Which? Don't Buy grass trimmers and strimmers

You can buy a grass trimmer for under £30, but this isn't a bargain if the grass trimmer is so hard to use and so slow that you leave it in the back of the shed. 

In our testing we've found grass trimmers that make you bend right over to edge the grass, or which leave your grass looking chewed, not cut. But we've also found some great grass trimmers that will make light work of tidying the grass around your garden. Find out which ones we recommend by looking at our best grass strimmers. 

Join Which? to find out which grass trimmers we've named as Don't Buys.

What makes a Don't Buy grass trimmer?

Edging the lawn and tidying areas missed by the lawn mower should be a quick and easy job. But a Don't Buy grass trimmer will make it a long and frustrating one. You will have to contort your body to hold them at the right angle for the job and then wait as they take ages to cut the grass.

Our expert testing puts grass trimmers through their paces so you can buy with confidence, knowing they can fly through all your trimming tasks. The best lawn edgers will leave a neat finish, while our recommended heavy-duty grass trimmers will quickly and efficiently cut down a meadow. In between our Best Buy general-purpose grass trimmers will tackle light and hard tasks.

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How we test grass trimmers

Which? has reviewed grass trimmers from Black & Decker, Bosch, Flymo, Stihl and Ryobi to help find the best grass trimmers for you. Our in-depth testing means we can recommend those grass trimmers that will be quick and easy to use, making short work of trimming the grass around your garden. 

• All our grass trimmers are used to cut lawn and path edges, as well as along fences, just as you will use them in your garden. We also cut long grass and weeds to see how well they tackle tougher jobs.
• We know that it's frustrating when the line breaks on a grass trimmer, so we test how often this happens. We also rate how hard it it to re-thread the grass trimmer line and how easy it is to replace the spool. 
• A cordless grass trimmer needs a long-lasting battery, so we record how long they run for and the time taken to recharge. We also measure how noisy and heavy they are and whether they vibrate in use. 

Which? is independent – we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We're not influenced by third parties and we don't accept freebies from product manufacturers or retailers. We buy all the products that we test ourselves, so our advice helps you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes.