Husqvarna Automower 315 Robotic Lawn Mower Review
Husqvarna’s feature-rich Automower 315 Robotic Lawn Mower compares very favorably in value to the Robomow RS630 at a price that outstrips what most push mowers and even quite a few lawn tractors will set you back. However, after muddling through an arduous initial setup, it wastes no time paying for itself with an absurd volume of time saved and high-quality cutting. From almost unmatched maneuverability to the ability to dictate its own ideal mowing schedule, Husqvarna’s autonomous landscaper virtually eliminates human intervention from regular lawncare and even handles terrain a cut above what many of its peers can traverse.
Key Features
- Automower app activates mower or adjusts its schedule from anywhere in the world at any time
- Produces less than 60 decibels of noise pollution – quiet enough to sleep through its mowing
- Adapts its schedule to fit your lawn’s rate of growth and local weather patterns, minimizing unnecessary wear and tear
- Free-roaming movement produces carpet-like consistency throughout your yard
- Rain sensor prevents operation in prohibitively wet conditions
- Waterproof sealant completely shields sensitive electronic inner workings from moisture
Performance
After several months of thorough testing — in other words, watching baseball while the Automower 315 made barely a peep above 60 decibels as it mowed — I can wholeheartedly confirm that I paid a hefty price to adopt a robot that scarcely needs my attention at all and exists purely to keep watch over the health of my grass. This pint-sized 8kg mower’s two modest front wheels and pair of more robust back wheels afford it the kind of outstanding traction that allows it to smoothly ascend and roam across hills up to a 40-percent grade and roll over bumpy-textured level terrain without breaking its pace. At the same time, its 8.7-inch cutting width allowed it to slip deftly in and out of tight squeezes an ordinary mower could never touch. Based on the rechargeable lithium battery’s maximum life of just over an hour of use, the Automower 315 can handle an astounding roughly quarter-acre of grass with a single charge.
Ease Of Use
The most annoying flaw I could point out doesn’t set the Automower 315 apart at all from virtually any other robotic lawn mower. Setting up its boundary wire and pegs can take as long as several hours, depending on your property’s layout. It isn’t even necessarily complicated. You pattern the wire along the edges of your lawn and eventually hook it up to the charging station. It’s merely tedious.
After that, the Automower 315 looks after itself beautifully. The smart-mowing sensors analyze your lawn’s growth rate and immediate weather patterns to devise an appropriate schedule of cuts throughout all four seasons.This system also keeps tabs on your lawn’s health between mowing days for the purpose of adjusting its schedule and cutting height as needed. Meanwhile, a sensitive and responsive weather sensor will send the mower hightailing it back to its charging dock if conditions turn rainy and will not start or resume cutting until the ground dries out. Should you need to independently call upon the Automower 315 to touch up your grounds, the exclusive free Android or iOS app allows you to set its schedule directly or immediately dispatch it as needed.
Cut Quality & Options
The Automower 315 literally grooms your greenery from almost infinite unique angles. By guiding a riding or walk-behind mower in straight lines hither and yon across your grass, you create a neat, distinct pattern. This also only allows even a mower with multiple blades to cut from so many directions. When combined with Husqvarna’s patented free-movement pathing, the Automower 315’s trio of pivoting blades trims cleanly from numerous positions. The result? Gentle, precise cuts leave behind that neat, uniform carpet-like look that every homeowner dreams of showing off. Your range of cutting heights will max out at only 2.4 inches, but consider the fact that the Automower 315 also pares grass down to as little as 0.8 inches before thinking of that range as a drawback.
A bit of difficulty dealing with ledges aside, this mower is an artist made to refine your lawn with a master painter’s delicate touch.
Maintenance
Virtually none. Keeping the battery charged is obviously a must, as is keeping it away from water. Then again, I can vouch from experience for the Automower 315’s capacity to intelligently take care of both concerns reliably on its own with minimal assistance required.
Safety Features
Would I trust my children around the Automower 315 while it works? Absolutely. The quick-acting tilt and lift sensors shut the blade rotors down instantly if the unit unexpectedly comes into contact with anything or lifts off the ground during its operation. A PIN-lock security system also prevents anyone from turning it on without entering its unique passcode, a measure that makes the mower utterly useless to anyone who would make off with it.
Cost Effectiveness
If you happen to have nearly $2,000 to throw down for a lawn mower and have a quarter-acre or so of grass spread across some exhausting steep hills, I highly recommend the Husqvarna Automower 315. You could almost certainly save money by tackling those inclines with a self-propelled or riding mower yourself, but having an autonomous self-managing lawncare assistant smart enough to stay out of wet weather, keep an eye on how quickly your lawn is actually growing and climb hills its rival models couldn’t touch frees up untold hours you could be spending not mowing at all. Once you take stock of just how much you could get done each season while the Automower 315 tends to your grass, it becomes crystal-clear that time is indeed money, and Husqvarna’s robotic wonder could save you a fortune in extremely short order. Just ask yourself, what would it be worth to me to never spend another weekend afternoon maintaining your yard?
