EGO Power+ ST1613E-T Review – UK Tested

Bumping the head on the ground to feed more line is one of those small, repetitive annoyances that every strimmer owner just learns to live with, right up until a trimmer turns up that genuinely doesn’t need it. The EGO Power+ ST1613E-T pairs two patented systems, Line IQ and Powerload, specifically aimed at the two most tedious parts of owning a line trimmer: keeping the line fed during use, and reloading it once it’s run out. The question was whether either one actually changes anything in practice, or whether it’s just marketing dressed up as innovation.

It’s a 40cm cordless trimmer running on EGO’s 56V battery platform, weighing a manageable 3.4kg without the battery fitted, and it comes as a complete kit with a 4.0Ah battery, charger and shoulder strap included rather than sold as a bare tool. EGO itself isn’t a new name chancing its arm in cordless tools, the brand launched in the US in 2012 and arrived in Europe in 2014, building specifically on the idea that a battery platform could genuinely match petrol performance rather than just being a quieter compromise.

Overview and first impressions

The shaft is telescopic and folds down for storage, which means an actual assembly step before first use: unfold it, then lock it with the supplied wrench before the trimmer will even start. A loop-style front handle, rather than a simple straight bar, gives a genuinely steadier two-handed grip during longer sessions, and it adjusts within a marked zone using a quick-release lever and wing nut. It’s worth knowing it may need repositioning if you later change the shaft length, since the two settings interact more than you’d expect.

A single shoulder strap with a quick-adjust carabiner comes in the kit, a genuinely sensible inclusion given how much difference a strap makes to fatigue over a longer session, something independent testing of EGO’s Line IQ mechanism elsewhere has specifically called out as worthwhile even when a rival version of the same core technology doesn’t bother including one.

Line IQ is the headline feature, and it does exactly what it claims: sensors monitor the line length while you work and feed more out automatically to maintain a continuous cutting swath, no bumping the head on the ground at all. Powerload handles the reload itself, thread a new line through the head, press a button, and the motor winds it in for you.

Specifications and scores

How it performed in our tests

The Powerload button takes a little getting used to, my first couple of reloads weren’t quite as instant as the marketing suggests, but once the technique clicks, it genuinely is the easiest line change I’ve done on any trimmer: thread it through, press the button, done in well under thirty seconds.

Cutting performance was genuinely strong across both ends of the job, fine detail work along a path edge and clearing a patch of properly overgrown nettles, the kind of job that would otherwise mean reaching for something heavier on a genuinely neglected, weedy plot, without bogging down. The LED speed indicator is a small but useful touch, knowing at a glance which of the two speed bands you’re in rather than guessing from trigger feel alone.

Line IQ delivered on its core promise too: a continuous cutting swath maintained automatically as the line wore down, no stopping to bump the head on the ground at all during a session, which after years of doing exactly that on cheaper trimmers felt like a genuinely meaningful change rather than a gimmick.

Battery, line and running costs

The 56V 4.0Ah battery is the same one EGO use right across their cordless range, mowers, blowers, hedge trimmers and chainsaws included, which genuinely matters if you’re building out a wider cordless setup rather than buying tool by tool. A standard charger comes in the kit rather than needing to be bought separately, and with it, a fully depleted 4.0Ah battery takes around 80 minutes to charge from empty, considerably longer than the 30 minutes sometimes quoted for this battery elsewhere, since that faster figure needs EGO’s separate Rapid Charger, not the one actually included here. A built-in fuel gauge with indicator lights shows remaining charge in 20% increments, and EGO’s own ARC-shaped battery design is built specifically to push heat away from the cells rather than let it build up inside a brick-shaped pack, which should mean steadier performance through a longer session rather than the power tailing off as the battery warms up.

Line itself is 2.4mm twisted nylon, dual-feed, and EGO are explicit that their own genuine line is the safe bet, both because of the round-versus-square profile issue with Powerload and because their troubleshooting guidance points first at non-genuine line whenever feed problems persist.

Maintenance is light: a damp cloth and mild detergent only, no aromatic oils like pine or lemon and no solvents, both of which can damage the plastic housing. Before any longer storage, the battery comes out, the tool gets a proper clean, and it’s stored somewhere dry, ventilated, and out of reach of children, away from anything like fertiliser or petrol.

Performance and limitations

What this does brilliantly is exactly what it sets out to: removing the two most tedious parts of owning a line trimmer almost entirely. No bumping during use, no fiddly manual rewinding once the line runs short. Cutting performance held up at both ends of the job, fine detail work that’s genuinely useful for keeping lawn edges tidy as well as proper overgrowth clearance, without ever feeling underpowered.

The honest friction is right at the start: Powerload isn’t instantly intuitive the very first time, and getting the technique right took a couple of attempts before it became the genuinely fast process EGO promise. Line choice matters more than it would on a simpler trimmer too, since the feed mechanism is fussy enough about profile that picking up the wrong replacement line elsewhere could cause real frustration.

Neither issue undoes what’s genuinely a strong, well-engineered cordless trimmer. They’re both one-time learning costs rather than ongoing annoyances.

Final verdict

Line IQ and Powerload both genuinely deliver on what they promise. No bumping during use, a line reload measured in seconds rather than minutes once you’ve got the technique, and cutting performance that holds up properly whether the job is fine edging or proper overgrowth clearance.

The only real friction is learning the Powerload technique itself and sticking to the right line profile afterwards, both genuinely one-off costs rather than something that keeps nagging at you mow after mow.

For anyone fed up with the usual line-trimmer faff, or already invested in EGO’s wider 56V tool range, this earns its place comfortably.