The Honda Gardening Range Press Launch 2019

I overuse the phrase 'I know I am lucky', but I do feel very lucky at some of the events I am invited to.  I was recently invited to attend the Honda Lawn and Garden Equipment press launch for their new range for 2020 and I was very pleased I was able to attend.  I am not under any obligation to write this post and no one has approved or edited this post other than myself.

As I drove to the event I knew I was in the right place from all the red Honda flags lining the driveway.  I looked at the two cars outside the venue and had that momentary thought of 'nice cars, but why are they here'; then that very heavy penny dropped, Honda make a few more things as well as garden equipment.

We were there for the launch of all the new products, which included petrol and battery driven items.  I am not going to talk about the petrol models as I have no experience of using petrol mowers so I have no method of comparison.

Let us start at the batteries....

Photo c/o Honda

The Honda cordless battery range uses three different sizes of batteries:  4ah, 6ah and 9ah.  They all fit the same machines and what they give you are different run times.  So if you have a small garden you will not need a 9ah battery to mow the lawn, you can probably use just a 4ah.  The batteries fit all the machines so you could have a range of batteries that you use at different times, or conversely, just the one that fits all.  They recharge more quickly than Honda's main competitors and are of the quality you would expect from this company.

Photo c/o Honda

Honda were launching their new range of cordless lawnmowers, the HRG416XB and HRG466XB are built onto the well known 'IZY' deck.  This is a sturdy aluminium frame that is the same as used on their petrol range.  The two mowers offer 4.5N, and 6.5Nm of torque respectively.  We were told a lot about torque on the day and how important it is in relation to the amount of what I would describe as 'oomph' the mower has.  A mower needs oomph.  The motors have a new brushless design and also a low noise rating.  The larger of the two models, the HRG466 also has an integrated on-off selective mulching mechanism.  We were told this was a first in the cordless lawn mower market.  

Photo c/o Honda

This was not a passive 'listen and be told' sort of day, (thankfully); we spent most of the day trying the various different products being launched.  We also had the opportunity to try them against equivalent models from their competitors which I thought was useful.  We had a lot of fun mowing up and down the gardens of the venue.  I can honestly say I liked the Honda mowers a lot.  They are not the cheapest you will find, they are aimed at the premium market and not at entry-level buyers; but they are very clearly of good quality.  The aluminium frame gives the mowers a stability and robustness that I liked as a I mowed. 

They were also launching a new, smaller, robot mower to their Miimo range.  This mower is targeted to be more suitable for smaller gardens and is quick and easy to set up.  This was an impressive mower to watch and whilst it is fair to say that they are an investment; for the busy person who likes a neat lawn but does not have the time/commitment to frequent mowing then this might be the machine for you. 

photo c/o Honda

Honda were launching their new cordless hedgetrimmer.  I enjoyed trying this hedgetrimmer out.  The hedgetrimmer uses the same battery as the mower as, as mentioned above, it is one battery fits all.  It certainly seemed to cope well with cutting the hedges and shrubs 

Photo c/o Honda

There is a leaf-blower that completes this cordless range.  A leaf blower blows leaves.  This one blew leaves well and I have to admit as I do not clear away leaves often, I find them quite fun to use. 

I have to say thank you to the team at Honda for hosting us for the day.