Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA

A lot of wire and a day or more of work, which is why most owners of the wired Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA have a Husqvarna dealer install it. The wire runs around the whole edge of the lawn and around every bed, pond or tree you want the mower to avoid, pegged down or buried just below the surface. A guide wire also runs from the charging station across the lawn so the mower can find its way home.

Husqvarna sells installation kits in three sizes. On its own descriptions, even the large kit is meant for open lawns up to 5,000 m² or complex ones up to 2,500 m², so a big, fiddly garden may need extra wire. See our accessories pages and the installation guide.

Also budget for occasional wire breaks from digging or edging. If that sounds like too much, the wire-free bundle or the Husqvarna Automower 450V NERA avoids most of the work.

Husqvarna UK doesn't mention any fee for it. The Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA has cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in, and the Automower Connect app is free. For the wire-free bundle, Husqvarna says the RTK correction data from its cloud is supplied at no extra cost, so neither version needs a subscription to mow.

The cellular link is what lets you change schedules, start or park the mower and see its GPS position from anywhere, not just when you're on your home Wi-Fi. Husqvarna's UK pages don't say whether that connection is guaranteed for the life of the mower, so if long-term remote access matters to you, ask the dealer what terms apply.

Our network RTK and 4G guide compares how different brands handle mobile data.

Husqvarna rates the Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA for 5,000–7,500 m², and which end of that range applies depends on the version and how it mows.

• Wire-free bundle (with the EPOS Plug-in): 7,500 m². Knowing its position lets it mow in straight, overlapping lines, which covers ground more efficiently.
• Boundary-wire version: 5,000 m². On a wire it mows in an irregular pattern, and Husqvarna gives the same lower figure for the bundle when it mows that way.

Husqvarna also quotes every rated area as plus or minus 20%. The figure assumes an open, fairly simple lawn with a normal mowing schedule. Several things bring the practical number down: narrow passages between lawn areas, lots of beds and trees to work around, steep slopes (it's rated for up to 50% inside the lawn), and fast spring growth that needs more frequent cuts.

A sensible rule is to choose a mower rated at least 20% above your lawn area. On that basis, the wired version suits lawns up to roughly 4,000 m², and the wire-free bundle lawns of around 6,000 m². If you're near the top of either figure, the Husqvarna Automower 450V NERA carries the same wire-free rating as the bundle. Use our lawn size tool to measure your garden before deciding.

Better than most robot mowers, on paper. Husqvarna lists three layers of protection for the Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA: a PIN code that must be entered before it will work, an alarm that sounds if it's tampered with, and GPS tracking over its built-in cellular connection, so the Automower Connect app can show where it is.

Because the tracking uses the mobile network rather than your Wi-Fi, it keeps reporting once the mower is out of range of your home, which matters on an expensive machine that spends its life outdoors. None of this stops a determined thief, so it's still worth checking your home insurance covers a mower of this value and keeping the serial number on record.

Our theft and security guide covers practical steps such as garages, lighting and marking.

The biggest change is that the Husqvarna Automower 450X NERA can work without a boundary wire, while the original Husqvarna Automower 450X can't. Husqvarna now lists the old model only on a support page marked discontinued.

According to Husqvarna's spec tables, the differences are:

• Navigation: the 450X uses a boundary wire only. The 450X NERA comes as a wired mower or as a bundle with the EPOS Plug-in, which uses satellite RTK and virtual boundaries.
• Rated area: the 450X was rated for 5,000 m², the same as the wired 450X NERA. The wire-free bundle reaches 7,500 m² because it mows in lines.
• Obstacles: the 450X NERA adds radar object detection.
• Connectivity: both have built-in cellular and GPS tracking; the NERA adds Wi-Fi.
• Weather and slopes: the NERA is rated IPX5 against IPX4, and 50% inside the lawn against 45%. Along the boundary the NERA is rated for 25%, up from 15%.

Some things didn't change: both cut a 240 mm strip with electric height adjustment from 20 mm to 60 mm. One figure went the other way: Husqvarna quotes a longer run time per charge for the old 450X than for the NERA model.

If you own a working 450X on a wire you're happy with, there's little reason to switch. If you're buying new, note that Husqvarna names the Husqvarna Automower 450V NERA as the 450X NERA's replacement.