At a glance
Worx is a brand that has been steadily building a solid reputation in the UK cordless tool market over the past decade, and the WG779E is one of their most interesting small garden mower offerings. It sits in the middle ground between the budget corded market and the premium cordless players, and what sets it apart from most competitors at this price is the inclusion of a mulching function – the ability to finely chop grass clippings and return them to the lawn rather than collecting them.
Mulching is a genuinely useful feature. Returned clippings decompose quickly and feed the lawn with nitrogen, reducing the need for supplementary fertiliser and eliminating the chore of emptying and disposing of a grass box. It is also simply more convenient for quick cuts where setting up the grass box feels like unnecessary effort. Whether the WG779E delivers on this promise – and whether the rest of the package justifies the price – is what we set out to find out.
Overview and first impressions
The WG779E makes a good first impression. The build quality feels more substantial than the price suggests – the deck is solid, the handle is well-padded and the controls are intuitively laid out. At 10.5kg with battery it is noticeably heavier than the Flymo EasiMow 300R but lighter than most petrol mowers and comparable to the Bosch UniversalRotak 36V in the hand.
The three-in-one functionality – collect, mulch, or rear discharge – is switched by removing or fitting the grass box and inserting a mulching plug. Switching between modes takes under a minute and requires no tools. The 34cm cutting width is a useful step up from budget 30cm machines, reducing the number of passes needed on a typical small garden. The central single-lever height adjustment operates all four wheels simultaneously – six settings from 20mm to 65mm.
The lack of a rear roller is worth flagging early for buyers who care about lawn stripes. The WG779E cannot produce stripes – the rear wheels do not press the grass blades flat in alternating directions the way a roller does. If striping matters to you, the Bosch UniversalRotak 36V is the better choice. If mulching and cable-free convenience matter more, the WG779E makes a strong case.
Assembly out of the box is straightforward – the handle clips together in two sections and locks firmly without any tools, and the grass box attaches to the rear chute with a simple click-on fitting. Worx includes a mulching plug in the box which replaces the grass box connection when you want to switch modes, and the plug stows in a dedicated holder on the mower body so it is always to hand. This kind of detail – making the mulching function practically accessible rather than fiddly – is one of the things the WG779E gets right.
Mulching only works well on dry, regularly mown grass. Attempting to mulch long or wet grass results in clumping under the deck and an uneven finish. For the mulch function to deliver good results, the grass should be no more than a week’s growth at normal growing season pace and ideally cut in dry conditions. If grass has grown long, collect rather than mulch until it is back to a manageable height.
Specifications and scores
How it performed in our tests
In collect mode the WG779E cuts cleanly on maintained UK lawn grass. The 34cm width handles normal growth without complaint and the grass box fills at a predictable rate. On slightly longer grass the mower copes but with noticeably reduced cut quality – the finish becomes less even and the box fills faster. In mulch mode on a dry, recently mown lawn the results are genuinely impressive: clippings are finely chopped and dispersed invisibly into the sward with no visible accumulation on the surface.
The absence of a rear roller is the most notable difference versus the Bosch UniversalRotak 36V. For gardeners who want lawn stripes, the WG779E is not the right choice. For those who care more about the mulching function and want the convenience of cordless, it is a better fit. The two mowers serve slightly different priorities rather than one being objectively superior.
Use mulch mode for mid-week quick cuts and collect mode for the main weekly mow. Mulching is fastest – no box to empty, no clippings to dispose of – making it ideal for a ten-minute tidy-up between main mowing sessions. For the primary cut where you want a clean finish, switch to collect. Alternating between modes also helps spread the nutritional benefit of returned clippings without any single area receiving too much.
Battery and mulching system
The WG779E uses Worx’s 18V PowerShare system, which is compatible across the entire Worx cordless range including their trimmers, blowers and pressure washers. The 2.0Ah battery included in the kit delivers around 30-35 minutes of runtime on a normal lawn – sufficient for gardens up to around 200m² in collect mode. Mulching is marginally less demanding on the battery than collecting because the motor does not need to push clippings into a box, so runtime is slightly extended in mulch mode.
The battery charges in approximately 60-90 minutes on the included charger. One caveat worth addressing clearly: the Worx PowerShare system, while broad within the Worx range, is not compatible with Bosch, Makita or DeWalt batteries. If you already own cordless tools from another brand, the Worx batteries add to your collection rather than reducing it. For buyers starting fresh this is no issue at all – the included battery and charger give you a complete starting point for the Worx ecosystem, and the PowerShare range covers a wide enough selection of garden and DIY tools to build a useful toolkit around a single battery platform.
Performance and limitations
The WG779E’s mulching capability is its defining feature and the primary reason to choose it over competitors without the function. On a maintained lawn mowed weekly in dry conditions, the mulch output is genuinely impressive – clippings disappear into the sward and the lawn looks tidy immediately after cutting. The nitrogen returned to the soil through regular mulching builds up over a season and contributes to a healthier, denser turf that competes better against moss and weeds.
The battery life limitation is the most practical constraint at the upper end of the stated range. A 250m² garden in collect mode will push the 2.0Ah battery to or slightly beyond its limit depending on grass condition and mowing speed. Buying a second 2.0Ah battery to rotate – charging one while using the other – is the practical solution for gardens at the top of the range, though it adds to the total investment. For gardens comfortably under 200m², the single included battery is adequate and the runtime limitation will rarely be felt in practice.
The rear discharge mode – the third of the three functions – is worth a brief mention. It disperses clippings behind the mower without collecting them and without the fine chopping of full mulch mode. It is most useful when the grass is slightly too long to mulch cleanly but you do not want to stop to empty the box repeatedly. As a temporary middle-ground mode it is a useful addition that most single-mode collect mowers lack.
- Excellent mulching on maintained dry grass
- 3-in-1 collect, mulch, rear discharge
- Battery and charger included
- Worx PowerShare battery ecosystem
- 6-position single-lever height adjustment
- Cable-free convenience
- No rear roller – no stripes
- 2.0Ah battery limiting at upper end of range
- Mulching poor on long or wet grass
- Worx battery not cross-compatible with major brands
- Small gardens up to 200-250m²
- Those wanting mulching convenience
- Buyers wanting all-in-one cordless kit
- Regular weekly mowers on maintained lawns
- Stripe enthusiasts
- Gardens over 300m²
- Bosch, Makita or DeWalt battery ecosystem owners
Final verdict – is it worth it?
The Worx WG779E hits a useful sweet spot in the small garden mower market. The mulching function – genuinely rare at this price point – is its key differentiator and it works well under the right conditions. The cordless convenience, the included battery and charger, and the 34cm cutting width combine to make it a compelling all-in-one package for a small garden where the grass is mowed weekly through the growing season.
It is not perfect. The lack of a rear roller means no stripes, and the 2.0Ah battery is limiting at the upper end of the stated range. For a gardener who wants stripes and is happy to invest slightly more, the Bosch UniversalRotak 36V is the better choice. For a gardener who wants mulching convenience and cable-free operation at a realistic everyday price, the WG779E delivers and then some.
The mulching benefit is worth emphasising for anyone who has not tried it before. A lawn that is regularly mulched over a full growing season will typically show improved density and colour compared to one that is always collected, because the fine clippings feed the turf with nitrogen as they break down in the soil. The WG779E makes this lawn care practice genuinely accessible without requiring a second tool or a complicated setup – it is a one-button mode switch away from every single mowing session.
A well-rounded small garden mower with genuinely useful mulching at a fair price. The no-roller limitation matters if stripes are a priority, but for mulching convenience and completely cable-free mowing it is hard to beat at this price.
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