EGO String Trimmer 56V

EGO Power Plus 56V Cordless String Trimmer ST1201 Review

EGO String Trimmer ST1201

For years we’ve been waiting for a battery powered string trimmer that had the power of even a mid-level gas trimmer. If they can make a cordless 1” rotary hammer that can breakup concrete why can’t someone put a little gusto on a cordless string trimmer. Well the wait is over, a company whom we’ve just become familiar with, EGO Power Plus has launched the first ever 56V cordless outdoor power tools. Check out our short video below to see this trimmer take out a thick patch of vegetation in under a minute.

The EGO Power Plus team really channeled their inner Tim Taylor here and went for more power. They are in fact claiming 40% more power than their closest 40V competition which seems very possible from our testing. So far we’ve charged the battery only once and actually used it now 3 times (in addition to the video) for roughly 10-15 minute sessions of normal yard work. Their website claims up to a 45 minute runtime which we thought might have been for the 4.0Ah battery BA2240 (comes with a 2.0Ah battery BA1120) but it looks like this runtime stat is in fact for the included 2.0Ah battery.

56V cordless battery

This EGO line of products looks to be exclusively sold through Home Depot (can’t miss the display right when you walk-in) and the EGO Power Plus website is linked directly to HomeDepot.com for tool and accessory sales. This unit with battery & charger is $199 which is a little high for a trimmer but for trimmer alone (no battery & charger) the price is only $99 which is very reasonable. From our use even if you had multiple tools in the line up you wouldn’t need more than 1 or 2 batteries.

56V string trimmer

In use we really like the feel of this very long reach trimmer, as a tall guy this is still comfortable to use which other trimmers don’t give you nearly the length. It is also very well balanced unit putting the battery weight behind the handle, by your elbow. The front handle grip you attached along the shaft wherever feels right to you. The trimmer has a large 12” cutting path with a powerful 6000 RPM duel string (2mm line) head. A bump cap can be tapped against the ground to add additional line length quickly while working.

EGO String Trimmer 56V

For years we’ve seen outdoor power equipment try to come up with battery solutions to replace gas tools but they have always seemed either way under powered or exorbitantly priced. Our thought is we may have finally hit the turning point where cordless power will become exponentially more common for home owners. This EGO string trimmer for us is now the standard we would measure any other cordless (or gas) trimmer against. It’s really not hard to imagine a few years down the road kids thinking how odd it is that a neighbor would be using a gas trimmer or even a gas push mower for that matter. See the official EGO video below.

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