Which String Trimmers Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 10 string trimmers options head to head. Milwaukee came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Milwaukee
Price shown in test: $400, trimmer only, no battery or charger
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DeWalt
Price shown in test: $449, trimmer only, no battery or charger
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“DeWalt easily won the showdown 3 years ago, but the Milwaukee definitely won the showdown this time. This is by far the best string trimmer I've ever tested.”
Placed top three in 2 of 9 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Cutting speed, 8 by 24 ft grass area
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer1 minute 3 seconds
fastest of all trimmers including the gas Stihl
- 2DeWalt DCST 98069 seconds2nd
close second place to the Milwaukee, only 6 seconds slower
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer80 seconds3rd
third fastest behind Milwaukee and DeWalt
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer2 minutes 13 seconds
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer2 minutes 19 seconds
6 seconds slower than the Worx
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer1 minute 57 seconds
barely edged out the Kobalt by 2 seconds
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer1 minute 59 seconds
14 seconds faster than the Worx
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer2 minutes 40 seconds
slowest of all trimmers tested
- 9Makita1 minute 46 seconds
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powered1 minute 27 seconds4th
finished in fourth place behind the Ego
Weight
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer
front just over 6 lb, total 16.41 lb, heaviest of all trimmers tested
- 2DeWalt DCST 980
front 4.55 lb, total around 15.5 lb
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer
front 4.46 lb, rear 9.46 lb, total almost 14 lb
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer
front 4.28 lb, total 9.31 lb, lightest of all trimmers tested
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer
front 4.86 lb, total 10.79 lb, third lightest of all trimmers tested
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer
front 3.63 lb, lightest front weight of all trimmers tested, total just over 11 lb
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer
front 4.26 lb, total just over 11 lb
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer
front 4.625 lb, rear 5.19 lb, total 9.81 lb, second lightest of all trimmers tested
- 9Makitaunder4 lb
at the head, total 13.61 lb, about 3 lb lighter than the Milwaukee
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Noise at 20 inches
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer99.1 decibels
loudest of all trimmers tested
- 2DeWalt DCST 98092.4 decibels
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer88.6 decibels
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer74 decibels
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer78.2 decibels
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer96.3 decibels
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer76.5 decibels
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer78.3 decibels
- 9Makita93.2 decibels
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
No load maximum RPM
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer6,190 RPM
fastest constant no load RPM of all trimmers, claims up to 6,200
- 2DeWalt DCST 980close to5,100 RPM
about 700 RPM less than most other brands, described as surprisingly low
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmerjust under6,000 RPM
third highest of all trimmers tested
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmeraround5,861
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmeraround6,029
second highest of all trimmers tested
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmeraround5,846
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmeraround5,876
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer
boost mode surges over 6,600 RPM then settles to around 5,800
- 9Makitajust over5,800
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Trigger response time to full RPM
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer0.2 seconds
fastest of all trimmers tested
- 2DeWalt DCST 9800.5 seconds2nd
second fastest of all trimmers tested behind only the Milwaukee
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer0.8 seconds3rd
third fastest of all trimmers tested
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer2.5 seconds
described as a really slow start
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer1.9 seconds
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer1.3 seconds
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer1.5 seconds
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer1.5 seconds
- 9Makitaclose to1 second
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Trimmer line capacity
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer30 ft
tied with DeWalt for most capacity of all trimmers tested
- 2DeWalt DCST 98030 ft
tied with Milwaukee for most capacity of all trimmers tested
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer23.5 ft
using the power load feature, third most capacity of all trimmers tested
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer12 ft
lowest capacity of all trimmers tested
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer16 ft
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer15.5 ft
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer20 ft
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmerclose to20 ft
wound in the opposite direction compared to the other brands
- 9Makitaaround17 ft
narrowest debris shield in the lineup at only 7 inches, offering the least protection of all trimmers tested
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Dispensing shortened trimmer line
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer
one of only 3 trimmers able to dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, on the third tap
- 2DeWalt DCST 980
one of only 3 trimmers able to dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, though it took 10 taps plus stopping and restarting the trimmer before it began dispensing
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, dispensed 2 inch line after 2 bumps
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, dispensed 2 inch line after 8 bumps
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch after more than a dozen attempts, dispensed 2 inch line after 9 bumps
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, dispensed 2 inch line on the second bump
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, dispensed 2 inch line on the first bump
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer
one of only 3 trimmers able to dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, best result of the first six brands tested at that point, on the third bump
- 9Makita
could not dispense line shortened to 3/4 inch, dispensed 2 inch line on the first attempt
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Vibration, no line installed
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmerabout12
to 13 mm per second
- 2DeWalt DCST 980around33
to 34 mm per second, vibrated the most of all trimmers tested
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmeraround10 mm
per second, third smoothest of all trimmers tested
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmeraround9
to 10 mm per second, second smoothest of all trimmers tested
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer6
to 7 mm per second, smoothest of all trimmers tested
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmeraround40 mm
per second, vibrated quite a bit
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmeraround12
to 13 mm per second
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmeraround15
to 16 mm per second
- 9Makitaaround25 mm
per second, vibrated quite a bit
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
All measurements (2 more)+
Total run time on a full charge
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer
initial test showed uneven drain between its two batteries at around 12 minutes, repeated with both batteries fully charged and ran just over 21 minutes
- 2DeWalt DCST 980close to20 minutes
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmeraround23.5 minutes
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmerjust over29 minutes
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmerjust over26 minutes
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmeraround22 minutes
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmerclose to25 minutes
on its 2.5 amp hour battery
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmeraround35.5 minutes
longest of all trimmers tested
- 9Makitajust under10 minutes
shortest run time of all trimmers tested
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
Battery recharge time
- 1Milwaukee 17 inch dual battery straight shaft trimmer1 hour 10 minutes
using the Milwaukee fast charger, purchased separately since none is included with the trimmer
- 2DeWalt DCST 9802 hours 18 minutes
using a slow charger, since none was included with the trimmer
- 3EGO 56V 16 inch trimmer47 minutes
fastest of all trimmers tested, includes a quick charger in the kit
- 4Worx 40V 15 inch string trimmer4 hours 15 minutes
slowest of all trimmers tested
- 5Cat 60V 15 inch brushless string trimmer50 minutes
- 6Ryobi 40V string trimmer1 hour 5 minutes
- 7Kobalt 80V string trimmer1 hour 17 minutes
though the manufacturer claims its 2 amp hour battery can be fully charged in 1 hour
- 8Husqvarna 40V 16 inch straight shaft trimmer2 hours 35 minutes
- 9Makita49 minutes
using a third party quick charger, since none was included
- 10Stihl FS 90 R, gasoline powerednot tested
How it was tested
- decibel noise measurement at 20 inches
- no load maximum RPM measurement
- trigger response time to reach full RPM
- trimmer line capacity when fully loaded
- ability to dispense trimmer line shortened to 3/4 inch and 2 inches
- cutting speed test on an 8 by 24 foot grass area, including a gas trimmer baseline
- vibration measurement with no trimmer line installed
- total run time on a full battery charge
- battery recharge time
“DeWalt easily won the showdown 3 years ago, but the Milwaukee definitely won the showdown this time. This is by far the best string trimmer I've ever tested.”
