Husqvarna Automower 415x review: robot mower packed with hi-tech features

If you’re lucky enough to have a big lawn, you’ll be unlucky enough to know how long they take to mow. Until recently robotic mowers with the manpower (or rather robot power) to tackle anything beyond 500sqm would cost more than your average family car. Cheaper to get a gardener. 

We’re not saying the Husqvarna Automower 415x’s price tag is small change, but it can tackle up to 1,500sqm lawns and is absolutely rammed with top-notch features. We’re talking GPS-assisted navigation (to ensure even cutting, automatically), app-based remote control, blade height adjustment, GPS theft tracking and loads more. It even has headlights so can run through the night, not when you’re using the garden. And, once installed, you can look forward to enjoying those six or more hours per week previously spent toiling over a hot mower. Best of all? No more mowing-dread at the end of a busy day or putting the chore off in the certain knowledge the task will be twice as hard (and the mower will clog endlessly) the next day. Living the dream! 

We tested the Husqvarna Automower 415x for five weeks in peak mowing season (Aug/Sept) on a less than perfect, lumpy lawn measuring around 1,000sqm with fairly mild gradients and one section where it drops off like a cliff edge. Items for the Husqvarna Automower 415x to navigate around included a small hedge, swing set, trampoline and picnic table. Find out if it's made our list of the best robot lawn mowers.  

• Buy now: Husqvarna Automower 415x from £2,199 on Husqvarna

Husqvarna Automower 415x key product specifications

• Lawn size: Medium-Large (up to 1,500sqm)
• Battery: 2.0Ah Lithium Ion
• Drive type: Automatic
• Cutting width: 41cm
• Cutting height: 20-50mm 
• Charge time: 60mins
• Mowing time: 50mins
• Weight: 9.7kg 
• Warranty: Two years

First impressions of the Husqvarna Automower 415x

This is a rugged-looking mower with big, grippy wheels and a robust bumper. It’s easy to pick up and carry, and the flap that covers the controls feels reassuringly solid. The packaging is easy to manhandle – it’s a good idea to keep it for winter storage – and contains the charging station base, extra blades, 10m of low voltage cable and battery pack. It does NOT contain any boundary wire or pegs – these are sold separately to suit your lawn dimensions.

Getting started

We’re not going to lie, set up isn’t easy, but you’ll go through a similarly arduous process for any robot lawn mower contained by boundary wire (which is currently the vast majority). The good news is that it’s the last couple hours of physical labour you’ll ever need to put into cutting your lawn. OK, make that four hours, which is how long it took to peg boundary wire around the full perimeter of the lawn, on hands and knees, and set everything up. There was no need to wire around the swings or trampoline as the Husqvarna Automower 415x’s strong bumper can handle a few minor obstacles. 

The process starts with setting up the base station/charging dock, which comes with a decent 10m of cable to allow reasonable positioning options from an outside socket. Next, we popped the Husqvarna Automower 415x on its base to begin charging while the boundary wires were laid. You can dig the wire in but pegging with a mallet seems the easier option and the wire soon works its way into the ground, so you won’t see it for long.

The instruction manual gives recommended distances to lay the wire from different obstacles (solid wall, level path etc) and a handy cardboard ruler is included to help get it right. The boundary wire is then joined into the back of the base unit. There’s also a guide wire to lay down, which helps bring the mower home, should GPS fail for any reason. The instructions were easy enough to follow but you can also do a search for installation videos on YouTube that explain it all far more visually.

Once the basic settings (language, date, time, pin code) are entered on the Husqvarna Automower 415x’s touch screen panel, you simply download and pair the Automower Connect App on your phone or tablet (Apple and Android). Amazingly this last step worked first time, with none of the all-too-familiar ‘cannot pair’ or buffering pain of home tech.

One tip for installation: do mow your lawn as short as possible to get the boundary wires as close to the ground as possible and give the mower a head start!

What it’s like to use the Husqvarna Automower 415x

The brilliance of Husqvarna’s Automower Connect App really comes into play during use. You can make it as simple as 'park' or 'start' or set up a different mowing schedule for every day of the week. All of the App’s functionality can also be achieved on the actual mower’s display panel of course, but why would you bother when it can be done from the comfort of your sofa/bed/the beach? We have solar panels so decided to set a mowing schedule that starts at sunrise and ends at sunset, making the most of the free electricity. 

Ease of use

A mower that works out the most efficient ways for how to mow a lawn and then does all the mowing for you is the dream, and this is 100% true of the Husqvarna Automower 415x. However, it did take a week or three to properly get to grip with all the settings and tweak the boundary wire, several times, before we could sit back and enjoy complete mowing freedom. 

Despite following the guidance on wire placement to the letter, or rather centimeter, the Husqvarna Automower 415x managed to break out on several occasions. Each time sending a text to alert us of its errant behavior. Its main escape route was at the bottom of the mildly sloping lawn, but only if approaching the wire head-on; at an angle it was fine. 

The solution involved repegging the wire a few centimeters in and adjusting the ‘drive past wire’ setting to its lowest distance (25cm). One day, while on holiday, we got an alarming text telling us the mower was upside down. Somehow it had busted over the boundary wire and plummeted off the edge of the lawn’s highest point, lemming style, landing on its back. Luckily our house-sitter came to the rescue, popped it back on its wheels and reset the PIN code, no damage done. Phew. We couldn’t fathom why the suicide attempt occurred (the boundary wire was well away from the edge) and thankfully it didn’t happen again. 

Settings-wise, we worked out that level six was the best height to keep our lawn neatly cut but not scalped, and we also set the weather timer, which automatically adjusts cutting time according to how much the grass grows. One of the most useful settings dictates how the mower comes into base if the GPS fails. This took a bit of trial and error before we stopped getting ‘charging station blocked’ alerts but success felt so good.

The other part that requires trial and error is settling on the best mowing schedule. Initially we thought 9am-5pm would work, but actually the Husqvarna Automower 415x needed longer so we upped it to 6am-9pm and it coped a whole lot better. For bigger lawns, you may need to keep the mower running overnight. Not a problem thanks to its bright LED headlights. Oh, and cleaning is super easy too; just hose down the underside every couple of weeks to stop excessive grass build-up.

There's plenty more advice on how does robot lawn mower work in our dedicated guide too. 

Additional features of the Husqvarna Automower 415x

The Husqvarna Automower 415x comes with many, many cool features; here are a few of our favorites. 

• Security This mower can’t be stolen, or it can but the minute it’s outside the premises a high frequency alarm will go off that can only be restarted with your PIN code, plus it has GPS tracking so any thieves won’t get far.
• Frost guard Adjusts the cutting schedule according to temperature to prevent damage caused by mowing frosty grass.
• Spiral cutting The mower automatically detects areas of longer grass and starts spiraling instead of zig-zagging until the errant patch is sorted (mesmerizing to watch!).
• Quietness The Husqvarna Automower 415x is virtually silent, which is a big plus if you have hyperacusis (a condition when everyday sounds seem louder than they should), and it could easily run overnight without disturbing the neighbors.
• Spot cutting Brilliant for under the patio table (which needs to be moved out of the way). Just pop the mower in position and press Spot cutting mode on the menu. Once done it carries on with its usual schedule. Clever stuff. 

How does the Husqvarna Automower 415x rate? 

This is a new model for 2021 so the only online reviews are in German and French, but they are very enthusiastic! The app-control is particularly welcome, and one customer said it worked on his lawn that’s much bigger than the 1,500sqm recommended. Approval of the Husqvarna Automower 415x’s quietness and efficiency also came up repeatedly. 

In terms of the end results – the most important information any purchaser needs – the Husqvarna Automower 415x passes with flying colors, and is definitely in the mix  with some of the best lawn mowers. Despite traversing our lawn in seemingly random zig-zags, this little robot obviously knows where it’s going (hurray for GPS) because it cuts with impressive evenness. The grass also looks lusher and greener than it ever has before. This is presumably down to the Husqvarna Automower 415x’s mulching skills, and possibly all the summer showers we’ve had this year. 

Success around the edges of the lawn has been a bit hit and miss, particularly after we had to reduce the boundary line settings to stop escape-artist tendencies. However, we have to strim the path edges and around the tree when mowing with our regular Ride On, so life hasn’t changed on that score. Perhaps Husqvarna could invent a robot edge-strimmer next? 

• Buy now: Husqvarna Automower 415x from £2,199 on Husqvarna

About our review – and reviewer

Linda Clayton has been an interiors journalist for 20 years. Since graduating from Cardiff’s School for Journalism, she's happily writing about the latest trends, product reviews and giving her expert design advice for the likes of Gardeningetc, Homes & Gardens, Livingetc, Ideal Home and Real Homes ever since.  

She currently lives in Devon with her husband and two children, and recently renovated and extended the house. The property was previously a commercial nursery and boasts a half-acre plot, giving her plenty of space to road test the latest lawn mowers, hot tubs and garden tools. 

As with all our reviews, the Husqvarna Automower 415x was tested first-hand in Linda's garden, using it just as you would so you know exactly what you are buying. The product was given to us free of charge and we tested it for as long as possible.