Best string trimmers for lawn care

Top pick: Milwaukee M18 FUEL String Trimmer w/ QUIK-LOK. It's the one I'd buy for real lawn care — a 14"/16" cutting swath, three speed settings and a brushless FUEL motor, so it has the power for thick growth and edging along fences and beds, and the QUIK-LOK shaft lets you swap on other attachments later. It's also the best-rated of the bunch here.

Who the others suit:

• Greenworks 40V 13" trimmer/edger — the sweet spot for a normal suburban yard: battery power, no cord, and it converts to an edger.
• Greenworks 24V 12" — smaller yards and lighter work; easier to handle for long sessions.
• Hyper Tough 20V 12" brushless — a budget first trimmer with automatic line feed and a big review base.
• Hyper Tough 13" corded — if you trim near an outlet and want the simplest, most reliable option.
• HOTREE 21V combo — only for very light touch-up work; the small cutting width and mixed ratings make it a compromise.

Skip the tiny corded and no-name models if you have a real lawn — they stall in thick grass.