I've been using this foldable Ryobi lawn mower to keep my grass in check during the changing weather – it's a great buy for smaller lawns

Whether you're a first-time lawnmower owner or you're looking for an upgrade, you've probably already decided which type you'd like. There are petrol lawnmowers, electric lawnmowers or even more convenient, the cordless mower. I've tested a few mowers, all of which have been cordless — and there's no denying the practicality of these battery-powered machines. Not only are they great for small to medium-sized gardens, but the Ryobi ONE+ 18V mower is a great buy for smaller gardens with a tiny amount of shed space to offer.

I've been testing this mower for a few weeks. I used it to tidy my grass after a heatwave, which was followed by a much-needed rainstorm. Then, I used it once more to trim after a bunch of rain and a swift growth spurt of my grass. This typical UK weather, although annoying, means that this lawnmower was put through its paces.

In a nutshell

This Ryobi lawnmower is available to buy on its own, but it is more cost-efficient to purchase it with the matching strimmer, as they share the same battery, which also comes included. It's great for small- to medium-sized gardens thanks to its average battery life, which I found works for around 20 minutes from a full charge. While I would only recommend it for those who tend to mow their lawn with the grass bag attached, it is easy to clean after use.

Otherwise, this mower is great for those with a smaller amount of shed space to spare, as its foldable design benefits from being able to be stored on 2 wheels or 4. And it's nice and compact, as well as lightweight at less than 10kg. Not only that, but it offers 7 grass cutting heights, whether you only leave yours to grow for 2 weeks or end up mowing it every 2 months. Its handlebar can sit at 2 heights, but admittedly, even the shortest was too high for me, and I'm 5ft2. I could still use it, but I could've done with it being a tad lower for comfort.

Product specs

• Suitable for (lawn size): 220m²
• Power: 18V
• Cutting options: 25mm - 90mm (7 settings)
• Weight: 9.3kg
• Dimensions: W36.5cm x L103cm x H100cm/105cm
• Cutting width: 33cm
• Cutting heights: 7
• Grass collection: 30L basket
• Folding: Yes

Unboxing the Ryobi

This lawnmower arrived in a large box, but it was still light enough for me to manage to carry from my doorstep to my garden. Once opened, I was quite impressed that a box this small fit a mower and a strimmer inside, plus a battery and the charger.

All parts were wrapped with recyclable cardboard or paper. There was minimal plastic waste. Included were 3 instruction manuals — 1 for the mower, the other for the strimmer and the last for the battery.

The lawnmower required minimal assembly. It was fairly easy to lift out of the box thanks to its handle, and I didn't even have to refer to the manual, really. I decided on a height I wanted the handle to sit at (spoiler alert: it's the lowest setting always as I am 5ft2) and tightened these screws.

The battery arrived with 3 bars, but I charged it anyway. Other than that, I only needed to fit the grass box, which has to be attached to the machine otherwise it gets clogged with mulching.

Despite showing 3 bars and charging for 30 mins to an hour, this mower died halfway through my first mow. I was disappointed to say the least, so I popped it back on charge. This only took a few hours to reach its full capacity.

Who will it suit?

This mower is a brilliant buy for smaller lawns and those who know they'll always use a grass box. Perhaps you hate the mess? Or maybe you use the clippings to feed your compost? Either way, you can't use this mower without the grass bag attached, as it can't drop the grass mulchings back onto your lawn — the mower will just get clogged. It doesn't explicitly say this in the manual, but there are no photos of the grass bag not attached to the mower, and I tested it both ways, so I know it performs much better with the grass bag attached.

I also think it's great for tiny sheds since it folds down to an impressively minimal size. There's also the fact that the matching strimmer (you can buy a bundle which includes both the mower and the strimmer) is powered by the same battery.

Lastly, if you require a lightweight mower to easily lift out from your shed and carry back home, then this is a great choice, as not only does it weigh less than 10kg (without its battery), but it has a carry handle, which makes lugging it around so much more convenient.

What's it like to use?

This mower is like most others when it comes to operation. It does benefit from a total of seven cutting heights, but in my opinion, numbers 6 and 7 won't really do much unless you've let your lawn grow way above your ankles. I found that cutting height 2 worked best for my somewhat patchy lawn (thanks, heatwave!).

There is a noticeable difference between cutting heights 1 and 7, with 1 being 25mm and 7 being 90 mm — there's no other information about the cutting heights in the manual, so I can only assume that these levels go in increments of around 9mm, which is an admittedly strange figure.

It has a safety switch which requires you to operate two buttons together to turn it on. There's one large green button on its handle, and the other you need to pull is on either handle. This bodes well for left- and right-handed users.

This safety feature is great as I usually would mow my lawn with my toddler around — this noise tends to wake her from her slumber, as her bedroom window faces onto the garden.

The only thing I could moan about at this stage, before actually trimming any grass, is that its two height settings were definitely still a little too high for little old me. Even at the lowest height, the handlebar was sitting just below chest height for me, and I'd rather it be a little lower down. It's not the end of the world, but my current mower does sit at a better height. Something to bear in mind if you're less than five feet four.

JSYK: the shortest height setting is 100cm from the floor, and the tallest is 105cm.

This mower can only be used with the bag attached. This isn't explicitly worded in the manual, but the photos only seem to have the bag attached, plus I used it without the bag, and it immediately clogged.

There's no information online regarding this mower's battery life. Included with my mower came a 4.0Ah battery. Online, it says that this battery will take 50 minutes to charge. It doesn't give a figure for battery life.

The battery has four bars. It was fully charged when I used it the second time to mow my lawn. I found that each bar lasts for around seven minutes of mowing (or strimming!), which leads me to think that the total battery life is around 25-28 minutes.

Decking corners

This mower had to work around the corners of my decking, plus I recently acquired a somewhat sizeable climbing frame in my garden, so it had to manoeuvre its way around these posts, too.

The grass always grows longer around the corners of my decking, as this is by my dog's pee spot (lovely, I know!).

While this mower did trim around the edges of my deck, as you can see, it did miss a few strands of longer grass. I initially went over the corners on a 7, which made no difference, and then tried a 6. This made somewhat of a minimal difference. I ended up mowing the entire grass on setting 2 — so also did this around the edges.

I usually tidy these sides with a trimmer to catch the missing strands anyway, so this isn't a huge deal. I was, overall, quite impressed with how it mowed around the edges of my decking and my toddler's climbing frame.

Corners

I really put this lawnmower through its paces on the corners of my lawn — one corner in particular always grows at a rapid rate. The first time I used this mower, the grass in this section was very long. The second time, it mostly needed a trim. This was tackled speedily and easily, with no complaints from my side!

The edges of my lawn were fairly tidy, even before strimming them, which I was pleased by, and there wasn't much cleanup to do around my patio, either.

Weeds

This lawnmower did a great job at chopping away weeds. I tackled both long, wild weeds and short ones, too. After using this mower, all of the weeds on my grass were officially headless.

With the larger, tougher weeds, I did have to mow over them a good few times.

General grass cutting

As far as general grass cutting goes, I found the perfect length at number 2. This was pretty easy to do, especially as my lawn isn't huge. I did struggle around the climbing frame, and noticed that some spots were too small to manoeuvre around, so these areas would have to be strimmed instead.

All in all, I couldn't moan about the general grass cutting that this lawnmower did in my garden. It looked tidy and refreshed, which is the point of it!

Cleaning

When the grass bag is attached, all you need to do is empty it and give it a really good shake. You shouldn't really need to brush the main part of the mower down.

I actually really like the design of the grass bag that comes with this mower, mostly because it's made from a see-through mesh, so easy to see if it's nearly full. But also, this mesh design means you don't really need to brush it clean. Grass clippings easily come away from the mesh sides and roof of the bag when you shake it, while the leather-like base helps clippings slide away.

Storage and maintenance

Arguably, the best thing about this lawnmower has to be its foldable design. Simply unscrew its handle screws (the ones that you move to adjust the handle height), and the handle folds backwards to sit on the main unit. To make it even more compact, remove the grass bag and sit this on top of the main unit, too.

When folded down, it measures W36.5cm x L66cm.

Thanks to its handle, it can be easily moved into a shed. You can store it sitting on four wheels or upright on two wheels, depending on the space available in your shed or garage.

When it comes to maintenance, the manual says you should check the blades before every use and replace if need be. I can't seem to find a replacement blade on the Ryobi site that's compatible with this model — RY18LMX33A.

How does it rate online?

Online, this mower gets good reviews. On the Ryobi website, the bundle has a 4.4-star rating out of 5. It gets rave reviews when it comes to ease of use and battery life.

The individual mower has a rating of 4.5 stars, and most shoppers love how simple it is to use. There are some complaints about its battery life, though.

At Amazon, this lawnmower is rated 4.3 stars out of 5. It's Amazon's Choice lawnmower, and shoppers say it's great for small and medium-sized lawns, and it's nice and lightweight.

How does it compare to similar models and its predecessors?

There are several variations of the Ryobi 18V ONE+ lawnmower available. This mower comes in different cutting width options — from 33cm to 37cm, 40cm, and 46cm. It also comes with different batteries. The mower I tested came with a 4.0Ah battery, but there is also a 5.0Ah battery available. The bigger battery can mow a lawn that's 225 metres squared. The smaller one is for lawns of 180 metres squared.

You can also purchase this lawnmower without a battery.

Should you buy the Ryobi 18V ONE+ lawnmower?

There's no denying that this lawnmower does the job, but it does come at an admittedly expensive price. Unless you're also going to buy the matching strimmer which runs from the same battery, I think that this mower is a lot of money for what it is. When you buy the bundle, this is cheaper than buying the lawnmower on its own, so if you do need both, it might be more cost effective.

Even so, I would still only recommend buying this mower if you always use the grass bag attached to your mower, as it cannot be used without it this part attached. Even more so, it might not be comfortable for anyone under 5 foot 4 to use, as its handle might sit too high.

Annie Collyer

I tested this mower twice to trim my small lawn and tidy around my toddler's climbing frame. It definitely did the job, but I won't be keeping it solely because my current lawnmower, the VonHaus Cordless 40V, is better suited for me as it sits at a better height and is easier to clean, plus I can use it without the grass bag attached.

Instead, I'll be giving this mower to my sister to tidy her small back lawn and store it in her minuscule shed, which is mostly taken up by kids' bikes and toys.