The best cordless strimmers and grass trimmers I’ve tested in 2024

If you want to take the hassle out of maintaining your garden, you can’t do much better than one of the best cordless grass trimmers, or strimmers. Many lawns have tricky areas where a mower can’t get in and do its job, while edging borders or trimming close to a wall is always going to need the right tool. With a cordless strimmer, you can trim wherever you need to, and there’s no cable to hold you back.

But which cordless grass trimmer/strimmer should you buy? I’ve tested more than a dozen models since 2020, using my own front and back gardens as a testing ground. The grass trimmers listed below are those I’d use to keep my lawn looking trim and tidy; I’ve picked cordless trimmers to cover different sizes of garden, with prices starting from just £70 all in.

If you need more detailed advice, check out my detailed buying guide at the bottom of the page – or, simply skip straight to my pick of the best cordless grass trimmers to buy.

Best cordless strimmer: At a glance

How we test cordless grass trimmers

When testing, I assemble each strimmer and run it through a gauntlet of grass-trimming trials. First, I use it to trim and edge small areas of my flat lawn, moving to a larger, sloping lawn with patches of rough and uneven grass, thick weeds and even brambles. This is where I find out how the trimmer performs with more challenging patches, assessing whether it’s up to some serious ground clearance.

During my tests, I also check how easy it is to adjust a tool’s handle, change the cutting angle, feed the line and replace the spool. I also time how long the battery lasts during a session, plus how long it takes to recharge via the supplied charger.

READ NEXT: Best hedge trimmers

The best cordless strimmers and grass trimmers to buy in 2024

1. Bosch AdvancedGrassCut 36: Best cordless trimmer overall

Price when reviewed: £134 (tool only) | Check price at Amazon

• Great for… getting large and unruly lawns trimmed in a single session
• Not so great for… dodging arm and shoulder strain

Key specs – Power: 36V 2.0Ah Power 4 All Li-ion battery; Cutting width: 30cm; Line: 1.6mm; Dimensions (stored): 24 x 14 x 78.8cm; Weight: 4.1kg

Bosch’s powerhouse trimmer has what it takes to handle much larger plots. Running on a 36V battery, it has more cutting power than your average cordless trimmer, and Bosch’s Syneon chip continually optimises it to get you the right performance for the job in hand. The 30cm cutting width is ideal for medium-sized and larger plots, and I easily kept going for 40 minutes of trimming and edging without any need for a recharge.

It’s the smaller touches that make this such an effective tool. I found that the semi-auto line feed does a great job of ensuring that you never have to think about the cutting line during use, while the head rotates for easy edging along the borders. There’s also a pull-out plant protector to keep shrubs and tree trunks safe while you’re trimming close around them. It is heavy – I would have liked a shoulder strap to give a little more support – but if you believe a cordless trimmer can’t match your existing electric or petrol model, the AdvancedGrassCut 36 could surprise you.

2. Gardena EasyCut 23-18V: Best cordless trimmer for small gardens

Price when reviewed: £70 (tool only) | Check price at Amazon

• Great for… hassle-free lawn care and easy storage
• Not so great for… handling tougher grass and woody weeds

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah to 4.0Ah P4A Li-ion battery; Cutting width: 23cm; Line: RotorCut Blade; Dimensions (stored): 26 x 38 x 99cm; Weight: 2.4kg

The Gardena EasyCut 23-18V makes lawn care just about as easy as possible. Its telescopic shaft extends to give you a comfortable reach and collapses down afterwards, making the strimmer less than a metre long, to save you space in your shed or garage. The head is designed to work at three different angles, so you can strim under garden furniture or get into places other strimmers might not reach. Despite the EasyCut 23-18V having plastic blades instead of conventional line – the downside being you’re basically guaranteed to get through at least one blade during any job – they’re less prone to getting caught up and far easier to change than line.

From my experience, the EasyCut 23-18V gives excellent results when you’re trimming a relatively well-kept lawn. It can also handle some unruly patches; however, it’s not so hot when it comes to longer, thicker grass, and chunky, woody weeds are more likely to wear the blade down than take any serious damage. It also has no specific edging mode, despite being able to angle the head. Battery life can vary, but I could get up to 47 minutes from a single 2.5A unit. This is a fairly expensive trimmer once you factor in the price of a charger and battery, but it’s ideal if you’ve already invested in the Power 4 All system and, even if you haven’t, its smart design and sheer convenience still make it one of the best simple grass trimmers out there.

Read our full Gardena EasyCut 23-18V review

3. Titan TTI821GGT: Best budget cordless trimmer

Price when reviewed: £80 | Check price at Screwfix

• Great for… cordless strimming on a budget
• Not so great for… easy refilling or heavy garden maintenance

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah Li-ion battery; Cutting width: 25cm; Line: 1.6mm; Dimensions (stored): 25 x 29 x 132m; Weight: 2.2kg

Available from Screwfix and B&Q, the Titan TTI821GGT is a real bargain, bundled with a battery and charger for less than many cordless trimmers are sold for solo. However, it’s not just cheap – it’s light, easy to use and, with the battery acting as a counterweight on the handle, it’s very well-balanced. It gave me no worries whatsoever cutting through thick grass and lighter weeds, however it doesn’t have the requisite power or thicker cutting line to get through anything too fibrous or woody.

The Titan switches between trimming and edging modes by pushing a catch and twisting the shaft, while a pull-out guard protects tender stems and tree trunks from any unintended attack. You’ll have to reload the spool with line yourself, and Screwfix doesn’t sell spare spools if you break your first, but that’s no great disaster if you’re not too heavy-handed. Meanwhile, the battery lasts 30 to 40 minutes and takes just under an hour to recharge. If you’re looking for a cheap trimmer to manage a small garden, you need look no further.

Check price at Screwfix

4. Bosch EasyGrassCut 18V 230: Best lightweight cordless trimmer

Price when reviewed: £122 | Check price at B&Q

• Great for… trimming small to mid-sized lawns, even if they’re weed-infested
• Not so great for… anyone who hates refills. This trimmer can run through a lot of line

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah Li-ion battery; Cutting width: 23cm; Line: 1.6mm; Dimensions (stored): 28 x 23 x 116cm; Weight: 2.0kg

This lightweight Bosch trimmer makes trimming and edging a doddle. It comes in a surprisingly tiny box, with even the shaft requiring some assembly, but it didn’t take long to fit it all together and then, once you’ve charged the battery, you’re good to go. Bosch’s ultra-efficient motor does an impressive job of balancing power and battery life, and I found the EasyGrassCut 18V 230 had enough welly to slice through anything bar thicker brambles, chunky thistles and the like. There’s a wire guard on the front to protect your prized plants from inadvertent destruction, and you can switch from trimming to edging by clicking the orange button on the shaft and pivoting the head.

It’s not all plain sailing, though, as the semi-auto line feed adds more line every time you release the trigger, so if you have to keep stopping and starting then you may find you’ll run through a spool fairly quickly. On the plus side, the EasyGrassCut is especially light and well-balanced, making it less tiring during long stretches of trimming than other models. The bundled 2Ah battery only lasted 25 to 30 minutes, but it only takes an hour to charge and, as it’s the standard Power For All Alliance battery, you can share batteries across multiple Bosch, Gardena and Flymo tools. The EasyGrassCut is more expensive than the budget trimmers but, for the extra, it’s an excellent tool.

Check price at B&Q

5. Black + Decker 18V PowerConnect Cordless Strimmer: Best cordless trimmer for value

Price when reviewed: £65 | Check price at Amazon

• Great for… strimming tough grass and weeds in Turbo mode
• Not so great for… noise and battery life

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah to 4.0Ah PowerConnect battery; Cutting width: 28cm; Line: 1.5mm; Weight: 2.33kg

It might look like your average grass trimmer, but switch to its Turbo setting and this Black + Decker is a monster, tearing through tough weeds and clumps of long grass that stop lesser strimmers in their tracks. It does a great job of everyday lawn tasks, as well. At 2.33kg, it’s fairly easy to manage, with an adjustable loop handle at the top to take most of the strain. The head rotates by 120 degrees for edging, with a wheel to support it as you trim around your borders, while the whole shebang compresses neatly for easier storage.

All that Turbo power comes with some downsides, particularly noise and battery life. The sound levels reach an ear-splitting 92.5dB in the higher speed mode and the running time drops from around 22 minutes to 18. What’s more, the bundled charger in the kit version is painfully slow, taking nearly five hours to recharge the 2A battery. Still if you can live with these minor drawbacks, this cordless strimmer is exceptionally good value.

Read our full Black + Decker 18V PowerConnect Cordless Strimmer review

6. Bosch UniversalGrassCut 18V-26-500: Best mid-range cordless strimmer

Price when reviewed: £106 | Check price at Amazon

• Great for… strimming and weed-control in smaller gardens
• Not so great for… long battery life

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah to 4.0Ah P4A battery; Cutting width: 26cm; Line: 1.6mm; Weight: 2.2kg

Bosch might have dropped the ergonomic design of the old UniversalGrassCut 18V-26, but the 18V-26-500 thrashes the old model when it comes to build quality and sheer performance. It’s the best strimmer in its class for whacking chunky thistles and tough nettles, and it’s just as capable when it comes to basic trimming and edging duties. With a motor that adjusts its speed and torque to meet the demands of the job at hand, it will power through patches of long grass, while the excellent line management system ensures you don’t need to worry about the line feed getting jammed.

Admittedly, this strimmer is a little tougher on the shoulders than the EasyGrassCut 18V 230 or Gardena EasyCut 23/18V, but it’s still well-balanced. Moreover, the expanding shaft, adjustable head and top loop handle make it easy to find a comfortable working height. The 20 minute battery life isn’t what you might call epic but at least the 2Ah battery recharges in just 1hr 15mins. Unless you have a massive lawn or an untidy plot to deal with, the UniversalGrassCut 18V-26-500 should handle all your strimming needs in style.

7. Ryobi RY18LTX33A-0: Best grass trimmer for control

Price when reviewed: £160 (tool only) | Check price at Ryobi

• Great for… comfortable trimming across light and heavy areas, with real control
• Not so great for… edging or battery life in fast mode

Key specs – Power: 18V 2.0Ah to 5.0Ah One+ Li-ion battery; Cutting width: 33cm; Line: 1.65mm; Dimensions (stored): 26 x 24 x 169cm; Weight: 2.5kg

With a brushless motor and an ergonomic design, this 33cm cordless grass trimmer can take on tougher lawn maintenance and garden clearance jobs without putting too much strain on your back or shoulders. I certainly found it well-balanced and easy to manoeuvre, and it has a neat trick where the controls rotate around the shaft for easier edging. Switchable Fast and Slow speeds and an analogue lever allow you to vary the power for maximum battery life when you’re just trimming and edging the lawn, or for extra oomph when you have thick and woody weeds to chop through.

In tests, I found the RY18LTX33A-0 could handle lightweight lawn care and heavy-duty weed-whacking jobs with equal aplomb, and it was only when tackling really long clumps of ryegrass that it jammed up, with those monstrous blades wrapping themselves around the spindle. I didn’t find it so convenient as an edging tool but it will do the job, and the battery life is reasonable, though hardly outstanding, with a 5A One+ battery lasting between 22 and 30 minutes, depending on the speed setting and the work involved. If you’re looking for a trimmer that can handle some serious work without giving you too much of a workout, you won’t do better than this.

Read our full Ryobi RY18LTX33A-0 review

How to choose the best strimmer or grass trimmer for you

Cordless grass trimmers start at around £50 for a model without a battery or charger and go up to around £350 for the more heavy-duty, pro-level strimmers. As always with garden tools, a lot of your choice comes down to the size of your garden. If you’ve got a small plot with one or two compact lawns, most cordless trimmers will do the job, but if you’ve got a lot of grass to keep under control, particularly long or rough grass, then you’ll need something with more power. That goes double if you need to tackle weeds and brambles on the edges of your garden.

The two things to look out for here are the cutting width and the battery power. Most cordless strimmers use a single 18V or 20V battery, but some of the larger, heavy-duty options double up to use two 18V or 20V cells for 36V or 40V in total, or use a specific higher-voltage battery. Similarly, some of the cheaper models have a 21-25cm cutting width, while the bigger models take that up to 30-38cm. That makes a huge difference when you have large areas of tough grass in need of trimming down to size, though the drawback will be a heavier trimmer that’s going to put your arms, back and shoulders under more strain. If you’re buying one of these beauties, good ergonomics can make all the difference.

READ NEXT: Best lawn mowers

What else should I look out for?

Most grass trimmers use a plastic line to cut with. This emerges from a covered spool and breaks off against an edge on the guard or shield (the bit that protects your legs and feet) when it reaches the right length. This works with an automatic or manual feed mechanism that’s designed to keep the line coming when it’s been worn down or has snapped off. In general, the thicker and heavier the line, the tougher the grass and weeds it will get through, but thicker lines can also be prone to jamming and harder to manage, especially if you’re planning to save some cash and wind replacement line onto the reel yourself. While ready-wound replacement spools are usually available, they tend to be expensive.

A few grass trimmers use a plastic blade instead. These are easy to fit and easy to work with, but they also tend to snap when they meet anything thick or tough. With some trimmers, you can go through two or three in a single session. Other trimmers will feature an optional blade or heavy-duty line designed specifically to handle rough or weedy patches.

Otherwise, look for features that make life easier when trimming around plants or edging your lawn. Wire guards can stop you slicing through an apple tree or rosebush, while wheels and a pivoting head or handle can help when you need your trimmer on its side, hacking through the grass going over into your borders.

READ NEXT: Best cordless mowers

How long do the batteries last?

Most cordless strimmers use an 18V-20V battery with a 2Ah to 2.5Ah capacity, which will generally last for around 20 to 30 minutes of use. However, some will also work with other batteries in the same battery ecosystem, giving you the option of a 4Ah or 5Ah battery and a longer running time, albeit with a bit more weight.

If you need to keep going for an hour or more, either invest in an extra battery or look for a strimmer with a rapid charger. Some can recharge the battery in under an hour, while others take two or three hours (or more) to do the job.

↑ Return to top