Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A review: One clever compact mower

Husqvarna’s Aspire LC34-PA isn’t the first mower to focus on convenience as much as performance, but it’s more ingenious than most when it comes to storage. This is a robust and solid-feeling 18V cordless lawn mower, but it folds down into a compact package you can store upright in a garage or even hang from the hook supplied. At just under 12kg, you can carry it around your garden without risk of serious strain. 

Clearly a lot of work has gone into the Aspire LC34-PA’s design, but does it have what it takes to keep your grass in shape? I’ve been testing it on some fairly challenging lawns to find out how it cuts and handles.

Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A review: What do you get for the money?

A compact, cordless lawn mower with a 34cm cutting width, the Aspire LC34-P4A uses the same Power 4 All 18V batteries found on a range of Flymo, Bosch and Gardena mowers and garden tools. It can be purchased solo or with a 4A battery and charger.

The four cutting heights cover a decent range from 25mm up to 65mm, and Husqvarna includes a 30l fabric grass collector and – unusually – a mulching plug. Yet the biggest selling point is how easy it is to carry and store. Minimise the length of the telescopic handle and fold it over the body of the mower, and the whole shebang packs down to a size of roughly 38 x 79 x 33cm (WDH). With carrying handles at the front and rear, you can lug it around with relative ease, while Husqvarna bundles in a wall hook and fittings, allowing you to hang the mower in your shed or on the garage wall.

READ NEXT: Best lawn mowers

Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A review: How easy is it to use?

The impressive thing is how quick and easy it is to collapse and prepare for duty. I’m used to mowers arriving with a range of bolts, plastic attachments and parts that need assembly, but the Aspire LC34-P4A arrives just folded up and ready to go. What’s more, the orange elements in the black and grey design aren’t just to look good but to indicate the components you’ll need to twist or turn to get it primed for action. The small dials at the rear on either side lock or unlock the handle so you can pull it upwards and click it into place. Meanwhile, the twisting sections with the orange band near the base of the handle loosen to allow it to slide outwards and reach its proper working height.

Thanks to these, you can get the Husqvarna from folded or storage to up and running within minutes, and the mechanisms are a lot less fiddly than the usual easy-release handle fixings found on many mowers. The telescopic design is also less likely to sever the cable accidentally – an issue I have experienced personally on one poorly designed, easy-store mower.

The battery slides into a compartment on the top, protected by a sprung, flip-up cover, and there’s a safety lock just above to stop the mower from starting without the plastic key inserted. Once both are in place, you just shift the orange on/off switch to the left to move it out of the way, then squeeze the bar at the top of the handle to start the motor.

Husqvarna uses a level to adjust the cutting height; just shift it to the right, then push upwards or downwards to switch between the four height settings. The mechanism is silky smooth, and you can switch heights in a jiffy. Meanwhile, you can check the current battery level by looking at the clearly visible battery indicator located in the middle of the carrying handle. 

READ NEXT: Best robot lawn mowers

Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A review: How well does it mow?

Small, flat-ish lawns are this mower’s forté. I was making the second cut of the year after a couple of weeks on pretty soggy grass, but the Husqvarna handled things beautifully, the motor ramping up the power to tackle tougher patches. As with most mowers, it occasionally struggles to move longer, thicker and wetter grass from the cutting deck into the collector without clogging. However, it only jammed twice, needing to be unclogged and turned on again to get back into the action.

On my large back lawn, which slopes and has even thicker, longer grass, the Aspire LC34-P4A choked more often, but it still tackled several tricky patches that I would have predicted were beyond its capabilities. The motor is efficient and capable of meeting a challenge where necessary. Here, the mulching plug was also useful – efficiently distributing clumps of finely chopped cuttings to return some goodness to the lawn. It’s a definite plus on larger areas where you’d be continually emptying the average-sized 30l bag.

As a bonus, the Aspire LC34-P4A is fairly quiet. I measured sound levels at 84 to 86dBA, occasionally rising to 90 to 91dBA while cutting heavy grass. It’s not as quiet as the Bosch CityMower 18, which tops out at 87dBA, but there’s really not much in it.

As for battery life, the 4A battery lasts around 23 to 25 minutes from a single charge, though you might get a few extra minutes working with dryer and shorter grass. That’s mildly disappointing but not untypical for a compact cordless mower. The battery takes just under two hours to charge back to full capacity.

Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A review: Should you buy it?

If you’re looking for a lawn mower to handle one or two small to medium-sized lawns, then the Husqvarna is a serious contender. It’s cleverly designed, easy to store and carry, and performs brilliantly on short grass and better than you might expect on longer, thicker grass. Its one downside is that it’s quite expensive. That matters when it’s up against some stiff competition in the similar Bosch CityMower 18, which can be easily found online for less. Still, if you’re short of space, then the Husqvarna’s folding design will work better for you and, either way, it’s a fantastic compact mower.