Bosch EasyGrassCut 23 Review – UK Tested

I’d been putting off buying anything new for the edges of the lawn for a while, mostly because the bit of fence by the bins doesn’t really need a proper strimmer, it needs something light I can grab for ten minutes and put away again. A neighbour mentioned theirs had packed in after years of faithful service, which got me thinking it might finally be time to retire the ageing one in my own shed.

The Bosch EasyGrassCut 23 turned up not long after, a plain little corded trimmer that does one job, line only, no blade, and does it for as long as the lead reaches.

Overview and first impressions

Out of the box there isn’t much to it. The trimmer itself, a spool already loaded with line, and a separate extension lead, since the cable built into the machine is shorter than you’d expect. Two pieces of shaft click together, the guard clips on, and that’s most of the assembly done before you’ve had a chance to read the instructions properly.

It’s a D handle design with no blade option at all, line and nothing else, which suits exactly what I bought it for. Bosch make a 26cm version alongside this 23cm one, same shape, slightly wider head, different article number on the box (mine’s the H, theirs is the J), and the two share a manual between them. Fully built it stretches out to around 1.16 metres, which sounded long on paper but is just a normal arm’s reach once it’s actually in your hand.

Picking it up off the kitchen table to weigh it out of curiosity turned into more of a puzzle than I expected, because depending on which bit of Bosch’s own paperwork you believe, it’s somewhere between 1.7 and 2 kilograms, and I’ll come back to exactly why in the next section.

Specifications and scores

Here’s the bit that had me genuinely confused for a minute. Bosch’s own current product page for this trimmer lists the weight as 2 kilograms flat. Their own manual, the actual document that comes in the box, works out at 1.9 from the same official figures. My neighbour weighed theirs on the kitchen scales out of curiosity once I’d mentioned the discrepancy, and got 1.7. Three different numbers, all claiming to be the same fact, none of them more than a few hundred grams apart, but on a trimmer this light a few hundred grams is a noticeable chunk of the whole thing.

None of that changes how it feels in the hand day to day, light enough that I’ve never once thought about the weight while using it. It’s the kind of detail that only becomes a problem if you’re trying to compare it fairly against something else on paper rather than just picking it up and getting on with the job. The compliance paperwork tucked in behind all three of those weight claims was tested by an outside body in Stuttgart and signed off through Bosch’s own Uxbridge office, for what it’s worth, if you ever go looking for it.

How it performed in our tests

Switching on is a two stage thing, a lock off button first, then the trigger, which takes a session or two to stop feeling fiddly and then becomes second nature. Let go of the trigger and the line keeps spinning for a second or two on its own, which caught me out the first time I went to put it down too quickly. After that it’s just trimming, sweep the head along the edge, and the semi automatic spool lets line out every time you release the trigger rather than needing a bump on the ground.

That line feed has been the one inconsistent part of owning it. Most sessions it’s behaved exactly as it should, a little more line appearing each time the trigger’s released, no fuss. Once, a couple of months in, it stopped feeding altogether and the line vanished back into the housing no matter how many times I released the trigger, and I had to stop, open the spool cover and pull a length back out by hand before it would carry on. The same neighbour who put me onto buying one ended up getting the identical model not long after, and theirs has the opposite problem, line feeding out too freely rather than not at all, which says less about either of us being unlucky and more about how inconsistent the feed mechanism can be unit to unit.

Power, cable and getting started

The 280 watt motor never felt underpowered for what I use it for, light grass and the odd patch of weed round the shed base, though it’s not a tool I’d point at anything with a proper stem. The shaft doesn’t telescope, which I only found out wanted checking after I’d already bought it, my own height means it’s not been an issue, but anyone taller or shorter than average might find the fixed length less forgiving than trimmers that adjust.

The cable is shorter than I’d planned for. Six metres sounds like plenty until you’re stood at the far end of the garden with the socket back by the kitchen door, and I ended up running an extension lead most sessions rather than the few times I’d expected. Worth checking the actual distance you’ll be working at before assuming the supplied lead covers it.

Performance and limitations

Switching off and on again quickly isn’t something to get into the habit of, the manual is specific that the motor needs to fully stop before restarting, and I’ve made a point of waiting it out rather than testing what happens if you don’t. Eye and ear protection are both worth wearing properly rather than as an afterthought, and I’d add gloves too given how close your hands end up to the cutting line when changing the spool. It’s double insulated so no earth connection is needed, but if you’re ever running it off an outdoor socket in damp weather a residual current device on the circuit is the sensible backstop. Don’t bother trying it on wet grass either, it’ll still spin but the cut comes out patchier than on a dry day.

Hold it properly with both hands and keep your feet planted, never walking backwards or running with it going, and if the cable ever frays or splits don’t patch it yourself, the manual is clear that’s a job for a Bosch service centre and an approved replacement lead rather than anything off a hardware shop shelf. Same goes for the line itself, only the spool Bosch sells fits the warranty terms, swapping in anything metal voids it outright and isn’t something this trimmer is built to take anyway.

It’s a domestic tool through and through, not built for anything beyond grass, weeds and nettles, and there’s no blade option to fit even if you wanted more. For the edges and awkward bits a mower can’t reach, that’s exactly the right amount of tool. For anything tougher, it’ll struggle and you’ll know within the first few seconds.

Final verdict

For what it’s actually for, tidying lawn edges and the bits a mower can’t reach, this does the job without much fuss most of the time. The motor’s got enough in it for grass and light weeds, and once you’ve got the trigger sequence down it’s a genuinely grab and go tool.

Where it loses marks is consistency rather than capability. Three different weight figures across Bosch’s own paperwork isn’t the end of the world, but the line feed behaving differently unit to unit, sometimes underfeeding to the point of being unusable, sometimes overfeeding, is the kind of inconsistency that should have been ironed out by now on a tool this simple. The short cable is a smaller gripe, but one more buyers should know about before they assume the lead in the box will reach.

If your garden’s small and your expectations are realistic, it’ll do the job for years. If the line feed lets you down, you’re not imagining it, my own one and my neighbour’s have managed to fail in opposite directions without either of us doing anything different.