The Best Cordless String Trimmers of 2026: Tested and Ranked by Yard Size

The EGO POWERLOAD plus LINE IQ is the cordless string trimmer that finally solves the line-feed problem. POWERLOAD lets you reload the spool by feeding line into the head and pressing a button: the motor winds the spool automatically in roughly 8 seconds. LINE IQ, the second-generation feature, automatically feeds line as the line wears down during cutting. Combined, you stop having to manually bump or rewind line; the trimmer handles both.

The telescopic carbon fiber straight shaft is meaningfully lighter than the aluminum shafts on the EGO mid-tier picks, and it adjusts length for users between 5'4" and 6'4" without binding or wobble. The 16-inch cutting swath plus 0.095-inch line gauge handles thick fescue, ryegrass, and even light brush around fence lines. Variable speed trigger lets you back off for edging delicate borders and ramp up for thick growth. The kit includes a 5.0Ah battery and charger, and the 56V platform crosses to the rest of EGO’s 60+ tool lineup. The honest weakness: at $329 this is a premium pick. If you do not need POWERLOAD and LINE IQ, the EGO POWER+ 15-inch (next pick) saves $65.

The EGO POWER+ 15-inch POWERLOAD Carbon Fiber Split Shaft is the right pick when you want POWERLOAD without the LINE IQ premium. The split-shaft design also enables attachment compatibility (pole saw head, hedge trimmer head, edger head) which the fixed-shaft flagship POWERLOAD does not offer. For homeowners who want to grow their EGO tool collection one attachment at a time instead of buying dedicated tools, the split-shaft is the platform decision.

The 15-inch swath is slightly narrower than the 16-inch flagship, which actually improves precision around delicate beds and fence lines. Without LINE IQ, you bump the spool to advance line, which is the standard string trimmer operation that has worked for 40 years. POWERLOAD’s real benefit is on respool day: instead of taking 4 to 6 minutes to manually wind line by hand, POWERLOAD does it in under 10 seconds. For homeowners who go through 3 to 4 spools per season, that adds up to 15 to 20 minutes saved per season.

The EGO MHC1603 combo is the right pick for a homeowner who wants to replace multiple yard tools with a single platform investment. The kit includes the POWERLOAD trimmer head and the edger attachment plus the power head with battery and charger. The power head accepts every EGO multi-head attachment: pole saw, hedge trimmer, cultivator, brush cutter blade. One battery, one motor, one shaft; swap heads in under 30 seconds.

At $499 the kit is more expensive than buying the trimmer alone, but the math favors the kit if you would otherwise buy a separate edger ($150 to $200) or pole saw ($250+). The multi-head approach is also storage-friendly: one tool plus a few heads occupies the corner of a garage instead of four full tools on hooks. The power head is slightly heavier than the dedicated POWERLOAD flagship, which on long sessions is noticeable. For homeowners with mixed needs (edging, trimming, light pruning, light tilling), this is the most versatile platform.

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL Quik-LOK combo is the pick for homeowners and tradespeople already invested in the M18 platform. The Quik-LOK attachment system is Milwaukee’s answer to EGO split shaft: rotate to detach the head, insert a different head, and you have a different tool. The M18 platform covers over 250 tools and is the deepest professional cordless platform on the market; if you already own M18 drills, saws, or job site tools, the trimmer plus blower combo adds outdoor power without a second battery platform.

The trimmer head is competitive with EGO and Makita on raw cutting power, with the M18 FUEL motor delivering strong torque on thick brush. Line-feed is a standard bump head; Milwaukee does not have a POWERLOAD or LINE IQ equivalent. The 8.0Ah High Output battery delivers roughly 60 minutes of trimming on light load or 30 to 40 minutes on heavy load. For users not already in the M18 platform, the EGO flagship is the better pick because the battery cost is real. For M18 owners, this is the obvious choice.

The Makita XRU15PT1 is the only cordless string trimmer in this guide that targets full-day commercial use. The 36V output comes from two 18V LXT batteries running in series, and the kit ships with four 5.0Ah batteries plus the dual-port charger. Two batteries run the trimmer; two charge on the bench; rotate as needed and you have effectively unlimited runtime for landscaping crew use. The 17-inch cutting swath is the widest in this guide and handles thick fescue and Bermuda at professional pace.

The 18V LXT platform is the deepest Makita platform with over 280 tools, which means Makita drill, saw, impact, and job-site tool owners can leverage the same batteries for outdoor power. The XRU15PT1 is heavier than the EGO and Milwaukee picks (the dual-battery arrangement adds weight), and the price reflects pro-grade intent. For homeowners under 1/2 acre, this is overkill. For landscape crews or homeowners on 1+ acre properties where you mix trimming sessions with chainsaw, drill, and impact work on the same platform, the LXT consolidation is real value.

The Makita XRU23Z is the compact 18V LXT pick for users already invested in the Makita 18V platform. As a tool-only purchase at $189, it leverages batteries you already own (drill, saw, impact) and adds outdoor power without a separate platform buy. The 13-inch cutting swath is narrower than every other pick in this guide, which is the right trade for tight residential lawns where edging precision matters more than swath width.

For a Makita 18V household, this is the easy-on-ramp trimmer pick: low price, no new battery learning curve, fits in any garage corner. Honest caveat: the 18V single-battery setup runs about 25 minutes per 5.0Ah battery on light to moderate use, which is shorter than the EGO 56V picks. For tight 1/4 acre lawns with light trimming load, that runtime is fine. For longer sessions, plan for battery rotation.