Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 Electric Lawn Mower Review

When it came to assembling the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650, it couldn’t be simpler. Everything was quick, easy and screwless.

In its box, the mower is pre-fitted with its handlebars. All you need to do is pull the bar backwards to click it into place. Then, simply press the buttons on the sides to adjust the height. There are four different height settings available so you can lower or raise it to match your own height.

To fit the grass box, simply open it up (with a gentle pull) and secure it to the backend of the lawnmower. Then, plug the cable in (it’s not connected at the base like most mowers) and you’re all done.

Even though I referred to the instructions throughout the assembly, everything was simple and self-explanatory. As long as you’re being safe, you shouldn’t need to rely on the manual to put this mower together.

However, if you do need to use the instructions, the images and text are extra-large and easy to read.

Including time spent getting this lawnmower out of the box, reading the instruction manual and completing the few assembly steps, I had this lawnmower ready to go in an impressive 10 minutes.

Design-wise, the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 is extremely sleek; it certainly has an upmarket feel with its bold dimensions and polished look. Like most Bosch lawnmowers, the colour scheme is classic bottle green and black.

Concerning practicality, two design features are worth shouting about the most; the handlebars and the mechanism used to adjust the cutting heights. As expected, both were easy to use. You simply click the button to fold away the handlebars and push another button (while pulling the lawnmower up slightly) to change the cutting height.

Because everything only involves slight pushing and pulling rather than major screwing and lifting, the design seems well suited to anyone with reduced mobility or arthritis. Plus, it’s handy that the cutting height adjuster has an indicator that tells you what setting you’re moving it to.

Another addition worth mentioning in the list of design features is the ambidextrous handlebars. On the handlebars, there are four different buttons you can use to start the lawnmower, so you can decide which is most comfortable.

The Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 has very few design flaws. The only exception for me is the mesh grass collector. Even though the lid is made of plastic, I find mesh material can easily split, especially when mowing damp grass. Plus, it’s hard to clean.

For the high price point, I was surprised not to encounter an entirely plastic grass box for better durability. However, this wouldn’t have been as easy to install. Ease of assembly was potentially the reason why Bosch opted for a mesh material base.

As the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 has an impressive 1700 W engine, it’s one of the most powerful lawnmowers I’ve ever used. When giving this a run through longer grass, I felt the difference. Even when I sped up and cut quicker than usual, it was still clean and even first-time round.

I was keen to see what impact the powerful engine had when it came to running over patches of grass that were heavily strewn with autumn leaves. Since I don’t normally have many leaves on my lawn, I gathered around 30+ and piled them up in front of the mower.

With the lawnmower set to the highest cutting height (as recommended by Bosch), I slowly pushed it through the pile. To my surprise, it picked up almost every single leaf. The mower certainly seemed to propel itself forwards through the heavy debris, but the cut underneath possibly needed another go.

Granted, most lawns won’t have a concentrated pile of leaves like this. So, if you have low-to-medium layers of debris, there’s no doubt the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 could do both jobs in one go. Just remember to always check for any stones around the leafy areas before mowing to protect the blade and yourself.

There’s no denying that the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 performed exactly as you’d expect for the above-average price point. I tested 3 of the 7 cutting heights and no matter how tall the grass was, it performed exceptionally in all 3 settings.

Even when I picked up the pace slightly (for no other reason than I was cold), the cut was still clean and uniform. Impressive! The fact that I could walk slightly faster than usual, combined with the large 41cm cutting width, meant mowing my medium-sized lawn was much quicker than usual.

The Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 was easy to manoeuvre, but there’s no denying that it’s heavier than most. With a weight of 16 kg, it was noticeable when carrying. Despite the heavy weight, the wide carry handle on the base made life easier. I could fit both hands underneath it, which is rare.

If you find the mower too heavy to carry, I’d suggest pushing it where you plan to store it and then folding it. Since the handles tuck away quickly and easily, it’s easy to do this inside the shed or garage.

When it came to pushing the lawnmower, the heavy weight wasn’t noticeable. The Ergoslide adjustable-handle system, ergonomic handlebars and smooth-running wheels are specifically designed to make pushing easier while reducing pressure on your back. I personally had no trouble moving this along, but if it gets heavy, you could empty the grass collector more frequently to reduce the load.

Since the lawnmower has bigger dimensions than most (76 x 49 x 45 cm), I wanted to test turning it around in a tight space. My lawn has a corner with multiple raised sleepers where manoeuvring is always tricky.

Because of its size, the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 didn’t do well in this corner. A lot of pivoting and lifting was required and the turning circle was bigger than most. This was absolutely expected for such a large lawnmower. If you need to cut around tight spaces (and you don’t want to persevere), a smaller Bosch mower like the Rotak 34R is narrower and has similar features.

Equipped with many impressive features, the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 didn’t disappoint in this area. It has a patented ProSilence sound system (designed to reduce sound output by up to 75%), 7 easily adjustable cutting heights, a leaf collector blade and side combs that enable close edge cutting.

Plus, this lawnmower also boasts a huge 50-litre grass collector with a built-in indicator that tells you when it’s full. According to the manufacturer, the 50-litre grass collector should allow you to mow up to 650 m² of lawn before emptying.

As mentioned above, the LeafCollect blade worked well in picking up a pile of leaves. The only downside was that when I checked the grass collector afterwards, the leaves were only slightly shredded. With a medium-to-large lawn, which is heavily strewn with leaves, you may need to empty the box more than once.

Since the cutting height ranges from 25 mm to 80 mm, this lawnmower is unlikely to struggle with tall grass. I tried it on the highest setting (7) on shorter patches of grass, and setting 5 on taller areas. Both times, it cut at just the right height.

If you’re an infrequent mower and your grass gets long in between cuts, the wide range of heights could easily help you tackle an overgrown lawn without the risk of scalping it.

When it came to testing out the side combs to see how well they cut around my raised sleepers, the results were better than expected. Many lawnmowers fail in this area, despite making claims to achieve a close shave. The Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 trimmed very close to the edges and I only had to use the strimmer on a few strands rather than huge wads of grass.

Even though it’s fitted with a ProSilence feature, I didn’t notice much difference in the sound level compared with other lawnmowers. But if you’re sensitive to sounds, you may notice the reduction more than me.

Finally, my favourite feature of the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 was how easy it was to store. I always find it a pain having to unscrew the handlebars, but this wasn’t an issue with the Advanced Rotak.

Since there are no screws, you just push the buttons and fold. It’s still bigger when folded than most lawnmowers, but this is expected. Measured up, the folded-away dimensions came to around 40 cm wide, 70 cm long and 55 cm high.

When unboxing the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650, there’s an immediate warning on one of the inside flaps that advise you to lift from the handle, not the sides. This is because the sides of the lawnmowers contain sharp grass combs. This is a useful warning to have in such an obvious place.

As usual, the lawnmower is fitted with a two-step start mechanism. You have to press the middle button, then pull one of the four levers on the handlebar to start the mower. Having multiple levers could be confusing, but I thought it was a great design that meant you could use whichever felt more comfortable.

Overall, it’s clear to see why the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 has a higher price point. The long list of features is impressive and they stood up well to my various tests. However, the biggest selling point has to be its simplicity. It’s one of the easiest lawnmowers I’ve ever assembled and used.

Even though I need the UK’s best electric lawn mower that can cut around tight spaces, I’d still invest in the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650 purely for its simplicity. Plus, since the handlebars are ambidextrous, this is perfect for my family.

As this lawnmower is very large, with a huge capacity grass collector and a wide cutting width, it would be best suited to either someone with a medium-to large lawn with no tight corners, someone with a lawn that’s heavily strewn with leaves or someone with reduced mobility who needs to make mowing less of a chore.

Cutting a smaller lawn would be quick with the Bosch Advanced Rotak 650, but it may not be worth the price unless you need the simplicity. Niftier designs like the Flymo EasiMow 300R or the Webb Classic WEER33 have less features, but are better choices for smaller gardens.