Automower Aspire R4
Husqvarna's smallest boundary-wire Automower, for lawns up to 400m². A home tester found the cut superb and the app clever, but the wire takes hours to lay and a lab test marked it down on uneven ground.
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The short version
The Aspire R4 is the entry point to Husqvarna's Automower range: a small, light robot for lawns up to 400m². It follows a boundary wire that you peg or bury around the lawn, plus a guide wire that leads it home to its charger. It has no screen, just a few buttons, and you run it from Husqvarna's app over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which also brings voice control and weather-based scheduling. There's no camera or obstacle sensor, so it finds things by bumping into them.
The trade-off is the setup and the basics. Laying the wire took one tester three hours, and you change the cutting height by hand, choosing from a fairly short range.
It's sold on its own or, in some countries, with an installation kit containing the wire and pegs.
Our take: Buy it if you have a small, fairly flat lawn, don't mind a few hours laying wire, and want a quiet mower that just gets on with it. If you'd rather skip the wire, the Husqvarna Automower 305E NERA works without one, at a higher price. For an awkwardly shaped lawn, the Gardena SILENO city copes well with narrow strips and side passages.
Where it sits in Husqvarna’s range
What reviewers found
One long home test and one lab test. Pocket-lint used it over the summer on a flat front lawn and called the cut exceptional, the running quiet and the app features clever, while grumbling about the wire setup and manual height changes. CHOICE's lab test scored it 70%, liked the app and the sturdy charging station, but rated its work on uneven lawns borderline and its shell flimsy. The Ambient carries a longer version of the same writer's test.
Pocket-lint, hands-on, Oct 2023 · CHOICE, lab test (Full results for members only) · The Ambient, hands-on, Over eight months, Apr 2024 (Written by the same reviewer as Pocket-lint's test, largely in the same words.)
A superb cut on a simple lawn
Pocket-lint found the cutting exceptional. On a flat front garden with bushes, flower beds, a central path and some narrow sections, it got round everything and the lawn looked immaculate enough for the neighbours to comment. It still needed a strimmer for the corners. CHOICE's lab test was cooler, scoring it 70% overall and flagging borderline performance on an uneven lawn, so it suits flat, simple gardens best.
The wire takes an afternoon
Setup is the price of that reliability. Pocket-lint spent three hours laying the boundary wire and guide wire, and recommends burying them in a shallow trench, because both the mower and animals cut or pulled up pegged wire in the first couple of weeks. Once it was bedded in, Pocket-lint found the wire more dependable than satellite guidance: the mower simply can't cross it. Connecting to the app took only minutes.
Smart features, basic hardware
The app does a lot. Pocket-lint used scheduling, a frost guard that pauses mowing below 5°C, a weather timer, spiral cutting for long patches, Alexa and Google Assistant, and IFTTT rules that pause mowing for a garden party. The hardware is simpler. There's no screen, cutting height is set by hand from four settings, and CHOICE notes you have to unscrew the blade disc to do it. CHOICE also found the shell felt weak.
It bumps into things
There's no obstacle detection. Pocket-lint saw it run into anything in its path, including a delivery driver, and warns that it will mow over pet mess and toys left on the lawn. Keep the grass clear before it goes out. On the plus side, Pocket-lint found it very quiet, quoting 59dB, so early-morning runs won't bother anyone.
Short runs, full recharges
Pocket-lint got around an hour of cutting before it went back to charge, and it won't leave the dock again until it's back to 100%. So a four-hour schedule means about two hours of actual mowing. That's plenty for a small lawn. Pocket-lint also advises hosing it down every few weeks, because mud and clippings on the wheels and charging pins can cause charging faults.
The Ambient's review is by the same writer as Pocket-lint's and covers the same test, so we count it once.
Prices
Where to buy the Automower Aspire R4 in Australia
Discontinued, remaining stock in Australia. Switch market above, or see the alternatives below.
Before you buy
The questions people ask about this one
Does it need a boundary wire?
Yes, plus a guide wire back to the charger. Pocket-lint took three hours to lay them and suggests burying both, since pegged wire got cut by the blades or pulled up by animals. If you want to skip the wire, look at Husqvarna's NERA models.
Will it cope with my slope?
Only gentle ones. Husqvarna rates it for 25% inside the lawn and 10% at the boundary, per the specifications. Pocket-lint tested on a flat lawn, and CHOICE rated its performance on uneven ground as borderline.
Can it handle two lawns or a narrow passage?
It handled narrow areas well for Pocket-lint. Husqvarna says it detects narrow passages and switches to straight-line mowing there, and you can set up a secondary area for a separate lawn, per the specifications. Pocket-lint used a Lawn Coverage setting to send it to remote corners.
How noisy is it for neighbours?
Very quiet. Pocket-lint quotes 59dB and found you'd have to stand next to it to hear more than a hum, so an early start won't wake anyone. Husqvarna's own figure is 59dB(A), per the specifications.
What happens when it rains?
Husqvarna rates it IPX5 and says you can hose it down, per the specifications. Pocket-lint linked it to a weather service through IFTTT so it skips heavy rain or frost, and turned on the frost guard, which pauses mowing below 5°C.
Compare with
SILENO city (250 to 600m², basic and smart)
Another small, very quiet wire mower that copes well with narrow strips and side passages.
Laying the wire takes effort, and it leaves a strip uncut at the edges.
Landroid Classic (boundary-wire range)
Testers found these wired mowers quiet, neat and good value, in sizes from 250m².
You still lay a wire first, and the reviews are a few years old now.
Automower 305E NERA
Husqvarna's smallest wire-free Automower leaves a superb finish, edges included.
It needs open sky and Wi-Fi across the lawn, and finds obstacles by bumping into them.
Full specifications
Figures come from the manufacturer’s product page unless a source is named. A blank means nobody we trust has confirmed it.
Owner reviews
Own a Automower Aspire R4?
Tell people how it’s held up: cleaning, maintenance, faults and support. Owner reviews are shown separately from expert tests and never mixed into the score.
Sources
Everything cited on this page. Expert scores are shown as the reviewer gave them.
- Pocket-lint: Husqvarna Automower Aspire R4 reviewHands-on
- CHOICE: Husqvarna Aspire R4 review · 70%Lab test · Full results for members only
- The Ambient: Husqvarna Automower Aspire R4 review · 4.5 / 5Hands-on, Over eight months · Written by the same reviewer as Pocket-lint's test, largely in the same words. (not counted towards our two-review minimum)
- Husqvarna: Automower Aspire R4 product pageManufacturer