Christmas trees £100 to £200

What changes above £100

Three things. The tip counts rise, so a 6ft tree here carries 900 to 1,500 tips and hides its trunk. The branch tips are more often moulded PE on the outside, which is what makes a tree look like a fir rather than a bottle brush. And lights become standard: most of the 6ft trees in this band come with warm white LEDs wired in, and the unlit ones are the taller 7ft pines where the money has gone into density instead.

Best buys in the band

For a standard living room, a 6ft pre-lit pine at £129 to £169 with 300 to 500 LEDs is the straightforward choice. For a tall room on a budget, the 7ft Ben Nevis Pine unlit at £229 sits just above the band, but the 7ft Grand River Pine with frosted pinecones at £199 is inside it and is one of the most ordered trees in the shop. For a snowy tree, the 8ft Snow Tipped Grey Fir at £199 is the cheapest 8ft tree and the cheapest cashmere-tipped one.

Lit frames

The 6ft Twinkling White Microdot Tree with 1,300 LEDs at £129 and the 7ft with 1,700 at £159 are the brightest objects in this band. They are lit frames rather than foliage trees, rated for outdoors, and most often bought for a porch or a hall or as a second tree beside a green one in a big room.

Comparing with the next band

Above £200 the trees are the luxury real-feel firs and spruces with 600 to 800 LEDs and tip counts past 2,000. If the tree is going in a large room and will be kept ten years, the £200 and over band is where the fullest trees are; for most rooms, this band is the sweet spot.