Greenworks 60V Brushless 16-Inch String Trimmer Review

Why you should trust this review

I bought this Greenworks 60V trimmer myself and ran it for seven months across a half-acre lot. Greenworks did not provide it. I have used the EGO ST1623T it is constantly compared against, so I could put the two side by side on the same grass rather than guessing from spec sheets.

The question buyers actually have is simple: do you give up real performance by choosing the cheaper 60V Greenworks over the EGO that everyone recommends? I tested exactly that, on the same weeds and edges, and I am reporting where the cut is genuinely equal and where the EGO still pulls ahead.

How we evaluated

I trimmed and edged a half-acre lot over a full season, including grass, light woody weeds, and the dense growth along fence lines. I ran the 2.5 Ah battery down in typical use to verify the runtime claim. I mounted the attachment-capable shaft with different heads to confirm the system works as advertised. And I ran it head to head against the EGO ST1623T on the same patches of grass and weeds so the cut-power comparison is direct rather than theoretical, while also living with the bump-feed reload to feel how it stacks up against EGO’s Powerload.

Cut power versus the EGO

This is the comparison everyone wants, and the answer is that on grass and light weeds the Greenworks 60V matches the EGO ST1623T. The 60V brushless motor has the torque to clear a half-acre of lawn growth and three-eighths-inch woody weeds without bogging at full throttle. Walking the same fence line with both tools, I could not tell them apart on cut quality or speed across ordinary lawn work.

The EGO opens a gap only when you push into heavier material, half-inch dense stalks and the like, where the 56V EGO holds throttle a touch better. For typical residential trimming that gap never shows up. The 16-inch cutting width also clears more per pass than smaller trimmers, which speeds up a big lot.

The attachment system advantage

The feature that genuinely separates this from the EGO is the attachment-capable shaft. The same powerhead accepts edger, pole saw, hedge trimmer, brush cutter, and cultivator heads, so one tool and one battery can become a whole yard system. If you want multiple yard jobs handled without buying multiple dedicated tools, this is the single strongest argument for the Greenworks 60V over the fixed-head EGO.

That flexibility plus the lower price than the equivalent EGO is the real value pitch. You are getting matching cut performance, an expandable tool, and a 60V battery family that also covers Greenworks mowers, blowers, and chainsaws, all for less than the EGO equivalent. For a buyer building out a single-platform yard kit, that math is hard to argue with.

Line reload, weight, and refinement

Here is the honest trade-down. The standard bump-feed head is slower and fussier to reload than the EGO Powerload system, which threads line almost automatically. With the Greenworks you are winding line by hand and bumping to feed, and that is simply more of a chore than the EGO experience. It is the clearest place the cheaper tool feels cheaper.

The trimmer is also heavier than 40V trimmers at about 8.5 pounds with the battery, which you feel over a long session on a big lot, and the trigger feel is less refined than the EGO or a DeWalt. None of these stop it from doing the work well, but they are the texture of a value tool: it performs like the premium pick and feels a half-step behind it in polish.

Who should buy the Greenworks 60V Brushless?

Buy it if you want EGO-level cut performance on a half-acre without paying the EGO price, and you do not care about the badge. Buy it if the attachment-capable shaft appeals, because turning one tool into an edger, pole saw, and hedge trimmer is real value. Buy it if you already own or plan to build a Greenworks 60V battery family.

Skip it if effortless line reloading matters most to you, because the EGO Powerload is meaningfully better and worth the premium for that alone. Skip it if you regularly cut half-inch dense stalks, where the EGO holds throttle better. And skip it if you want the lightest, most refined-feeling trimmer, because the 40V class is lighter and the EGO feels more polished.

The verdict

The Greenworks 60V Brushless 16-inch trimmer is the best value in the 60V class, and after a half-acre season I would recommend it to anyone who values performance over branding. It matched the EGO ST1623T on grass and light weeds, the attachment-capable shaft turns it into a whole yard system, and it costs less while plugging into a broad 60V battery family. The bump-feed reload is clearly behind EGO’s Powerload, it is heavier than 40V trimmers, and the trigger feel is less refined. But if you can live with a manual reload, you get nearly the premium experience for less money, and that is the smart buy.