Best Chainsaw
Electric chainsaws
Best Corded Electric Chainsaws UK
A corded electric chainsaw plugs into a standard UK socket. It only cuts where an extension lead can reach. It is a light-duty tool, useful up to about 20 to 25cm of trunk or branch diameter. Past that diameter it becomes a poor choice. A corded electric chainsaw is not a cordless battery chainsaw. This guide covers mains-only, plug-in saws only.
Guide reviewed for accuracy: 10 July 2026
Corded, not cordless
Corded means the saw has a mains cable and plugs into a 13A socket. Nothing more, nothing less. Cordless means the saw runs on a rechargeable battery pack with no cable. The two terms get used loosely online. UK search results often conflate them. Corded and cordless are different tools with different tradeoffs: see our cordless chainsaws guide for the battery side.
Who a corded electric chainsaw actually suits
A corded electric saw suits a small to medium garden. Typical jobs include pruning, cutting back overgrown branches, trimming a hedge line back to wood, and tidying a small tree. It suits work kept within reach of the house or a shed socket. It suits occasional use rather than daily work. Pick it up a handful of times a year, run it for twenty minutes, and put it away.
A corded saw skips the petrol maintenance hassle entirely: no fuel to mix, no two-stroke oil to buy, no pull-start, and no carburettor to gum up over an unused winter. It produces no exhaust fumes or smell while you work. Maintenance is mostly keeping the chain sharp and topped up with bar oil. A corded saw also runs quieter than a petrol saw and does not need revving between cuts, which suits gardens with close neighbours. UK law sets no single nationwide chainsaw curfew. Most councils' noise nuisance guidance still points toward reasonable daytime hours: not before around 8am, not much past early evening, and a lighter touch on Sundays. A corded electric saw is the easiest power type to keep inside those norms.
A corded saw also suits a beginner. A beginner has less to go wrong mechanically and no engine to learn to start or maintain. A corded saw does not suit anyone who works more than an extension lead's length from a socket. It does not suit daily cutting or firewood-sized rounds.
What a corded electric chainsaw can and can't cut
A corded electric saw cuts comfortably up to about 20 to 25cm of trunk or branch diameter. That range covers most domestic pruning and hedge and shrub clearance jobs. The smaller, lighter motor is a genuine advantage inside that range: less weight to hold at awkward angles, less kickback force if something goes wrong, and no engine vibration to fight.
A corded saw's motor bogs down past that diameter or under repeated cutting. The chain slows and the cut takes far longer than it should. Slow cutting hurts control, not just patience. A corded saw is also the wrong tool for anything away from a socket, by design. Felling, processing logs at the far end of the garden, and a full day of firewood work all point to a different power type. Our chainsaws for firewood guide covers the firewood case directly.
Real UK prices for corded electric chainsaws
Budget-to-mid corded electric chainsaws typically run about £40 to £90 in the UK. That range covers everything from basic own-brand saws to recognised DIY brands with a longer bar and a tool-less chain tensioner. This is a typical band, not a live scraped price. Retail prices move daily. The only reliable number is whatever the retailer shows today. Every model below links out to a live price instead of a number we typed in.
Three corded electric models worth knowing
These three models are widely available in the UK. We discuss them generically from published specifications and UK owner and forum feedback, not from our own hands-on testing (see "How we choose" below). Use them as a starting point for what budget and mid-range corded actually look like. Check current stock and price before buying.
Bosch UniversalChain 35
Bosch
The UniversalChain 35 is Bosch's current 1800W corded saw, the direct successor to the older AKE 35 (which is now discontinued), with a 35cm bar. Bosch is the brand most likely to be in stock at a local shop if a chain or bar needs replacing. The SDS tool-less tensioner and auto chain oiling matter more day to day than the spec sheet suggests. It is stocked across several UK retailers, so it is the easiest of the three to compare on price.
Pros
- + Widely stocked so parts and chains are easy to replace
- + SDS tool-less chain tensioning and auto chain oiling
- + Recognisable brand with a proper UK service network
Cons
- − Heavier in the hand than the cheapest budget saws
- − Still a light-duty saw, same 20 to 25cm practical limit as any corded model
Einhell corded (GC-EC series)
Einhell
Einhell's corded GC-EC range sits between the Screwfix budget option and Bosch on both price and reputation. It is a sensible pick for a proper mid-range saw without the Bosch premium, provided you're comfortable ordering a replacement chain online rather than picking one up at a local shop. Check the exact model number and bar length on the listing before buying, since Einhell revises the range regularly.
Pros
- + Usually undercuts Bosch for a similar spec
- + Decent build quality for the price point
Cons
- − Fewer stockists than Bosch, so replacement chains can mean ordering online
- − Owner feedback is more mixed than the two more established brands either side of it
Screwfix Titan TTL585CHN
Titan (Screwfix own-brand)
Titan is Screwfix's own budget tool brand, sold only through Screwfix (not Amazon or other retailers). The TTL585CHN corded saw has picked up a genuinely good reputation in UK trade and DIY forum threads, one of those unglamorous own-brand tools that just keeps working for light use. That makes it a fair way to spend under £50 on a first saw, as long as you don't expect it to do a petrol saw's job.
Pros
- + The cheapest of the three, often by some margin
- + Genuine reputation on UK trade and DIY forums as a surprisingly tough, no-frills saw for occasional work
- + Screwfix's click-and-collect network makes replacement parts easy to get hold of
Cons
- − Basic spec next to Bosch or Einhell, no premium features
- − Only sold through Screwfix, so no shopping around for price
- − Not intended for daily or heavy use
More on the Bosch UniversalChain 35
The UniversalChain 35 replaced the older AKE 35 in Bosch's UK lineup. It keeps the 35cm bar and 1800W motor, well inside the 20 to 25cm practical limit for corded saws generally, and adds SDS tool-less chain tensioning. Bosch is stocked broadly across UK retailers, which makes it the easiest of the three to compare on price in one place:
| Retailer | Price | What you get | Buy link |
|---|---|---|---|
| B&Q | £129 | Corded, 1800W, 35cm bar | View product → |
| Amazon UK | Check price | Live price on Amazon | View on Amazon → |
Also listed at Currys and Robert Dyas; we link the two we could price-check and let Amazon show its live price.
Indicative prices from the dates shown, not a live feed. Stock and prices change often, so we deep-link each listing and let the retailer show the current price. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.
More on the Einhell corded range
Einhell's corded GC-EC chainsaws target the same job as the Bosch UniversalChain range: garden pruning and light clearance, at a lower price. The tradeoff is availability. A Bosch chain or bar is a common stock item at a UK hardware shop. An Einhell replacement part more often means ordering online and waiting a few days. Factor that in before relying on the saw for anything time-sensitive.
More on the Screwfix Titan TTL585CHN
The Titan TTL585CHN is Screwfix's entry corded chainsaw. It does not compete on features. It competes on price. UK forum and owner sentiment repeatedly rates it reliable for what it is. That reputation covers light, occasional garden use specifically. It does not cover daily running or pushing the saw toward the upper end of what a corded saw can handle. Check that the chain brake is present and working before first use. That check applies to every saw on this page, regardless of price.
Safety: EN381 PPE still applies
A corded electric chainsaw's lighter chain and lower torque generally mean lower kickback risk than a petrol saw of similar bar length. Lower risk is not the same as safe risk. Kickback remains the main way chainsaw injuries happen, regardless of power source. EN381 rated PPE stays compulsory whatever powers the saw: cut-resistant gloves, cut-resistant leg protection (chaps or trousers), eye and ear protection, and a helmet with a visor for overhead work. A working chain brake matters as much on a budget corded saw as it does on a full-price petrol one.
Always wear EN381 rated PPE: chain-brake, gloves, leg protection, eye and ear protection.
Our chainsaw safety guide covers full PPE tiers, kickback mechanics, and safe technique in detail. Read it before you make a first cut with any saw, corded or otherwise.
Where to go next
- Not sure corded is right for you? Compare it properly against battery power in our cordless chainsaws guide.
- Working to a tighter budget across any power type? See cheap chainsaws that are still safe to use.
- Want a straight answer on bar length, power type and PPE for your actual job? Run it through the free Fit Check tool on the homepage.
- Before you cut anything: read chainsaw safety: PPE, kickback and technique.
How we choose
We do not run a test lab and we do not stage saws cutting logs for a camera. Best Chainsaw is research led: recommendations are built from published manufacturer specifications, verified owner and community reviews (Arbtalk, forums, Amazon UK and retailer reviews), UK retail pricing, and HSE/EN381 safety standards, cross-checked so the numbers on this page match the numbers on the box. Where a figure is the maker's claim rather than an independently measured result, we say so.
Rankings weigh bar length and power for the task, safety features, build and value at UK prices. We update picks when models are discontinued or superseded. We earn affiliate commission on some links, but it never decides the order of a list. More on our method.