Home / Features / Best cordless lawnmower 2022: top wire-free mowers to buy today
Cut better and faster with less effort than ever before with our guide to the top cordless lawn mowers to trim your grass
The best cordless lawnmowers are dramatically different to the models of just a few years ago: they’re smarter, lighter, more powerful and most importantly of all, they last much, much longer.
They’re safer than corded lawnmowers – there’s no cable to accidentally cut – and they’re much more convenient too, because they’re not tethered to a plug socket. If you’re looking for a new mower this year, these are the best of the bunch.
There are two key things to consider here: the cutting size and the battery. The bigger the cutting area the less time it takes to mow the lawn, and the more battery power the longer it’ll run. For large lawns it’s wise to look for mowers with either very large batteries or twin batteries so you won’t run out of power before the job is done.
One of the really great developments in cordless tech is the arrival of swappable battery packs, so for example if you buy a WORX, a Black + Decker or a Bosch you’ll be able to use the battery and charger in other tools – your strimmer, your hedge trimmer, your tree lopper and so on. Rather brilliantly the same sharing happens not just with garden power tools but all power tools, so that battery can also power your hammer drill, sander and in some cases even your pressure washer. That saves you money, because you don’t need to buy a battery with every new tool, and it’s better for the environment too.
As a rule of thumb, the more volts a battery pack has, the better: 20V (36V or 40V in a twin-battery mower) is the sweet spot between performance, portability and shareability right now. Voltage doesn’t affect the battery life – that’s measured in amp hours, AH – but it does affect how much power is going to the motor.
This excellent all-rounder from WORX uses twin 20V batteries to deliver exceptional cutting performance, and with a large 34cm cutting area it makes quick work of any lawn. Its Intellicut technology, which you’ll find across the WORX range, adjusts the speed and power to the grass conditions to give you a consistent cut. Its edge to edge design gets you very close to the ends of your lawn, and because it uses WORX’s Power Share technology the batteries are shareable with other WORX garden and power tools. It’s good to see that the charger is designed to charge both batteries at the same time.
If you’re thinking of getting a brand such as Bosch it’s a very good idea to keep an eye on the deals pages: at the time of writing this mower, which has an RRP of £386, is selling for much less than that – making it less expensive than a smaller, less powerful mower from the same firm. This Bosch is a large 36cm cutter with twin 20V batteries designed for lawns up to 350m2, and its grass combs do a great job of getting the grass at boundaries such as driveways, fences and walls. There’s some thoughtful design here, such as the ErgoFlex handles that enable you to operate the mower in whatever hand position feels most comfortable.
Here’s another petrol alternative with 40V of power. The Yard Force is built to a budget and isn’t quite as flexible as the equivalent WORX – it has a considerably smaller cutting area, its maximum cutting length is shorter, its collection bag is smaller and it isn’t self-propelled – but it’s an excellent option for smaller lawns if you’re looking for a powerful mower on a tight budget. It’s easy to move around and comfortable too.
It used to be the case that if you wanted to mow a big lawn, you needed a petrol mower. Not any more. WORX’s excellently named Nitro has a huge 46cm cutting area, powered rear wheels, seven height settings and the same clever Intellicut technology as WORX’s other cordless models. With twin 20V batteries delivering a sustained 36V and a peak of 40V it’ll deliver up to 40 minutes of continuous cutting, enabling you to tame even the toughest lawns.
Most of the mowers here are overkill for really small lawns. The Handymower, though, is ideal for little lawns: small and manoeuvrable like a strimmer but with the consistent cutting length you expect from a mower. Designed specifically for lawns up to 50m2 it uses the cross-platform 18V Power For All batteries (not included) and runs for up to 60 minutes. The Power For All Alliance is a group of tool manufacturers who’ve agreed to share a single battery standard for 18V tools and includes not just Gardena but Bosch and Flymo too.
If you’ve already invested in some Black + Decker cordless power tools, this mower uses the same twin batteries as other 36V equipment you might already own. It doesn’t cut quite as short as some rivals – the minimum here is 30mm compared to some others’ 25mm or lower – but there’s a longer 80mm setting as well as large wheels for more difficult ground. The 38cm cutting area is ideal for medium-sized lawns and B&D’s stall-free motor copes very well with tougher, longer grass that may defeat more modest models. Buying it battery-free cuts the cost considerably.
Homebase’s Powerbase brand offers fuss-free tools for decent prices, and at the time of writing this model is much cheaper than its already low RRP of £189. That’s for the 34cm model; there are also 37, 40 and 46cm models for larger gardens. It’s a twin-20V model with a dual-battery charger, a rear roller for a striped effect, a 35L bag and a choice of five cutting heights from 25 to 75mm. It’s not the most refined mower you can buy and it’s a little louder than some rivals, but it’s a decent budget buy.
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