Flymo’s easistore 380R lawn mower will cut your costs as well as your lawn

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Before cutting

Without a battery or a tank of petrol on board, you’ll immediately notice how lightweight the mower is, even though the version we tested (there are three in total) featured the widest cutting deck, most powerful motor and largest grass-collection box.

Previously on some Flymo models, we’ve found adjusting the cutting height a bit sticky. But the 380R’s lever, located over one of the front wheels, moved fluidly and allowed us to choose one of the five cutting heights (2cm-6cm) without having to fight with it.

In operation, the ambidextrous throttle grips and quick-start button make it easy to control the power. Also, the 1m-long handle is adjustable, so you can maintain a healthy, upright working position – no stooping necessary.

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The grass-collection box detaches easily when full and the sturdy handle and large opening make it easy to empty.

As with most electric mowers on the market, the easistore has a cable length of just 10m, so it’s likely that an extension lead will be needed to get complete coverage in your garden.

Performance

Even though this is a Flymo, it’s a rolling lawnmower, not a hover. One of the reasons for that is its grass-striping feature, which incorporates a rear roller in the mower itself, so that you can create that Wimbledon Centre Court effect (but more of that later).

It rolls well on its four hard plastic wheels, and the larger 16cm rear wheels do tend to even out lumps and bumps and lumps in the lawn, so that you can maintain an even finish at your chosen cutting height without scalping.

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The cut you get from a mower will largely depend on its ability to prep the grass blades for the cutting blade itself. The 380R does a very good job of this, thanks to how light the deck of the machine is and the addition of grass combs at the side of the mower.

Its lightweight and thin wheels mean that it doesn’t compact the grass in front of the mower as it runs over it, and the combs that are just behind the front wheels guide grass blades that would usually escape the cutting deck into the path of the blades. This is particularly useful when you’re mowing along a hard border, like a fence or wall, because you’re not left with clumps of grass along the edge that you have to return to and strim after you’ve finished mowing.

This all adds to the mower’s overall efficiency and there was very little re-mowing that had to be done (where you have to return to an area of the lawn that hasn’t been cut well on the first pass), so mowing time is kept to a minimum.

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The cut quality is good with the blade cutting clean and evenly, so that it leaves behind healthy-looking turf. The roller adds to the effect, as it flattens the blades of grass as you head in one direction over your lawn and then does exactly the same as you head back in the opposite direction. Even though the action of the roller is the same, it means that light is reflected off the blades of grass in two different ways, giving the appearance of stripes.

Now, we’ve tried rollers plenty of times before and they can be quite hit and miss, even on more expensive machines, because the weight distribution of the mower will impact how effective the roller is. That said, we were impressed with the striping achieved with the 380R – it really delivered that manicured appearance with minimal effort.

Storage

One of the mower’s other big USPs becomes evident when you actually stop mowing. The easistore feature allows you to store the mower vertically, propped up by a plastic ridge at the back of the machine and the two rear wheels.

The cordage is wrapped around two hooks on the handle, and the handlebar also stands upright and acts as a hook to hang the grass box on, just above the upright body of the mower itself.

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It’s a space-saving option that’s becoming increasingly popular across a range of models, but to see it on mowers at the lower end of the pricing scale is still quite unusual, which makes the easistore particularly attractive for some.

Although the 380R was robust enough in operation to soak up any knocks it received from garden obstacles, like bird baths, we don’t think the plastic casing would have stood up to something falling from a height onto it – for example, a can of paint being knocked off a shelf onto the mower in the shed. However, standing as it does, you eliminate this problem, as the footprint is so small it presents a very slim profile and would probably steer clear of any accidental damage.

The verdict: Flymo easistore 380R

If you don’t have a lot of garden storage space, aren’t looking to spend too much, but do want to maintain and manicure a lawn area between 300m2 and 400m2, then the Flymo easistore is a good choice. The machine is very manoeuvrable and cuts efficiently, so it can run off your house electricity supply without being an extra burden on your energy bills.