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    Best Battery Lawn Tool Brands

    Buying the best tools from the same brand saves money and ensures that you'll always have a charged battery

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    Ego CS1604 Chainsaw,Ego ST1521S String Trimmer, Ego LB5302 Leaf Blower, and Ego LM2156SP-2 Battery Mower on black background with lines going to Ego battery
    If you buy tools from the same brand, such as this Ego lawn gear, it’s possible one battery will fit several different tools.
    Graphic: Chris Griggs/Consumer Reports, Ego

    In the past decade, battery-powered lawn tools have all but become the norm. In multiple categories, including string trimmers and leaf blowers, they outsell their gas counterparts.

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    More on Electric and Battery Lawn Tools

    And that’s for good reason. Our tests confirm that battery (or cordless) lawn tools often match or beat the performance of gas models. They also start instantly, run quietly, and have zero emissions at the source. 

    Emissions from gas-powered outdoor tools are often worse than those from cars, and as a group, gas tools tend to be much louder, so you need to use them with hearing protection.

    The catch: Battery-powered lawn tools sometimes cost more than gas models, so they require a bigger initial investment, particularly for items like battery riding mowers and battery snow blowers. But making the switch to electric can pay off over time. How long that could take, however, depends on your lawn and the price of gas.

    That said, there are some ways you can save money when buying electric tools. If you get all of your battery lawn tools from the same brand, for instance, you might be able to use a standardized battery and charger across the brand’s suite of tools. We found that skipping the battery and charger will save you about 30 percent per tool.

    We recommend that you buy at least two items with the battery. That way, you’ll have one battery in the tool you’re using and one in the charger, so you never need to quit mid-chore if the first battery runs out of juice.

    The trick is buying into the right brand and making sure that the batteries are interchangeable. Some brands, like Greenworks, make outdoor power tools in different lines with batteries of different voltages. So you won’t be able to use, say, the 80-volt battery from its lawn mower for its 60-volt hedge trimmer.

    Next, you should make sure that the brand makes tools for every task you need and that the tools actually perform well. 

    Below, we’ve highlighted three battery-powered tool suites worth considering. Each suite has a lawn mower, string trimmer, leaf blower, and chainsaw that scores well in our tests. Each tool also uses batteries that are interchangeable with the other tools in the set.

    To learn more about these different tools, check out our buying guides for lawn mowers, string trimmers, leaf blowers, and chainsaws.

    Best Overall Battery Lawn Tool Brand

    Lots of electric tool brands make one or two products that perform well, but very few have mastered everything you’ll need to keep your lawn looking trimmed and proper.

    Ego consistently rises to the top of our ratings across categories for most of the outdoor power tools we test.

    Best Professional Battery Lawn Tool Brand

    Some top-tier brands use multiple lower-voltage batteries in their lawn tools instead of one bigger, higher-voltage one. They also have a much broader offering of products, including traditional cordless power tools, such as drills and impact drivers. That means you can use batteries interchangeably in a large range of items inside and outside your home. Of course, you’ll pay a premium for that luxury.

    Best Budget Battery Lawn Tool Brand

    Ryobi has a less expensive suite of options than the offerings from Ego. It provides solid performance for a good price without sacrificing performance.

    How CR Tests Battery Lawn Tools

    We test battery lawn tools in our Yonkers, N.Y., facility and at a satellite facility in southern Florida. The latter allows us to test brand-new tools in one of the warmest parts of the country, ensuring that we have endless access to grass in winter and early spring so that we can test the newest models the moment they hit the market.

    For all battery lawn tools, we assess the ease of using controls, starting the tool, and handling. We also measure noise, both at the ear of the operator and typically at distances designed to replicate how noisy each tool might sound to nearby neighbors. We also look at factors like the time needed to charge a battery and how long it lasts (either in time or tasks performed) compared with other models.

    • For lawn mowers, we cut identical swaths of grass in every cutting mode—bagging, mulching, and using the side discharge—to see how well models handle each task. We also assess how evenly each mower cuts.
    • For string trimmers, we test how evenly a model trims and how effectively it edges along a walkway. We also use each model to cut through extra-tall grass and weeds to make sure it’s up to the task of clearing long-neglected areas of your yard.
    • For leaf blowers, we measure and time how effectively and quickly each blower can move a large pile, and how well it loosens leaves that are stuck or embedded in grass.
    • For chainsaws, we cut slices through massive 6-inch-square wooden beams, taking particular note of how quickly the saws can cut and how many cuts they can make on a single charge. We also size up key safety features.

    Paul Hope

    Paul Hope is a Home & DIY Editor at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.