Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower review: lightweight and easy to use

Similar to a lot of people, I’m by no means an experienced gardener, but I do like my garden to look nice. It means that I’m always searching for any tools which help me achieve good results, whilst saving time. Therefore, when the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower arrived for me to test, I was hoping it would be just the machine for the job, encouraging me to keep on top of the lawns throughout the year, and not just in spring and summer.

I finished maternity leave recently, so trying to find time to balance work, the logistics of two children under the age of four and keeping on top of the house and garden is proving very difficult. Anything that can help make my life easier is very welcome indeed. 

Our garden is fairly large, with the lawn split over three levels. Having the best lawn mower to hand is essential if we want to keep on top of our lawn maintenance. For that reason, we already own a cordless mower, which we love, but it’s on the small side, so the grass bin fills up very quickly. 

Our bottom lawn (the largest of the three levels), is maintained by a robotic lawn mower, but we recently installed a climbing frame which has been causing the robotic lawn mower to occasionally get stuck and not cut the whole lawn as often as it should. This means that the grass has become so long in places, the robot mower’s sensors think the long grass is an obstacle and it actively avoids these patches. 

So, as well as the top and mid-sections of lawn, I also needed to do the bottom section, which meant I could really put the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower to the test and see just how long the battery would last and how many trips to the compost bin were required, compared to our current mower.

Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower: key product specs

• Power type 48V 2.0Ah Li-ion battery
• Battery length 40 mins
• Charging time 1 hour (for full battery from low)
• Cutting width 42cm
• Size (packaged) 106cm x 122cm x 47cm 
• Weight 13.5kg
• Grass collection box 50L
• Cutting height 30mm - 80mm

First impressions of the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower

Although the box the lawn mower was delivered in was fairly large, I was surprised at how light it was. Upon opening the box, everything was packaged neatly, with the charger and battery in separate boxes. The Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower also looks very smart – white and black with green accents. I was also happy to see that there was just one instruction booklet, of just 24 pages.

Getting started

The Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower comes mostly assembled and after a quick look through the operating manual, I was pleased to see that all I needed to do was set up the handle, attach the grass box and insert the battery. As I’m no stranger to testing contenders for the best cordless lawn mower list, the first thing I did was charge the battery. This is as simple as slotting the battery onto the charging base and plugging it in. When the battery is fully charged, all four of its LEDs are alight. 

Battery charging, I started assembling the mower. First, you pull the handle upwards and then lock it into place using two handles. These twist to loosen and tighten and then can be pushed down 90 degrees towards the handle, to lock into place on the inside of the frame. 

Next you fit the grass bin, by pushing the base down and clipping it onto the metal rod. You then lift up the protective flap on the mower and hook the grass box into place. This is the only step I found a bit fiddly, as I had to find the exact angle to push the grass box into place, at the same time as placing it on the hooks. Set up took just over a minute and a half.

The battery took just under an hour to charge. To insert it into the mower, you simply lift the visor and slide it into the battery housing with the ‘G’ logo facing upwards. It then clicks into place and with the battery visor shut, you’re ready to go.

What is the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower like to use? 

To operate the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower, you must first rotate the safety key 90 degrees, which can be found on the main body of the mower. When the key is turned, the mower is ready to use. The key should always be replaced to the original position when the mower is not in use. I then adjusted the cutting height to 50mm by simply holding the lever firmly and moving it to the ‘50’ mark. The operation manual offers advice on how to mow a lawn by choosing the most suitable cutting height for the current state of your lawn, and it’s great that the mower has settings in 10mm increments from 30mm to 80mm.

To start the mower, you must press the safety button on the handle, then pull the lever upwards and then the safety button can be released. To stop the mower, you release the lever. The operation manual recommends moving along at a walking pace whilst mowing. 

I started on the top lawn and went round the edges first, then cut in lines from left to right. I then repeated this on the middle section and it was only once I’d finished this, I needed to empty the 50L grass bin. There is a handy indicator flap on the top of the grass bin, which is open when mowing, until the grass bin is full, in which case it closes. To empty the grass bin, you lift the flap at the rear of the machine and then lift and pull the grass bin up and outwards. I had a bit of an issue fitting it back on again, but when it was back in place, I moved on to the bottom section of my lawn.

The grass in some patches was much longer than on the other lawns, but I left the mower on ‘50’ and this was when I noticed a shift in sound of the Gtech’s motor. Every time I hit a particularly long or dense patch of grass, the motor sounded like it was speeding up, then it would return to normal shortly after, when I was mowing shorter grass. As I didn’t know much about this mower before I acquired it, I did a quick search online and found that this is part of Gtech’s omniblade cutting technology. The intelligent blade runs at 2800rpm, until it senses it needs extra power, so it will increase to 3500rpm, to ensure the power is there when needed. I was very impressed with this and it worked throughout cutting the entirety of the bottom lawn.

As the grass was very long in places and strewn with silver birch leaves, I did find myself having to empty the grass box more regularly. I definitely noticed the benefits of the larger grass box, but still had to empty the lawn mower every three laps or so.

I had almost finished the bottom lawn, when I noticed there was just one light lit on the battery. With just a small triangle left of the lawn, the battery finally gave up. I checked the time and I had been mowing for 37 minutes, so it had almost reached the 40 minutes of suggested battery life.

I took the battery back inside to charge and after just ten minutes (just long enough to make and drink a cuppa), the battery had two lights showing and I was able to finish the final section of the lawn. I then stepped back to admire my handiwork and I was not disappointed. The mower had done a brilliant job of tidying up the lawns and they looked neat and healthy. The only thing I was aesthetically missing was the lovely lines you get when you use a lawn mower with a rear roller, which are key if you really want to perfect your lawn decoration ideas. The mower did leave lines, but these were just left from the wheels!

Noise levels

One thing that really struck me when using the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower, was just how quiet it was. Instead of a high-pitched drone, the Gtech emits a low hum, which is easy on the ears. It also meant I didn’t feel the guilt that sometimes accompanies noisy tasks, as I wasn't worrying about disturbing the neighbours.

Ease of use

From the moment you unpack this mower it’s easy to use. The set up is incredibly simple and it’s very straightforward to operate. With its large wheels and long, fairly upright handle, I found moving the mower around the garden comfortable, quick and easy. With all cordless tools, the lack of power cord makes moving around the garden a breeze. There’s no faffing around with sockets, extension leads and having to move wires out of the way.

The cutting width also helps save time, as it’s a generous 420mm and I found it was able to reach a lot closer to the edges, unlike our current cordless mower.

Additional features of the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower

When it was time to pack the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower away in the garage, I was impressed at just how compact you can make the mower, which is good news if you're short on garden storage space. You can remove the grass box and then fold down the handles, so they sit neatly on top of the mower. It also has a convenient carry handle and it’s surprisingly lightweight, so moving it from garden to garage was easy.

The battery has a state of charge indicator, which means you can find out how much power is left, just by pressing a button. What’s also very handy is that you can see the state of charge when the battery is inserted and the mower is running. The fact that the battery charges in just an hour and you get 40 minutes of running time, is great too, meaning that you can finish the job quickly, without having to wait hours between charges.

The indicator on the grass box is a handy feature, ensuring you won’t end up with lots of loose grass cuttings over your lawn and the two safety mechanisms also help me feel at ease, knowing my son won’t be able to start the mower on his own.

How does the Gtech cordless lawn mower CLM50 rate? 

I have rated this mower four and a half stars due to the ease of set-up, simple operation and the great results. The smart blade is an excellent feature and I love that you can charge the battery in just an hour. All of these features will encourage me to keep on top of spring and autumn lawn care more often, as it’s so straightforward to use.  

Online, the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower rates highly, averaging four and a half stars. Users say that it’s lightweight, easy to use, the battery life is excellent and it’s a well-built, robust machine. Although many agree that it’s on the pricey side, they claim that it is worth the money and the proof is in the great results.

As I found, some of the negative comments are due to the grass box being a bit fiddly to fit and some comment that it is too expensive compared to some of its competitors.

Overall, I would recommend the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower and will be using it to replace our current mower, due to the battery life, the larger grass box and the overall ease of use. 

About this review and our reviewer

Bethan Davis is a PR Officer from the West Midlands. She lives with her fiancé and two boys and with a busy family home, is always looking for tools to help keep their garden tidy in a fraction of the time. She tested the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower in her garden this autumn. She has a large garden with a number of lawns on different levels,  giving her plenty of chances to put this mower through its paces. 

As with all our reviews, the Gtech CLM50 cordless lawn mower was tested first-hand in Bethan's garden, using it just as you would so you know exactly what you are buying. The products are given to us free of charge and we test them for as long as possible before sending them back to the brand unless we are able to keep them. This means that we can continue to use the product which gives us the opportunity to return to our reviews for updating, so you can keep up-to-date with how it's fared over a period of time.