Bosch Cordless Pruner UniversalChainPole 18 (battery 2.5 Ah, 18 Volt System, in carton packaging)

Quality is in my opinion very good. It cuts very sell and does not suffer from lack of power. Speed of the job is lovely. One word, I’m not small and this feels quite heavy. Worth it.

I'm not the strongest 67-year-old but I am capable DIY-wise. I sent the equivalent Bosch hedge trimmer back last year owing to its unwieldiness and weight in the hand and went for one without the pole. That has proven to be a cordless hedge trimmer par excellence and well deserves its 5* status. I ordered this cordless pole-saw in trepidation, therefore. I needn't have worried. You can trust this and the very many five-star reviews if you are in doubt, but here is my experience so far: - it isn't light and can be tiring to use, holding maybe the equivalent of a bag and a half of sugar on the end of a 2-metere pole. The shoulder strap helps, for sure, but it isn't a lightweight machine. Leaning the pole on another branch helps the most, I am finding. The instructions say not to use it while standing on a ladder or in the tree itself. This does limit the reach, of course. - It struggles to "catch" on very flexible branches that move with the weight of the saw and just bounce as a result. Such branches will, however, be thin enough to succumb to a good lopper such as the incomparably good Fiskars PowerGear X. The lesson is to keep the chain saw for branches that really need the chain saw, i.e. think and rigid ones! - You must buy a litre of Bosch chain saw oil as the amount given with he saw is a tiny bottle. Overall, though, my trust in Bosch as a solid company has only grown with this purchase. We now have their excellent Series 8 cordless vacuum, their wonderful AHS 50-20 LI hedge trimmer all running off the same pair of batteries (and to add: the fantasiuc Rotax cordless mower, still going strong after many years of use).

not supplied with the charger in the images, instead I’ve received the very basic and slow charger that Bosch produces, which is disappointing. Luckily I have a few batteries already, and a couple of Husqvarna ones which are identical to Bosch, and the fast charger, but if you’ve only got what’s supplied with this you’re going to find yourself taking a few days to do a job you thought you were going to do in one. It is good value at the discounted price, and it’s quite a good bit of kit, but you’ll need another battery at least.

Superb, I was able to cut high branches on a tree no problem and saved myself hundreds of pounds as I didn't need to get a tree surgeon to do the job.

Bought the ‘naked’ pole, as bought the charger and batteries with another tool. Came with chain already assembled on bar, 60 ml oil enough for first use, easy to put together. The strap is probably unnecessary - given the way I’m holding and using it. Maybe good for carrying to the job. Easy to extend and retract, and multiple ways to set the angle of the saw makes every situation easier. Still getting used to the stop at the end of the bar - that really didn’t need to be there, and I may, like another reviewer has done, drill that out. But - spent the afternoon removing dead and overhanging branches from 1-7 inches diameter with ease. Able to undercut the big limbs before cutting down. This is something I will use a lot, excellent bit of kit!

Solid, well-made piece of kit. Early days yet but seems built to last. Convenient battery interchangeable with other Bosch tools.

Clip for shoulder strap broke first time I used it but Bosch don't want to know. They referred me to Amazon. Was a pain registering warranty online, Bosch don't make it easy. Serial numbers hard to find, not on the tool as illustrated, they were stuck to the inside of the box, luckily I still had the box. The tool is top heavy, poor balance makes it tiring to use. A petrol pruner would be better balanced. It works though and made short work of three branches before the clip failed. I used the 'call me' option to speak to Amazon but it failed and I had to phone them, it turned out they are in Dublin and I'm not in the EU, so I won't be doing that again. They told me to buy a new strap from Bosch then claim the cost back from Amazon. The Bosch website was not clear and I had to ask them for a part number. I got the new strap in the post, then contacted Amazon for a refund, the first time I selected 'call me' it failed. Having been here before I persevered until it worked and someone called me. I was on the phone for just over 17 minutes. I wanted to know how to upload the Bosch receipt for the strap to Amazon to claim my refund. Eventually I was told I would get a refund (slightly more than I paid for the strap, so I guess that covers my mobile call to Dublin) but it was quicker to take an Amazon gift card than to wait for it to go back on to my credit card. They didn't want the receipt. It would have been quicker and easier, although less environmentally-friendly, to have sent the thing back and got a replacement. I also attempted to claim the free Bosch additional battery online. I had to jump through hoops, the website was a pain. I eventually received a reference number in acknowledgement, but I guess they must be mining the materials and building them to order as I have not received any battery yet. The item has a three-year warranty, but if dealing with them is this difficult I really hope I don't need it. If there is a next time I will buy a Stihl petrol pole pruner, as the Stihl tools I already have are robust, reliable and long-lasting.

I am still getting to grips with this, but a few initial observations. The pole is heavier than I expected so won’t be used for long periods at a time. Also, it doesn’t extend particularly far. But no surprise really as these details are included in the specs. However it performs well, and I’ve had success with cutting various thickness of tree branch. You need to regularly check the oil reservoir, it seems to use a lot of oil. Also I found I need to carefully prise out debris from the cutting head, which otherwise gets clogged. Although the head can be rotated in one plane this doesn’t seem very useful for the chainsaw head, but I’m assuming it will come into its own with a hedge cutter head which I have yet to buy. The charging mechanism works well and it holds its charge long enough for most tasks (bearing in mind the weight).