You want to care for the lawn of your small city home without causing any conflicts with the neighbors. The idea is to get a lawnmower that gets the job done without being too loud about it. What you need is a cordless lawnmower.
They are not only quieter than most other gas and electric garden care tools, but they are also absolutely light and easy to maneuver, easy to use, eco-friendly, and have minimal maintenance requirements.
What most people don’t tell you is that some electric cordless lawn mowers pack the power and performance of a 160cc engine powered lawnmower. With that much power – of course, minus the hassles of dealing with gas, oil, pull cords, carbon emissions, and tangled extension cords – you can quickly and efficiently cut or trim your lawn to satisfaction.
Choosing the best lawnmower ultimately depends on the size of your yard, brand preference (if at all), storage space, and even budget. With the myriad options available in the market, it’s easy to get lost or stuck.
Check out our top recommendations for the best cordless lawn mowers for small and medium yards
Greenworks G-MAX 16-Inch 40V Cordless Lawn Mower
You just moved into a new house. It’s a small home with a well-curated yard. But you can’t mow your lawn at 9 am on Saturday morning because of what you hear from your neighbors when they’re doing their own lawns… in the evening… when you need some peace and quiet.
For your small lawn, Greenworks 16” 40V cordless lawn mower fits the bill perfectly. It not only gives a clean-cut and reliable performance that’s comparable to gas-driven models, but it is also quieter, less smelly, and inexpensive to maintain.
Your gas mower gets the job done faster, no doubt about that, but how do your muscles (and back) feel afterward? Gas engines add some serious weight to the rig. This Greenworks 16-inch mower weighs slightly above 30 pounds so you can imagine it’s easy to push and maneuver. If supervised, the kids can work the lawn with this mower, effortlessly.
The large rear wheels roll smoothly on any terrain and make maneuvering easier. Black rubber grips on the push handle provide comfort and better control. Should you find your mower getting harder to push with each stride, empty the grass clippings from the catcher bag and you are light.
You get enough power from the 40V 4.0Ah battery to complete your small yard or even that ½-acre lot. Having two batteries works best. One can be charging while the other one runs the mower. It’s better than lining up gas containers and engine oil cans on the ready for when you have a long Saturday after you’ve ignored the lawn for 2 weekends. You can manage up to an hour with the 4.0Ah batteries, but it depends on your mowing conditions. 40-min or so is a more reasonable expectation from each battery.
A single lever on the mower adjusts the height of the entire deck so you get a neatly cut lawn. The obvious advantage over other mowers (especially heavy gas mowers) is that you don’t need to go around the mower to set the height on each wheel. There are 5 cutting height positions to choose from to give your lawn the perfect manicure in an optimal length whether you have bentgrass, bermuda, or tall fescues.
Now, this isn’t a flawless mower. For one, the 16-inch cutting deck seems impractical for mowing a large yard. It’s like trying to put out a forest fire with an eyedropper. But then again, Greenworks clearly targets homeowners like yourself who are serious about caring for their small and medium-sized yards.
Overall, a lightweight but powerful cordless lawnmower that exceeds what you’d expect from a reputable brand like Greenworks. It promises remarkable performance and consistent results you’d like to see in a solid residential option.
Features:
- 2-in-1 design; mulching and rear bagging
- 16-Inch cutting deck
- 6″ front & 7″ rear wheel
- Single lever, 5 height positions
- Foldable handle
- Weight: 37.5 lbs
Sun Joe iON16LM 40-Volt 16-Inch Brushless Cordless Lawn Mower
How about a cordless electric lawn mower that doesn’t drain your bank account yet offers everything you’d pay a premium for, and then some. The Sun Joe iON16LM is our top choice for a budget-conscious household.
This is an excellent mower if you have a cottage or a small home on a 1/5 acre. Your local lawn care firm will charge about $40 for weekly mowing and maintenance services on the 1/5-acre lot. If you manicured the lawn on your own, you’d save about $700 in one season alone.
With the Sun Joe iON16LM, you can hope to complete your 1/5-acre lot in under an hour. That’s one full charge from the 40-volt 4.0Ah battery. Included in the kit is a fast-charging unit that gets your battery juiced up and ready for the next cutting session. You’ll love that the drained battery needs little time to cool down before it starts recharging.
The Sun Joe iON16LM uses a powerful 600W brushless motor not only to achieve optimal performance but also to extend run time and preserve the health of your motor. Plus, it’s 2020, nobody wants to be replacing carbon brushes anymore. You probably know also that the brushless motor runs quiet, so you won’t get a visit from your neighbor whether you are mowing early Saturday morning or in the evening when they’re having dinner.
At 37 pounds, this is one of the lightest mowers you’ll find. It hurdles over bumpy spots in the yard, but it always gives your small lawn a neat cut. Maneuvering the mower around tight spaces is a piece of cake. And, you’ll appreciate how its rugged all-terrain wheels render the mower under your control. You can even turn it with one hand and it goes without a putting up a fight. You won’t miss the self-propelled feature offered by primo gas or electric lawnmowers.
If you are like most homeowners with small yards, you’ll have devised a clever storage hack to maximize the small storage space. You probably already have ample space left to fit a large size mower, but this Sun Joe isn’t selfish with space. It folds up neatly and its compact profile takes up just a fraction of your tool shed or garage. Locate the carry handle on the top of the mower body for easy carrying to and from the storage. It’s especially handy if you have to carry your mower up and down stairs.
For a sub-$200 lawnmower, the SunJoe iON16LM packs a remarkable range of features that meet the varied demands of homeowners with small or medium size yards. It is a cordless electrical option that’s perfect if you are looking for an inexpensive solution to care for the lawn without needing much physical effort on your part.
Features:
- Push-button starting
- Powerful brushless motor
- Rugged all-terrain wheels
- 2-in-1 cutting options
- 6-position height adjustment lever
You are in the market for a modest but reliable cordless lawn mower to care for your small city lot. WORX WG744 Power Share does that for you while maintaining a reasonable price tag.
The deck is 17-inch wide with a 16” cutting diameter on the blade. Sure, there are better mowers with larger cutting widths, but for a residential option, this one gets the chore done. With minimal fuss. It is a 2-in-1 design mower, so you can mulch, bag, or rear discharge. You will find the capacity indicator on the collection bag to be quite helpful to alert you when to empty your grass clippings.
The 20V dual batteries (40V total) provide enough power to work a 1/8-acre yard before you have to recharge. INTELLICUTT technology helps provide more torque when it’s needed, obviating the need for throttle control to overcome the resistance of an overgrowth. It doesn’t drain the batteries; it only customizes the power going to the driveshaft so it can meet the mowing requirement at every moment. In fact, it helps extend the charge when you are mowing in normal conditions.
Weighing just 38 pounds (one more than the Sun Joe iON16LM), this mower is another lightweight you’ll find in the market. Anybody can use this mower. The handle can be adjusted to just about any height for easy controlling no matter what height you are. Maneuvering is a breeze and you can easily mow rough terrain without getting tired.
Having it in a self-propelled drive would be welcome, especially when working uneven yards. You would have to give up some runtime, however.
The build quality is reasonable. The cutting deck is made of durable, lightweight plastic. It does feel a little flimsy compared to its metal counterparts, but I believe the idea was more about keeping the mower as light and maneuverable as possible.
All things considered, this is a good option if you are working on a budget but still want something that can take whatever your grass throws at it. Not many features to work with, but it really holds up well.
Features:
- Dual 20v (4.0ah) batteries
- 17” cutting deck
- 2-in-1: mulch, bag, rear discharge
- IntelliCut Technology
- Cutting height adjustment lever
- Runtime indicators on battery
- EGO Power+ 20-Inch 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Lawn Mower
You don’t need to call in a garden & lawn care service to transform your yard from a prairie into a well-manicured lawn. The EGO power+ 56-volt cordless lawn mower would suffice.
It is not a monstrous lawn mower from Greenworks but 56-volt 7.5Ah is enough muscle to mow small and medium-sized yards. Depending on the cutting conditions, you can expect the squeeze up to 90 minutes cut time from this unit.
The 20-inch cutting deck is large enough to get the job done in a few passes. You’ll find most cordless mowers to come in the 16 – 18-inch range, which makes the 20-inch deck on your EGO Power+ seem rather superfluous. Even so, it is a welcome luxury if you don’t want to mow for longer and miss your cold beer time!
Speaking of mowing time, if you are in the hotter zones, you’ll find it’s always better to mow your lawn in the late afternoon when the sun is about to set and it’s a bit cooler. The headlights on your EGO Power+ come in handy to illuminate your Zoysia or Bermuda grass lawn as you mow into the early evening (6- 8 PM). Aha! You actually thought the headlights were gimmicks.
At about 70dB you need not worry what time you’re doing your lawn. This mower actually runs quieter than most vacuum cleaners. If you couldn’t make it Saturday morning, then you can choose to mow the lawn into the early night. No, your neighbor won’t hear a thing, so you probably are not butting into their dinner conversation.
There is no rear-wheel drive on this particular model, LM2001-X, but EGO Power+ makes a second model in the 56V line, which is self-propelled. The battery pack positioning on the push model makes it quite easy to maneuver. It is pretty light and rolls rather well even on challenging terrain.
This is a powerful walk-behind mower but there’s a lot to be done to improve the cut quality and motor efficiency on this mower. If EGO Power+ had put a brushless motor on this mower as they did with their trimmers, blowers, and chainsaws, it would have definitely set a new level for cordless mower performance for residential options.
All in all, there’s no denying it’s got so many practical features for homeowners who demand the best. A strong motor. Extended battery life. Durable cutting deck. And then some.
Features:
- 21-inch durable steel deck
- 7.5Ah battery, Up to 90 minutes run time
- 5-position single handle cut height adjustment
- Rapid charging
- Easy folding for upright storage
- Weight: 80 lbs
- Greenworks MO80L410 Pro 80V 21-Inch Brushless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower
What makes Greenworks an all-time bestseller on web stores and brick-&-mortar stores? It most certainly isn’t magic!
Greenworks is a dependable brand renowned for producing quality lawn & garden tools. Their Pro 21-inch model is one of the best in its class. It embodies the quality you’d expect from any Greenworks product. Most retailers reckon it is a top-seller, premium price notwithstanding.
This is a powerful 80V self-propelled lawnmower featuring a brushless motor with reliable power and performance. It is a true workhorse designed with patient attention to detail for experienced homeowners like yourself seeking a heavy-duty lawn tool that will help them easily care for their 1/3 acre.
While most cordless mowers in the market will have trouble cutting thick, overgrown grass – that’s for the gas-powered top dogs! – your Greenworks Pro 80V will eat through a week-old overgrowth like its breakfast. Well, there are some insane weeds that just won’t give in, and they put up quite the fight, but they must go at the end of the day. I find that cutting half swaths gets you past difficult areas faster than you would have forcing the mower to cut through in a single pass and hitting thermal shutdown.
The mower’s innovative smart cut technology really helps deal with overgrowth. The system drives more power to the blends when you hit some resistance and it maintains normal blade speed when you’re mowing in normal conditions. This saves both time and power.
Self-propelled rear-wheel drive with easy speed adjustment and cordless operation gives you the freedom to mow far to the corners of your yard. Simply adjust the mower speed to your stride and walk behind as it does the toiling. It makes for an excellent gift for parents who don’t have the muscle to work a push mower, no matter how well it rolls.
For a steel deck, this mower is quite light. The whole unit weighs only 76 pounds making it easy to turn and maneuver around boulders or even the kids’ toys. A plastic deck would have been lighter, albeit less durable. I know, for one, that Florida sugar sands eat through plasticky mower decks.
Sure, there are lighter, inexpensive cordless lawn mowers out there. But if you are in the market for a powerful, durable, and feature-packed lawn tool, you need to think Greenworks Pro 80V.
Features:
- 21-inch durable steel deck
- Brushless motor
- 3-in-1 design; mulch, side discharge or rear bag grass clippings
- Self-propelled rear-wheel drive
- Smart-cut Technology
- 7-position single lever height adjustment
- Vertical storage
- Weight: 64.1 lbs
- Snapper XD 82V MAX Electric Cordless Self-Propelled Lawnmower
Here is a smarter way to do your lawn. Snapper XD 82V MAX is a powerful electric cordless lawn mower with self-propelled drive and intelligent load sensing technology that makes mowing an easy chore.
Moreover, Snapper XD is built with a 21” steel deck that won’t break by day two. The mowing mechanism contains a 3-in-1 design. You can mulch, bag, or side discharge your grass clippings conveniently. Height adjustment from a single lever works like a charm.
It’s all well and good that your modern gas lawn mower has an easy-start engine, but can you assure arthritic hands the mower will always fire up withthe first, slightest of pulls? Snapper XD 82V MAX powers up with a push button. No priming or choking. No running around to get gas cans. And certainly, no spewing, sputtering engines to battle with.
The combination of a brushless motor and an 82V cell pack on your Snapper cordless mower delivers the power and performance of a 160cc gas engine. The brushless motor allows for maximum power transfer to the blades for optimum cutting efficiency. You can trust the Briggs & Stratton 82V MAX lithium-ion under the battery compartment to pack serious power to get any job done.
There are several battery options available on the 82-Volt MAX line, but this particular unit is kitted with two 2.0 Ah batteries. Each battery pack gives 45-min runtime – 90-min is more than you’ll need to conquer most tasks.
While your Snapper XD 82V MAX offers some serious power for mowing any lawn, it runs surprisingly silent. You barely hear any sound when the mower starts. The blades spin near-silent until they get to actually cutting the grass. You’ll get about 78dB coming from the mower when you hit thick grass due to the motor driving more power to compensate for the workload.
Stop any expert lawn care crew and you’ll likely see a cordless self-propelled mower (any brand) powered in 80V or more. Even so, Snapper targets homeowners for their XD 82V MAX line as much as it packs an array of features and power almost equivalent to their commercial walk mowers.
Do you need a Heavy-Duty mower that will stand up to the torturous cutting conditions your ½ acre city lot brings? The Snapper XD 82-Volt MAX lawnmower is unparalleled.
Features:
- 21-inch steel deck
- 3-in-1 design (mulch, side discharge or rear bag)
- Self-propelled, variable speed
- Load-Sensing Technology
- 7-position height-of-cut, single-lever adjustment
- Compact vertical storage capability
- (2) 2.0Ah battery (*4.0Ah or 5.0Ah upgrade)
- Rapid battery charging station
- Weight: 80.9 lbs
Over to you
Choosing cordless over gas-powered lawnmowers is easy if you have a small lot to care for. However, choosing the best cordless mower from the myriad options available in the market is no easy task.
Our top choices above were hand-picked after hours of combing through what the market considers to be the best cordless lawn mowers available. We based our choices on their feature sets and functionality, ease of use, noise (lack of, rather), durability, maneuverability, customer feedback, and other buying considerations. Well, they do have minor flaws here and there, but nothing to stop your lawn from getting a clean cut.