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The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
You can monitor the progress of your mow in the Husvarna mobile app
- Thorough, efficient mowing
- Top class edge trimming
- Installation help if required
- GPS needs clear view of sky
- Expensive
Most of the robot lawn mowers I’ve tested have been off-the-shelf models that you buy and install yourself. The Husqvarna Automow 305E NERA is a bit different, because Husqvarna recommends you buy your mower through its extensive dealer network. These Husqvarna experts can make sure you get the right model for your lawn, install it for you and service it in the off season.
All of this comes at a price, of course. You’re unlikely to get much off the RRP and servicing adds an ongoing cost (around £180 per service) to an already expensive purchase. Still, if you don’t want to perform a self-install and don’t mind paying, this might be the mower for you – and that’s not the only reason you might want to consider it.
Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA review: What do you get for the money?
The Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA comes in two versions. The basic model uses a wire to contain it within the boundary of your lawn, and costs £1,549 from Husqvarna’s website. I tested the new model, the Automower 305E NERA with wire-free technology. This is the same robot but it comes with an additional EPOS (Exact Positioning Operating System) Plug-in unit, and costs a total of £1,948.
Purchasing the EPOS Plug-in brings a number of benefits in addition to not having to peg out or bury a physical wire. The wired version can cover areas up to 600m2, using a random pattern to move around the garden; switch up to the wireless version and you can upgrade the cutting pattern to a more regular stripe, triangle or chess board. It can also handle a larger area, with the maximum size increasing to 900m2 and there’s zero chance of it leaving an area uncut.
The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
You can monitor the progress of your mow in the Husvarna mobile app
The device itself measures 680 x 280 x 440mm and weighs 12.6kg. It comes with a base station consisting of a large plastic plate that the mower parks on. When it’s parked the robot hooks up to a charging arm, which in turn needs to be connected to a mains power supply.
Unusually there are two rotary cutters on the base of the 305E. The main one in the middle has a diameter of 22cm. This can be raised or lowered to a cutting length of between 20mm and 60mm. While most robots have you set this mechanically using a dial on the top, this model lets you change the height remotely through the app, so you can even do it mid-mow.
The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
You can monitor the progress of your mow in the Husvarna mobile app
The second cutting disc is smaller and is positioned at the rear of the mower. This is designed to cut right up to the edge of your lawn when the robot swings its back end around at the end of a run, getting closer to the edge than the main blades and reducing the amount of edge trimming you’ll need to do.
If you have an uneven lawn, the Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA can handle inclines up to 30%. However, it’s worth noting that this reduces to 20% if the slope happens to be on the boundary.
Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA review: Is it difficult to set up?
Setting up the Husqvana Automow 305E NERA turned out to be the easiest I’ve yet to encounter. That’s because Husqvarna sent out Will from Autocut, a member of their dealer network, to demonstrate the level of service you can expect from a dealer-lead installation.
He went out of his way to accommodate the esoteric installation requirements I demanded, and was perfectly happy to have me watch over his shoulder and chat robot lawn mowers while he installed and set the robot up for me.
The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
You can monitor the progress of your mow in the Husvarna mobile app
I kept an eye on what he was doing and there was a bit more going on than you’d encounter with most self-install robot mowers. The optional EPOS module needs installing by removing the cover from the robot, unscrewing a blanking plate, screwing the satellite receiver onto the mower and clicking together the wire connectors. It wouldn’t be beyond anyone who owns a Torx screwdriver, but the modular nature of the mower means it definitely doesn’t arrive ready to mow.
What the system doesn’t require is an additional base station for the satellite communication. Instead, all the satellite gubbins is housed in the add-on unit for the mower itself. That’s actually a little simpler than most I’ve tested, such as the Segway Navimow i105e, which requires a secondary antenna unit to be attached to the base station and set up to the side.
The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
You can monitor the progress of your mow in the Husvarna mobile app
Thankfully, my garden has a clear view of the sky so it didn’t encounter any problems. If you end up with satellite blind spots, such as between tall buildings or trees, there’s an option to set up partial, temporary perimeter wire to prevent it from wandering into your flower beds.
Once all the hardware is installed, you need to connect it to Wi-Fi through the app and run the mower around the edge of the lawn, using an onscreen remote control that’s part of the app. Will patiently did that for me, getting close to the edge of the lawn and carefully steering it around. It’s possible to adjust this afterwards, moving the virtual pins you drop as you move the mower around the perimeter. After that, you’re good to mow.
Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA review: How well does it mow the lawn?
The Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA is one of the best cutters I’ve seen. Arguably, it fundamentally uses the same basic three-blades-on-a-rotating-disc cutting system as every robot mower out there, and its core ability to slice through grass is no better or worse than the rest. However, the magic comes from the satellite guidance and the secondary cutting disc sitting at the rear.
With the help from the satellite connection, the Husqvarna covers the lawn efficiently and effectively. When set to one of its pattern cuts, it knows where it’s been, so it can cover as much of the area as it can on a single battery charge, then return to cover the remainder after a recharge. The patterns on offer are parallel lines, triangles or a chequerboard, or you can set it to random if you prefer.
The white line shows how neatly the Automower tackled our lawn
It only took one more pass to neaten up the mow and finish the job
The battery life of the robot isn’t great, lasting only around 50 minutes in our tests, before returning to charge, which takes a couple of hours. However, it’s almost a moot point if you don’t have to rely on random cutting, because it will recharge and then finish the job as it needs to. If its scheduled mowing time is too short (you may want it parked before the kids get home from school, for example) then it’ll pick up from where it left off whenever the schedule next kicks in.
The edge cutting mechanism also helps it get closer to the edges than other mowers, without precariously hanging a wheel off the edge of the lawn. The rear cutting disc is an ingenious addition, as it extends out beyond the rear wheels while staying within the robot’s outer casing. If you drive the mower as close to the edge as you can when setting the boundary, the rear edge cutter will come very close when the robot turns.
Overall coverage of my lawn proved excellent, as the traces below show. I shot a video of the mower as it traversed my lawn and traced its movements. The first image shows the initial cut, up until the battery ran low enough for it to decide to return to base for a charge. The second image shows it coming back out and finishing the job. Overall, it was very thorough, tracking from left to right across my lawn with military precision.
Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA review: Should you buy it?
Anyone looking for an effective robot lawn mower, without the hassle that comes with installing and maintaining it, should seriously consider the Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA.
The robot itself does a great job of mowing the lawn, including the most impressive edge trimming function that I’ve seen to date. The satellite guidance is millimetre perfect, and easy to adjust through the app, should you need to. It’s expensive, but if money is no object where your lawn is concerned, it’s the best robot mower you can buy.
If you don’t want to spend that much, its closest rival is arguably the Segway Navimow i105e (£949). This isn’t as good at edges but still uses satellites to help it navigate around your garden. Alternatively, if your garden doesn’t have a good view of the sky, you might get on better with the Worx Landroid Vision (from £999), which uses cameras instead of satellites to detect the edges of your lawn.
