You can mow your lawn as little or as often as you like, but it won’t look truly perfect until you’ve neatened up the edges. As with most garden tasks, you can do this manually, using a decent pair of edging shears – or, if you’re not a fan of manual labour, you can use a grass trimmer instead.
Rather than traditional cutting blades, grass trimmers usually use one or two lengths of nylon string about 1.6mm thick. A motor spins this so fast that it stiffens and can shear through light vegetation such as grass and weeds.
As well as trimming and edging your lawn, most grass trimmers can tackle patches of weeds and light undergrowth. For more serious work, though, you’ll need a brush cutter – a similar device with a more powerful motor, which swaps the nylon line for a sturdier metal blade. The dividing line between trimmers and cutters is fuzzy, as most electric brush cutters also include a grass trimming attachment, such as the Bosch AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750, reviewed below.
At a glance
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Best grass trimmer overall:
Stihl FSA 50
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Best budget grass trimmer:
Mac Allister MCI1198GGT
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Best for heavy-duty trimming:
Bosch AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750
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Best grass trimmer for small gardens:
Flymo SimpliTrim 230 Plus
Why you should trust me
I’ve spent most of the past 30 years reviewing and writing about products for a range of newspapers, magazines and websites. Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time in the garden, testing and tinkering with electric lawnmowers, pressure washers and leaf blowers.
Although I’m in charge of grass mowing in my household, overall aesthetics are overseen by my wife. She’s a very enthusiastic gardener who often finds room for improvement in the quality of my edging and isn’t the type to keep her thoughts to herself. If any of these grass trimmers aren’t up to the task, I’ll definitely know about it.
How I tested
I selected eight electric grass trimmers at a range of prices, opting for five battery-powered cordless models and three corded alternatives that need plugging into a wall socket.
I started with the battery and noise tests. Each of the batteries from the cordless trimmers was fully charged, then attached to the device. I propped up each trimmer using wood offcuts and surrounded it with a dog-proof cage to keep my dog and other family members away (in the end, the dog didn’t like the noise and stayed inside anyway). Then, bypassing any safety features, I left the trimmers running, timing how long they took to drain the battery. At the same time I used the Decibel X app on my phone to measure how loud they were.
Then came the proper trimming work. I assigned each of the eight trimmers half an edge of my square lawn, which I’d left uncut around the edges for a couple of weeks to give them something to work with. I also tested each trimmer on a section of ivy foliage and other weeds on ground below a beech hedge. I was under strict orders to work around any self-seeded forget-me-nots, which were flowering at the time of testing, allowing me to make notes on cutting accuracy and my own dexterity. Tidying up afterwards was capably and quickly handled by a leaf blower.
My garden is kept reasonably neat and under control, thanks to my enthusiastic head gardener. So, to push the limits of the trimmers a bit further, I disappeared down a nearby alley to do a bit of guerrilla trimming of unruly nettles and other overgrowth.
Any trimmers not collected by manufacturers after testing will be donated to the British Heart Foundation.
The best grass trimmers for your garden in 2026
Best grass trimmer overall:
Stihl FSA 50
Why we love it
Flexible, easy to use and good at its job
Why we don’t love it
More expensive than some of its rivals
Stihl’s 36V battery-powered strimmer has a long, lance-like design, with the battery on one end and the cutting apparatus at the other. The handle and controls are about a third of the way down the stem, so although it’s not particularly light, it’s well balanced and straightforward to operate.
Why we love it
I received a tool-only model for testing, so slotted in a 4Ah AK 20 battery I had from testing Stihl’s garden vacuum. This kept spinning for an impressive 1hr 11mins. However, if you buy the version of the FSA 50 with the battery included, it’ll be a 2Ah AK 10, which I’d expect to last around half the time (Stihl quotes 25 minutes, which seems fair given that performing actual trimming will use more power than my air-cutting test).
The variable trigger on the FSA 50 lets you ease off the power, so you can stretch out battery life if you don’t need it on full pelt. I found this useful when edging, as it meant I could approach the grass gently, then crank up the power when I’d identified the cutting edge. The length of the trimmer can be adjusted to suit most heights; the head can be angled horizontally, vertically or at a 45-degree angle, and twisted into a vertical position for vertical edging.
I found the FSA 50 trimmed my lawn edges brilliantly, allowing for a high level of control. Under the hedge, it happily shredded ground-level ivy foliage and cut through fresh stems.
It’s a shame that … a plastic-bladed mowing head and shoulder strap are also available, but only as optional extras.
Cutting width: 28cm
Weight: 3.9kg (with 1.2kg AK 20 battery)
Cordless/corded: cordless
Battery life: 1hr 11mins 10secs (36V 4Ah AK 20 battery)
Charge time: 1hr 53mins 20secs (36V 4Ah AK 20 battery, AL 101 charger)
Available spares: batteries, trimmer line and PolyCut 3-2 mowing head
Warranty: two years
Stihl
FSA 50
from £159
Why we love it
Flexible, easy to use and good at its job
Why we don’t love it
More expensive than some of its rivals
Best budget grass trimmer:
Mac Allister MCI1198GGT
Mac Allister
MCI1198GGT
from £36
Why we love it
Light; great value for money
Why we don’t love it
Capable of grass cutting, but struggled with tougher weeds
This doesn’t beat the Stihl FSA 50 for trimming, but it’s impossible to ignore the extraordinarily low price of the B&Q own-brand Mac Allister MCI1198GGT. With the trimmer alone costing only £36, and the addition of an interchangeable 2Ah battery and charger nudging up the price to just £69, the biggest question that hangs over it is whether it’s too cheap to be any good.
Why we love it
Grass trimmers are effectively just a spinning nylon line dispenser on the end of a pole. However, this affordable battery-powered Mac Allister includes a range of features outside the basics, which could justifiably be pruned off at this price. You can adjust the height of the unit. The secondary handle can also be adjusted and the cutting head can be positioned at up to seven different angles. It’s also surprisingly light, weighing just over 2kg including the battery.
None of this would matter if the trimming wasn’t up to snuff, but it’s remarkably capable. In my tests, while I found it noticeably less powerful than its rivals, it was perfectly decent at edging my lawn.
It’s a shame that … it’s not as powerful as more expensive alternatives, and struggled with the thicker undergrowth around my hedge.
Cutting width: 25cm
Weight: 2.05kg (with battery)
Cordless/corded: cordless
Battery life: 40mins 34secs (18V 2Ah MBAT18-2 battery)
Charge time: 53mins 39secs (18V 2Ah MBAT18-2 battery, MCB1473CHR charger)
Available spares: batteries and trimmer line
Warranty: two years
Mac Allister
MCI1198GGT
from £36
Why we love it
Light; great value for money
Why we don’t love it
Capable of grass cutting, but struggled with tougher weeds
Best for heavy-duty trimming:
Bosch AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750
Bosch
AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750
from £154.99
Why we love it
Powerful, easily the best for clearing tougher ground cover
Why we don’t love it
Expensive, particularly if you’re also buying batteries
The Bosch AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750 is the top choice here if you want a more powerful grass trimmer that’s built to last. It’s powered by a 36V battery, with its motor in a durable alloy chassis, which puts the plastic of every other model reviewed here to shame.
Why we love it
The Bosch was perfectly good at trimming grass, but it came into its own tackling weeds and undergrowth. Its thick 2.4mm cutting line is sturdier than the 1.6mm line that’s more commonly supplied with grass trimmers, and it pulverised ivy and other ground cover, leaving nothing but fragments and bare earth in its wake.
What’s more, you can also switch out the cutting line unit for the included brush-cutting attachment – the tools to do so are in the box. With its three-pronged metal blade, the brush cutter sliced through even quite tough woody stalks: the other trimmers could barely strip off the bark.
It’s a shame that … the cutting head is kept at a fixed angle, so it can’t be easily used for vertical edging.
Cutting width: 33cm (or 23cm if using cutting blade)
Weight: 4.2kg (with cutting line and battery)
Cordless/corded: cordless
Battery life: 44mins 7secs (36V 4Ah battery)
Charge time: 2hrs 1min 50secs (36V 4Ah battery, AL 36V-20 charger)
Available spares: batteries, trimmer line and cutting blade
Warranty: three years
Bosch
AdvancedBrushCut 36V-23-750
from £154.99
Why we love it
Powerful, easily the best for clearing tougher ground cover
Why we don’t love it
Expensive, particularly if you’re also buying batteries
Best grass trimmer for small gardens:
Flymo SimpliTrim 230 Plus
Flymo
SimpliTrim 230 Plus
from £33
Why we love it
Compact, affordable and surprisingly powerful for its size
Why we don’t love it
Fixed height and short cable
Grass trimmers are arguably the easiest electrical garden aids to store, taking up a fraction of the space of a lawnmower. If you’re really short on space, however, the Flymo SimpliTrim 230 Plus is small and compact while still being effective.
Why we love it
The Flymo is small, light and affordable, but lacks many of the features of pricier rivals, including height adjustment. However, you can still rotate the cutting head by 90 degrees for vertical edging, and the Plus model I tested has a wheel to keep the cutting head steady when tackling vertical edges.
The big surprise is that it’s relatively powerful, in no small part as a result of it being a corded model. If you’re looking for an affordable trimmer that doesn’t make huge compromises on power, the SimpliTrim is noticeably more powerful than the cordless Mac Allister, shredding ivy and ground cover under my hedge, as well as grass around the edge of my lawn.
It’s a shame that … its fixed height may make it too short for taller users.
Cutting width: 23cm
Weight: 2.2kg (including cord)
Cordless/corded: corded
Cable length: 6m
Energy use: 247W
Available spares: trimmer line
Warranty: two years
Flymo
SimpliTrim 230 Plus
from £33
Why we love it
Compact, affordable and surprisingly powerful for its size
Why we don’t love it
Fixed height and short cable
The best of the rest
Mac Allister MGT60030
Mac Allister
MGT60030
from £54
Why we love it
Powerful enough to do grass trimming and light weed-whacking
Why we don’t love it
Feels heavy in use and vibrated harder than its rivals
Best for: power
Of the three corded trimmers here, this was the most effective. It draws more power from the mains than the Einhell GC-ET 4530, but this is noticeably transferred to the cutting head when attacking thicker foliage, such as ivy. It proved capable on grass and can be extended in height to make it comfortable for even very tall people to use.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it may be powerful but it’s also heavy, without the balancing found on the Stihl and Bosch models. It also vibrated more than most, which left my hands feeling shaky after prolonged use.
Cutting width: 25cm; weight: 3.6kg (including cord); cordless/corded: corded; cable length: 10m; energy use: 478W; available spares: trimmer line; warranty: two years
Mac Allister
MGT60030
from £54
Why we love it
Powerful enough to do grass trimming and light weed-whacking
Why we don’t love it
Feels heavy in use and vibrated harder than its rivals
Einhell GC-ET 4530
Einhell
GC-ET 4530
from £32.95
Why we love it
Affordable and capable of grass edging and light weed work
Why we don’t love it
Corded models are slightly less convenient to use
Best for: a value corded trimmer
If you’re looking for a corded trimmer that offers the best balance between performance and price, the Einhell GC-ET 4530 sits at the sweet spot and, unlike the Mac Allister MGT60030, is available beyond B&Q, so it’s more likely to see competitive discounting. It doesn’t vibrate as much, which makes it more comfortable to use for longer periods than the Mac Allister – although it’s not as powerful.
It has a large, 30cm, cutting area, so in larger gardens it will reduce the amount of time you need to spend on the job. The 10m cord is generous, but you’ll still need an extension lead to reach the far corners of most gardens. It can keep working indefinitely, though, since it doesn’t rely on battery power.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it wasn’t as effective as the Mac Allister MGT60030 when shredding the weeds under my hedge.
Cutting width: 30cm; weight: 2.9kg; cordless/corded: corded; cable length: 10m; energy use: 416W; available spares: trimmer line; warranty: three years
Einhell
GC-ET 4530
from £32.95
Why we love it
Affordable and capable of grass edging and light weed work
Why we don’t love it
Corded models are slightly less convenient to use
Einhell GE-CT 18/30 Li-Solo
Einhell
GE-CT 18/30 Li-Solo
from £69.95
Why we love it
Large cutting head makes trimming fast, regularly discounted
Why we don’t love it
Unexciting if functional design
Best for: a good-value battery system
While this Einhell cordless trimmer is more expensive than the Mac Allister MCI1198GGT, it’s more affordable than the Makita. Perhaps more importantly, Einhell offers some good deals on its batteries, with a 4Ah battery and charger adding only about £40 to the cost, where a similar bundle with the Makita knocks up the price by more.
Performance-wise, I found the two models similar, with the Einhell tackling grass well, and having a decent go at shredding light undergrowth, such as ivy foliage. This model benefits from a large, 30cm, cutting area, and the cutting head can be rotated to tackle vertical edges.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s neither the most affordable cordless nor as powerful as corded or 36V models.
Cutting width: 30cm; weight: 2.7kg (with battery); cordless/corded: cordless; battery life: 1hr 5mins 53secs (18V 4Ah battery); charge time: 1hr 23mins 5secs (18V 4Ah battery, 18V charger); available spares: batteries and trimmer line; warranty: three years
Einhell
GE-CT 18/30 Li-Solo
from £69.95
Why we love it
Large cutting head makes trimming fast, regularly discounted
Why we don’t love it
Unexciting if functional design
Makita DUR193Z
Makita
DUR193Z
from £105.25
Why we love it
Long battery life when used with Makita’s 5Ah batteries
Why we don’t love it
More affordable trimmers match its features and performance
Best for: long battery life
The Makita DUR193Z came without a battery, so I tested it with the brand’s widely available 5Ah model, which is also compatible with the Makita DLM432PT2 lawnmower and the Makita Blower LXT DUB187 garden vacuum. This did the trick, giving the trimmer a longest-in-test life of 1hr 30mins.
It provided a bit more power and cutting ability in my trimming tests than the cheaper Mac Allister MCI1198GGT, and the build quality is better, with less vibration. Performance on grass and undergrowth was similar to the Einhell GE-CT 18/30 Li-Solo, which also matched the Makita for features, but is more affordable.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s more expensive than cheaper cordless models without adding enough power or features.
Cutting width: 26cm; weight: 2.7kg (with battery); cordless/corded: cordless; battery life: 1hr 30mins 48secs (18V 5Ah battery); charge time: 46mins 12secs (18V 5Ah battery, DC18RD charger); available spares: batteries and trimmer line; warranty: three years
Makita
DUR193Z
from £105.25
Why we love it
Long battery life when used with Makita’s 5Ah batteries
Why we don’t love it
More affordable trimmers match its features and performance
What you need to know
Which of these products are the most sustainable?
Bosch, Makita, Einhell and Flymo use the most sustainable packaging, consisting of just cardboard and paper envelopes. All the others include at least one plastic bag.
All the companies reviewed here offer spares for their tools, both online and, often, from retailers. Stihl offers repairs through its network of dealers. Bosch, Makita and Einhell have their own service centres to repair products both in and out of warranty, although you may have to pay for transport and out-of-warranty repairs.
All the manufacturers comply with the WEEE regulations and support local councils with recycling electrical tools. Note that you can often recycle old tools through retailers such as B&Q, as long as you’ve bought the replacement product from there.
How to use your grass trimmer safely
Grass trimmers are among the worst garden tools for sending debris flying. A decent pair of safety glasses is imperative, even if you already wear glasses. The Stihl FSA 50 came with a pair of Stihl safety glasses, which fitted nicely over my existing specs. You should also wear long trousers and a sturdy pair of shoes – flip-flops and shorts aren’t at all suitable for the job. Gloves and a long-sleeved top are still needed but your arms will thank you for it if something comes flying at them.
How to look after your grass trimmer
The cutting area will inevitably collect grass and other debris, but it can be easily cleared using a soft brush: always disconnect from the power before cleaning. Pay particular attention to the blade that keeps the wire trimmed to the correct length, as this can become clogged up with grass. While you have your brush out, make sure any air vents are clear of dust and debris.
Can I use a trimmer to mow the lawn or trim hedges?
You could use a grass trimmer to go over an entire lawn, particularly if you only have a small patch, but larger lawns would take a long time to cover. The cutting area of the trimmers I’ve tested here is much smaller than a lawnmower, and it would be hard to get an even cut over a large area.
Hedge trimming really wouldn’t work. The string cutters might be able to shave off a little foliage, but you need a more substantial cutting blade to get through thicker twigs and branches. The length and balance of a grass trimmer are also designed to be operated at floor level – waving one around at head height is not recommended.
How do I protect wildlife when trimming my garden?
Before you start trimming grass or undergrowth, poke around the area you want to clear with a broom handle to give any animals that might be sheltering a chance to move on. This is particularly important around larger shrubs and hedges, in long grass, and in the plants around your lawn’s edges. Pay particular attention to animals that are inclined to curl up defensively rather than scamper off when disturbed, such as hedgehogs. If you spot something that looks like it might be a nest, leave it alone.
For more, read the best secateurs to save you time and effort when pruning and the best lawnmowers for every garden
Andy Shaw is a consumer and technology journalist with more than 30 years of experience reviewing technology, home and garden gadgets. Garden tools are up there among his favourite things to review, because he can usually get a weekend chore out of the way while also doing his day job