I've got a Milwaukee battery snipper and I love it. One 8ah battery covers the 1/2 hour or so of whacking on my yard.
I've got the tri-blade attachment for hacking bush trail too. 2" trees are doable with 2 or 3 hacks into it. Stands up to abuse well so far. Had it for 3 years now.

depends on how much you have to do

I did a Rigid battery last year , it works well , I get about 20 minutes of run time on a battery

it is quiet so when I want to run it before or after a time a person should stop running power equipment to be kind to the neighbors.

easy to pick up do 5-10 minutes of trimming then put it down

I would go with whatever battery platform you run your other tools on .

if you spend more than 20 minutes with the string trimmer , gas

I bought a new Stihl last summer and I am less than impressed. The thing runs HOT. 3-4 min and the exhaust is so hot its burning my elbow. I took it back to the dealer and the adjusted the carb but man it still sucks. I haven't used a Milwaukee battery one but my son bought the chain saw and I have been really impressed with it. So far it has worked great trimming limbs and stuff.

20V B & D.

Kobalt here.

Much better than gas.

I have a 23 year old straight shaft Stihl trimmer. Its been a good tool. My preference is gas but I use it pretty hard and for hours sometimes cutting small trees and brush out in pastures.

Some of the problem could be buying cheap homeowner grade equipment and then using too often or too many hours. The spark arrestor screen will foul in time and cause loss of power etc. Easy to remove and clean. I have mostly Stihl power equipment. Battery power equipment is not practical for long run times on larger properties.

For the burned elbow try adjusting the shoulder strap and/or its mount.

If you buy gas get an Echo. I am very pleased with mine. Starts easy and revs out strong. Never was impressed with a Stihl weedeater. The Echos are made by Shindaiwa i believe

Same here. I love mine

I'll take all those Stihl FS give aways thank you.
I'd even take a blown one for parts.
Good tools.

Ask yourself weed eater or grass trimmer?

I like my Stihl gas weed eater. Always runs and its surprising how far you can go on a tank of gas

Stihl HP Ultra synthetic oil used in my weed eater and saws has resulted in very good performance for over 8 years. Lil more difficult starting when switched oils. My stihl weed wacka with metal blade will readily drop mature ragweed stalks that grow up in electric fence over summer. Battery one won't get near cutting through a stalk.........

My 31 year old gas Whackah was a Shindaiwa...I got my money's worth

Got a stihl weedwacker and a few other Stihl motors. Put their oil and run nonethenol gas. Never have a problem. Wife’s ego weedwacker is nice for light stuff in the yard but not near enough power in heavy stuff.