EGO ST1300E vs Greenworks GD40BC

The EGO ST1300E and Greenworks GD40BC represent two different bets on what cordless power should mean. EGO’s 56V ARC Lithium platform pushes for raw cutting authority, aiming to close the gap with petrol on tough, longer grass. Greenworks’ 40V G40 platform takes a different route, pairing a lower voltage with a genuinely wide 40 cm line head so it clears open ground faster, pass after pass. Neither is the “better” machine outright — they’re built to solve slightly different problems, and the right one depends on what your garden actually throws at it.

At a glance

Attribute	EGO ST1300E	Greenworks GD40BC
Battery platform	56V ARC Lithium	40V G40 (open, 40+ tools)
Battery included	No — sold bare	Yes, 4 Ah included
Cutting width	33 cm	≈ 40 cm — the widest of the two
Cutting head	Line only, no blade option	Primarily line cutting
Raw cutting power	Higher-voltage platform, near-petrol feel	Lower voltage, tuned for speed over ground
Handle	Loop handle, adjustable shaft	Standard loop/bike setup
Ecosystem	EGO 56V (mowers, blowers, chainsaws)	Greenworks G40, shared across 40+ tools
Best suited to	Longer grass, tougher edges, EGO owners	Large open lawns, fast wide passes

Clear wins: the ST1300E wins on outright cutting authority and line-only precision on tougher growth; the GD40BC wins on cutting width, included battery, and speed across big open areas.

Voltage and cutting power

EGO’s 56V ARC Lithium platform is a genuine step above the 18–40V range most cordless trimmers sit in, and the ST1300E shows it: it holds cutting speed through longer, denser grass rather than bogging down, which is exactly where lower-voltage cordless trimmers tend to struggle. The GD40BC’s 40V G40 platform isn’t weak by any means, but it isn’t chasing the same ceiling — it’s tuned to move a wide line head through open grass efficiently rather than to grind through the toughest, most overgrown patches. If your ground includes genuinely long, tangled grass on a regular basis, the ST1300E’s extra voltage headroom is the more reassuring spec.

Cutting width: 33 cm vs 40 cm

This is where the GD40BC pulls ahead decisively. Its roughly 40 cm line cutting width is among the widest in its class, well ahead of the ST1300E’s 33 cm. On a large lawn, field margin, or long boundary edge, that difference compounds quickly — fewer passes, less time per session, less physical repetition. The ST1300E’s narrower width isn’t a problem for typical garden-sized jobs, but if you’re regularly covering serious ground, the Greenworks’ wider swath is a real, measurable time saver.

What’s in the box

Here the GD40BC is the more complete purchase out of the gate: it comes with a 4 Ah battery included, so the price you see is close to the price you pay to start cutting. The EGO ST1300E is sold bare — head and shaft only — with the 56V ARC Lithium battery and charger sold separately. That’s standard practice for EGO and several premium cordless brands, but it means the ST1300E’s headline price understates the real upfront cost unless you already own a compatible EGO 56V battery from another tool.

Blade capability and scope of work

Both machines lean toward grass rather than scrub. The ST1300E is explicitly line-only with no blade attachment offered at all, so brambles, saplings, and woody growth are outside its remit regardless of battery capacity. The Greenworks GD40BC is likewise pitched primarily as a line-cutting tool for open ground, and its 40V ceiling isn’t the platform to reach for if brambles or dense scrub are a regular part of the job. If that’s your land, neither of these two is the right pick on its own — you’d want a dedicated blade-capable brush cutter, cordless or petrol, alongside whichever of these you choose for the grass.

Battery ecosystem

The two platforms serve different long-term strategies. EGO’s 56V ARC Lithium range spans mowers, blowers, and chainsaws, so if you’re already invested in EGO tools, the ST1300E’s bare-tool pricing becomes the cheaper option since the battery is a sunk cost. Greenworks’ G40 is an open platform shared across more than 40 tools from multiple angles of garden work, and buying the GD40BC with its included battery gives you a starting point to expand into that wider range later. Neither ecosystem is a poor choice; it comes down to which brand’s other tools you’re more likely to want down the line.

Choose the EGO ST1300E if…

• You regularly deal with longer, tougher grass and want the extra cutting authority of a 56V platform
• You already own a compatible EGO 56V ARC Lithium battery and charger from another tool
• A narrower 33 cm width is fine because precision around edges matters more than raw coverage

Choose the Greenworks GD40BC if…

• Your priority is covering a large, mostly open lawn as quickly as possible
• You want a battery included in the box rather than budgeting for one separately
• You’re open to building out Greenworks’ G40 platform across other garden tools

Which should you buy?

If your garden regularly produces longer, tougher grass and you want the closest cordless experience to petrol-level cutting power, the ST1300E is the stronger performer — just budget for the battery and charger as a separate cost, and remember it won’t touch brambles or scrub. If you’re maintaining a larger, mostly open lawn and want to move through it fast with a battery already in the box, the GD40BC’s wider 40 cm cut and included 4 Ah pack make it the more convenient, ready-to-run buy. Both are fundamentally grass tools rather than brush clearers, so if woody scrub is part of the job, plan on a separate blade-capable machine either way.