Only by the grace of a string trimmer—slicing down the tall grass around the mailbox, front steps, fences, and flower beds—does a property look truly polished. We’ve tested string trimmers on weedy lots and steep hills, and we once flattened 12,598 square feet of an overgrown field. The best of these tools (also known as weed wackers or weed eaters1) is the Ego ST1521S Power+ String Trimmer.
Compared with other brands’ cordless trimmers, the Ego ST1521S Power+ String Trimmer is on a different level. It cut through 1-inch-thick Japanese knotweed like it was grass, while the others pathetically slapped their strings against the thick stalks. Considering all that power, you’d expect this trimmer to be noisy, but it was also the quietest tool we tested, with a hair-dryer-like hum that sounded more pleasant than the whine of its competitors. The Ego ST1521S is just as powerful and affordable as a gas tool, but without the messy fuel, smelly exhaust, or time-consuming maintenance. It was also the most capable cordless trimmer we found, with enough run time to cut a 1-foot-wide strip of grass almost two-thirds of a mile long on a single battery charge. The Ego comes with a push-button line load system, which eliminates the typically tedious process of putting new line on the spool head. There are a variety of systems that do this, but the Ego’s is the easiest we’ve tested. It wasn’t the lightest trimmer we tried, but its excellent balance and handling made it one of the easiest to swing around and maneuver in tight spots. This one replaces our previous pick, the now-discontinued Ego ST1502.
If the Ego ST1521S is not available, we also like the Ego ST1502-SA Power+ String Trimmer. This is the previous generation of Ego string trimmer, and it shares much of what makes the ST1521S such a success: long battery life, excellent power, and ergonomics. The primary difference is that it doesn’t have the easy push-bottom line load system. Instead, the string needs to be hand-wound into the head of the trimmer. It’s a nice system and still easier than those of most other models we’ve used, but it simply isn’t as simple to use as the push-button version.
If you’re looking for a trimmer that can double as an all-purpose lawn tool, we also like the Ryobi RY40270 40V Brushless Expand-It String Trimmer. Though it can’t cut very thick and tall weeds with the ease of the Egos, it still has the strength to slice through dense grass and the run time to handle a large property. Unlike the Egos, however, the Ryobi is also “attachment-ready,” meaning you can remove the trimmer head and replace it with any number of other yard tools, like a pole saw, a brush cutter, or a mini cultivator (each sold separately). The Ryobi typically sells for about $30 less than the Ego ST1521S. But, again, it isn’t as effective on the thick stuff, and it’s also heavier and much louder. The Ryobi uses a hand-crank reel mechanism, like our runner-up Ego, which makes line loading easier than with the older models, but it’s not as good as our main pick’s push-button system.
Feel free to check out our 10 10 best sting trimmers.
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