WORX WG743E.1 40V Cordless Lawnmower Review
Energy dense batteries and a wider-than-average cutting width are what makes the WORX WG743E.1 40V Cordless Lawnmower, on paper, a rather generous bundle at £299. With two batteries and a dual charger included in the package, this lawnmower looks well-equipped for the job. But does it have what it takes to deliver on the first grass cut of the season? We put it to the test.
Design
The WORX Cordless Lawnmower has a sleek and modern design that is both functional and visually appealing as far as outdoor equipment goes. The mower has a durable and lightweight plastic body with a sleek black and orange colour scheme. We particularly like its ability to throw off collisions with granite walls when cutting edges, as the body colour doesn’t easily highlight scratches and scrapes. The handlebars are ergonomically designed and don’t cause hand or wrist fatigue after a near hour of usage. When mowing is finished the handles can be folded down, shaping the overall mower into a more compact figure for storage, but unfortunately the handles aren’t a quick snap mechanism and instead require the screws to be loosened.
The cutting deck boasts a switch to alter between turbo and eco modes, a battery level readout so you can keep an eye on it as you’re mowing, and a wide 40cm cutting width, which allows for a faster mowing experience, as it can clear more ground and is 4cm wider than the typical width of 36cm (as seen on the Kärcher LMO 18-36 Cordless Lawnmower). The cutting height can be adjusted with a lever located on the left of the deck, and we found it a breeze to change on the fly. What’s more, there are 7 different height positions, ranging between 20-80mm, which is around 10mm lower and higher than any mower we’ve ever reviewed.
Mulching is an option with the supplied plug, but for our mowing we have been using the grass collection bag, made of a durable fabric/hard plastic combo with a capacity of 45l, which is equal to the Karcher and Bosch mowers in this category. Interestingly, however, the fit of the collection bag onto the mower itself is unshakeably tight, as well as being absolutely no trouble to put on and take off. But because that fit is so solid, it seems to push trimmings to the back of the bag more effectively due to the increased air pressure. When the wind flap on the grass collecting bag no longer blows upwards, indicating it's full, it really is crammed with trimmings all the way to the roof.
Charging and Runtime
The WORX Cordless Lawnmower comes with 2x 20-volt WORX PowerShare lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged on the dual charger supplied, which also has a built-in indicator that lets you know when they’re full. It takes 2hrs to fully recharge the two, which is above the average figure compared to its competitors. However, the mower runtime so impressed us, exceeding the record of every previous cordless lawnmower runtime from one single charge, that we think it can be sensibly understood as to why it takes a pretty minute to re-juice. This WORX Cordless Lawnmower in our testing could cover just over 500sqm on eco mode and 300sqm in turbo mode. This is more than enough in either mode to mow the average-sized European or American lawn, or rather lawns. Of course, the actual runtime will vary depending on the conditions, with factors such as grass height, moisture level, and mowing speed affecting the mower's performance. But our numbers were produced in harsher conditions than the typical weekly trim, so we are curious if this will indeed result in an even longer runtime when we get into the warmer months with drier and shorter grass to contend with. It's important to note that a key factor for these impressive runtime numbers is that the WORX Cordless Lawnmower comes with an energy-saving technology called Intellicut that reduces the power consumption of the mower and extends the runtime.
Manoeuvrability & Usability
One of the standout features of this mower is its ease of use and manoeuvrability. Starting with ease of use, the WORX Cordless Lawnmower is equipped with a push-button start, which of course eliminates the need for messy gasoline or pulling on a cord. When it comes to manoeuvrability, the WORX Cordless Lawnmower shines and is very well-suited for large lawns. The defined design and cordless operation make it easy to manoeuvre around obstacles, including trees, flower beds and rocks. Its light weight also makes it easy to lift the mower over curbs or even onto a trailer for transport if used by the likes of landscapers, etc. Importantly, its solid and lightweight design and ergonomic handlebars make it easy to push for those with limited strength or mobility, and the wheel design thankfully does allow it to roll over gravel pathways and doesn’t drag the gravel along as is the case with some of the mower designs we have.
Perfromance
With a range of cutting height options and the ability to mow in reverse (whilst still collecting grass), we made the WORX WG743E.1 40V mower undertake the dense and highly congested first cut of the season on a variety of lawn types and conditions, and it never tugged away the mature grass, or needed a single interruption when in turbo mode. We need to stress that this is not a normal experience when using either electric or petrol mowers, and interestingly this WORX mower doesn’t feature the commonplace steel blade but instead uses a composite one, which we’re more familiar being utilised on robot lawnmower designs. Nevertheless, it does appear to be very effective, just munching through thick and tall grass with a high moisture content, whilst still completely resisting any blockages.
Cue the WORX's Intellicut technology: the key reason why it can deal with such demanding conditions. With some of our grass as tall as 7cm and us steering the WORX occasionally into dense weeds, the motor adjusts the power output to match the type of grass being cut. It’s very audible and the motor is continually revving up and down, optimising energy consumption and power delivery. This feature is present in both turbo and eco modes, but in eco mode it restricts the peak of its performance in order to preserve battery life to a greater extent. With eco mode, you can still achieve a great cut and, with a longer runtime, it’s ideally suited for that regular weekly trim. One of our lawns was treated to more regular cuts so we could see that in this mode, where conditions were regular and we could stride as normal across the lawn, that we were finished a great deal quicker than we are used to, due to the wider deck that allows you to clear more ground with each pass. That faster mowing experience cannot be understated, but the finished lawn is in no way damaged by this haste. This mower leaves a perfectly uniform height of grass, an effective striping from the integrated roller, which also displaces any visible tyre tracks or mowing patterns, and when pushing the mower around the edges of the lawn it did indeed cut without any torn or jagged edges, with a trimmer only necessary where walls and other edge surfaces bulge slightly over the lawn.
Verdict
Efficiency is the key word that best describes the WORX WG743E.1 cordless lawnmower. You can quickly cover a greater area as it sports a wider cutting width than most, its battery runtime is phenomenal, covering 500sqm on eco mode and 300sqm in turbo mode, and the overall deck has a slim profile and a lightweight construction to manoeuvre over all terrain and into tight spaces. Its high-performance delivered not one interruption on our first cut of the season and all our lawns are proficiently uniform after a single cut, making it an ideal choice for both professional and personal use.