As good as robot lawnmowers are at keeping your grass perfectly cut, they’re generally not so good at dealing with bigger hills and more challenging terrain. That changes with the Husqvarna Automower 435X, the first all-wheel drive (AWD) robot.
According to the company, the new mower can climb hills with an incline of 70%: that’s the about the same as a ski jump hill. In addition to its hill-climbing ability, the 435X has a brand-new design, with the robot’s body in two connected bodies, with the front part turning 90-degrees for extra manoeuvrability. The result looks like the kind of robot lawn mower that Robocop might own.
While it might look mean, the 435X has been designed to be gentle. Thanks to the Ultrasonic remote object detection feature, the robot lawnmower can slow its pace when it detects a nearby object. With its soft rubber bumper, the lawnmower will only ever make a soft impact with an object. It also has automatic passage handling and LED-headlights.
The 435X has full smart home integration, too. With Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support, you can control this lawnmower with your voice. If you prefer to automate its use, there’s an IFTTT channel, while Husqvarna has created an open API for its lawnmowers, allowing third-party devices to integrate.
With these smart options, you can fully automate how the mower works. For example, you could pause the robot from mowing when a door sensor detected that you were heading outside, or you could start the lawnmower going when you go out.
The Automower 435X also integrates with Gardena SmartSystem, giving you control over irrigation from one place.
The Husqvarna Automower 435X doesn’t come cheap, available for £4400 from April 2019. That’s a big step up from the existing £3200 Automower 450X, which has the same smart features but not the off-road capability. We’ll bring you a full review of the 435X when samples are available.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
