Cordless mowers have changed faster than any other category of garden tool over the past five years. The 2026 generation of 36V and 56V machines run as long as a typical mowing session needs, cut as well as petrol equivalents on domestic-scale lawns, and cost roughly the same upfront as quality petrol mowers while costing fractions to run and maintain.
For lawns under about 500 square metres, cordless is now the right answer for most UK households. This guide covers the five we’d recommend under £400, and how to match the right one to your specific lawn.
Quick verdict
Best overall: EGO LM1701E-SP — 42cm cut, self-propelled, 56V power that genuinely matches petrol on dense grass.
Best value: Bosch CityMower 18-32 — small lawns under 200sqm, single 18V battery, around £200 with battery and charger.
Best for medium lawns: Greenworks G40LM41 — 40cm cut, 40V, runs the typical 250sqm lawn on a single charge.
Best premium under £400: Stiga Combi 340e Kit — Italian-built, exceptional cut quality, smart battery management.
Best for hilly gardens: EGO LM1701E-SP (self-propelled) — the only mower in this price range with effective self-propulsion.
How to pick a cordless mower
Three factors matter more than the spec sheet suggests.
Battery voltage and capacity determine real-world runtime. 18V mowers handle small lawns adequately. 36V/40V mowers are the sweet spot for most UK domestic gardens. 56V mowers (EGO’s platform) genuinely match petrol performance on dense or wet grass. Capacity (Ah) determines runtime — a 4Ah battery on a 40V mower cuts roughly 200-300sqm before needing recharge, a 6Ah battery handles 350-450sqm.
Cutting deck width affects how long mowing actually takes. A 32cm deck on a 250sqm lawn takes around 35-40 minutes. A 42cm deck takes 22-28 minutes. The time saving compounds across years of use, which matters more than people initially think.
Self-propulsion matters on slopes and large lawns, not on small flat ones. Self-propelled mowers cost £80-150 more, weigh more, and need slightly more maintenance. Worth it for lawns over 250sqm or any noticeable slope. Wasted money on flat lawns under 200sqm.
A few features that don’t matter as much as marketing suggests:
- Mulching capability. All decent cordless mowers mulch acceptably. The differences are minor.
- Brushless motors. Standard on quality machines now. Worth checking for, not worth paying premium for.
- App connectivity. Solves no real problem most users have.
- Multiple cutting heights. Anything from 5 settings up is fine for normal use.
EGO LM1701E-SP — Best Overall
EGO’s 56V platform is the most capable cordless system available at consumer pricing. The LM1701E-SP is their 42cm self-propelled mower, and it’s the cordless mower we’d choose for most UK family gardens.
What stands out: the cut quality matches dense-grass petrol mowers in a way most cordless machines don’t. On wet morning grass (which UK conditions often produce), the 56V power delivery doesn’t bog down the way 36V mowers can. The deck is steel rather than plastic — heavier, but more durable and produces cleaner cuts.
Battery runtime depends on which battery you specify. The 5Ah handles roughly 350-400sqm of normal grass; the 7.5Ah handles 500-600sqm. Most lawns under 500sqm complete in a single charge with the 5Ah battery.
Self-propulsion is genuinely useful on slopes or larger lawns, with variable speed control that adjusts to your walking pace. On flat lawns it’s redundant but not annoying.
What’s slightly disappointing: weight (around 25kg) makes it harder to lift over steps or store in elevated locations. The folding handle helps but doesn’t fix the underlying weight.
Price range: £350-400 with battery and charger. Buy if: You have a typical UK lawn (200-500sqm) and want a mower that handles every condition without compromise.
Bosch CityMower 18-32 — Best Value
If your lawn is under 200sqm and you’re looking for a single tool to cut it, the Bosch CityMower 18-32 is the most economical choice that still produces good results.
The 32cm deck width keeps the mower light (around 11kg) and manoeuvrable. The 18V battery handles roughly 150-200sqm per charge with the supplied 4Ah battery. Bosch’s 18V Power for All system is shared across an entire range of garden tools — drills, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers — so the battery investment can spread.
What it does well: light, manoeuvrable, easy to lift, easy to store. Cut quality on average UK grass is fine — not premium, but unobjectionable.
Where it falls short: it’ll struggle visibly on dense or wet grass. Cutting beyond 200sqm means swapping batteries mid-session. The plastic deck flexes slightly under load.
Price range: £180-220 with battery and charger. Buy if: Small lawn, casual use, you want low-cost entry to cordless.
Greenworks G40LM41 — Best for Medium Lawns
Greenworks occupies the middle ground that suits most UK gardens. Their 40V platform is well-established with battery compatibility across their tool range. The G40LM41 has a 40cm cut width, 40V battery (a 4Ah battery is typically supplied), and steel deck construction.
Cut quality is good rather than exceptional. The 40V power handles normal mowing conditions confidently and only struggles on thick wet grass. Runtime with a 4Ah battery is roughly 250-300sqm — a typical medium lawn cut on a single charge.
What works well: balanced design, reasonable weight (16kg), decent build quality at the price. The grass collection bag is well-designed and easy to empty without spilling.
Where it falls short: not self-propelled, so on slopes you’ll feel it. Battery recharge time is longer than EGO’s system (around 90-120 minutes for a 4Ah on the standard charger).
Price range: £270-320 with battery and charger. Buy if: Medium lawn (200-300sqm), flat ground, want a balance of capability and price.
Stiga Combi 340e Kit — Best Premium Under £400
Stiga is an Italian manufacturer making well-engineered garden tools that don’t get the marketing attention of bigger brands. The Combi 340e is a 40cm cordless mower with battery management that’s genuinely better than most competitors.
Cut quality is excellent — the deck design and blade geometry produce a cleaner cut than most cordless machines, including some at higher price points. The battery management system optimises power delivery based on cutting load, which both extends runtime and keeps the cut consistent across the mowing session.
The 4Ah battery handles roughly 250-300sqm in standard conditions. Stiga’s 48V battery platform isn’t as widely compatible across their tool range as EGO or Bosch, which limits multi-tool battery sharing potential.
What we like: build quality, cut quality, attention to design details (rust-resistant fasteners, well-made wheels, properly thought-through height adjustment).
What’s awkward: less widely available than the major brands, parts and service can be slower to source if something goes wrong.
Price range: £340-390 with battery and charger. Buy if: Cut quality matters more to you than brand familiarity, and you’re not building out a multi-tool battery platform.
A note on petrol comparisons
The “petrol vs cordless” question comes up constantly in UK lawn forums. The honest answer for typical UK domestic lawns:
Choose cordless if your lawn is under 500sqm, you cut weekly during the growing season, you don’t want to deal with petrol storage, oil changes, or carburettor maintenance, and you don’t mind charging batteries between sessions on larger lawns.
Choose petrol if your lawn is over 500sqm, you cut multiple times per week in peak season, you have specific needs (very long unbroken sessions, very thick grass), or you specifically prefer the maintenance pattern of petrol equipment.
For most UK households reading this guide, cordless is the right answer.
What we’d skip
A few categories of cordless mower we’d actively avoid:
Generic Amazon import 36V mowers under £200. The cells in the batteries are typically lower-quality than name-brand equivalents. Battery longevity is the single biggest cost over a mower’s lifetime; cheap batteries fail in 2-3 years versus 5-7 for quality ones.
Robotic mowers under £700. They work, but the cheap end of the market produces patchy cut quality and unreliable boundary detection. Robotic mowers are worth considering above £900 for the right lawn shape, not below it.
Hover mowers (the Flymo type) for normal lawns. Hover mowers are specifically designed for slopes and uneven ground. On flat lawns they cut less cleanly than wheeled mowers and stress the operator’s back more. Use one only if you have a specific slope problem.
Single-battery 18V mowers above 36cm cut width. The voltage doesn’t deliver enough sustained power for the cutting load. Either smaller deck on 18V or step up to 36V/40V for larger decks.
Battery platforms and long-term cost
If you’re buying multiple cordless garden tools, sticking to one battery platform saves significant money over time. The major UK platforms worth considering:
EGO 56V — best performance, smaller tool range than Bosch, premium price. Bosch 18V Power for All — widest tool range, lower performance ceiling, very widely stocked. Bosch 36V — separate from the 18V system, professional-tier performance, more limited tool range. Greenworks 40V — good middle ground, decent tool range, reasonably priced. Stiga 48V — quality but more limited ecosystem.
A typical UK garden using mower, hedge trimmer, leaf blower, and strimmer benefits from £150-250 in shared battery savings over 5-7 years compared to buying tools with proprietary batteries. Worth factoring into the initial mower decision.
We’ve covered cordless strimmers in detail in our best cordless strimmers UK guide.
