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Lotus grill vs a portable barbecue

Updated: 16.10.2026

You have a £15 folding tray in one tab and a LotusGrill from £129.00 in the other, and both say portable charcoal. They are not two sizes of one pan. A Lotus grill vs portable barbecue choice is a fan and a closed canister against a lidless tray that folds flat. LotusGrill listings here run from £129.00 to £250.00. The trays live in the other comparison, at £8.99 to £34.99. The Lotus rows are on the [Lotus grill comparison](/hub/portable-grills/lotus-grill). We did not cook on both. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a £15 folding tray in one tab and a LotusGrill from £129.00 in the other, and both say portable charcoal. They are not two sizes of one pan.

Our top picks

LotusGrill LotusGrill Classic red set

Best overall

LotusGrill LotusGrill Classic red set
8.8/10about £172.00
View offer
LotusGrill LotusGrill S deep blue

Preis-Tipp

LotusGrill LotusGrill S deep blue
7.9/10about £129.00
View offer
LotusGrill LotusGrill XL anthracite

Alternative

LotusGrill LotusGrill XL anthracite
6.8/10about £230.01
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Same fuel, different machine
  2. 2.What the extra pounds buy
  3. 3.What you give up
  4. 4.When the tray is the better buy

Same fuel, different machine

Both burn charcoal, and both are carried. A LotusGrill here is a round tabletop with a canister and a battery or USB fan, from 3 kg on the S to 6.5 kg on the XL. A tray in the other folder is a folding pan, about 0.4 kg to 2.81 kg, with no fan. Deep-blue S names a fan. The anthracite XL puts a bellows in the bullets. A larger tray does not become a LotusGrill. If you already want the fan, the listings disagree on the buying guide.

What the extra pounds buy

You pay for a closed canister, a fan on the maker’s pages, a bag on most included lines, and a double wall the bullets say stays cooler. The red Classic set at £172.00 is the top pick for about four people: the fan is named, the area is 804.25 cm², and the bullet includes fuel. The deep-blue S at £129.00 is the best value for two or three, with a bag and four Mignon batteries in the included line.
LotusGrill LotusGrill Classic red set

Testsieger

LotusGrill LotusGrill Classic red set
8.8/10about £172.00
View offer

What you give up

An S is 3 kg before charcoal, a Classic is 3.7 kg and an XL is 6.5 kg. The tray band runs about 0.4 kg to 2.81 kg. You also take on batteries or USB, gel, and beech chips. Briquettes are not the maker’s recommendation. The fan can fail. On the anthracite XL, United Kingdom reviews include a fan that stopped after about a year, a grate weld, and a cup that holed or rusted. A dead fan is a seller issue under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and it is a part the tray does not have. If 3 kg plus charcoal is already too much to carry, see when a portable barbecue is too heavy.

When the tray is the better buy

Buy the tray when you want the lowest price, a fold-flat shape and no electrical part. Those trays, £8.99 to £34.99, are on the portable grill comparison. Buy the LotusGrill when you want charcoal on a garden table, you will carry at least 3 kg, and you will buy the fuel a grill-only listing leaves out. Both are outdoor only. A balcony is still no for either. Take the LotusGrill for the canister and the fan. Take the tray when you want a pan and nothing else to go wrong.

Common questions

Is a Lotus grill just an expensive folding barbecue?
No. The trays in the other comparison are lidless pans from £8.99 to £34.99, about 0.4 kg to 2.81 kg, with no fan. A LotusGrill here is a canister grill from £129.00 to £250.00, at 3 kg, 3.7 kg or 6.5 kg. Some listings name the fan and some do not. You pay for the canister, the fan and, on many lines, a bag. You do not pay for a thicker copy of the same tray.
What do you get for the extra money?
A closed canister, a fan where the listing names one, and often a bag. United Kingdom reviews cite about 10 minutes on the S, a few minutes on the Classic and about five on the XL. Ideal Home found a hotter centre on a grill they reviewed, not these ASINs. Grill-only listings still leave you to buy gel and chips. The red bullet includes 1 kg. Grey G-AN-34 lists no bag.
What does the cheap tray still do better?
It folds flat, it costs £8.99 to £34.99, and it has no fan, batteries or gel. The heaviest tray in that band is about 2.81 kg, under the S at 3 kg before fuel. Nothing electrical stops in the second summer. It still needs outdoor charcoal rules, and it has its own faults on the portable-grill pages. It is the better buy when the budget and the pack are the point.
Which is lighter to carry?
The tray. That band runs about 0.4 kg to 2.81 kg. The S listings are 3 kg, the Classic 3.7 kg and the XL 6.5 kg, before charcoal and gel. A bag on the tangerine or deep-blue S makes 3 kg easier to hold. It does not undercut a folded tray. The XL is a car boot, which United Kingdom reviews use for camping, not a daypack.
Which one has parts that fail?
The LotusGrill adds parts a tray does not have. United Kingdom reviews of the anthracite XL include a fan that stopped after about a year, a grate weld after two uses, a side clip, and a cup that holed or rusted. The UK shop calls that cup a consumable. These files state no warranty. Tray faults are mesh and edges, written up on the portable-grill comparison. A dead fan is a seller issue under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Do both need the same charcoal rules?
Both are outdoor charcoal, so the England leaflet of 25 May 2022 applies: no petrol or paraffin, no tent, awning or caravan, cool it before you move it, ash on bare soil. The “about 5 cm” bed is for an open tray. A LotusGrill uses the maker’s canister limits: at most 120 g on the S page, up to 250 g on the Classic, about 400 g on the XL. The maker prefers beech chips. A balcony stays off the list for both.

Related pages

Best Lotus grill

Lotus grill

Lotus grill balcony: a low-smoke claim is not a yes

Lotus grill buying guide: codes, fuel and star lines

How to use a Lotus grill: light the canister safely

Sources

Public UK sources and the maker’s size pages. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines staged on 15 October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK — Smoke control areas (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. GOV.UK — Fire safety outdoors (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. Fire England — Fire safety outdoors (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. London Fire Brigade — Barbecues (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. LotusGrill S — weight and canister limit (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. LotusGrill Classic — weight and canister limit (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. LotusGrill UK — shop from-prices (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 16 October 2026)