Another cordless option we like is the Greenworks 40V 3-Gallon Cordless Wet/Dry Vac. This one is larger and more powerful than the DeWalt vac, but it doesn’t have a cord, so the battery is the only option. So the Greenworks vac can handle things like little blocks of wood and some nails and screws. We also like that when we stretched out the hose, it became translucent, so it was easy to see the location of any clogs. Like the DeWalt vac, the Greenworks vac has two nozzles and smart onboard storage. This model is normally around $200 with the battery and charger, so if you need a vac with those included, it’s considerably less expensive than the DeWalt vac.
A few brands, including DeWalt, Makita, and Milwaukee, sell battery mowers that run on 18- or 20-volt batteries that also power their hand tools, such as drills and circular saws. This means that it will be really easy to interface any other brand’s 18V/20V lithium ion battery pack with some Hyper Tough power tools. The diameter of the hose is also much smaller than that of the hoses on the larger wet/dry vacs.
In fact, the HD1200 is so powerful that the tester said it was pulling loose plaster off the walls, so she had to be careful in certain areas. Consumer Reports recommends more than half the battery lawn mowers in our current walk-behind lawn mower ratings. Among the more than 60 push- and self-propelled cordless electric mowers we’ve tested, most models earn strong overall ratings. So there are plenty of appealing options at a variety of prices.If you have a lawn that’s less than a quarter-acre, you’ll probably find a battery push mower that will fit your needs.
We also have a recommendation for a more compact, cordless model for smaller messes. Every model’s Overall Score in CR’s ratings incorporates all of that performance data with predicted reliability hyper tough battery and owner satisfaction ratings. We compile those ratings from our latest member surveys, leveraging data on more than 36,500 lawn mowers and tractors that members purchased between 2013 and 2023.
So the DeWalt vac might not clean as fast, but with that kind of run time, there’s no need to rush. The hose stretches out to about 5 feet—2 feet less than the hose included with either of the Ridgid picks. But because the vac is so easy to maneuver, the shorter hose isn’t a distraction.
The DeWalt is really a tool meant for small messes, like drywall dust, sawdust, and wood shavings. In our other test, the DeWalt vac sucked out 2 gallons of water in 11 seconds—more than twice as long as it took the next weakest vacuum (the cordless Greenworks vac). That lines up with hyper tough battery the DeWalt vac’s given CFM number—indicating suction—of 31, which is half that of the Greenworks vac. This isn’t an extremely high-powered tool, but it really is convenient to use. This wet/dry vac (aka “shop vac”1) has a large capacity and a powerful motor for sucking up debris.