The 8 Best Battery-Powered Lawn Mowers of 2023, Tested and Reviewed
Sage McHugh has written for Dotdash Meredith since 2019. With over a decade of experience in consumer-oriented content, Sage has a passion for products and how they enhance our everyday lives.
Andrew Hughes is a certified arborist, member of the International Society of Arborists specializing in tree heal care, and reviews tree content on The Spruce’s Gardening Review Board. He founded and runs Urban Loggers, LLC, a company offering residential tree services in the Midwest and Connecticut.
Jenica Currie is an expert content manager, producer, writer, and editor with over a decade of experience cultivating online communities.
Cordless and environmentally friendly, a battery-powered lawn mower is generally easier to maintain and operate than a gas-powered model, and it is especially suited for small to medium-sized lawns. “The best battery-powered lawn mower for your yard is one that suits your specific needs,” says Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). He suggests asking yourself the following before selecting a mower: “What is the size of the property and job? What features are needed for the job? What is your ability to handle the machine?”
We researched and tested a variety of lawn mowers in our own yards including corded, cordless, gas, electric, push, riding, and self-propelled options. For this list of the best battery-powered lawn mowers, we evaluated products based on their setup, design, performance, usability, safety, and value and included the best options we’ve tested. Throughout our testing process, we carefully observed the mowers’ ability to navigate around obstacles, inclines, and tall grass with ease. Additionally, we conducted a thorough evaluation of the lawn’s appearance to ensure a consistently trimmed finish. As we compiled this list, we also considered the mowers’ runtime, cutting options, charging time, and cutting width.
Best Overall
Ryobi 40V HP Brushless 21-Inch Dual-Blade Self-Propelled Mower
- Powerful performance
- Long run time and fast charging
- Lightweight, foldable, and compact
- Easy to set up and start
- Quiet operation
The RYOBI 40V HP Brushless 21 Inch Cordless Self-Propelled Mower is the best battery-powered lawn mower we tested because it is just as powerful as some gas models, lasts for up to 70 minutes on a single charge, and is very easy to operate and maintain. We were surprised by how quiet this mower was (almost like weight noise) and lightweight (almost delicate), and easy to start (push-button compared to pulling a cord) compared to gas mowers we’ve used in the past. However, once we got it started and found the right height for an uneven lawn, thanks to the self-propelled technology, it was very powerful and easy to maneuver around, even over hills. By moving a slider from high to low, we could easily adjust the mower’s speed that we needed, depending on the terrain. Finding the right speed takes a bit of getting used to at first, especially on straight, flat rows where the mower was going almost too fast. But overall, we appreciated the power and found it really made mowing much easier, especially on hilly terrain.
This mower has an impressive 70-minute run time, and comes with two 40V batteries. Only one battery is needed at a time, and you can charge the other one with the included Rapid charger and switch them out when needed. We mowed for 45 minutes to an hour each time and had no issues with the mower running out of batteries. However, we will point out a few small issues we came across with the bag. This mower allows you to mulch, bag, or side discharge. The first time we used the mower for the season, the grass was pretty high and the bag filled up very quickly (after mowing about 25-30 feet with taller grass). However, the next few times we used it when the grass wasn’t as overgrown, we did not have that issue. Removing the bag to empty is simple, but when it was full, we did find that it spilled easily. Also, we did notice occasionally that grass would come out of the bag when it was full (just a few blades at a time). While in the mulching mode, we also noted that it did not seem to break up older leaves very well, but we did appreciate overall how well it cut the grass, and we appreciated the seven adjustable cutting heights (1.5 to 4 inches).
We also loved how compact and easy this mower is to store. We had no issues pulling the lever to fold the mower for vertical, space-saving storage. The safety features are also a big plus. The mower has a key, so even though it’s easy to start with just a press of a button, the key does need to be inserted in the mower behind a flap, so you can remove the key when you don’t want someone else using it. You also need to grip the lever when you start or use the mower, or it will not work. The LED headlights also provide extra light should you need it. Overall, if you are looking to switch from a gas to a battery-powered mower or want an easy-to-use mower for your lawn (ideally up to 3/4 of an acre), we found this to be a great choice.
How It Performed Long-Term
After three months of use, we’ve found the self-propelled feature to be especially helpful when mowing on hills and uneven terrain. We were able to use it up to four times on a single charge, which is quite remarkable. Although it may struggle with heavier weeds, it does an excellent job of cutting grass and collecting clippings
Price at time of publish: 799
Cutting Width: 21 inches | Weight: 75 pounds | Run Time: 70 minutes | Charge Time: 1 hour | Cutting Options: Bag, mulch, side-discharge
Best Self-Propelled
EGO Power Select Cut 56-Volt 21-Inch Self-Propelled Cordless Lawn Mower
- Self-propelled feature is easy to use
- Lightweight and easy to maneuver
- Foldable and compact for vertical storage
- 60-minute runtime
A self-propelled lawn mower can make mowing your lawn an easier task because the mower does most of the work for you—you simply guide it over your terrain while you walk at a comfortable pace that you set on your mower. After testing the EGO POWER Self-Propelled Mower, we selected it as our best self-propelled pick because it was easy to turn the feature on and off when you needed it, and it made mowing the lawn feel less of a pain (especially on our backs!) compared to using a heavy gas mower. If you are new to self-propelled mowers, this will take a little getting used to (including this mower), but we think it will be well worth the initial time spent. In fact, when we first started using this mower, we thought the mower might run away (even on the lowest setting) because we were only used to a gas push mower. Once we figured out how to run the mower without the self-propelled feature, it allowed us to get used to the mower itself and all of its features. We found that the lowest setting was all we needed for parts of our lawn, even small hills, and when we felt like that feature wasn’t necessary (navigating around obstacles), it was easy to switch it off at the top of the handle.
Aside from the self-propelled option, this mower offers many great features, making it a great choice for your lawn. We found it easy to adjust both the handle’s height (two options) and angle (three options) with just one hand. Adjusting the cutting height was also a simple and easy task with six settings available, ranging from 1.5 to 4 inches. This mower comes with one EGO 56V ARC Lithium battery that has a 60-minute runtime and takes about the same amount of time to charge. It took us 50 minutes to mow our lawn, and we did not run out of batteries. We also like that you can choose from the bag, mulching, and side-discharge option for your grass clippings and use the LED headlights when mowing early in the morning or later at dusk. The handle can easily be folded, and the mower can be stored vertically in your garage or shed. And like most battery-powered mowers, you’ll get the advantage of a quick, push-button start with no cord and no fumes.
The only downside we reported was the learning curve with using a self-propelled mower. But once we figured out how to navigate the feature and the power it provides, we found it to make mowing the lawn an easier task. If you have a small, flat lawn with a lot of obstacles, this might not be the best option for you. Also, note that we found this lawn worked great on dry and damp grass, but we did experience one time where the mower would not start (the light blinked orange to indicate an issue), but when we moved it to a less wet area, it worked fine. While this mower has many of the same features as our best overall, it has slightly less of a runtime, is heavier, and only comes with one battery. However, it is a bit more budget-friendly, so if you don’t need as much power or as long of a runtime, this could be the better option, especially if you have other EGO tools with compatible batteries.
How It Performed Long-Term
We’ve been using our lawn mower for about three months now and we’re very pleased with its performance. One of the standout features is the battery life. we can mow the lawn three times before needing to recharge. What’s more, it handles thick and tall grass like a champ. we even let the lawn go for 10 days once, and it had no trouble at all. It’s also very effective at dealing with damp grass and leaves.
Price at time of publish: 549
Cutting Width: 21 inches | Weight: 93.61 pounds | Run Time: 60 minutes | Charge Time: 1 hour | Cutting Options: Bag, mulch, side-discharge
The best cordless lawn mowers in 2023
Looking for the best cordless mower? Browse our experts’ pick, from budget to premium models.
A lawn mower may be one of the first purchases we make when getting a garden of our own, but that doesn’t mean finding a good quality one is easy. There are so many models and brands on the market to choose from, including corded electric and petrol, but as their range increases and fall, cordless, battery-powered models are an increasingly popular option.
Light and compact compared with traditional petrol models, cordless mowers are simple to use, easy to manoeuvre around the garden, and have none of the maintenance and servicing needs or costs of petrol lawnmowers. Powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which charges up quickly and won’t lose power in storage, they’re also quiet and emission free.
To compare these cordless mowers against other types of mower, we’ve reviewed the best lawn mowers, robotic lawn mowers, electric lawn mowers and push mowers, too. And if your lawn needs a bit of attention, our experts have tested a range of the best manual and powered aerators and scarifiers.Keep edges looking neat with our pick of the best strimmers, the best garden shears and the best lawn edging, and if you’re thinking about somewhere to store your new mower, our comprehensive guide to choosing the best garden shed will be helpful.
For your next DIY project, have a look at the best cordless drills.
The best cordless mowers to buy at a glance
Cordless mowers. Buyer’s Guide video
Many thanks to Rosie Yeomans and Sparsholt College for their help in making this video.
Getting the best cordless lawn mower for you means ensuring it has the correct cutting width, range of cutting heights, and weight plus a battery run time that matches the size of your lawn. We’ve tested a range of cordless push mowers, putting them through their paces across a range of grass and terrains, to help you find the right one for your garden.
Each mower has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to set up and storage, handling, mowing and value for money. Every mower in our round up below has scored a minimum of four out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.
In every review we award outstanding products our coveted Best Buy award. To see these and the others we recommend, browse our pick of the best cordless lawn mowers, below.
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Best Buy cordless mowers
Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A
Our rating: 4.9 out of 5
- Quiet
- Cuts even long grass with ease
- Battery level visible while mowing
- Small and compact for easy storage
- Part of the POWER FOR ALL cordless range
Part of the new Husqvarna Aspire cordless range, which includes a hedge trimmer, pruner and leaf blower, this 34cm mower is powered by an 18V POWER FOR ALL ALLIANCE battery and charger. These are interchangeable with tools in other leading brands such as Flymo, Gardena and Bosch so if you also invest in tools in these ranges, you’ll only need to buy the bare tool and won’t have different batteries and chargers taking up space in the shed.Great for small gardens the mower comes ready to go, there’s no assembly or handles to attach, and it folds down to a compact size when you’re finished, with a telescopic handle that folds completely flat over the body of the mower. It can then be stood up against a wall or hung up, and even comes with a handy hook. The 30l grass bag also flattens down to take up very little room and can be hung on the mower. The Aspire is light, with a carry handle so that lifting it up steps or into other areas is easy and it has an adjustable handle to suit different height users. It’s comfortable and easy to manoeuvre around the garden and has just four cutting heights to choose from, ranging from 25-65mm and changed easily with a single lever on the body of the mower. It cuts grass quietly and smoothly and has an automatic boost that increases blade speed when you’re mowing in tougher, longer areas that works well. You can hear it kick in when you push the mower into longer grass and unlike other cordless mowers that can cut out, just carries on cutting the grass. While you mow the battery charge level is always clearly visible so you know how much battery you have left and when it needs charging. It comes with a two year warranty and we awarded it a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy in 2023 for ease of use.
Specs: Battery: charge time. 95 mins; run time. 500sqm. Cutting: width. 34cm; height. 25-65mm. Grass box. 30 litre.
Buy the Husqvarna Aspire C34-P4A cordless mower from Husqvarna and Sam Turner
Greenworks GDG24LM33
Our rating: 4.5 out of 5
- Easy to assemble and use
- Comfortable padded handle
- Choice of mulching or collecting clippings
- Interchangeable battery with Greenworks 24V family
Why I’m Ditching Ego Mower for Makita. My Honest Review
Ideal for smaller gardens this sturdy, great value cordless mower is easy to put together, well thought out and simple to use. Thanks to a padded handle it’s comfortable to push, although it did feel a little short for our taller tester, and it’s light and easy to manoeuvre around trees and beds and borders. There are five cutting heights to choose from, adjusted with the simple lift of a lever and it offers the choice of collecting clippings in the 30 litre fabric grass bag or inserting the mulching plug and leaving them on the lawn to break down and feed the grass. It mows well but doesn’t like very long grass, with the battery cutting out occasionally but its long lasting brushless motor offers a a decent run time of 46 minutes and it charges in two hours. Plus, as part of the Greenworks 24V family, both the battery and charger are interchangeable with all the other tools in the range, saving you money if you invest in more in the future. We awarded it a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for the best budget cordless mower in 2023.
Specs: Battery: charge time. 120 mins; run time. 46mins. Cutting: width. 33cm; height. 25-70mm. Grass box. 30 litre.
Yard Force LMG37A 40v 37cm
Our rating: 4.8 out of 5
- Rear roller
- Double folding handle for easy storage
- Quickest charge time
- Part of the Yardforce GR40 cordless range
This sturdy mower has a 37cm cutting width and useful features including a rear roller for those much desired stripes. Awarded a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy in 2022 for small to medium lawns, clippings are collected in the large 40 litre fabric grass bag. It offers a wide choice of seven cutting heights, from 25-75mm, and is easy to fold away at the end of the day. The 40V battery is quick to charge, taking just 50 minutes and when full it has the capacity to cut a 400m2 lawn.
Specs: Battery: charge time. 50 mins; run time. 400sqm. Cutting: width. 37cm; height. 25-75mm. Grass box. 40 litre.
Buy the Yard Force LMG37A 40V 37cm cordless mower from Yard Force, Amazon and Wickes
Tool Box Buzz
Browse all brands »
Browse all categories »
Hard Testing of Makita‘s new outdoor power tools
Home » Latest Tool Reviews » Lawn Garden » Makita 18V X2 Cordless Lawn Mower
Makita 18V X2 Cordless Lawn Mower XML03 Review
Makita has come out with a new 18V X2 cordless lawn mower designed for lawns under 1/3 acre. The Makita 18V X2 cordless lawn mower, XML03 features a heavy duty steel deck with 18″ cutting capacity, zero emissions, lower noise, and reduced maintenance compared to gas-engine lawn mowers.
Features
- Heavy duty steel deck
- Brushless motor
- Quiet mode sets speed control to 2500 RPM
- Single lever cutting height adjustment
- 10 height settings, from 13/16″ to 2-5/16″
- Folding handles
- 16 gallon capacity grass bag
- Plug for mulching operation
- Wet Guard weather resistance, IPx4 rating
Specifications
- Cutting Capacity (width) : 18″
- Cutting Capacity (height range) : 13/16″ – 3″
- No Load Speed : 3,300 RPM
- Battery : 2X 18V LXT® Lithium-Ion
- Dimensions (LxWxH) : 66-1/8″ x 21″ x 37-3/4″
- Weighs 60.46 lbs with batteries, 57.76 lbs without
First Impression
The Makita 18V X2 cordless lawn mower, XML03 features a 1” wider cutting swath and a HD steel deck making it almost 20 lbs. [60.46 vs. 40.8] heavier than its earlier generation [XML02]
This mower is powered by a soft-start, Brushless motor with electronic speed control to maintain constant speed. The motor operates at either 2,500 – 3,300 RPMs. [2 settings] This mower handled my yard with ease.
Quiet Operation
My first impression of this mower was how heavy and durable it feels. I’ve been using this mower for approximately a month now and am impressed with its power and cutting quality.
There are only three features on this mower:
- Battery gauge – located at the top handle
- Quiet Mode: also located at the top handle, this mode saves battery energy, and lowers the rpms from 3,300 down to 2,500 rpms reducing noise slightly. I’ll be honest – I couldn’t tell by listening.
- Deck Height Adjustment: this lever provides 10 different height positions.
There are three adjustments for handle height. The deck height adjustment is by far the simplest and easiest adjustment I’ve seen on a lawnmower. This single lever cutting height adjustment for quick adjustment of 10 cutting heights (13/16″ to 2-15/16″)
The mower has a plug needed for mulching operation and a 16 gallon capacity grass collector bag. I used both and they both work well. The mower does not actually mulch the grass into smaller clippings, the clippings appear to be full size and just are circulated back to the ground.
Quality of Cut
The Makita 18V X2 cordless lawn mower, XML03 produces a nice clean cut. The centerlines if the front wheels provide a useful line of sight to the mowers cutting swath
Runtime
I live on a ¼ acre have approximately 4,000 square feet of grass, using two 5.0 Ah batteries I was able to mow my lawn on one battery charge and still have three bars on the battery. I actually get two mowing’s on one battery charge.
Makita says this mower will cut up to 7,300 square feet using two 5.0Ah batteries.
Durability
The Lawn Mower is rated for IPX4 which gives the tool dust and water resistance. It features what Makita calls “Extreme Protection Technology (XPT).” XPT is a protective seal inside the tool, and is engineered for improved operation in harsh conditions by channeling water and dust from key internal components.
Makita Star Protection- What is it?
People often ask if the what exactly is the electronic protection and what does it do?
Makita proprietary Star Protection resides in the tool’s controller, which consists of electronic controls communicating with both the tool and battery during use to optimize performance. Star Protection protects against overload, over-discharge and overheating.
It’s important to note that Makita programs specific controllers for each model (in other words, the controller inside an 18V LXT Driver-Drill is different than the controller inside an 18V X2 (36V) LXT Chain Saw). In addition, the Makita controller and battery communicate in both directions, which is unique in the category (other brands have electronic controls, but all have one-way communication between the tool and battery). The two-way communication inside a Makita cordless tool enables real-time communication that results in better performance and power management (example: the controller can “tell” the battery how much energy is needed for the application at hand).
The combination of electronic controllers and brushless motors results in more performance features. For example, the 18V LXT Brushless Impact Driver (XDT16) uses electronic controls to give users precision features including four speed settings, Assist Mode for driving long fasteners into wood, two Tek Modes for self-tap screws, and an auto-stop feature to prevent losing a bolt nut when reversing.
Improvement
The lawn mower handles fold in the center for storage but I’d like to see a easier / faster way to fold the handles down at the mower deck. As of now you need to unscrew 4 knobs. A cam-type lever at these locations would be faster.
One thing we noticed was that the switch lever at the top of the handle bars has tight tension which could produce some hand grip fatigue over time. It’s also quite possible the cable will stretch over time and become easier.
Price
The mower is available as a bare tool, XML03Z, or as part of a kit, XML03PT1. The kit comes with a dual port charger and (4) 5.0Ah batteries. Both come with the mulching plug and a 3-year limited warranty.