The platform decides more than the machine does
A cordless mower is bought twice: once for the machine and once for the battery platform it belongs to. That is the first thing to read on this shelf and the last thing most listings make obvious. Einhell sells 18 V and 36 V under Power X-Change, Gardena sells 18 V under Power for All, Bosch sells its own 18 V, and several newer names sell 40 V systems that fit nothing else. A second battery costs a meaningful fraction of the mower, so a household that already owns a drill on one of these platforms is choosing between a mower and a bare tool, not between two mowers. Which is why battery supplied is a column of its own here: the words « Kit », « Solo » and « ohne Akku » in a title are the difference between a price you can compare and one you cannot. Then the machine itself. The cutting width on this shelf runs from 30 to 43 cm — smaller than petrol, because the motor has to be fed from a pack — and it tracks the stated area the maker prints: 200 m² for a 33 cm machine, 300 for a 34, 400 to 600 for a 42. Those figures are an assumption about dry grass and a flat lawn, not a promise, and two 40 V machines of the same width state different ones. The rest is ordinary and still worth reading: cutting heights, catcher volume — often a fabric bag rather than a rigid box on this shelf — and the functions, where mulching matters more on a battery machine than on any other, because not filling a bag is not stopping. We compare cutting width, battery platform, battery supplied, stated area, cutting heights, catcher volume, functions, guaranteed noise and weight.
20 V, 2.0 Ah supplied, 25–48 mm in 3 steps, brushless
The only machine in this family that publishes a runtime and a charge time — 20 to 25 minutes, 60 to 90 to recharge — on a light three-step deck.
Best for: A very small lawn, or the awkward strips a larger machine cannot reach
33 cm, 18 V Power X-Change, 4.0 Ah supplied, 30 L, 25–65 mm
A 33 cm machine on the maker’s shared 18 V platform, supplied with a 4.0 Ah pack and charger, with five central height steps.
Best for: A small lawn, and particularly a shed that already contains this maker’s batteries
42 cm, 2× 20 V 4.0 Ah, 1200 W brushless, 50 L, 16 kg
Two 20 V 4.0 Ah packs, a 42 cm deck and a stated 16 kg — a complete kit with a mulching wedge at the price of a bare tool elsewhere.
Best for: A medium to large lawn where the whole kit needs to arrive in one box and be used the same day
32 cm, 18 V alliance platform, 4.0 Ah included, 35 L, 25–65 mm
A 32 cm three-in-one machine with a fabric box, a mulching plug and a 4.0 Ah pack included, on a battery alliance spanning ten brands.
Best for: A small to medium lawn where the clippings should sometimes stay and sometimes go
43 cm, 2× 20 V 4 Ah, twin charger, 40 L, 25–75 mm
Two 4.0 Ah packs and a twin charger with a 43 cm deck: the most energy in a complete kit here, and the packs charge in parallel.
Best for: A medium to large lawn where the whole job should finish in one session
Bare tool — no packs, no charger; needs 2× 20 V 4 Ah
Supplied without packs or charger, and it says so in the title. Two 20 V 4.0 Ah batteries are required and neither is in the box.
Best for: A shed that already holds two 20 V packs on this platform
37 cm, 40 V brushless, 6 steps 25–75 mm, 40 L with indicator
A 37 cm brushless machine with six central height steps, a 40-litre box with a level indicator and a folding handle.
Best for: A small to medium lawn, for a buyer who will confirm the carton contents before ordering
30 cm, 18 V shared platform, pack and charger included, 10.1 kg
The lightest machine in this family at a stated 10.1 kg, on a 30 cm single steel blade, with the pack and charger in the box.
Best for: A small or awkward lawn, and anyone for whom carrying the machine is part of the job
40 cm, 2× 20 V 4 Ah, load-sensing, 7 heights, 500 m² stated
A load-sensing motor that raises power in thick grass, a deck shaped to cut close to fences, and a stated two-hour charge for both packs.
Best for: A medium lawn with a lot of boundary, where the strip left for the shears is the annoyance
