The Flymo EasiStore 340R Cordless Lawnmower is one of Flymo's most popular models. With removable batteries that can be used across a range of the brand's power tools, this neat and storage-friendly mower is surprisingly capable when faced with a thick, overgrown lawn.
This lawnmower is well-suited to urban gardens without too much ground to cover, and it's very quiet during operation, which will mean that close neighbours won't be too perturbed by a weekly mowing routine.
I tested the Flymo EasiStore 340R at my parents' house. They've got quite a large lawn, so I knew from the get-go that the advertised 26-minute runtime would be insufficient to do both the front and back gardens in one go. They'd have you believe that they'd deliberately let their lawn grow out for the purposes of my review. In reality, they'd been on holiday for two weeks before I came to stay, and it definitely needed a good chop. I almost felt bad for the EasiStore. It looked pretty small when surrounded by so much long grass!
With that being said though, I was really impressed with how well this mower performed, and how much lawn it was able to cover in one charge. To see if this could be the best lawnmower for your garden, keep on reading.
- Power type/source: Battery-powered
- Deck/cutting width: 34 cm
- Cutting height: 20-60mm
- Grass box: 35 litres
- Weight: 11.32kg
- Battery runtime: 26 minutes
- Controls: Dual switch lever
Who tested this lawnmower?
First impressions of the Flymo EasiStore 340R
The EasiStore 340R required more assembly than I expected, but everything came together in about 20 minutes. Instructions were clear and fully labelled. The most fiddly part was assembling the grass box, which came in two parts that required some coaxing to slot together. I got a little help with that bit, but the rest I was able to do by myself. You won't even need a tool kit.
Although it's fair to be a bit wary of overly plasticky builds, this did mean that the lawnmower turned out to be very lightweight. When fully assembled it also felt nice and sturdy, and the removable parts slot together well. I was happy with how easy it is to insert and remove the grass box. You can definitely do this one-handed.
The Flymo EasiStore 340R comes with two batteries, each with its own charger, and it took about 40 minutes for them to charge fully. These batteries offer a combined 36V performance, and they can also be used across Flymo's Power4All Alliance range of tools.
You can choose from five height settings which range from 20 to 60mm. This is adjusted easily with a lever to the front of the mower. The mower also comes with a rear roller which is designed to leave stripes on your lawn, and it's protected by a two-year warranty.
Using the Flymo EasiStore 340R
Once my batteries were fully charged I was able to start testing. To use the Flymo EasiStore 340R you need to press down the levers on either side of the handle and then press the power button. This also has LED lights that indicate three levels of charge to keep you aware of how much battery power is left.
This does mean that you'll need to press down continuously when controlling the lawnmower, but as a left-hander, I appreciated that this control system wasn't geared solely toward right-handed users. I found that between passes of my lawn, I needed to restart the power. It would be easier if there was a way to run the lawnmower continuously, but this is evidently a much safer way of designing a lawnmower than the petrol models I grew up using!
Given how long the lawn was to begin with, I was really surprised at how well the Flymo EasiStore 340R tackled my lawn on the first pass. Another pleasant surprise was how quiet the lawnmower was. For those who live in close proximity to neighbours or who worry about the noise that can be made when mowing, this will be a huge selling point.
The mower was easy to push, although I found it best to go quite slowly over thick or more tough grass. This definitely limited the amount of lawn I was able to cover on one charge, so it's probably best to use this mower to trip your lawn little and often if you've got a larger space to tackle.
The 35-litre grass box filled up in just two passes of my lawn. It was easy to take the bin out and to empty it into our garden waste, but I found that there was a lot of grass left in the mower that then spilled out onto the lawn, as shown in the picture below. You may have to scoop this up by hand, which isn't ideal if you're going to be emptying fairly regularly. Alternatively, keep a close eye on your bin to make sure it doesn't overfill. To help with this, there is an indicator on the grass box that pops up when it's ready to be emptied, but even when emptying directly after this came up there was still some grass that fell onto the ground.
The Flymo EasiStore 340R was able to complete the front garden – about 60 square metres – on a single charge. It also left a lovely striped finish on the lawn, although this did expose my slightly questionable mowing technique.
One area where the EasiStore did struggle was with edge trimming. Although the mower was able to get quite close, you can see against the fence that I wasn't quite able to get to every corner.
Should you buy the Flymo EasiStore 340R?
The Flymo EasiStore 340R is a brilliant lawnmower for the right person. If you've got a relatively small lawn, or don't mind mowing the front and back garden at different times, this mower could be a great option. It's worth noting that while I tried the more expensive 340R which comes with both batteries, you may be able to save some money and buy a battery-free version if you already have a product from the Power4All Alliance range.
With that being said, I think it could be worth spending a little more on something with a longer battery life or a bit more power if you like to grow out your grass before each mow. While it did a capable job of trimming my lawn, I found that the EasiStore was able to cover a lot less ground in thicker parts of grass, so is best used for regular trims if you've got a lot of lawn to cover.
