Husqvarna Automower 415X at-home review

Is the idea of never mowing your lawn again enticing? For me it is, and that’s why I was excited to review the Husqvarna Automower 415X; the Roomba for your yard. In this hands-on review I’ll look at what it’s like to install (since I did it myself), what it’s like to set up and use and how effective the overall mowing is, plus some of the special features that make it more than just a barber for your lawn. Plus I’ll talk about how you keep it from getting stolen.

Husqvarna Automower 415X review

The 415X Robotic lawn mower husqvarna isn’t just a lawn mower and it doesn’t cut grass in the way you think it might. It’s a battery-powered grass trimmer and mulcher that snips small bits off your grass daily, and continuously alternates between mowing and charging.

It moves across your yard randomly, not in nice neat rows, which Husqvarna says better manages wear on your lawn.

The Automower husqvarna 415X model navigates your yard using a hybrid system; you need to lay boundary wires to contain it, but it also get support from satellite localization. More on this is coming up.
In particular, Husqvarna Automower 415X is a model suited for small to medium-sized lawns up to 0.4 acres, and it can cut about 678 square feet per hour.

Watch my full at-home video review of Husqvarna Automower

There’s also some installation considerations that might not make this roving lawn bot ideal for all situations, so let’s dig in.

Installation and set up

You’ll need the Husqvarna app to get the most from your mower, but the major controls and settings are also available on the control panel under a small lid on top of the mower.

For your  husqvarna 415X automower to run you first need to create physical boundaries.

The mower comes with two large spools of boundary wire (totalling about 400 metres or 1300 feet) and 600 hooked pegs to stake it into place.

Also in the box is the Automower charging base and some stakes to hold that in place, as well as extra blades.

While the installation may seem daunting, once I understood what to do, the task itself was relatively easy. You can also look up a Husqvarna dealer in your area and pay for professional installation. The quote for my yard was about 2 hours of work and $500CAD. The pros would also have used a trencher to bury the wire a few inches down instead of using the pegs.

How to install 415X robotic lawn mower husqvarna

When it comes to the install, I first had to consider where to place the base and charging station and you do have several parameters here; it needs to be very close to an AC plug, since the cord it comes with is extremely short. The charging station must be in a very level area where the mower can easily come and go with no obstacles and it needs about 2 metres to back out of the base. It should also be out of direct sunlight if possible.

Watch my installation and set up video now

Run Boundary Wire

Next you’ll need to consider where and how to run the boundary wire, and all boundary wire must start at and return to the base station, essentially forming a giant closed loop around your yard. While it is possible in theory to cut and splice the wire, the ideal installation is to run it in one long loop. That takes some planning, since it needs to be 12-inches from any flower bed and about 6-inches from walls, fences and edges. To check the installation specifics for your property, contact Husqvarna.

I drew out my yard and made a simple map of where I wanted the wire to run, to make sure they’d be no surprises. For the most part it went easily around the perimeter with few complications. You’ll leave a bit of extra wire at the end then cut it from the spool.

The ends of the wires get clipped into special connectors then those are plugged into the back of the base station. A green light on the front means you’ve made a successful connection. I will say I only used part of the first spool of wire so there’s lots here for larger properties.

While the wire is visible for now on my lawn, the grass will grow up and over it and it will become invisible after several weeks, though about a month later now, it is still quite visible in some spot, but it’s now hidden where the grass is healthier. You can also run it under paving stones or brick too, as I needed to do in my installation.

Guidewire

If you have a particularly large space or you want to ensure your mower cuts both a front and back lawn, you need to install the Guidewire. The guidewire essentially helps your husqvarna 415X Automower find its way to the farthest reaches of your property, and back to the base station again, and ideally runs through all sections of your yard.

You can see what it looks like on my Husqvarna map; the blue line in the middle of my space is the guide wire and everything in green is what’s enclosed by the boundary wire.

The Boundary Wire and the Guide wire are the same type of wire (the spools you received are identical); what differentiates them is how and where they are connected into the back of the base station.

Once the Boundary Wire is installed, you run the Guidewire out the bottom of the base and through your yard, extending it all the way to the furthest corner; for me that means bringing it along a stone pathway, through a narrower walkway beside my house, and out through an opening in the fence to the very front of my yard. I placed the wire both under and between my patio stones.

At that far end, I had to splice the guidewire into the Boundary wire with an included clip so everything is connected (make sure to unplug the base station before doing this).
That clip and splice is how the base station can tell which one is the boundary wire and which one is the Guide wire.

After you make your connections, plug the base station in and look for the green light again.

With your yard delineated it’s time to mow!

Mapping & navigation

Send your bot out on its first few mowing tasks, and while it’s cutting it will begin gathering data to create a virtual map of your yard which will allow you further control over the mower and get info on where it is.

Husqvarna says this can take up to 15 days and I found that was accurate.

When ready your virtual map will become visible in the Automower Connect app. You can also turn on a setting which lets you see where the mower is now or has most recently been.

Create Work Areas and custom schedules

With the Automower husqvarna 415X technology you’re able to use the app to create work areas with different cuttings heights and schedules, or stay-out zones for more case-specific zone control.

Only after your Virtual Map has been created you can create different work zones in your yard. You will add these when you are in the map on Husqvarna App under “Map Objects” which is a pull-up tab at the bottom of the screen.

Underside of the 415X showing flywheel and small blades.

Choose the plus symbol to add a “object” and you’ll essentially draw a boundary around that part of your lawn, using the app. You’ll name it, and then you can schedule mowing for whenever you want. I was able to create two different work areas for my home; the front lawn and the back lawn. I opted to schedule the back lawn to be cut overnight when we weren’t using it, and the front lawn during the daytime when we could keep an eye on the mower.

Send mower to a specific spot in the yard

If you want to send the mower to a specific spot in your lawn, on the home screen you can press the “Play” button, “Select Work Area”, and send the mower to this area of your yard.

In short, the mapping and direction features worked extraordinarily well and it was easy to program and use.

Cutting ability

The Automower ideally needs to run for several hours each day to keep your lawn short. The good news is it’s absolutely silent, so it’s actually optimal to run it all night.

Because the husqvarna Automower 415X is cutting tiny bits of your lawn daily and essentially mulching it into the lawn, there’s no raking or cleanup needed. It uses three small blades underneath the bot attached to a flywheel.

I cut the lawn right before the install and found it was adept at keeping the lawn at that trim level right from the get-go.

Your overall cutting height can also be adjusted in the app.

Sensors in the Automower 415X flag when it is approaching the boundary wire to keep it in your yard at all times. The front of the bot always passes the boundary wire by a small distance before it turns around.

Dealing with obstructions

When the product hits an obstacle or approaches the boundary wire the 415X selects a new direction.

The mower doesn’t really have obstacle sensors and it will bump itself off everything from trees to fence posts and then redirect itself. It’s actually kind of dumb or blind that way, but while it may seem bumbling, it’s surprisingly efficient at getting the overall job done.

Edging needed

Edges of yard after 4 weeks.

You will need to keep maintaining the edges of your lawn; the mower can only get so close to the edges of your yard, so trimming and edging is always going to be needed. I can say however that the few minutes each week of trimming the yard is still a lot less laborious than cutting everything with our gas-powered push mower.

Charging & runtime

Once drained of most of its battery the Automower 415X will automatically head back to base to recharge. A full charge of its’ 2 amp hour battery takes about 60 minutes. It will then resume its job. When it was cutting my lawn it would cut for about 45 minutes to an hour or so, then recharge, doing this on and off all day.

It takes about an hour or so to get back enough juice to resume its work.

I also never saw the 415X run out of battery power and get stalled out somewhere on the lawn. It’s quite good at managing its battery and ensuring it always has enough power to get back home.

How does Husqvarna Automower work in homes with pets?

Rainie giving the 415X a wide berth.

You may be wondering how Husqvarna Automower works in homes with pets? In a word: poop.

You’ve got to keep your lawn picked up or the Automower will roll right through whatever it drives across. Despite trying to be on top of pickups daily, often I found its wheels caked in dog poop. The mower doesn’t have any kind of object recognition or avoidance capabilities so poop washing will become part of the maintenance. I can’t deduct any points here for this, since Husqvarna makes no claims about object recognition and it’s on my to keep the yard picked up. But for pet owners, especially you that are slower on the scooping, your reality will be a lot of cleaning up the wheels.

Cleaning & Maintenance

In truth, because the mower is in constant motion, it would often clean its wheels on its own. When it did need some extra help, a stiff brush and some water from the garden hose helped keep it tidy. The manual says a rinse with the garden hose is OK for the 415 X, but not to use high pressure devices.

Pet and animal safety

The Automower 415X model has both Collision and Lift Sensors. When the mower bumps into an object, it will reverse, turn, and choose another direction. If the mower is lifted, the blades and mower will stop immediately.

Additionally, The Husqvarna Automower cutting system does not start the blades in the charging station. The robotic mower drives away for five seconds before mowing, allowing small animals taking protection under the mower to leave.

If your dog was laying on the lawn the mower might bump into it but it would then reverse away. I think most pets would want to steer clear of it anyway, and my dogs both certainly kept their distance. But if you have concerns, or small animals, you might want to consider other options for lawn maintenance.

Husqvarna doggie door

At my home we needed to cut an opening in the fence in order to let the mower move freely from front to back yard. We quickly realized one of our dogs found this was a fun way to go exploring. That’s how I learned about the 415X robotic lawn mower Husqvarna.

This really clever doggie door allows your mower to move from one side of a fence to the other without any manual assistance. It stays locked and then uses Bluetooth to tell when the mower is approaching the door. It will open up the door panel to let the mower pass through, then close and latch the fence door behind it.

The door is powered by 4 D-cell batteries and is weatherproof. The Fence Door was released earlier this year and is available for professional installation only (select markets). I will be getting hands-on with this soon, so watch for an update.

Security & theft protection

Husqvarna has built theft protection into its Automowers. There are several features that work together to ensure your mower stays on your property and if it is potentially stolen, that it can’t ever be used.

First off, a PIN code is required to make any changes on the device or to start it from the mower’s keypad.

If someone does lift it up and doesn’t enter the code, an alarm will sound.

Next, GPS tracking will always show the mower’s current location, and you’ll get alerts to your phone if it goes outside your home area, showing where it is at all times.

Plus, the mower will not function with a base station other than the one it ships with, so even if someone took the mower and tried to get another base for it, it would be inoperable.

Husqvarna also red-lists any mower reported as stolen meaning it can’t ever be serviced.

I also added a small sticker that lets potential thieves know there’s both an alarm and GPS on the bot.

Special features

The Husqvarna Automower 415X has a boatload of special features and can adapt to many different types of lawns, yards, and situations. I’ll cover off some of the most useful here.

Adjustable Cutting Height

You can adjust the cutting height of your robot lawnmower from a level one to level nine. The app doesn’t exactly specify what the measurements are, but you can play around with the settings to find one that works best for your lawn.

Frost guard

The robotic mower automatically interrupts the mowing schedule in frosty conditions. If the temperature drops below 5°C sensors in the mower will prevent it from cutting.

Voice Control Compatible

All Husqvarna Automower® models with cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. I was able to start, stop, park and get status updates from my mower by asking . It also works with IFTTT, so you can set up instructions where the mower can return to base when severe weather is detected for example.

Weather timer

A Weather timer feature will mow more frequently during periods of high grass growth and less intensely during slow periods. You can set this feature to low medium or high sensitivity.

Spiral & Spot Cutting

Spiral cutting can detect where grass is longer than average and then change the movement pattern of the mower to tackle it. The robot will mow in a spiral pattern to cut the area with longer grass.

You can also use spiral cutting to tackle areas that have been covered by lawn furniture. Just put the mower in that spot end it will tackle that specific area, then move onto the rest of your lawn when it’s finished.

My honest thoughts after 4 weeks: Overall review

Overall I have really enjoyed having the Automower in my yard. It does an amazing job at keeping the grass short, and I still can’t get over how quietly it runs. We are able to run it all night long and wake up to a perfectly manicured lawn, day in and day out, all summer.

While I wouldn’t call the installation process easy, it is possible to do it yourself, as long as you plan ahead well. And for a reasonable fee you can also have a professional do it for you. I do appreciate that everything I needed for the installation was included in the box, and there was plenty of extra wire and stakes for my size of yard.

Other pros to this device include that it seems quite gentle on my lawn, and there are also a number of special features that keeps the mower from operating during rain or frost.

So what are the downsides? The price is certainly a barrier for some, but it could definitely pay for itself over several years of use. The only other major downside that I found is that it does roll through dog poop despite my best efforts at keeping the yard tidy. But since it is relatively easy to clean it hasn’t been a significant problem. In short, I am absolutely loving my Automower experience and I think you will too.

The Husqvarna Automower 415X price is around $2500CAD/$1999USD (I have seen it on sale recently so check current offers)and you can get it from Husqvarna dealers where you are. Amazingly it is also available from Amazon. You can also check out my original Automower review from back in 2016.

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