Ian and I have been using the Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD for about 12 weeks now and I felt like it was finally time for me to give my honest review about this baby. His name is Kirby, by the way. 😉 If you want a very short and sweet review, here it is: we love our Husqvarna Automower®! It saves us so much time and allows us to focus on other things that we actually want to do. But, here is my full and completely honest Husqvarna Automower® 435X AWD review:
The Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD Stats
According to the Husqvarna website, “Husqvarna’s Automower® 435X AWD is a pioneer in the world of robotic lawn mowers. Equipped with exclusive all-wheel-drive technology, this heavy-duty mower is built to tackle tough terrain and the steepest slopes, including inclines up to 35° (so you don’t have to!) Featuring Automower® Connect for smartphone control and smart home integration – as well as advanced, GPS-assisted navigation – the 435X AWD is the perfect mowing solution for your property.
- Working area capacity (±20): 0.9 acre
- Cutting Height, min-max: 1.2-2.8 in
- Typical mow time on one charge: 100 min
- Typical charging time: 30 min“
I would say that all of the stats are accurate based on our usage — it takes 30 minutes, sometimes less, to charge completely. Actually, we were shocked at how fast it charged! We live at the bottom of a hill and it works GREAT on our slopes. We also have the largest lot in our neighborhood and it covers our entire lot with ease, even in the rain.
Installation
We had professional installation done and for the most part, it was great. We had someone come out and do it all for us, which was really helpful because if we didn’t have them come out, we would have either had to lay our guide and boundary wire over the grass, or we would have had to rent a machine to bury the wire. Instead of going through the trouble, they did it all for us, which was really easy and stress-free, so I do recommend having professional installation done.
What I will say, though, is that they didn’t think through the installation completely, and it has been our only major hiccup while using our mower. We have a tree with roots above the grass – some pretty big roots, too. They told us that they would have to go above the roots, which was totally fine, but what we didn’t expect was that they would install the wire on the highest part of the root. This led to the mower cutting the wire multiple times, in different spots. Thankfully, Ian knew how to wire it back together and tape it to hold, and he placed it on the lower part of the root so that it wouldn’t get cut, but the tape does come loose occasionally and our mower loses signal, stops working temporarily, and we have to tape it again. This is not so convenient when we are not home, or when we are in the middle of something. Also, if someone didn’t know how to put the wire back together and hold it with electrical tape, it could be a big hassle, and even with Ian’s knowledge, it still is a hassle when the wire comes undone. If they would have just gone over a lower area of the root, we would not have this issue at all. I looked up the warranty when it comes to the wires and it looks like if you do have an issue (like a cut wire, in our situation), it’s not covered under the warranty. FYI – our technician also reached out to us about 12 (or so) weeks after installation to check-in and I am calling him back on Monday, so there might be some follow-up, but I can’t comment on that as of now!
So, while I do recommend getting professional installation done, I also recommend being out there while they do it so that you can make sure that it’s properly installed so that there will not be any long-term hiccups for you since you know your property best.
Safety Features
The safety features are really cool. First of all, we stuck an alarm sticker on our Automower, in order to let people know that there IS an alarm. But, if someone decided to take it anyway, an alarm will sound and the GPS system will track the mower if stolen. We would know where it was and could call the police to get it back from wherever it was. Luckily for us, we have not had any issue at all with someone taking it. In addition, if for any reason someone did take it and tried to use it, our Automower has a 4-digit pin code that is required to operate the mower, so whoever took it would have to know that to operate it at all. Lastly, I’m not really sure how they would operate it without the charging station or guide wire and in order to get all of that from our house, they would have to pry it up out of our yard. Possible? Yes. Hard and a little time consuming? Definitely.
The App
The app is also really awesome. You can access it from anywhere and you can see exactly where your mower currently is, how charged it is, how short it is cutting your grass, where it has recently cut, and more. I love that you can pause, start, and send the mower home from the app and it gives you awesome alerts (ie. it alerts you when your mower is stuck, or has flipped over, etc.) I really, really enjoy having the app and think it’s really straightforward and easy to use. When it comes to the Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD, I give it a 10/10, for sure!
Does It Work?
The most popular question I have received since having our Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD is “Does it work?!” I am SO thrilled to say that yes! It does work and it works well. We have not cut our grass (or had someone else cut our grass) since having Kirby and it looks GREAT! While the cut wire was really frustrating and Kirby does seem to lose blades randomly, pretty frequently, all over the yard, we’ve had no other issues whatsoever and it saves us SO much time.
Before having Kirby, we had a yard guy come and before that, Ian spent 3 hours EACH WEEK on the yard between cutting, edging, and blowing. It was insane. Now, he spends 30 minutes each week, or bi-weekly, just depending on how often he gets out there – and he is only edging now.
The time we would be spending on cutting the grass is now spent in bed, making breakfast, traveling (well, when we can travel), and just spending time together as a family. No more sweating outside pushing a lawn mower, no more worrying about carving out three hours of our time each week, and no more sneezing from grass, pollen, or dirt due to mowing.
In addition to the time that it saves us, our grass also looks so much healthier. Since Kirby cuts small amounts of grass at a time, it’s much healthier for our grass and the clippings are also a natural fertilizer for our yard.
Who Would Benefit?
Do you have a yard that you have to cut? If so, you would benefit! When it comes to who would benefit most, I would have to say that busy parents or individuals would benefit most, but honestly, everyone would benefit from having their Kirby!
There is an upfront cost when it comes to buying your own Husqvarna Automower® 435X AWD, but I think that it’s very worth it. We are really enjoying ours and we hope that you enjoy this honest review of the Husqvarna Automower® 435X AWD!
