There are plenty of cheap wiper blades out there - but are they really good value? Or is that going to result in a world of squeaking and smearing, that’ll leave you wishing you’d gone for the expensive wipers?
To find out, we’ve tested the most popular brands of wiper blade for how easy they are to fit to our E46 BMW 3 Series test car, and for how well the wipers work at higher speeds, because nobody wants your wipers whistling on the motorway.
Winning product and best buy:
Bosch Aerotwin
Buy from: Amazon
Available individually? No
Bosch is a default brand for plenty of motorists looking for car parts, and wipers are no exception. Thankfully, the Aerotwin blades live up to the brand’s reputation for quality.
They lock onto the wiper arms really easily - it took moments to lock them onto our 3 Series, and the plastics are durable enough to withstand a bit of fumbling if you do struggle to fix them to the wiper arms.
The blades offer even pressure across the windscreen all the way to their tips, they wipe cleanly and are really effective at high speeds.
They’re nothing special to look at, but if you just want straightforward windscreen wipers that are good quality, don’t squeak or smear, are a doddle to fit and come in a huge variety to suit many cars old- and new, the Bosch blades deserve to remain the ‘go-to’ option. Surprisingly, they’re some of the cheapest blades in this test, too, so they get the nod for best budget buy as well the overall win.
5 stars
Runner up:
Halfords flat blade
Available individually? Yes
These are sold individually, so you can replace one blade at a time if you wish, but the price shown here is for a pair so they’re affordable even if you need both. Halfords also offers a fitting service for £5, which is peace of mind for anyone worried about fitting their own wipers.
Mind you, the wipers simply clicked onto our 2001 BMW’s wiper arms in one move. No hassle at all, and they keep your windscreen clear without screeching or smearing. They have a great range of blades to fit all sorts of cars, too.
4 stars
Valeo Silencio
Available individually? No
If you want the classic metal arms on your windscreen wipers, rather than the single rubber blade that’s more common today, these are a great option. They’re awkward to fit compared with the Halford and Bosch wipers, but the instructions are fairly clear and we still got them on within a few minutes.
The blade also stays in contact all the way along to the very tips of the blades, and they give a clean wipe of the windscreen. They also didn’t whistle or wobble at higher speeds. They’re great ‘old fashioned’ wipers, if a bit pricey.
4 stars
Halfords essentials Standard Wiper Blades
Available individually? No
You might want to take Halfords up on its in-store fitting service if you want these traditional metal-armed wipers, as they’re not so easy to attach, and don’t come with instructions, either. These took us longer to fit than almost any other, but once they were on they did a perfectly good job of keeping the windscreen clear.
The far tip of the passenger side wiper didn’t quite touch the windscreen at all times, and it’s a shame that they’re not cheaper.
3 stars
Vipa wiper blades
Available individually? No
Fitting is no problem with these Vipa blades, as they simply slide on to the wiper arm and lock-on with a clip-down plastic body - just the same as with the Bosch wipers. But the plastics around the hinge for the lock are quite fragile and easy to damage, so be very careful not to force anything when you’re fitting them.
Still, it is a straightforward job to get them attached, and there’s a useful video tutorial on how to fit them if you do get a bit stuck. They cleaned the windscreen effectively and quietly, and dealt easily with heavy rain at motorway speeds.
For the price and easy fitting, these aren’t a bad choice - just be careful not to break any of the flimsy plastics when fitting.
3 stars
Wipewave wiper blades
Available individually? No
These are a good price and are easy to fit, but the passenger side blade didn’t quite touch the windscreen at the extreme tip, and there was also an odd springing noise from the driver’s side blade where the rubber was catching slightly on the wet glass.
They did clear the windscreen just fine, but between some fairly cheap-feeling plastics, and blades that weren’t quite as smooth a wipe as you might want, there are better options here for very little more cash.
3 stars
Hella
Available individually? Yes
These wipers come with a host of different adaptors to make them fit a wide variety of cars, and left- or right hand drive cars, and with some obscure instructions to follow they’re not that easy to fit.
We were also initially sent the wrong size of blade, but this was an issue with Amazon’s systems (you can put your vehicle details in to see which blades will fit) being incorrect. Don’t always trust Amazon when it says the blade will fit, is the lesson here…
When you’ve got them fitted, they do a decent job and aren’t noisy or smeary, but they’re pricier and trickier to fit than many others here, and are no more effective.
2 stars
