Best cordless lawnmower

What is the best cordless lawnmower?

As soon as spring has sprung, most of us turn our attention to getting our overgrown gardens into shape, trying to keep our lawns lush and well maintained throughout the summer and into early autumn. What better way to do that than with one of our best cordless lawnmowers?

An no longer will you have to drag around cables. Modern, battery-powered lawnmowers make your life easier, letting you go where you want without danger of electrocution of having to daisy-chain several extension cables together.

Best Cordless Lawnmower Video

1. Stihl RMA 448 TC

The best lawnmower for larger gardens.

Pros:

• Excellent cut performance and pickup
• Solid run-times & coverage (750m²)
• Ideal mowing speed
• Excellent Mono-Comfort handle
• Mulching kit optional

Cons:

• Woefully slow charger (others available)
• No drive-only setting

Why we liked the Stihl RMA 448 TC

The Stihl RMA 448 TC is a self-propelled cordless lawnmower with a 46cm-wide cut designed for larger lawns. Its dual battery slots allow you to carrying around a spare, giving you enough power to cut even the largest areas of grass without having to traipse back to the garage.

Robust and well built, the Stihl RMA 448 TC has a single arm for pushing it. We thought that this would make the lawnmower uneven to push, but we’re happy to say that we were wrong. Driven by an independent motor, the Stihl RMA 448 TC moves comfortably, with the handle just used for steering.

There’s a generously sized bin on the rear, which fills up with compacted grass to the point where it’s really heavy to empty. There’s an optional mulching kit available, too. With excellent cutting performance, the Stihl RMA 448 TC is the best choice for large gardens.

Our one minor complaint is that the bundled battery charger takes the wrong side of four hours to charge – faster chargers are available if you want to recycle batteries more frequently.

Read the full review

• Stihl RMA 448 TC review

Latest live deals

2. Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li

A great budget lawnmower for smaller gardens

Pros:

• Ideal for small gardens
• Super-light weight
• 21 minutes’ run-time
• Well-weighted height adjuster
• Easy to store
• Exceptional value

Cons:

• Bogs down in long grass
• Woefully small bin
• Poor build quality
• Expensive spare battery option

Why we liked the Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li

The Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li is one of the smallest, lightest and cheapest cordless lawn mowers that money can buy. With a 30cm cutting width and five cutting heights, this is a compact model aimed at those with smaller gardens. In our experience, we managed 125m² on a single battery charge.

When not in use, the handle folds down for storage – although it’s a bit of a pain to get it there – and you have to loosen the orange wing-nuts quite a way to get it to fold. The controls will be familiar to anyone with a Flymo, with two orange grab-levers. These are clearly from a corded lawnmower, since there’s still a clip for a cord: parts re-use helps keep the price down, so we can’t complain.

The provided battery lasted for 21 minutes, although in that time we had to empty the bin 10 times. This shows you that the Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li is an efficient collector and that the bin is a little small. To extend run-time you could buy a second battery, although they’re expensive at £106.99 plus £8.99. At these prices, you may as well put the extra cash towards a larger mower that lasts longer.

There’s a lack of power in long grass, but this isn’t likely to be so much of a problem in most UK homes where there’s just a small-ish lawn to contend with. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t have much grass, the Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li is a great budget choice.

Read the full review

• Flymo Might-Mo 300 Li review

Latest live deals

3. Stihl RMA 235

An outstanding compact cordless lawnmower

Pros:

• Super cut and finish
• Excellent pick-up and compaction
• Outstanding build quality
• Split to empty grass box

Cons:

• Awkward-height lever
• Relatively tall handle
• Slow charger

Why we liked the Stihl RMA 235

Just because you’ve got a small lawn, it doesn’t mean that you don’t want exceptional results. If that sounds like you then the Stihl RMA 235 is probably the cordless lawnmower for you. Stihl’s entry-level product, this model has a 33cm cut width and the build quality of the company’s more expensive models.

With the provided battery and charger, Stihl says that you can cut up to 200m² of lawn, although we managed 50% more at an incredible 300m². Other battery and charger options are available, depending on whether you have a smaller or larger lawn.

All this from a lawnmower that comfortably folds down for easy storage. Be warned that the Stihl RMA 235 is heavier than it looks, thanks to the incredible build quality.

Easy to handle, the Stihl RMA 235 managed to cut in crisp straight lines, picking up cuttings easily, and even having the strength to grab leaves and other bits of debris. Thankfully, the bin is super-easy to empty.

The Stihl RMA 235 isn’t cheap but it offers great value. If you want a compact lawnmower with the power to keep your green in great shape, this is the model to buy.

Read the full review

• Stihl RMA 235 review

Latest live deals

4. Husqvarna LC 347VLi

A premium battery-powered lawnmower for larger gardens

Pros:

• Powerful cut and drive
  Outstanding build quality
  Immaculate cut finish
  Great choice of batteries

Cons:

• No bag-full indicator
• Weighty at 26kg+
• Not cheap

Why we liked the Husqvarna LC 347VLi

For larger lawns, the huge Husqvarna LC 347VLi is a great choice. It has a massive 47cm cutting width for making short work of large spaces. It ships without batteries, but there’s a huge choice available to suit the area and use that you’ll put the lawnmower to.

Build quality is outstanding, with everything of the highest quality, feeling chunky and well made. It’s a huge lawnmower, weighing 25kg without a battery.

There are plenty of battery options. We opted for the BLi20 and QC330, which added £130 and £80 to the price respectively. The BLi20 gives around 20-minutes run-time at full-power and can be recharged in a swift 30 minutes. The Husqvarna LC 347VLi has storage space for a second battery, too, so you can do a quick swap in the middle of mowing.

There are five speed modes to choose from (3km/h to 4.5km/h), with the Husqvarna LC 347VLi propelling itself for easy work. There are also six height adjustments from 20mm to 75mm.

Cutting performance is excellent, although the 55-litre bag can get very heavy thanks to the compression of the grass cuttings. With the huge amount of power and excellent performance, the Husqvarna LC 347VLi is about as big a consumer lawnmower as you can get. Note, though, it can get expensive when you add in the batteries and chargers that you need.

Read the full review

• Husqvarna LC 347VLi review

Latest live deals

5. EGO LM2122E-SP

A great lawnmower for the largest of lawns

Pros:

• Huge 1000m²+ cut area
• Up to 49 minutes’ run-time
• Very fast charging (1 hr)
• Solid build quality
• Easy-to-use controls
• Excellent value

Cons:

• Finicky speed controller
• Old-school grass bag
• No “bag full’ indicator

Why we liked the EGO LM2122E-SP

For the largest lawns, the EGO LM2122E-SP could be the right choice. With its 52cm cut width, this is a cordless lawnmower designed to make short work of even the biggest areas. That’s particularly true when you factor in the 1000m² of lawn that the EGO LM2122E-SP can tackle on a single charge. Given the price, this lawnmower is something of a bargain.

All of that power is manifested in the size of this lawnmower: at 30kg, it’s quite a beast. Part of this is down to the robust build quality, which we can’t knock. Despite the size, the handle folds over flat, making it easy to store the lawn mower in a shed or garage.

There are 11 speed settings for this self-propelled mower, although we found it hard to get quite the right balance: we found the EGO LM2122E-SP either a little slow for us or just a bit too fast to keep up with.

Cutting performance was excellent, with a nice clean cut and straight lines. It’s a shame there’s no “bag full” indicator, as you have to keep an eye out for grass being left behind before you make a change.

Minor speed niggles aside, if you need a big and powerful lawnmower for a large area, it’s hard to find anything that provides the same excellent value as the EGO LM2122E-SP.

Read the full review

• EGO LM2122E-SP review

Latest live deals

Best Cordless Lawnmower Round Up

1. Stihl RMA 448 TC: The best lawnmower for larger gardens.
2. Flymo Mighti-Mo 300 Li: A great budget lawnmower for smaller gardens
3. Stihl RMA 235: An outstanding compact cordless lawnmower
4. Husqvarna LC 347VLi: A premium battery-powered lawnmower for larger gardens
5. EGO LM2122E-SP: A great lawnmower for the largest of lawns

How we pick the best cordless lawnmowers

There’s only one way to pick the best cordless lawnmowers – and that isn’t simply by listing the ones that look good, as many other sites do.

1. We mow test strips in our test garden. Using three heights – high/medium, medium/low and low – we use before and after photos to see how well each mower has cut and if it missed anything.
2. We test on a variety of surfaces, too, to see how each mower handles itself on uneven ground. In addition, we see how each mower copes with undergrowth, with longer grass and brambles. Only then can we truly compare the performance of each product to help you buy the right one.

For more information, read our full how we test lawnmowers.

Best cordless lawnmower buying guide

Should I buy a battery or petrol model?

For home use, battery-powered models make far more sense than petrol models and are all that we’ve listed here. Battery models are easier to maintain, have more than enough power, are quieter and, most importantly, don’t produce that petrol smell.

Do I need a spare battery?

All cordless lawnmowers have spare batteries available. The advantage is that you can continue mowing before your battery has finished charging. If your provided battery won’t last for your entire lawn, then look to buy a spare battery. Be careful with cheaper machines, since replacement batteries are often expensive and you may be better off spending the money on a longer-lasting, more expensive lawnmower.

Look out for different battery charger options, too. Slow chargers that take hours are fine if you mow your lawn once a week. If you need your batteries sooner, then a faster charger makes more sense.

How much power do I need?

The rating of the lawnmower’s electrical system will only give you a rough idea of power: we’ve seen 36V mowers that are more powerful than 40V ones. Our reviews will indicate how well each lawnmower copes in a variety of scenarios.

If you have a straightforward lawn, you can get away with a less powerful lawnmower. If you’ve got a lot of rough area, you’ll need a more powerful model instead.

What cut width do I need?

The cut width describes the width of the strip that lawnmower can make in one pass. The wider the cut, the faster you can cut, as each strip gets more grass. For small lawns, something around 30cm will be fine. Look for around 40cm for mid-sized lawns, and 45cm-plus for the largest of lawns.

What else should I look out for?

For larger lawnmowers, buy a model that is self-propelled. These use a motor to drive the wheels, so you have to do exert less effort to cut nicely.

A mulching option can be useful to help keep your lawn in good shape It mulches the grass clippings and spreads them around the lawn, acting as a feed to keep your grass healthier.