Summer is over, which means it’s time to put our lawnmowers away for the season, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look for one to fit our needs for next summer. But what about all that pushing, riding, and spending money on gas and maintenance?
Fortunately, Husqvarna has us covered. As one of the most well-known manufacturers of robot lawn mowers, you know you’re getting a reliable, quality device that will take good care of your yard. Husqvarna has a solid lineup of robot lawn mowers, and the 450x is one of the newer ones. Let’s take a closer look at this robot mower and get a better idea of what it can do.
Design
If you have a large yard and are tough on your lawnmower, the Husqvarna Automower 450x robot lawnmower might be just what you need. The 450x provides coverage for an impressive 1.25 acres, which is more than twice as much as some of its competitors. For the amount of coverage you’re getting with this robot, the price tag is more than acceptable.
The Husqvarna 450x robot lawnmower offers built-in GPS, which tells the robot exactly where it is currently mowing and where it has already mowed. While this technology is very accurate and quite useful, Husqvarna still doesn’t trust this robot mower to stay within a given area.
Perimeter Wire
Unfortunately, that means you have to treat the 450x like other robot mowers. You have to mark off the robot’s work area with a perimeter wire. If you aren’t familiar with a perimeter wire, this is a physical piece of wire that you lay to mark the area in which the robot needs to mow. No matter where you lay it, the robot mower will not cross the perimeter wire.
Laying down your perimeter wire ensures that your 450x will only mow within the boundaries of your yard. You can also use it to create zones or areas that you don’t want to be mowed. For instance, if you have a garden or flower bed that you want the 450x to stay out of, just put down perimeter wire around it.
You have a couple of options when you lay down your perimeter wire. You can either keep it above ground and secure it into the grass with hooks that Husqvarna provides, or you can bury it a few inches underground. Of course, either option will work, however, Husqvarna recommends burying the wire. It does take a little longer to install that way, but you won’t have to worry about your robot mower unintentionally cutting the wire.
Remember that your 450x becomes next to useless if the wire gets cut or moved around. You’ll have to discover exactly where the perimeter is broken, which can be a huge hassle. This is just one of the reasons Husqvarna recommends burying the cable. It’s harder to break when its buried under a few inches of dirt. Let’s just hope the next iteration of robot mowers won’t require us to mess with perimeter wires!
Mobile Application
The Husqvarna smartphone application is considered one of the better apps among smart robot mowers. The app is available on both the Android and iOS marketplaces, so be sure to take a moment to download it. This app is very useful in that it offers a lot of functionality you can perform without getting out of your seat.
Using the mobile app allows you to schedule specific mowing times and view mowing history. In the app, you can see exactly where the 450x was at any given time. Using this feature helps you to determine whether or not there are specific areas of your yard that need more attention or require perimeter wire. Additionally, you can use the mobile app to activate the “weather timer” on the 450x, which we’ll talk about a little later.
Connectivity
If you want to connect your robot lawnmower to the internet, the Husqvarna 450x includes a built-in GSM module that will connect to a 3G or 4G network. If you have a large yard and require connectivity, this is the only viable solution at this time, since it’s unlikely that your network covers your entire yard.
Unfortunately, you have to purchase your own SIM card as the robot lawnmower does not come with one. You’ll also have to purchase a data package, which means you’ll incur a monthly expense to keep your robot lawnmower connected. On the plus side, you can choose the cheapest data package you can find, as the mower won’t require much bandwidth. There’s also the option to just use a prepaid card so you can just pay for the data as you need it.
Scheduling
Your Husqvarna 450x smart robot mower will typically follow a pre-defined schedule. If you want your entire yard mowed all at one time, you can have the 450x perform a continuous mow. This means that if the device detects its battery running low, it will automatically return to its charging station, charge up, then resume right where it left off.
The 450x will know precisely where to pick back up thanks to its built-in GPS capabilities. It will create a digital map of your lawn and mark the areas in which it has already mowed as it goes. This means it won’t be wasting time and energy revisiting parts of the lawn it has already mowed.
With the aforementioned Weather Timer mode, the 450x uses weather information to determine the best time to mow. For instance, if it has been raining for a few days, you might notice that the robot mower goes out more often. Or if its dry out, it might not make as many passes. This helps to save on energy and reduces the wear and tear of the cutting blades on the mower.
The 450x is specifically designed to mow your lawn more often than you might if you were using a typical gas or electric powered lawn mower. Every time it makes a pass through your lawn, it cuts only a tiny portion of the grass. There are a few advantages to this type of infrequent mowing.
First, when the grass is clipped so small, the clippings work as a fertilizer when they fall onto the ground. This means you don’t have to worry about bagging and collecting clippings to recycle or throw them away. Under the watchful eye of the Husqvarna 450x smart robot lawnmower, your lawn takes care of itself!
Second, you’ll get a much better result overall than you would from a typical lawnmower. Your lawn won’t be prone to developing lines since it’s getting mowed more often than it would otherwise. You might see tire lines from the 450x in your lawn for a few weeks, but they should disappear after around a month of regular mowings.
Weather Resistant
Your Husqvarna 450x smart robot mower is weatherproof. It doesn’t matter if it’s taking a pounding from the rain or the sun is beating down, the 450x will work the same. However, keep in mind that just because it will work in the rain doesn’t mean you should run your 450x.
Of course, mowing in the rain isn’t a good idea, to begin with, since mowing while rain is coming down will inevitably ruin your yard. This is especially true if you’re mowing a young lawn. Additionally, you’ll have to clean out your 450x manually after it has been out mowing in the wet weather. It’s not something you want to do on a regular basis.
Husqvarna was wise enough to equip the 450x with a rain sensor, which means if it’s raining, it won’t automatically go out and start mowing. You can configure the 450x to return to its charging station the moment it feels the first drops of rain. In the mobile application, you can set the device to automatically continue when it stops raining.
Zones and Power
If different areas of your lawn require different types of mowing, you can divide it into three distinct zones. You can configure the 450x to cover each area with differing settings. So, for example, if you prefer to have your grass cut shorter on the backside of the house than in the front, you can tell the 450x to do so.
The 450x can mow up to four and a half hours on one change. Surprisingly, it only takes the robot mower about an hour and a half of charging before it’s fully charged. This means you won’t have to wait all day for your robot to continue mowing. It’ll charge up in a relatively quick 90 minutes and be on its away again.
Security and Safety
The Husqvarna 450x smart robot mower has an ultrasound collision sensor, which prevents it from running into anything with much force. That means the mower won’t harm your pets or children if they’re out playing in the yard. It may give an obstruction a slight nudge to get around it, but otherwise, it will avoid obstacles as it mows.
If the robot tips over or is lifted off the ground while it’s mowing, the blades will instantly shut off. This means that even if you have stubborn children who insist on testing their strength on the 450x, they won’t get injured by the spinning cutting blades.
Additionally, the 450x has many features that focus on security. For example, all Husqvarna robots have a PIN code which protects them. If the robot leaves its indicated work area, you enter the PIN code to shut it down. You can also use the PIN code to track the 450x in real time using the mobile application and the GPS locator built-into the mower.
Lastly, the Husqvarna 450x is an environmentally friendly robot mower as it does not guzzle gas like other lawn mowers. It is 100% electric powered, so it’s not producing any ill side effects or pollution like your push behind or riding lawn mower are prone to do.
Pros and Cons
The Husqvarna Automower 450x is a great robot lawnmower, but it has its disadvantages as well. Here are some of the pros and cons of the device.
Pros
- Great mobile application
- Can mow large lawns
- Built-in GSM module means the robot mower can connect to 3G/4G no matter where it is
- Included rain sensor tells the robot mower to return to its charging station when rain is detected
- Handles steep slopes with ease
- Runs four and a half hours on one charge
- Quick charging in less than ninety minutes
- Includes Husqvarna’s proprietary weather timer mode
- Built-in ultrasound collision sensor
- Blades turn off if the mower is picked up or tips over
Cons
- User must purchase SIM data package for mower
- Application can be confusing
- More expensive than other robot mowers
Specs
Here’s a quick rundown of the specs for the Husqvarna Automower 450x:
| Charge Time | 90 minutes |
| Work time on one charge | 4.5 hours |
| Maximum coverage area | 1.25 acres |
| Slope | 45% |
| Weight | 30.6 lbs |
| Mobile Application | Android and iOS |
Conclusion
The Husqvarna Automower 450x is a great choice if you have a large yard since it can handle lawns that are up to 1.25 acres. A lawn that large would take the entire afternoon to mow with a push mower and even a few hours if you were on a rider.
Why not save yourself the time and energy you’ve dedicated to mowing and get a robot mower? Sure it requires the initial investment of burying the perimeter wire, but once that’s done, you don’t have to worry about it again.
With the Husqvarna 450x, you can sit back and enjoy your summer instead of using up an entire weekend day mowing your lawn. Having a robot lawnmower takes care of the hassle of dragging out the mower, filling it up with gas, and frying under the hot summer sun.
The 450x does cost more than other robot mowers, but the price might be worth it if you no longer have to worry about messing with your lawn every summer.
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