Husqvarna Automower 312V review: quality cutting from a trusted brand

T3's Husqvarna Automower 312V review in a sentence: The sophisticated tech packs plenty of appeal and we love the cut too.

Husqvarna recently took the covers off a trio of new robot lawn mowers, including the Husqvarna Automower 312V. It’s aimed at robot lawn mower newbies with a fondness for tech or, perhaps, those looking to update their machine to a more sophisticated offering and can handle lawns of up to 1,200m². At £1,499, it sits alongside the £999 Automower Aspire R6V, which is perfect for smaller gardens up to 600m². Alternatively, there’s a middle ground model in the shape of the Automower 308V, which costs £1,249 and can tackle areas up to 800m².

All three models are wire-free and boast a crop of new features aimed at making their lawn mowing activities smarter and more hassle-free for the owner. There’s a new camera that helps spot obstacles more effectively and better navigation. Considering Husqvarna were first to the robot lawn mower party, it's a well-respected brand with products I’ve been very keen to try.

So, I’ve had the Husqvarna Automower 312V for a little while now and it’s already turning out to be a great alternative to the best cordless lawn mowers and the best petrol lawn mower models I’ve tried up to now. One of the great aspects about this latest batch of robot lawn mowers is the Automower Connect app, which makes set up and control of any of these amazing machines a much more straightforward affair.

However, the initial configuration process could be problematical for folks less savvy with apps and how they tick, although Husqvarna does offer a set up service as a workaround.

Husqvarna Automower 312V review: Price and availability

The robot lawn mower marketplace is reasonably well populated with plenty of products to suit all budgets. While it is possible to get something cheaper, I love the Husqvarna brand, and it's been around for a long time. I’m guessing then that there’s a decent level of customer support to help make the £1,499 price tag on the Husqvarna website of the Automower 312V seem fully justified.

As pointed out above, for anyone with larger grassy areas to tackle, the £1,249 Automower 308V might be a better choice. Conversely, the cheaper £999 Automower Aspire R6V is a good bet. Help with installation and set up might be worth factoring in to your budget as well, I think.

Husqvarna Automower 312V review: Design and features

The Husqvarna Automower 312V is a wire-free robotic lawnmower, which is tailored towards gardens of up to 1,200 m² and uses lots of tech to take the strain out of the job. Robot mowers used to rely on a cord running around the border of a garden to stay on track, whereas this model uses an adjustable virtual boundary system with no physical wire. The box comes complete with the robot mower itself, plus a charging station, extra blades, a power supply unit and a low-voltage cable.

I really like the design of the Husqvarna Automower 312V. Once out of the box, it was easy to see the high quality of the mower itself. The overall design is good on the eyes with contrasting gloss and matte grey plastics offering plenty of aesthetic appeal. The top of the unit has a physical control interface, dominated by a big bright orange Stop button, while the distinctive Husqvarna logo and badging will let the neighbours know what brand you’ve purchased.

Immediately underneath the logo is the virtual ‘eye’ of the mower. There’s also a panel on the top that can be lifted to manually change the cut height.

Two large wheels sit at the back corners of the unit, while turning it over reveals two smaller front wheels plus an underside that is very well constructed. The very sharp blades are located in the rotating circular section in the middle and, thankfully, replacing blades looks to be a relatively straightforward job that can done with the help of the very good manual and a single screwdriver.

The charging or ‘base’ station is essentially just a flat section of plastic where the mower docks. It does this by navigating itself into place and locking into the charging section at one end. This base station can be plugged into a mains electric socket, although it’s worth noting the length of the supplied cable isn’t especially long.

Husqvarna has also incorporated AI object avoidance that uses a built-in camera to detect objects and obstacles around the garden. Better still, the Husqvarna Automower 312V can be set up to mow in different ways, meaning that it can produce a striped or checkerboard cut. The GPS-assisted navigation helps tackle gardens that come in all shapes and sizes, as well as those that have areas bordered by trees and other larger obstacles. Too much tree coverage, though, and the mower might have trouble staying connected to satellites and cause it to malfunction.

The machine comes with an Automower Connect app, which allows lots of setup options and delivers the ability to control every aspect of the cutting operation. There is Zone Control too, which adds another more sophisticated level of cutting management across more than one section of garden. This is especially handy if you have front and back gardens. The app also lets users control the machine remotely and tweak any or all the settings at any time.

There are lots of other neat features too, like the ability to carry out spiral cutting that is designed to help even out the height of the grass across a garden. For UK users, where conditions can be unpredictable, the weather timer is handy as it lets the machine work only at optimal times of growth for the grass, so the lawn doesn’t get cut at the wrong time. Personalised profiles and so-called Smart Routines can also be configured to suit your own lawn requirements.

Meanwhile, a GeoFence alarm goes off if someone attempts to steal the unit and the Husqvarna Automower 312V can also be easily cleaned using a hose for the exterior. Adding value is the way the mower can be kept bang up to date thanks to Husqvarna’s over-the-air-updates and it is fully compatible with smart home gadgets including Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Husqvarna Automower 312V review: Battery

The Husqvarna Automower 312V features a 4Ah Lithium-Ion battery pack that, from a full charge, can run up to 100 minutes, with an average charge time that’s about the same. Husqvarna reckons it’ll use around 7kWh of energy over a month on average.

Husqvarna Automower 312V review: Performance

I have to say that I found the Husqvarna Automower 312V rather tricky to configure. Central to the action is the app, which on face value looks good and appears to have everything needed inside its black and orange interface to make installation and setup a doddle. The reality was less so, and in fact, required quite a lot of cross-checking with the manual and online searches to see if anyone had the same issues as me. I revisited the manual on numerous occasions to try and fathom some of my problems.

For starters, I couldn't see my mower in the Google Maps display area on the app. At first, it was blank and then it was showing an out-of-date view. I had to do a lot of fettling before I got this bit right. This wasn’t the only issue, as I had problems with the Automower Connect settings in just about every area I explored. Little wonder Husqvarna offered a setup service, which I think could be worth doing if you’re not a fan of troubleshooting software issues on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

As for the mower itself, I thought the hardware was excellent and the Husqvarna Automower 312V seemed very capable, even on my rear lawn which has been decimated by moles over the years. As a result, the surface area is far from bowling green flat and has also succumbed to moss during the very wet weather months. It’s early days, but I felt that the Husqvarna Automower 312V was able to cope with these issues admirably.

Indeed, the cut quality and versatility of the app setup was excellent for allowing me to customise the cut options. Where I felt the package as a whole was let down though was the issues I encountered with the software. This appears to be the weakest part of the package, although maybe I was simply let down by connectivity issues that could have contributed to the problems. I’d therefore be wary if you’re looking for a robot mower and have patchy Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity. The same goes for satellite coverage if your lawn is populated by trees.

Husqvarna Automower 312V review: Verdict

Overall, I found the Husqvarna Automower 312V to be an excellent robot lawn mower, as well it should be for the near £1,500 asking price. The design and build quality was very good, while the look of the machine is certainly premium. I was less enamoured when it came to getting through the set up and configuration process, via the supporting app, although the end result felt worth the effort.

The Husqvarna Automower 312V delivers a quality cut and is so versatile because it offers a variety of cutting options. I’d like to see some improvements with the app, to make the user journey a little smoother, but anyone who isn’t afraid of a head-scratching app and tricky tech will find it an interesting experience.

However, Luddites will be better off choosing one of Husqvarna’s simpler robot mowers that place less emphasis on using the app to get the job done.