FREELEXO CAM (350, 500, PLUS 600)
Einhell's budget camera-guided mowers for small, simple lawns, with no boundary wire and a battery shared with its garden tools. Testers found them easy to set up and neat, but they mow at random and leave wide edges.
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The short version
The FREELEXO CAM mowers are the wire-free part of Einhell's robot range, sold as the CAM 350 and CAM 500 for lawns up to 350m² and 500m², and the PLUS 600 for 600m². A camera on the front tells grass from paving, bark or gravel, and sensors stop it before walls and hedges. You only lay a short loop of cable round the charger so it can dock. The battery slides out and fits Einhell's other cordless garden tools.
It's simple in every sense. The CAM 350 and 500 have no app at all: you set mowing times on a small keypad, and they drive about at random rather than in neat rows. They also stop well short of edges, so you'll be strimming. The PLUS 600 adds Wi-Fi, an app and automatic updates.
Our take: Buy it for a small, single lawn with clear edges, like paving or bark, if you want to skip laying a wire and don't need an app. It's especially handy if you already own Einhell batteries. For bigger or more complicated gardens, or if you want neat rows and app control, a satellite-guided mower such as the Segway Navimow i1 does more, and the Worx Landroid Vision AI is another camera option.
Where it sits in Einhell’s range
- Einhell FREELEXO BTBoundary-wire model with Bluetooth app control
- FREELEXO CAM (350, 500, PLUS 600)This model
- Einhell FREELEXO LCD BTBoundary-wire model with an LCD screen and Bluetooth app
What reviewers found
Two German home tests of the CAM 500. Technik zu Hause was delighted: quick to set up, very quiet, an accurate cut and no bumps into anything. heise bestenlisten agreed it's easy to install and trouble-free, but was more critical: no app, random mowing, a 10 to 20cm strip left at the edges, hesitation at hard shadows and a keypad PIN that's confusing and weak. They disagree on noise, which heise bestenlisten found on the loud side. Nobody has tested the PLUS 600's app yet.
heise bestenlisten, hands-on, Jul 2023 (tested on the FREELEXO CAM 500) · Technik zu Hause, hands-on, Apr 2024 (tested on the FREELEXO CAM 500)
Setup is genuinely quick
Both testers found it simple. You place the charger with open sky above it, lay a small rectangle of cable round it so the mower can dock, and send it off. On its first run it drives the lawn without cutting to learn the edges, then starts mowing. Technik zu Hause had it docking first time. heise bestenlisten found learning the lawn automatic and trouble-free, though the satellite fix it uses to find the charger took much longer than the manual suggests.
Edges and shadows trip it up
heise bestenlisten found it stays about 30cm from hedges and plants, including leaves drooping onto the lawn, and still leaves a 10 to 20cm strip beside flat edging stones. Hard shadows on the grass made it stall and turn as if it had hit something. It coped with edging narrower than the 30cm the manual asks for. Technik zu Hause, on a lawn it called ideal, saw it cut accurately without bumping into anything.
No app, and a fiddly PIN
The CAM 500 has no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so everything happens on the mower. Technik zu Hause liked not needing a phone. heise bestenlisten found the membrane keypad cheap-feeling and the PIN baffling: the manual gives no clue that the four hour-buttons stand for digits one to four, which also cuts the possible codes to 256. With no app, you also get no alerts if it's stuck, and updates come by USB stick. Einhell's PLUS 600 adds Wi-Fi and an app, but nobody has tested those yet.
Random mowing, simple schedules
It drives until it meets an edge or obstacle, then turns off in a random direction, rather than mowing in rows. heise bestenlisten found it reached every part of the lawn that way. Scheduling is basic: 4, 6, 8 or 10 hours a day, daily or every other day, starting at the time you first press start. Technik zu Hause found it stuck precisely to those settings, and a battery run lasted about two and a half hours for heise bestenlisten.
Quiet or not? Testers differ
Technik zu Hause called it super quiet. heise bestenlisten could hear both the drive and blade motors from several metres away and put it among the louder mowers of its type, though not loud enough to bother neighbours. Both note it only runs in daylight, because the camera needs light, which also protects hedgehogs and other night-time animals. heise bestenlisten found its low skirt only snagged two or three times on bumpy ground.
Both tests cover the FREELEXO CAM 500. The CAM 350 is a smaller version of the same design. Nobody has tested the PLUS 600's Wi-Fi, app or automatic updates yet.
Before you buy
The questions people ask about this one
Does it need a boundary wire?
No, but you do lay a short cable loop round the charger so it can dock. heise bestenlisten used a square of about three metres a side. Magnetic tape in the box can fence off areas like a new flower bed, per the specifications.
How close does it cut to the edge?
Not close. heise bestenlisten measured a 10 to 20cm strip left beside flat edging stones and about 30cm left beside hedges and plants, which the sensors keep it away from. Einhell doesn't claim edge cutting, and you'll need a strimmer.
Can it handle two lawns or a narrow passage?
Not by itself. heise bestenlisten notes it can't drive between separate lawns: you carry it to the second area and hold the start button to mow there. Technik zu Hause calls it ideal for clearly laid-out gardens.
What happens when it rains?
A rain sensor sends it back to the charger or stops it going out. Technik zu Hause found the sensor worked perfectly. heise bestenlisten points out you can't adjust or switch it off on the CAM 500.
Does it need a clear view of the sky?
The charger does. The mower uses satellite positioning to find its way home, so Technik zu Hause and heise bestenlisten both say not to put the charger under a roof or tight against the house. Mowing itself relies on the camera.
Compare with
Landroid Vision AI
Another camera-guided mower with no wire, aerial or map; testers found it the easiest robot to set up.
It also mows at random, and edges vary by garden.
E15 Robot Lawn Mower
Camera-guided and one of the quickest mowers to set up, for lawns up to 800m².
Testers with bumpy or damp grass had it slipping and getting stuck.
SILENO city (250 to 600m², basic and smart)
A 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.
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
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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.
- heise bestenlisten: Einhell Freelexo Cam 500 im Test · 3 / 5Hands-on · Tested on the FREELEXO CAM 500
- Technik zu Hause: Einhell Freelexo Cam 500 Mähroboter im PraxistestHands-on · Tested on the FREELEXO CAM 500
- Einhell: FREELEXO CAM 500 product pageManufacturer
- Einhell: FREELEXO CAM range pageManufacturer