Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Robotic Lawnmower Review (2020)
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect is designed for gardens up to 400 m² (or 0.1 ac.) in size in which the slopes aren’t much steeper than 15° (or 27 percent).
It’s otherwise an autonomous robotic lawnmower that has a 18 V 2.5 Ah lithium-ion rechargeable battery using electric power. At the underside are 3 pivoting small blades attached to a rotating disc making up the cutting system designed to mulch the grass. The mower operates quietly (up to 63 dB) and maintains your lawn at a cutting height of 30-50 mm (or 1.18″ to 1.97″).
Check its price here: Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect.
Apart from that, it’s got a built-in LogiCut navigation system which allows this mower to know exactly where to mow. First it maps out the layout, then covers the whole area row by row while also remembering where it left off when it goes for a quick recharge. However, there’s real no cut to edge feature, though there is remote control, and that’s what set this “connect” version apart from the non-connect version of Bosch Indego 400 robot lawn mower. Otherwise it’s got all the essential mowing, safety, and security features by default.
Ever wanted to just skip mowing the lawn even for just 1 weekend? With a robotic lawnmower, that’s now in the realms of possibility. No more cursing and wishing it to be over already (the manual mowing) – Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect does almost all of it for you. And by the way, the running costs are surprisingly low as well.
Table of Contents
Quick Overview for the Hasty
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect measures 44.5 cm x 36.4 cm x 20.2 cm / 17.5″ x 14.3″ x 8″ (length x width x height) and weighs 7.6 kg (or 16.76 lbs).
What the hell is a robot mower? Get an overview from this article: “Robot Lawnmower Buying Guide” for more insights.
Bosch Indego S+ 350 Connect features tilt, lift, rollover, and collision sensors, but no rain sensor. It’s making use of LogiCut Navigation System which allows it to map out the garden layout, mow systematically in parallel rows, and continue mowing where it left off after a quick recharge. Otherwise it’s fairly similar to how typical robot mowers tend to work. When compared to the non-connected version, this Bosch S+ 350 Connect features remote control, which is also pretty much the only difference from the non-connect version.
Pros
- 30% faster mowing
- German quality
Cons
- Poor traction on wet grass, worse in combination with slopes
- Requires flawless accuracy for docking and thus may miss the mark
For extra cost, Bosch offer custom covers for their mowers, but also shades for the charging station that act like mini garage.
Who’s Behind Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Robotic Lawnmower?
Robert Bosch GmbH as a company dates all the way back to 1886, to a backyard in Germany (back then it was called, in German: “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering“).
They’ve come a long way since.
What Are the Specifications of Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect?
- Dimensions – 44.5 cm x 36.4 cm x 20.2 cm / 17.5″ x 14.3″ x 8″ (length x width x height)
- Weight – 7.6 kg (16.76 lbs)
- Max cutting area – 400 m² (0.1 ac.)
- Incline – 15° (27 percent)
- Battery pack – 18 V 2.5 Ah lithium-ion battery
- Mowing time – 30 min (avg.)
- Charging time – 45 min (avg.)
- Cutting width – 19 cm (7.48″)
- Cutting height – 30-50 mm (1.18″ to 1.97″)
- Cutting height positions – 3
- Volume level – up to 63 dB
What Are the Features of Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Robot Mower?
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robot mower has multiple features.
1) General:
- autonomous charging and mowing
- silent operation (up to 63 dB)
- over-air connectivity
- USB port
- low running costs
2) Control System:
- manual control panel keypad
- remote control with app
- alert messages
3) Navigation system:
- parallel mowing pattern
- LogiCut Navigation System
- MultiArea [up to 3 independent cutting areas; zones up to 40 m² (0.0099 ac.)]
- SmartMowing (automatic scheduling)
- SpotMow – targeted mowing of small areas
- collision sensor
4) Charging system:
- energy saving mode
- temperature monitoring
5) Cutting system:
- mulching system
- cutting height adjustment dial
- 3 pivoting small blades
6) Safety features:
- emergency STOP button
- collision sensor
- tilt sensor
- lift sensor
- turnover sensor
7) Security features:
- security lock system
- pin code
- alarm
1) General Features
Automatic charging and mowing cycle
Since basically every robotic lawnmower on the market is almost fully autonomous, so is this Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect. They mow and recharge on their own as per the schedule, day after day, week after week.
Silent operation (up to 63 dB)
Robot mowers are very quiet when compared to a regular push mower which tends to roar at around 90 dB. 63 dB in can be compared to a normal conversation. That means you’ll really only hear this little gardener if you’re already fairly close to it. Makes the weekends go by quietly for a change. You can read more here: “How Loud Are Robot Mowers?”
Over-air connectivity
This “connected” version of the Indego 400 feature over-air connectivity, meaning you can pair it with a smartphone or a tablet via an app and control its settings or update its software remotely without having to do much of anything manually. Though in case you didn’t have the connection all the time, there’s always the manual keypad and USB port still there.
USB port
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect has a USB port which is used to update its software in case you couldn’t create over-air connection temporarily or for some other reason.
Low running costs
Apart from the initial purchase, there are also the running costs involved. Electricity and certain replacement parts factor into it. The battery will last anywhere from 2 to 6 years while the blades need changing roughly twice per mowing season (3 at a time). When it comes to electricity, a 18 volt 2.5 Ah battery uses roughly 0.045 kWh (calculated here). Costs a few cents to keep it running 1 day, that’d make a few tens of bucks per mowing season.
2) Control System
Control panel keypad
The control panel is located at the top of the chassis on this Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robotic lawnmower. The control panel consists of around 6 buttons and a screen in the middle for feedback. A “Back” button on the left and a “Confirm” button on the opposite upper side with the screen in-between them. There are also arrow 4 arrow keys at the bottom on either side of the screen for navigating the through the settings manually. You can configure scheduling options, mowing modes, security settings, and more.
Remote control
Since this Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robot mower is “connected” and features over-air connectivity, it’s got an app which allows you to pair the mower with a smartphone or a tablet and thus control things remotely. You get to give the mower instructions, receive alert notifications, and more.
Alerts
The control panel screen gives you feedback (including alerts) to a certain extent. The app can provide even more information compared to the manual screen.
Mowing pattern: parallel rows
While most robot mowers mow in a random pattern, Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect features LogiCut Navigation System which allows it to first map out the garden and then mow it all efficiently row by row. It even remembers where it left off when it happens to return to the charging station in the middle of mowing. This mowing pattern system is about 30% faster that random mowing pattern.
Relies on a perimeter wire
It’s not super intelligent of a mower because it still heavily relies on a perimeter wire to know where to cut. The boundary wire is just a simple electrified wire (not harmful) that makes a loop around the cutting area and connects at the charging station. It defines the cutting area and helps the mower map out the garden layout so as to know where to cut but also to find its way back to the charging station. The wire can be either installed tightly against the ground or dug under the ground up to 5 cm deep.
MultiArea feature
MultiArea feature Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect has is not the best when it comes to dealing with multiple mowing zones. I’d consider this to be an alternative to a real multi-zone feature. So then, what you get is 2 things. With the 1st one you can set up up to 3 separate mowing areas each with their own charging station and perimeter wire loop. The 2nd option is to create a zone no larger than 40 m² (0.0099 ac.) by extending the perimeter wire around that smaller zone. There’s more info on this in the manual.
SmartMowing feature
SmartMowing is essentially an automatic mowing time scheduling feature whereby it determines the mowing schedule itself as per your garden layout. You can set one manually, too. Additionally, since it can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, you can enable it to consider weather forecast for optimizing mowing times further. This all can be configured remotely via the app as well.
SpotMow feature
Now this feature is for mowing just a few meter radius spot on the lawn so as to avoid having to wait for the mower to get to this one spot by taking on the entire lawn from the beginning. The way it works is you first bring the mower over to the location manually and then give it this SpotMow mowing command upon which it mows a few meter radius. There’s more info on how it exactly works in the manual.
Collision sensor
A simple bump sensor rather than an ultrasonic one that detects obstacles from afar. So when it bumps into something, it simply changes the mowing direction.
4) Charging System
As was mentioned earlier, the charging and mowing cycle is automatic. That means you can just watch or do whatever and the mower takes care of the lawn and itself to some extent autonomously, unless you instructed it to do otherwise, say for example you didn’t set a mowing schedule or didn’t enable the SmartMowing feature to allow it to schedule it by itself.
Energy saving mode
What this does is turn off electricity to the perimeter wire when the mower is not actively mowing nor recharging. It’s when the Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robotic lawnmower has completed the tasks and has recharged fully, but won’t be mowing anytime soon, it just goes to sleep almost without wasting any more energy. Things activate or “wake up” once it’s time to work again as per the schedule or when you give some mowing command manually.
Temperature monitoring
Another neat feature fairly unique to Bosch robot mowers is the temperature monitoring for the battery. As you know, neither cold nor hot temperatures tend to NOT play nicely with a battery, so when the internal temperature of the robot mower is not between 5 °C and 45 °C (41°F to 133°F), it simply won’t charge.
5) Cutting System
Mulching system
Almost every robot mower mulches grass. That means the grass is cut more often leaving smaller grass blades drop onto the soil and act as fertilizer. That’s what the Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect is also set out to do. Mulching keeps the grass fairly healthy. If you wanted a truly healthy looking lawn, all that’s left for you to do is aeration.
Cutting height adjustment feature
The cutting height can be adjusted manually by pressing the button at the top between 3 options: 30, 40 or 50 mm (1.18″ to 1.97″).
3 pivoting small blades
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robotic lawnmower has 3 pivoting small blades down there making up the cutting system. The blades are attached to a rotating disc. There’s also the solid type of cutting system, but this pivoting blade type of cutting system is quieter, safer, and more energy efficient in comparison. As for the negatives, the pivoting small blades attached to a rotating disc are a little less efficient at cutting things. There’s also the higher risk of the small blades just breaking off, but the chance of it actually happening is fairly low.
6) Safety Features
Emergency STOP button
Apart from Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robot lawn mower having a big emergency STOP button, being fairly quiet (up to 63 dB), moving slowly, and having a considerably weaker motor when compared to your regular lawn mower, meaning it will have a hard time with anything other than grass, along with blades being small and tucked deep under the chassis, there are a few more tricks under its belly (learn more: “Robotic Lawnmower Safety”).
Collision, tilt, lift, & turnover sensors
Collision sensor (a.k.a bump sensor) surely helps Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robot mower navigate around obstacles, but it also acts as a safety feature for when it comes in contacts with something or somebody it wasn’t exactly designed to cut. Tilt, lift, and turnover sensor will stop the blades almost instantly when the mower is tilted, lifted or when it rolls over.
7) Security Features
Auto Lock function
Auto Lock stops unauthorized access to the robot mower’s settings if buttons are not pressed for 3 minutes when it was unlocked. It can be enabled/disabled. To unlock, you ought to enter the correct PIN code using either the arrow keys if you’re going at it manually or via app when remotely.
Pin code
Initially, there likely won’t be a PIN code, so you have to set it up first using the keypad. And try not to forget the PIN code once you’ve created it!
Alarm
The alarm can be enabled or disabled. It goes off when fishy things happen to it. The correct PIN makes all good again.
Additionally, you could:
Hide from bypassers
Try installing the charging station somewhere hidden from bypassers for added protection.
Use a sticker
You can custom make a sticker with fake information about its security features and put it on the mower for the potential thief to kindly return the mower once they notice it – once they realize that they can’t do anything with it without knowing the PIN code, instead of just leaving it somewhere, they might return it knowing they could still get off easy. They might…
Fake surveillance system
Putting a camera, even if fake, in an obvious easy to spot location overlooking the area will at least make the potential thief think twice.
What’s Included In the Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Package?
Robotic Mower
Charging Station
Installation Manual
125 m Boundary Wire
Boundary Wire Staples (180)
Nails, screws, hex key, power supply & cable, connectors, and the like.
Additionally, for extra cost:
Custom top cover
Mini Garage
Should You Buy the Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Robot Lawn Mower?
Where would I say does this Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect stand among the competition? It’s not competitively priced for a robot mower meant for small lawns up to 400 m² (0.1 ac.), but you do get German level quality in return. If you were ok with quality over price, and the features were right for you, this is quite a reliable option.
By default, German products are associated with quality. Most robot mowers tend to ultimately come from China.
It might not be for you if your garden layout was very complex and/or consisted of more than 3 larger zones or the slopes were steeper than 27% (or 15°) and you wanted cut height to be less than 30 mm (1.18″) or more than 50 mm (1.97″). Apart from somewhat poor traction on wet grass at a slope, it’s actually quite a decent pick.
You can check its price here: Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect.
How To Install Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect?
Luckily the installation of Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect isn’t a rocket science and pretty much only involves laying down & connecting the perimeter wire as well as placing down the charging station. The whole process can take a few hours (check with installation manual).
When it comes to the perimeter wire, here’s a few quick tips. Avoid angles of less than 45° when laying the perimeter wire as that can affect the performance. You can place the wire tightly against the grass using the pegs or dig it up to 5 cm (1.97″) deep instead. Initially it’d be better to not dig it anywhere and simply lay it against the ground instead and let robot mower run a few weeks in order to kick out all the quirks. Once everything works as it should (fully autonomously), then you can start the digging.
Another thing is the charging station. Setting this up is fairly straight forward (check with installation guide), but I’d like to point out a few key things still. They’re mainly to do with the charging station placement requirements:
- It must be close to a wall socket;
- preferably under shade & cover;
- install on a relatively flat surface outdoors;
- install it somewhere out of sight from bypassers;
- install on top of the wire at an outer edge of the cutting area (not in the middle of cutting area).
How To Take Care of the Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect Robot Mower?
As is with all robot lawn mowers, Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect robotic lawnmower, too, requires very low maintenance:
- clean regularly;
- replace cutting blades when need be;
- replace rechargeable battery when it seems almost dead;
- install charging station in shaded area to protect the mower from the elements;
- don’t forget to unplug the power supply connected to the charging station you left outside for winter;
- when storing the robot mower itself, charge fully, turn off, clean, and place in dry indoor conditions, and avoid leaving in freezing temperature.
Conclusion
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect is designed for gardens up to 400 m² (or 0.1 ac.) in size in which the slopes aren’t much steeper than 15° (or 27 percent). It’s otherwise an autonomous robotic lawnmower that has a 18 V 2.5 Ah lithium-ion rechargeable battery using electric power. At the underside are 3 pivoting small blades attached to a rotating disc making up the cutting system which is designed to mulch the grass. The mower operates quietly (up to 63 dB) and maintains your lawn at a cutting height of 30-50 mm (or 1.18″ to 1.97″).
Apart from that, it’s got a built-in LogiCut navigation system which allows this mower to know exactly where to mow. First it maps out the layout, then covers the whole area row by row while also remembering where it left off when it goes for a quick recharge. However, there’s real no cut to edge feature, though there is remote control, and that’s what set this “connect” version apart from the non-connect version of Bosch Indego 400 robot lawn mower. Otherwise it’s got all the essential mowing, safety, and security features by default.
Bosch brand
Bosch is a German company going way, way back. That said, one can expect higher quality, but also higher prices on such robot mowers.
What’s in the package
Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect package includes the robot lawn mower itself, a charging station, 125 meters (approx. 410′) of perimeter wire, 180 boundary wire pegs, and some manuals, but also the power supply & cable, screws, nails, a hexagon key, wire connectors, and the like.
Where to buy
It’s simple, buy here: Bosch Indego S+ 400 Connect.
EXTRA READING
Best Cheap Robot Lawn Mowers in 2021 | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower care & maintenance | post | Lawn Story
How much do robot mowers cost? | post | Lawn Story
How long do robot mowers last? | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower buying guide | post | Lawn Story
How do robot mowers work? | post | Lawn Story
Robot lawn mower safety | post | Lawn Story
