I was skeptical that this could replace my Stihl gas powered string trimmer. The ego has somewhat comparable power capabilities of my gas stihl (probably less than half but better than I expected on battery power). It just does not have quite the strength of a good gas powered trimmer. However, the cutting capabilities should be sufficient for home use. I did work as a landscaper full time in the past and used stringtrimmers extensively as part of my job landscaping multi-million dollar residences. I have used stringtrimmers on a regular basis for over 25 years. I am just using this ego for the house now, but I try to do professional quality lawn work at home. I usually walk at brisk pace edging sidewalks and beds with the Stihl and can do maintenance cuts very quickly. I ran the ego around after doing the initial spring time cut and I just cannot go as fast as I can with the gas Stihl. I have slow down the pace a little with the Ego. The battery seems to last plenty long for what I need it to do so far. I primarily need to use a string trimmer turned sideways for flower beds and the sidewalk. I do not need it very much held in normal direction. I was initially giving three stars because the line was wobbling and not cutting precise lines. I was using Shakespeare ugly line and it does not straighten out (sort of like cheap fishing line). It works fine in the Stihl gas trimmer, but the ego does not spin fast enough for the line to straighten. I tried Echo crossfire and the Ego works much better. It is still not quite as precise as a gas Stihl, but it is pretty good. The Ego seems to require a more work to get professional quality straight edges on flower beds and sidewalks because of the lower rpm. The line iq is a bit finicky. It is super convenient and seems to work relatively well. It is not perfect. I usually keep the line near full length with my bump feed gas trimmer and the Ego does not feed more line until it is somewhat short. This takes some getting used to. The line iq does not want to give more line unless it senses some tension. Seems like you have to try cutting into something harder to get more line if you are doing very precise light trimming. You never know when the line iq is going to throw out more line and this can cause little mess ups that have to be corrected. This slows down the whole process a little. I do not like how the line gets so short before it gives out more line. The auto load system works so far. Mine does skip a little without loading at first sometimes . Not sure why, but it does load eventually. I am a little worried about it skipping without taking on line. With so many 5 star reviews and the relatively high price tag compared to a brand new Stihl gas trimmer, I was expecting perfection and a true gas trimmer replacement. The Ego could replace a high end gas trimmer if you are willing to make some tradeoffs. It is not as powerful. It is a little more time consuming. You have to be very careful and slow down a bit when flipping the trimmer to cut edges on sidewalks and beds to get professional quality results compared to a gas trimmer. The line iq does not seem to like to function as well when using the trimmer flipped on edge for beds and sidewalks. I cannot give it 5 stars. 4 stars for now and will update in the future if any issues with battery or other features. Full price is not quite twice a good gas trimmer. Quiet, no fumes, good battery run time, automatic power line loading, and line iq system that does seem work relatively well make this tool worth price paid (if it turns out to be durable and long lasting). It would be better if it could somehow have capabilities to bump feed along with the line iq. I am back to giving this tool only 3 stars after more use. One big thing that bothers me is how loud it is for battery power. No gas fumes here, but still very loud. So loud I think I will will wear my ear protection. It is louder than my 25" 80v lawnmower I recently bought from the competing brand. I have tried different line and the Ego just will not cut very accurately no matter what I try. I tried the Ego line that came with the tool, Echo cross fire, Shakespeare ugly line, and I just bought some Echo black diamond (which I thought would be the best). The Echo crossfire lays out the straightest without trying to coil back up and this seems to help the Ego because of the relatively low rpm. The Echo black diamond is supposed to be the best line you can buy, but it tries to coil back up not laying as straight as the crossfire. Overall, the only true advantage for me is no gas fumes and the powerload is nice compared to standard head on my stihl. I am extremely happy with my switch to the battery 80v lawnmower, not so much with this string trimmer. I tried going super slow today and also slightly fast on the beds and sidewalk multiple times and this thing just cannot produce the super sharp lines I am used to with the gas stihl. It is probably plenty good for most homeowner use, but those who have run string trimmers everyday for a living will notice the difference. Even after practicing, the Ego takes at least twice as long, multiple passes to get borderline acceptable edges on beds and sidewalks. I think the line iq is very good for average homeowners. I really wanted to like this tool and hate making bad decisions on my equipment. I am tempted to buy a different trimmer and sell the Ego after this frustation. I was all gung ho on switching to electric, maybe the other brands 80v trimmer can cut straight. Update after more extensive use. Hope this may be helpful to others. I would only recommend to average homeowner users who might have a hard time with bump feed models or struggle with loading line on traditional bump feed heads. I would say this is probably a 3 or 4 stars for an average user who does not have professional experience. Those with professional level string trimming skills will not like this tools as much since it cannot provide good results when flipped for flower bed and sidewalk edging. It does have some good features that work relatively well for the price. I can see how many people do like it. I experimented extensively with this tool and in the end regret the purchase. It cannot provide professional quality cutting quality. I just cannot get the precision I am accustomed to using gas powered Stihl string trimmers. I thought I researched this purchase well. The ergonomics are wrong. The shaft is long enough, but you cannot position the handle high enough to provide proper ergonomics when flipped over for edging. The way it is designed, the shaft would need about 4 more inches of extension to provide proper ergonomics compared to a standard Stihl. The line iq does function, but it is annoying to have various lengths of line whereas a relatively constant length is relatively easy to maintain with a standard bump feed. The guard is not positioned correctly and blocks sight lines. Even with much practice with this tool it is too slow and cumbersome to use for edging sidewalks and flower beds (even after cutting nice straight lines with shovel) and there still seems to be line wobble even with the best quality line, which will mess up your straight lines unexpectedly (not user error, I cut perfect lines pretty much every time with a Stihl gas trimmer and dont really make any significant errors when trimming sidewalks and beds). I saw so many positive reviews and watched videos from so called 'pros', but this tool can only be rated as good for homeowner types who don't know any better. I have been researching other brands and there do not seem to be any battery operated string trimmers on the market that will provide the same quality as a good gas string trimmer. I am happy with my 80v 25" lawnmower and the 80v leafblower is pretty good but limited run time. I will have to stay with my fs56 stihl string trimmer with easy loading echo 400 head. I see why they only offer money ba
