When Husqvarna released the Lawn Xpert LE-322 at the beginning of 2023, they did so in connection with a new battery line of Max Battery Products meant to last longer than previous versions. It didn’t hurt that the lawn mower had other great features like diverse cutting modes and foldable storage solutions.
With a half-acre yard, our tester used the Lawn Xpert LE-322 three times to get a feel for how it works on slopes, around trees, and with different grass heights. As with most Husqvarna branded products, the lawn mower was proficient in a number of ways, which was a good thing because it’s not an affordable lawn mower by any means.
Type: push mower
Battery life: 75 min
Dimensions: 43.5” L x 24”W x 18”H (folded for storage)
Weight: 102 lbs.
Deck size: 21 inches
Cutting width: 21 inches
Cutting height: 1.5-4.5 inches
Grass collection capacity: 2.3 cubic feet
Max lawn size: Not provided
Warranty: 3-year limited warranty
The best electric lawn mowers are increasing in popularity, so should you ditch the cord and be free of gas fumes with one of the newest battery-powered lawn mowers on the market – t. They’re not as noisy and don’t come with as much maintenance or care as gas-powered lawnmowers. Their only drawback? Electric lawnmowers run on batteries and if the battery life doesn’t last long enough to cut your yard, you have to wait for them to charge. We tested the Husqvarna Xpert LE-322 with battery and charger to see if you should ditch the cord and be free of gas fumes with one of the newest battery-powered lawnmowers on the market.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Design
This lawn mower is an orange and black machine made with plastic and metal. The handle can be adjusted to your preferred angle dependent on your height. Two batteries are provided, although the charging port only has space to charge one battery at a time. It can take up to an hour and a half to charge both batteries. Once charged, they fit into the top of the lawn mower.
The Xpert LE-322 feels larger than what you’d expect for the size of the cutting deck and is considerably heavy to move around without using the self-propel system. We were impressed by the control panel on the handle as we haven’t seen many other lawnmowers with a panel that has so many indicator lights and buttons.
On the panel, you’ll find an On/Off button and Start button, as well as indicator lights for battery life, errors, high temperature notification, and a locked blade. More importantly, there is a cut mode button that controls whether you want to use Mode 1 (Sensing), Mode 2 (Mulching/High Quality), or Mode 3 (Max Power). Mode 2 and 3 are self-explanatory; Mode 1 senses the thickness and height of the grass and adjusts the power needed to cut that area of grass so as to save battery power.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Features
The Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 has a single blade and is rear-wheel drive, which is probably why it’s so expensive. Rear-wheel drive makes it easier to mow in a straight line and around trees and provides better traction on slopes because it focuses the weight on the rear wheel (hence the name).
At the bottom of the handle of the Lawn Xpert LE-322, there is a drive speed lever that lets you choose how fast you want the self-propel system to go. The maximum speed is four mph which is not the fastest on the market, but pretty average.
Exchanging the grass catcher, rear discharge chute, and mulch plug takes seconds to do with no trouble. The grass catcher can hold 2.3 cubic feet of grass which is a decent size. While you could use the rear discharge chute, it will shoot some grass clippings on your feet. Instead, it’s better to use the mulch plug and let the mulched grass clippings fall where it cuts.
If you like to mow your yard in the early morning or late at night, you’ll be happy to know that the lawn mower has LED headlights.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Setup and assembly
This lawn mower arrived in a large box with handles. Our tester used a dolly to move it from the front porch to the garage. The cardboard box was recyclable, although the Styrofoam, which held everything in place and offered cushioning, was not.
Husqvarna provided an instructional manual and quick set-up guide. You only need one person to set-up the lawn mower, which basically involves lifting the handle and charging the batteries one at a time with the provided charger.
When the batteries were charged, we placed them in the top of the lawn mower and pushed them in until they clicked. From there, we adjusted the cutting height with the wheel lever. If we wanted to use the grass catcher, we removed the mulch plug before attaching it.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Performance
Our tester used the lawn mower three different times on her half an acre yard to get a feel for how long the battery will last and how well the lawn mower cuts. Because the yard was so large, it really helped to have the self-propel system to lighten the mowing load. However, our tester’s forearms and wrists did grow tired quickly holding the brake handle and the drive control buttons.
As an electric lawn mower, the Lawn Xpert LE-322 is not noisy. Overall, it did a great job cutting the grass each time even when the grass was thick with weeds or required expert maneuvering around trees. In fact, without a side discharge chute, mowing around trees or along concrete was easier because there was nothing for the chute to bump into. Without the self-propel system, our tester would not have been able to mow the slopes that line two sides of her yard. A boost of speed was necessary to go up and down the incline, especially in a small area of the yard that turns into a ditch.
The batteries did not last long enough to cut the entire half acre. After cutting two-thirds of the yard, the Mulching mode (Mode 2) automatically changed to the Sensing mode to save as much battery life as possible. The battery lasted about 10 more minutes. So rather than 75 minutes of battery life as advertised, our reviewer only got an hour’s worth of charge. This is not necessarily surprising as battery life can be affected by thickness or height of grass, choosing to mulch or use a grass catcher, among other things. We charged one battery for about an hour and then cut the remaining bit of the yard (which took 20 minutes).
While our tester prefers to mulch grass, she used the grass catcher once. It filled up after mowing 1/4th of the yard (remember, our tester’s yard is half an acre).
After each mowing session, the lawn looked pristine. There was seemingly no difference between sloped parts of the yard and flat areas – all were cut evenly.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Care and maintenance
Because the Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 is a battery-powered lawn mower, maintenance will be minimal. In fact, it only involves replacing the filter and checking the blade for sharpening or replacement every season. If an issue arises, Husqvarna has a network of service dealers you can visit.
Cleaning this lawn mower is a little tricky. Husqvarna warns buyers from using water as it can seep into the battery port or engine and cause problems. To clean the deck, turn the lawn mower on its side after each use and use a blower to remove clippings so they don’t build up over time. Once you’ve done that, fold the handle over and place the lawn mower in a standing position for storing.
Husqvarna offers a three-year limited warranty that covers defects in material and workmanship as a result of normal use and maintenance. Your lawn mower will be repaired or replaced at no cost if the issue at hand is covered under the warranty.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: Price and availability
The Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 is sold at Husqvarna and Lowe’s and sits on the high end of battery-powered lawn mowers. Most are generally priced in the $300-$600 range so $849.99 is a considerably high price tag (Husqvarna’s other electric lawn mower is even more expensive). The Ryobi 40V HP Brushless 21-inch Whisper Series Cordless Walk-Behind Dual Blade Push Mower is one of the few battery-powered lawn mowers that costs the same.
For this price, you’d expect the Lawn Xpert LE-322 to have batteries with higher voltages – say 60V rather than 40V. It would have been nice if the charger had a two-port set up so that you could charge both batteries at the same time. We were also a bit surprised that the self-propel system has a maximum speed of 4 mph as we’ve seen other self-propel systems go up to 6 mph. You could find a battery-powered lawn mower that has some of these other features, though unlikely all of them together. For instance, the Toro Recycler 22 in. Smart Stow has 60V batteries and yet the battery run time is much lower than Husqvarna’s and takes longer to charge.
The price of the Lawn Xpert LE-322 is likely due to the quality of construction, the rear wheel drive, and the trusted brand name. If you spend the money on this lawn mower, we’re sure that you’ll be pleased with how well the Xpert LE-322 cuts your grass.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: User reviews
Husqvarna released the Lawn Xpert LE-322 at the beginning of 2023 so there are only four reviews of the product on the Lowe’s website. The combined star rating is 3.5. Four reviews are not enough to garner a thorough understanding of how the lawn mower works or doesn’t work. That said, two of the four reviewers were disappointed that the battery life did not last 75 minutes as advertised.
“Unfortunately, on a full charge the battery only lasts about 35 minutes (compared to the 75 minutes it claims.). This is based on average speed, the medium cut power, and I tried both mulching and bagging on separate occasions and that doesn’t seem to make a big difference,” wrote one reviewer. They added that it’s a better lawn mower for those with small yards.
This was not the experience for another reviewer who said, “I recently purchased this mower, after fully charging both batteries, I mowed my front and back lawn (about 30 min. runtime) and still have ¾ capacity showing on each battery.”
Another reviewer wrote, “It’s such a beautiful, heavy-duty lawnmower. It’s not the least expensive, but it’s very good quality. Also, the motor is super strong and cuts the grass very evenly!”
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: How it compares
The Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 is pricier than most electric lawn mowers, such as the EGO Power+21-inch LM2102. These two lawn mowers have a lot in common from the LED headlights to a space saving design and 3-in-1 bagging, mulching, and discharging capabilities. However, the Lawn Xpert LE-322 is superior in that it has a self-propel system and the EGO does not.
Some lawn mowers offer more than three cutting modes like the Greenworks 48V 20-inch lawn mower. It has four modes – an additional turbo mode that helps when you have to mow over leaves. While it may be more affordable than the Husqvarna lawn mower, it has a smaller cutting deck and a battery life that is shorter than the Lawn Xpert LE-322.
The Snapper XD 82V Max StepSense has a lot of the same features of the Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 – a self-propel system, 3-in-1 design, and vertical storage design. However, it’s much cheaper, likely because the Snapper’s battery life is only 60 minutes, which is less than the Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322. The control panel of the Husqvarna is also more high-tech than the Snapper’s.
Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322: What the experts say
Dan Vessell is a product manager at Husqvarna who specializes in residential consumer petrol handheld and battery walk-behind products – which makes him the perfect person to provide insight on the Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322.
According to Vessell, “The Lawn Xpert™ LE-322 is best suited for residential users with yards .25 acre or smaller.”
If you want to keep the lawn mower in the best running condition, Vessell says your maintenance routine will be quite simple.
“We recommend keeping the batteries and battery compartment clean from debris. You should also keep the mower dry and remove excess built up grass. Also, clean the filter every season and maintain a sharp blade,” he says.
For the most part, your maintenance cost will be next to nothing – minus the cost of a filter every season. The main cost associated with this lawn mower is the battery. “The cost to run [this lawn mower] only includes the cost to charge batteries and this depends on local electricity prices,” says Vessell.
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The Husqvarna Lawn Xpert LE-322 with battery and charger is a durable and high-quality lawn mower that cuts your lawn to perfection. It is a bit expensive, but that’s likely because it’s a rear-wheel-drive lawn mower that does a better job on slopes, around trees, and with cutting in a straight line – all of which we experienced firsthand.
The control panel is easy to understand and very convenient when you want to change between cutting modes. With a self-propel system that goes up to four mph, you can get your lawn done faster and with less effort or strain. We like that this lawn mower can be folded and stored vertically, and that it has LED lights.
Our only hang up (besides the price) has to do with the batteries. They may not last the full 75 minutes, which is not entirely surprising or uncommon for any lawn mower battery. Different factors can affect battery life. If you have a small to medium yard – anything less than half an acre – it’s likely that the batteries will last. Anything larger and you’ll have to recharge the batteries before you can finish mowing. This can be a bit of a hassle because there is only one charging port, not two, on the charger.
All in all, this is a solid lawn mower that makes the Husqvarna name proud.
