superb job of the place it could actually get to, and it cuts the grass in between the porcelain tiles too, which I am unable to let you know how a lot I recognize.
My again backyard the place the Automower 305 is positioned is round 100m2, and Husqvarna claims the Automower 305 is able to managing an space of 600m2 and inclines as much as 40 per cent. I discussed a member of the family had this mannequin put in in Sweden concurrently I put in it in my backyard, they usually have a slope of 25 per cent, which the Automower 305 handles with none points. Their backyard can also be round 300m2 and once more, I’ve watched it in motion and I can say the identical as I can for my very own backyard – it is excellent.
If you have not paid for the Automower Join app, you will have to set the schedule for the Automower on the show of the machine itself. It is easy to take action don’t fret, and you can even arrange Frost Guard and Spiral Reducing together with all the opposite options I discussed beforehand. I’ve the Automower 305’s schedule set to begin at 08:00AM each morning and run until round 11:00AM. It then does an additional mow on the weekends round 16:00PM. Just like the Husqvarna Automower Aspire R4, it would not mow for all the time. The schedule is an indicator of when the mower will depart its base robotically with out handbook intervention. The Automower 305 runs for between 60 and 70 minutes one cost, after which it returns to its charging base and recharges. Recharging is a bit of faster than the Aspire R4, recharging in round an hour, and whether it is absolutely charged and there may be nonetheless time throughout the schedule time to go away its base, it would.
In contrast to robotic vacuum cleaners, the Automower 305 will not lower your grass in a scientific order. It would not begin in the identical place each time, and it would not return to the place it left off both. Regardless of what I suppose is an absence of smarts right here although, your whole grass will all the time look unbelievable beneath the Automower 305’s watch, so it could actually lower it nonetheless it likes as a result of nonetheless that is, it does it brilliantly.
Verdict
The Husqvarna Automower 305 is an excellent robotic garden mower. It is not as good as a few of its competitors – the Segway Navimow H1500E has extra bells and whistles – and the cheaper Automower Aspire R4 not solely comes with app management as commonplace however has smarter options by way of good house integration on board too.
When it comes to efficiency nonetheless, the Automower 305 brings its A-game. You won’t have the ability to management is remotely (except you pay further) and also you won’t have the ability to ask Alexa to begin it, however as soon as the schedule is ready on this robotic garden mower, it would hold your grass trying completely excellent with barely any intervention from you submit setup.
The Husqvarna Automower 305 presents an awesome design, incredible efficiency, and it is the rationale I can now perceive why you’ll contemplate investing in a robotic garden mower. There is a fuss-free, and genuinely glorious expertise right here that makes this mannequin price each dime.
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