Greenworks 14-inch 40V Review

While the Greenworks produced mediocre results in the vast majority of our tests, it did thoroughly impress us with its battery life, lasting two to three times longer than the bulk of the other string trimmers. It doesn't have a ton of power but this product would be a great option if you have vast expanses of easy-to-trim plants and don't want to have to stop and recharge the battery.

Performance Comparison

The Greenworks is a fairly inexpensive string trimmer but didn't score all that well.

Likes

The Greenworks does a decent job at clearing away patches of grass and weeds that aren't too dense and can even cut through some of the burlier brush and plants if you take it in stages. The guard does a good job of blocking freshly-cut debris from getting thrown back at you and it has a bump feed mechanism to dispense more line. The shoulder strap attachment also makes it a bit more comfortable and less fatiguing to use.

We found the Greenworks to be a bit lacking when it came to cutting through dense patches of grass and weeds.

The Greenworks truly shined in our battery life test, where we ran each trimmer under no-load conditions until they died, scoring based on the runtime achieved. This weed eater lasted for an impressive 95 minutes before calling it quits — easily one of the longest runtimes of the entire group. It also has both a low and a high power mode, so you can adjust the speed to the task at hand.

The Greenworks 14-inch string trimmer has two different speed settings but there isn't a huge difference between them.

Dislikes

Unfortunately, the Greenworks is significantly underpowered compared to many of the other models in the group, faltering with thick-stemmed weeds and dense patches of plants. Even worse, the guard frequently gets caught up tall grass when cutting thicker patches, which then become almost immediately tangled in the head and force the Greenworks off course. This guard also gets in the way when trying to trim tight spaces or make precision cuts.

The included shoulder strap does make the 40V Greenworks a bit more comfortable to hold.

This is one of the heaviest string trimmers of the group and feels particularly cumbersome and bulky to use.

This string trimmer is very heavy and hard to handle compared to the other products in the review.

The shoulder strap does mitigate this a bit but doesn't do all that much.

We also thought the Greenworks is one of the least user-friendly models when it comes to replacing the line. The spring mechanism inside the head especially makes it difficult to keep the string where it is supposed to be and replace the cap without cross-threading it.

Even though the Greenworks is heftier than many other models, it isn't all that powerful.

This weed eater is also one of the loudest trimmers we have tested to date, with a particularly high-pitched tone that is quite grating on the ears.

Value

The Greenworks is an acceptable bargain buy but there are less expensive models that we vastly preferred.

Conclusion