Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Expand-It String Trimmer Review: A Surprisingly Powerful, Precise Tool You Can Expand Upon

4 min readI’m convinced that tools that do it all only exist in marketing brainstorming meetings. Any product that has too much or too varied capability is often so watered down by its own striving for versatility that it’s not much good at any one of the things its manufacturer claims it can do. So I’ll admit I went into my testing of Ryobi’s 18-Volt One+ 15-inch string trimmer kit (part of the brand’s Expand-It system that lets you swap on different heads such as a hedge trimmer, a lawn edger, even an electric snow shovel) with some bias. I’ll also now admit that I was wrong.This is a damn fine string trimmer in its own right. My biggest concern was that it would lack power, but the trimmer quickly cut down thick overgrowth under my back deck and snipped precise edges around the sidewalks and garden bed. Yeah, it’s heavy. And yes, it did spew a lot of clippings at me while I was edging. But with the added space savings and ease of replacing the swappable heads you get from the Expand-It system, this is a solid choice for anyone with a medium-size property who doesn’t want or need to invest in a bunch of separate tools.ProsPowerful enough to cut through thick overgrowthEdging is preciseBattery life is exceptionalVersatile thanks to the number of compatible Expand-It attachmentsConsHeavy enough that I felt it in my arms after 20 minutesShot a lot of clippings back at my feet despite the large debris guardKey SpecsModelPBLST01KBattery Capacity4.0 AhVoltage18Weight9.5 lbCutting Width13-15 in.Line Diameter.080 in.Powerful Yet Precise, With Long Battery LifeLike I mentioned above, what bucked my initial skepticism of this Ryobi’s power was how it handled those thick, overgrown weeds under the deck in my backyard. It didn’t exactly scythe them down, but it steadily chewed through them with a couple of passes.Will EgensteinerMy daily driver Ryobi string trimmer (bottom) is longer than the Expand-It 18-volt One+ I tested, but it feels lighter thanks to the carbon-fiber shaft. And the debris shield is smaller, though that difference is negligible in use given how many clippings flew past the Expand-It’s shield in my testing (more on that below).The variable-speed control was easy to squeeze just so when I needed to back off for more delicate edging and to keep from damaging the deck steps. There’s also a speed switch on the left side, with two settings (low and high). The difference between the two was modest enough that I didn’t feel the need to switch between them; I kept the switch on high throughout my trimming sessions, and the trigger provided fine enough control when I wanted it. Lines were crisp, and the trimmer did a good job not whipping the grass out of the way with excess wind speed before it could cut it.Ryobi advertises more than 40 minutes of run time on the 4-amp-hour battery I tested, but that’s probably if you’re laying into the trigger. Throughout one 20-minute trimming job, I only used up a quarter of the battery.Will EgensteinerThe battery’s indicator lights were easy to read, plenty bright even in direct sunlight.Simple to Pay Out Line, but the Large Debris Shield Could Do MoreLike my other Ryobi string trimmer, this one has a bump feed mechanism, where tapping the head on the ground while it’s spinning pays out more line. It’s not user-friendly to the level of the Ego Line IQ tester Dan Stout recommends, and I often found myself checking that enough line had fed out. But it’s simple enough.Edging was a highlight. You can technically rotate the shaft to either side and lock it so the head is positioned vertically, but this didn’t feel necessary over the course of trimming a suburban yard. It would be more of a (minor) hassle to stop, unlock the shaft, rotate it, and lock it into place than it was to simply reorient my grip and tilt the trimmer. And adjusting my hold was easy thanks to the large (if uncushioned) front handle.This Ryobi did, however, whip a lot of clippings back at my feet when I tilted it up to edge a walkway. When I held the trimmer level, the shield did just fine. But the spin of the string hurled a lot of grass under the tilted debris shield. And that shield isn’t small.On the debris shield, there’s a dial to set the guard 13 inches away from the center of the trimmer head for increased run time. Less string turning utilizes less power, which conserves battery life. Maxing it out at 15 inches gives you a larger cutting swath but drains the battery faster.Will EgensteinerThe debris shield adjusts between 13 and 15 inches. It was easy enough to loosen the bolt and slide the shield back and forth to optimize for battery life or cutting power. I left the Ryobi at 15 inches for my trimming jobs though, since my yard is small enough that running out of battery isn’t a concern.Though the weight doesn’t appear excessive on paper, this trimmer feels heavy. Even after 20 minutes of working around my small suburban property, my arms were noticeably tired. Once locked in, the battery counterbalances the trimmer, but, rest assured, this tool is a workout.Reloading and StorageAs with Ryobi’s other trimmers, respooling line is easy. Simply align the arrows on the trimmer head, feed a length of string until it’s halfway through, then wind the head in the direction indicated by the arrows. This process was simple, taking about 30 seconds.Space savings is the other big perk of the Expand-It system. Since you have to store one base and a variety of attachments, not full-size stand-alone tools, the storage commitment is much less. And, if one of the heads breaks, you can buy a replacement more cheaply than springing for another full tool.More Expand-It AttachmentsRyobi Expand-It Universal Straight Shaft Edger AttachmentRyobi Expand-It 18-Inch Universal Hedge Trimmer AttachmentRyobi Expand-It Universal Axial Blower AttachmentWho Should Buy the Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Expand-It String TrimmerIf you prize versatility with the potential to easily expand your suite of tools, this is the string trimmer to get. It’s middle-of-the-road in most of its specs, but in my testing, it surprisingly didn’t feel like it was compromising in many ways. In fact, “pleasantly surprised” might be the best way to describe our impressions of Ryobi’s Expand-It tools so far. My fellow gear editors David Dritsas and Colin Aylesworth were impressed with the electric snow shovel attachment and the larger 17-inch string trimmer, respectively. (Though Aylesworth told me he was underwhelmed with the gutter blower attachment. More to come on that in a possible future review from him.)Shop the Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Expand-It 15-Inch String TrimmerMore String Trimmers We RecommendHusqvarna 110iL FLXi Electric String Trimmer and EdgerWorx Cordless 20V PowerShare GT 3.0 12-Inch String TrimmerDeWalt 60-Volt 17-Inch Cordless String TrimmerWill Egensteiner has been reviewing products for 10 years, testing and writing about everything from climbing gear to video game consoles to cars. He began his career as an intern at Popular Mechanics, then worked as an editor at Outside, spearheading the magazine's gear coverage and biannual Buyer's Guide. Now that he's back, he leads product reviews for PopMech, as well as Runner's World, Best Products, and Biography. His favorite stuff to review is still outdoors equipment, and he can tell you from memory what ePTFE stands for. Paul Russell Smith is a former NYC ironworker turned screenwriter (Grace Point) and home renovation specialist. He lives in a crooked old farmhouse in Stockton, NJ, where he’s just as likely to be clearing a clogged pipe as rewriting a third act. When he’s not working, he enjoys hiking, pedestrian beer, and cooking over a live fire. His self-proclaimed spirit animal is the English Bulldog.