This EGO Self-Winding String Trimmer Might Not Be On Your Radar, But It Should Be

One of the most essential yard tools beyond a mower is a string trimmer. Without one, there would be countless areas of your property with unsightly, unkempt grass the lawn mower was unable to reach. However, as anyone who's ever used a string trimmer can attest, it can be an awful pain trying to reload a fresh spool of line once you run out. 

Enter the EGO string trimmer with POWERLOAD technology, which isn't the only example of EGO tools any homeowner would find useful. When adding fresh line, other brands require you to remove pieces, or awkwardly press down on the spool and twist to get the line in place. Instead, this EGO model only asks that you pull the string through the trimmer head until both ends sticking out are about equal, then push the POWERLOAD button and the string winds itself. Of course, this isn't the only bit of convenient technology incorporated into this EGO yard tool.

Utilizing a 56-volt, 4.0-ampere-hour lithium battery, this 16-inch trimmer offers up to an hour of use per charge. However, while working, depending on the task's difficulty (grass thickness or length), you may lose some of the line and need to spool out more. Otherwise, your cutting swath will vary, making the job more cumbersome. With the Line IQ technology, this trimmer keeps track of how much line is deployed for cutting, keeping the swath at 16 inches by letting out the appropriate amount of line as needed.

This is in sharp contrast to trimmer models that require you to monitor the line length yourself and gently bump the spool head on the ground to release more. The problem is that you have to stop working to check the line, and in some cases, especially when powering through the cut, you can have one side of the line break and disappear within the spool head. This can happen when a sizable portion of line is cut off all at once, or you don't realize the line is getting too short. Once the line is no longer sticking outside the spool, you'll need to once again take it apart and refeed the line through.

The Power Plus 16-inch POWERLOAD string trimmer from EGO offers several advantages, including not having to deal with gasoline and oil and eliminating the need for a cable-pull to start, all facets which made it one of the new EGO tools to consider in 2025, but they're only made for smaller areas. With a runtime of around 60 minutes, you would be able to handle a yard between 1/2 and 1 acre (unless you have additional batteries on standby). For comparison, a Craftsman 30-cc 4-cycle gas trimmer could easily handle 1 to 2 acres and quickly be refueled for more work.

In addition, while its 56-Volt battery would be sufficient for most situations, gas trimmers are typically more powerful. With more potent cutting power, you can work through concentrated brush that might strain a battery trimmer. Also, bear in mind that the harder a battery-powered tool has to labor, the quicker its charge depletes. Essentially, the EGO trimmer is a great option for relatively flat, small-to-medium size properties with few obstacles to navigate around. However, if your landscaping includes rocks or varying terrain, is greater than an acre or full of thick brush, it might be better to go with a gas model.