Stiga BC 700e vs EGO ST1300E

Both the Stiga BC 700e and the EGO ST1300E are cordless, sold bare, and priced within easy comparison distance of each other — but they’re aimed at different gardens. The Stiga is built as an all-rounder brush cutter, with a blade included alongside its line head. The EGO is a dedicated line trimmer on a higher-voltage platform, tuned for cutting speed rather than versatility. Picking between them mostly comes down to one question: do you ever need to cut anything tougher than grass?

At a glance

Attribute	Stiga BC 700e	EGO ST1300E
Power platform	48V ePower, 500W induction	56V ARC Lithium
Cutting width	38 cm	33 cm
Cutting head	ARC 3-tooth blade + Tap&Go line (both included)	Line only, no blade option
Weight	~5.5 kg	Mid-weight for a battery trimmer
Harness	5-position harness, anti-vibration tube	Loop handle, adjustable shaft
Battery included	No — sold bare, ePower system	No — sold bare, 56V ARC Lithium
Typical price	≈ €259	≈ €169

Clear wins: the Stiga BC 700e wins on versatility, cutting width and harness comfort; the EGO ST1300E wins on raw cutting power for grass and on upfront price.

Blade versus line-only

This is the decision that matters most. The Stiga BC 700e includes an ARC 3-tooth blade as standard, so it can tackle brambles, saplings and light woody brush in addition to everyday grass — swap the blade for the Tap&Go line head and it handles lawns and edges just as well. The EGO ST1300E has no such option: it’s a line trimmer through and through, with nothing to attach in place of the cutting line. For anyone with a garden that occasionally throws up scrub, hedgerow regrowth or bramble patches, that single difference rules the EGO out regardless of how well it performs on grass.

Cutting power and width

Where the EGO claws back ground is outright cutting performance on grass. Its 56V ARC Lithium platform is a genuine step up in voltage over the Stiga’s 48V ePower system, and it shows in how well it holds cutting speed through long, overgrown grass without bogging down — a trait that’s earned EGO’s line trimmers a reputation for coming closer to petrol-level performance than most cordless competitors. The Stiga counters with a wider 38 cm cutting width against the EGO’s 33 cm, so it covers more ground per pass even if its line-only mode isn’t quite as punchy through the toughest grass. In practice: EGO edges it for sheer line-cutting force, Stiga edges it for coverage and flexibility.

Comfort and handling

The Stiga’s 5-position harness and anti-vibration tube put it closer to a proper brush-cutter carrying experience — useful if you’re doing longer sessions or working slopes, and a genuine step up from a basic strap. At around 5.5 kg it’s a mid-weight cordless machine, comfortable enough for regular use without feeling like a toy. The EGO ST1300E sticks with a simpler loop handle and adjustable shaft, more in keeping with its identity as a trimmer rather than a brush cutter — lighter-duty ergonomics for what’s fundamentally a lighter-duty job. Neither is unpleasant to use, but the Stiga’s harness setup is the more capable of the two if you’re on your feet with it for an hour or more.

Battery ecosystems

Both machines are sold bare, so battery cost is a real factor in either purchase. The Stiga runs on the 48V ePower system, while the EGO uses its 56V ARC Lithium range — neither battery is interchangeable with the other, and neither is interchangeable with third-party tools. If you already own batteries in one ecosystem, that alone can settle the decision: buying into a brand-new platform for either machine adds a real cost on top of the headline price, so check what you already have in the shed before comparing sticker prices directly.

Choose the Stiga BC 700e if…

• You want one cordless tool that handles both grass and light brush, brambles or saplings
• You value a proper harness for longer sessions or uneven ground
• You’re already invested in — or open to starting — Stiga’s ePower battery platform

Choose the EGO ST1300E if…

• Your garden is grass and lawn edges only, with nothing woodier to cut
• You want the strongest line-cutting performance available in a cordless trimmer
• You’re already on EGO’s 56V ARC Lithium platform, or plan to expand into their wider tool range

Which should you buy?

If there’s any chance you’ll need to clear brambles, saplings or light scrub alongside regular grass, the Stiga BC 700e is the safer buy — it does the trimmer’s job adequately and the brush-cutter’s job as well, backed by a harness built for longer use. If your garden is purely grass, lawn edges and nothing tougher, the EGO ST1300E’s 56V platform gives you more cutting punch for less outlay, at the cost of ever being able to tackle anything with a woody stem. Check your existing battery platform first — starting from scratch in either ecosystem narrows the price gap considerably.