The answer — one pick, priced
Get the
EGO Power+ HT2601
$21 under your budget
The longest blade and thickest cut of any sub-$250 trimmer here — 7 expert-testing sources rank it best overall, and one 56V battery powers 50+ EGO tools.
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Fit ledger — need → measured evidence
■ The catch — co-equal billing, always
It's heavy — 11.1 lbs. That's nearly double the lightest picks here (the WORX is 5.5 lbs, the Stihl 5.1), and the card explicitly says to skip it if you have strength or endurance concerns on long trimming sessions.
Dealbreaker? The Greenworks 40V runner-up drops to **7.1 lbs** for comparable everyday cutting — and costs $29 less. ↓
■ Every product has a catch. Verdicts that hide it are how bad buys happen.
Runners-up — if your needs differ
Adjacent verdicts — same method
Traps — this verdict avoids
The tool-only trap
Many listings are bare tool — no battery, no charger. The kit-vs-tool-only gap runs $50–$100, so a 'cheaper' trimmer often costs more once you add the pack. The pick ships with a 56V 2.5Ah battery and charger included.
Runtime roulette
Quoted runtimes are manufacturer figures under ideal conditions — thick branches, dull blades, or cold weather cut them by 30–50%. Size the battery for your worst hedge, not the spec sheet.
Chasing the SPM number
SPM has no standard test — cross-brand stroke rates aren't comparable. What actually jams a trimmer is branch thickness: 0.75-inch models stall on anything thicker than a pencil. Match cut capacity, not SPM, to your hedges.
Provenance — 7 sources, dated
Winners are picked before affiliate payouts are checked, from the full research dossier at knowledgelib.io. Prices, stock and listings are re-verified monthly by an automated pipeline. Some links earn us a commission — it never changes the pick, and we say so here rather than in a footer you'd never read.