The world of automated robot mowers has expanded significantly over the past decade, with a booming consumer market now allowing customers to pick from an increasingly sophisticated range of robotic lawn solutions. Advances in motion sensor technology, satellite positioning, and battery quality have all helped make higher-end automated mowers ever more attractive for lawn lovers willing to invest in the best available kit.
Husqvarna’s NERA range is a part of this premium scene, boasting a range of functionality, customizable options, and even boundary wire-free positioning.
Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at what the NERA range of automated mowers has to offer the discerning customer, including price points and stand-out features setting them apart from some of their budget competitors.
Who is Husqvarna?
Husqvarna is a Stockholm-based manufacturer of landscaping equipment, power tools, and gardening machinery. The company is known for their innovation and are proud to advertise the longevity of their enterprise, with manufacturing roots reaching as far back as the late 17th century.
Today, they produce a well-regarded line of high-tech automated mowers, as well as traditional mowers and ride-on machines. They also market a range of services for contractors and power tool owners, including fleet control, maintenance contracts, and winter storage for outdoor equipment.
What are the Automower NERA models?
Husqvarna’s NERA range is their latest offering of high-end automated mowers designed primarily for the domestic market. They represent the best of what Husqvarna has to offer when it comes to range of functionality, modern technology, and hands-free potential.
Perhaps the biggest selling point of the NERA range is the option to have your model installed with Husqvarna’s flagship EPOS technology. This allows the mowers to operate without boundary wire installation, operating through satellite positioning alone.
Price points range widely depending on the recommended working area of each model, as well as whether you wish to add EPOS functionality to your robot.
The Automower 320 NERA, recommended for lawns of up to 1/2 acre (2,200m²), starts at $3500 (£2,799), with the largest Automower 450X NERA beginning at $6000 (£4,799) and mowing up to 1.25 acres (5000 m²). Adding EPOS functionality requires an additional $1500 (£1,200).
Husqvarna is also set to release a newer range of more compact NERA models – the 310E and 410XE – retailing at $2500 (£1,999) and $3000 (£2,399) respectively (without EPOS). These models come with a new EdgeCut feature and are set to be available to customers this calendar year.
What features do Automower+ NERA robotic mowers have?
As one would expect from a range of mowers costing no less than $2,500, the NERA range are kitted out with an impressive suite of cutting edge features that go above and beyond industry standards.
EPOS Virtual Boundary System
For many, the optional EPOS attachment that can be installed along with any NERA model is what really sets this range of robotic mowers apart from much of the competition.
For many years, physical boundary wires have been the main mode for guiding robotic mowers as to where they should operate. However, EPOS – standing for Exact Positioning Operating System – allows you to set the operating area solely through satellite positioning. Not only does this mean no more broken boundary wires, it also makes it far easier to adjust and reshape your desired mowing area with just a few taps of a phone screen.
The EPOS functionality also helps your NERA robot calculate the swiftest route to and from its charging dock, as well as helping the mower avoid taking the same ‘wire-bound’ return route over your lawn that can sometimes result in unsightly track marks.
EdgeCut Functionality (available on forthcoming 310E and 410XE models)
A common complaint when it comes to robotic mowers is that they can sometimes struggle to maintain a neat edge around your lawn. For gardeners who like their backyard to look immaculate, this can even mean having to maintain the lawn border manually.
With Husqvarna’s new EdgeCut feature, a smaller rotating blade is positioned towards the front of NERA robot, allowing it to cut far closer to bordering edges.
Maneuverability
Husqvarna’s development team have spent a great deal of effort boosting the maneuverability of their automated mowers, with patented non-fixed front axles allowing for greater range of motion and better performance over tough terrain. The existing NERA range are marketed as being able to handle gradients of up to 50%, more than many budget competitors currently on the market.
Automower Connect App with Zone Control
The range of functions and customizable options available via Husqvarna’s SmartPhone App is impressive. Zone Control can allow you to set different areas with different mowing settings throughout your garden.
You can also monitor your mower from anywhere you have wi-fi connectivity and adjust its schedule whilst away from home. Other adjustable settings can include setting temporary ‘stay out’ zones.
To help guard against theft, NERA mowers also come with GPS-tracking capabilities, meaning you can always see exactly where your mower is even when you’re not in the garden yourself.
Advanced Object Detection
Higher-end mowers on the market often come with advanced motion sensor technology and Husqvarna NERA models are no exception.
Their ability to sense and circumnavigate both static and moving objects makes them safer and more precise, as well as reducing time spent stopping and starting due to unfamiliar additions to the lawn. If a NERA mower needs to navigate through narrow spaces to reach its area of operation, its sensors can help it do so.
GPS Assisted Navigation
Some automated mowers on the market choose their routes based on comparatively ‘random’ algorithms, which can result in uneven cutting paths.
The NERA models, however, come equipped with sophisticated, GPS-zone technology, helping the automated mower vary its mowing patterns in a way that avoids leaving repeat track marks whilst simultaneously ensuring a smooth and even cut across the lawn.
Smart Home Integration
The NERA mowers can be seamlessly integrated into Smart Home setups such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. They can then be adjusted and controlled using what are sometimes known as ‘If This Then That’ (IFTTT) functions. For example, if you want your automated mower to avoid a certain area of the garden when children or pets are home alone, or to cease operation altogether, it can be customized so that it automatically shuts off via the Smart Home system.
Weather Sensitivity
As well as being able to track and measure areas that have recently been mowed, NERA models come with a range of weather-sensitive features helping them adjust their mowing schedule and behavior based on localized weather conditions.
For example, NERA mowers can automatically mow less during the later, drier months of summer in order to avoid stressing the grass, whilst increasing their mowing schedule during warm, wet periods. Their intelligent functionality means that these mowing patterns can be automatically adjusted in line with actual weather patterns, rather than just rough estimates based on the time of year.
These automated mowers also come with frost sensors, allowing them to avoid cutting the grass when low temperatures make this ill advised.
New features and regular updates
As a company that proudly advertise themselves as being at the forefront of automated mower technology, Husqvarna are a brand that regularly introduce new features into their high-tech range of automated mowers.
Making the news recently is their upcoming ‘Doom’ Video Game feature, a feature that celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the popular first-person shooter by allowing certain models of Husqvarna Automower® to show them taking down virtual monsters on their interactive screen!
Many of these features can be retrospectively installed via firmware updates into existing NERA models.
The Bottom Line
There’s no doubt that the Husqvarna NERA range command a high price when placed alongside budget competitors. If you’re looking for simple functionality and smaller lawn management, it’s possible to purchase automated, boundary-wire enabled robotic mowers for less than $800.
That being said, Husqvarna stand out as one of the most reliable, longstanding, and respected producers of reliable, high-tech garden equipment, and their NERA models provide a great suite of functionality for those who are willing to invest in quality and industry-leading features. What’s more, their optional, flagship EPOS attachment reduces the need for physical boundary wires, a deal breaker for many looking to make their automated mower as flexible and as labor-lite as possible.
