This WORX self-propelled lawn mower made me actually look forward to grass cutting

WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower | RRP £449.99 from WORX

The WG749E 40V Nitro lawn mower is self-propelled, with a 46cm cutting blade and foldable storage.

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Our WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower review puts this self-propelled cordless lawn mower to the test to see if it can make easier work of keeping on top of grass cutting.

The WORX WG749E is a cordless battery-powered mower that offers a 46cm cutting blade which the brand recommends for lawns up to 500m2. It comes equipped with a 55L collection bag and is powered by two 4.0Ah batteries. Thanks to a folding handle, it also offers compact storage in the shed or garage when it's not in use.

Plus, it's self-propelled which means it can make tackling sloping or undulating lawns far less energy-intensive. That also makes it ideal for anyone who struggles to push the weight of a mower on a flatter lawn, or is simply willing to invest in a low-effort means of grass cutting. And, it features 'IntelliCut power-as-needed technology' which the brand states 'automatically increases torque with wet and deep grass, preventing the mower from getting bogged down and jamming'.

I tested this lawn mower in a relatively small 60sqm garden, assessing ease of assembly, grass cutting performance, grass collection, ease of use, battery power and storage to see how it compared to the best lawn mowers the Ideal Home team has reviewed.

WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower review

Specifications

• Suitable for: Small to medium lawns up to 500㎡
• Power: Cordless (battery-operated)
• Propulsion type: Self-propelled
• Variable speed: Yes
• Cutting options: Cut, collect, mulch, rear discharge
• Weight: 28.7 kg
• Cutting width: 46cm
• Cutting height: 20mm to 80mm
• Battery: 2 x 4.0Ah
• Battery life: between 500-800㎡ on a single charge
• Grass collection: 55L
• Noise decibels: 78-92dB
• Folding: Yes

WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower | RRP £449.99 from WORX

The WG749E 40V Nitro lawn mower is self-propelled, with a 46cm cutting blade and foldable storage.

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How I tested

Amy Lockwood

I'm Amy, one of the Ideal Home team's Ecommerce Editors. My job involves putting all manner of products through their paces to find the best recommendations for our readers, in this case the WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower. I tested this self-propelled lawnmower over the course of a few months on a small and fairly flat 60sqm lawn to see if it could help to keep on top of fast-growing grass with less effort.

Getting started

Unlike the more affordable but non-self-propelled, WORX WG743E Cordless Lawn Mower, the WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower thankfully comes pretty much pre-assembled. 

On unboxing you just need to assemble the grass collection box – which is a little fiddly, but soon done. There is no assembly of the mower itself other than unfolding its foldable handles which are packed down neatly for transportation. 

Also included in the box are two 20V 4.0Ah PowerShare batteries, a dual charger, and a mulching insert.

The two 20V 4.0Ah batteries take around two hours to charge, which is plenty of time to unfold the mower and adjust its settings to your preferences.

Handily, all of the adjustable elements on the WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower are picked out in orange, so it's easy to see which parts are adjustable.

There are three height adjustments available for the handles, and the blade cutting height can be easily adjusted through 20mm-80mm by way of seven clearly marked settings.

Once fully charged, fitting the batteries is easy enough, although my one gripe is that the casing on the battery compartment isn't weighted to stay open whilst you insert the batteries. Instead it flops around meaning you have to keep hold of it with one hand or it can accidentally fall down either trapping fingers or potentially damaging the perspex. 

When the batteries are installed you can press the red button on the lawn mower deck to view the remaining battery charge. Five green lights will illuminate, or not, to give you an idea of the charge left.

Lawn mowing

Batteries fully charged and adjustments complete, it was time to start mowing. 

Our lawn is a relatively small 60m2, and although it isn't sloping, like most lawns, it has lumps and bumps that can make for tired arms and legs after you've pushed a traditional mower up and down it – particularly because the mower we usually use is a large and heavy petrol mower designed for much larger spaces.

As such I was eager to see how much easier the WORX WG749E's self-propelled functionality would make it. 

The good news is that the WORX WG749E starts saving you effort as soon as you take it out of the garage or shed as you can put it into self-propel mode without having the blade running to assist you in even getting it to the lawn in the first place. You simply need to keep your hands on the handles, walk behind it, and steer – no real pushing required.

Once on grass, I was really impressed with how easy the WORX WG749E was to operate. To start you simply depress the starter ignition and pull the bail bar up towards you. If and when you want to engage the self-propel function you push down on the upper orange bail bar and hold it close to the mower handle. 

You can then adjust the speed of the self-propel functionality through seven settings, via a big orange push switch just below the handles that's clearly marked from miminum speed (the pace of a slow stroll) to maximum speed (a fairly swift walking pace).

All in all, the WORX WG749E did a great job of cutting the grass and a superb job of collecting grass cuttings and mulching. The self-propel mode also made the mower extremely easy to use as it glided smoothly across the lawn with only steering needed from the user.

A couple of times when the mower hit longer grass we felt the 'IntelliCut power-as-needed technology' kick in, which seemed to push the mower on to handle the change in terrain.

We found the grass collection box was just about full by the time we'd cut all of our small garden, so if you have a medium-sized lawn you may find yourself emptying the grass box a couple of times each mow. However, thanks to the lightweight grass box and great access for removal this is very easy to do.

As far as battery usage goes, we managed to cut the grass on our 60sqm garden around 2.5 times before the batteries on the WORX WG749E needed recharging.

Ease of use

The WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower is definitely one of the easiest to use lawn mowers I've tested. Its self-propel functionality makes cutting the grass a far easier task than with a non-self-propelled mower – and that was on our relatively flat lawn, on a sloping lawn the self-propel function would make really light work of mowing.

I'd previously tested the EGO LM1702E-SP 42cm Self-Propelled Lawnmower, and I personally found the operation of the WORX WG749E much simpler to grasp. However, my Dad also tested both mowers and he prefered the controls of the EGO, as you don't need to adjust both hands on the handlebars to fold down the upper orange bail bar as you do with the WORX model, so this may be personal preference.

In comparison to the EGO self-propelled lawn mower, the only thing I felt the WORX model lacked in terms of ease of use was a clear battery charge display. There are lights which illuminate next to the battery compartment to show you how much charge is left in the batteries whilst the mower is in use, but they're small and not very bright so you tend to have to bend down to check the reading – especially in bright sunlight.

However, we all found the grass collection box on the WORX WG749E far nicer to remove and refit than the slightly awkwardly designed EGO grass box. The WORX WG749E collection box is super light, and super easy to remove and hook back into place. The only thing it lacks is any means of alerting you to when it's getting full.

The fact that the handle of the WORX WG749E folds down so that the mower is vastly reduced in size – and then that it can be stood vertically – is also a real bonus for easier storage. It means that the mower can be pushed neatly against the wall of the shed or garage when its not in use so it isn't taking up floorspace, and also means it fits into a car boot if you need to transport it.

Verdict

All in all I was really impressed by the WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower. 

Like any self-propelled lawn mower, it's more expensive than a standard cordless mower, but if you have a sloping garden that requires some muscle to mow or mowing in general leaves you out of puff then I think that extra expense is well worth it for the ease it offers.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that the WORX WG749E was so low-effort and easy to use that it made me actually look forward to grass cutting, when usually it's the garden chore I'm least enthusiastic about. 

The WORX WG749E perhaps doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the EGO LM1702E-SP 42cm Self-Propelled Lawnmower – the battery charge reader isn't quite as snazzy and there are no headlights, plus its footprint is a little larger – and the build quality and design touches possibly aren't quite on a par, but it does still feel like a well-designed and practically well thought out machine. 

And, whilst it maybe doesn't quite have quite the wow-factor of the stylish one-handled Stihl RMA 443 Self-Propelled Cordless Lawnmower, the WORX WG749E is a lot more affordable than both the Stihl and the EGO models, and I think it offers great performance and great value for its price.

The only niggles we encountered during testing were very minor – just the lid of the battery compartment which would be better if it was hinged to stay open, and the battery charge indicator that could be easier to read when the mower is in use.

Other than that, I think this is a brilliant self -propelled mower that offers a great balance of performance and value for money.

WORX WG749E 46cm Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower | RRP £449.99 from WORX

The WG749E 40V Nitro lawn mower is self-propelled, with a 46cm cutting blade and foldable storage.

View Deal