The Best Cordless Hedge Trimmers For Trimming And Shaping

The AHS 50-20 is the trimmer we'd hand to most people with a front and back hedge to keep tidy. It runs on Bosch's 18V lithium-ion battery and arrives as a complete kit with the battery and charger, so you can charge it up and start the same day. Bosch quotes up to 60 minutes from a charge, and the 50 cm blade with its 20 mm tooth opening is sized for the kind of regular trim this machine is made for.

At 2.5 kg with the battery fitted, it's light enough to hold up at shoulder height, and the multi-position front handle lets you change grip as you move from the sides to the top. An anti-blocking system keeps the blades moving through dense growth. Where it ran out of steam for us was on thicker, older branches, so it's best on hedges that are cut regularly rather than ones that have been left to get away from you.

The Ryobi OHT1855R is the trimmer in our before and after photos, and it got through that overgrown conifer without complaint. Ryobi says the 55 cm laser-cut, diamond-ground blade takes branches up to 22 mm thick, the largest capacity of the full-size trimmers here, and a high-torque motor with an anti-jam system keeps it going when the growth gets dense.

Two features won us over during testing. The handle rotates, so you can keep a natural grip when switching between the top and the sides, and the HedgeSweep attachment in the box brushes the clippings off the hedge once you're done. On a long hedge that saves a lot of picking cuttings out of the foliage by hand. It runs on Ryobi's ONE+ battery platform, which makes sense if you already have other Ryobi garden tools.

The DeWalt DCM563 is built for people who cut a lot of hedge in one session. DeWalt quotes up to 75 minutes from its 5.0 Ah battery, one of the longest runtimes in this roundup, and the 55 cm dual-action blades are laser-cut hardened steel with a 19 mm cutting gap.

A wrap-around auxiliary handle lets you hold it in several orientations, which helps when you're working along the top of a hedge and then down the face. At 3.4 kg it's heavier than the Bosch, and you'll feel that on a long afternoon. At 1,400 strokes per minute it isn't the quickest cutter here, so it gets through a hedge on blade length and stamina instead. If you already own DeWalt cordless tools, check whether your batteries fit before buying another.

The Makita DUH523Z runs on the same 18V LXT batteries as Makita's drills and drivers, and that's where the value lies. If you already have a Makita battery and charger in the van or the shed, it's an affordable way into a well-made hedge trimmer.

It has a double-sided 52 cm blade with a 15 mm cutting capacity, and it's a two-handed tool that starts as soon as both switches are held. The electric brake stops the blade quickly when you let go, and during testing that gave us extra control and made it feel safer near the end of a cut. An anti-vibration structure and a battery level indicator round it off. The 15 mm capacity is the smallest of the full-size trimmers here, so it's better on soft, regularly cut growth than old woody stems.

The Greenworks G40PSH is a long reach hedge trimmer that also comes with a chainsaw attachment for pruning thicker branches. Fit the extension pole between the battery pack and the motor head and it stretches to 2.4 metres, enough to get to the tops of tall bamboo and conifers without a ladder.

The motor head pivots through 7 positions, so you can angle the 51 cm dual-action blade flat across the top of a hedge while you stand on the ground below. Greenworks quotes an 18 mm cutting capacity, and the 40V battery is supplied. Without the extension fitted, it works as a normal handheld trimmer. Working from the ground is much safer than balancing on steps with a running blade, and that's the main reason to buy one.

The WORKPRO 2-in-1 is a handheld shear rather than a full hedge trimmer, and at 0.47 kg it weighs a fraction of the others here. It comes with two heads, one for hedges and shrubs and one for trimming grass, so it doubles up for edging around borders and paths. WORKPRO quotes 40 minutes from a full charge and a no-load speed of 1,100 RPM.

During testing, the ergonomic grip made it easy to control for close shaping work, and the charge indicator saves you from guessing how much battery is left. It's ideal for topiary, box balls and the awkward corners behind a bench where a long blade won't fit. It isn't built for a proper hedge, though, and it's limited to light growth. We see it as a companion to one of the larger trimmers above rather than a replacement.