Ryobi RY40250 40V String Trimmer Review: Expand-It Value Pick

The Ryobi RY40250 value proposition

Ryobi has long held the largest installed base of battery outdoor power equipment in the US residential market, and the RY40250 is a clear reason why. At $159 for a kit that includes a 4.0Ah battery and charger, it delivers strong trimming performance at a price that undercuts most serious competition. Add the Expand-It attachment capability, and one $159 investment starts building toward a multi-tool yard ecosystem running off shared batteries.

Battery and runtime in context

The RY40250's most underappreciated spec is the included battery. While the EGO ST1521S bundles a 2.5Ah cell that handles a typical yard in one charge, the RY40250 ships with a 4.0Ah battery — 60 percent more capacity. On a standard suburban lot, that 4.0Ah pack delivers 40 to 60 minutes of trimming before needing a recharge, which covers most quarter-acre properties comfortably in a single session.

The 40V platform runs the brushless motor at lower nominal voltage than EGO's 56V system. For the vast majority of residential trimming — maintained lawn edges, moderate weeds, grass borders around beds and fences — that difference is academic. The RY40250 cuts cleanly and at sufficient speed for the workload.

The gap opens up in sustained heavy use: tall, wet, overgrown grass and dense ornamental plants where the motor must fight harder to maintain line tip speed. In those conditions the 56V EGO noticeably sustains speed longer before the motor adapts its output. If your yard has a persistent weedy border or an annual cleanup of seriously overgrown areas, the RY40250 still gets through it — just with more passes than the EGO.

Expand-It attachment system

The RY40250's attachment capability is a genuine differentiator at its price point. Ryobi's Expand-It universal coupler accepts a growing ecosystem of snap-on tool heads: edger, leaf blower, pole saw, cultivator, and hedge trimmer, among others. These attachments mount onto the trimmer's straight shaft in under a minute and run off the same 40V battery pack.

For a homeowner buying their first battery platform, this spread-the-cost logic is compelling. A single RY40250 kit provides the trimmer powerhead; you add the edger attachment for another $50 rather than buying a separate $100 corded edger. The platform compounds as your battery inventory grows across Ryobi's 40V mower, blower, and chainsaw lineup.

Ryobi also accepts Universal Expand-It attachments from third-party brands, which broadens available options further.

Line management: Reel Easy+ head

Ryobi's Reel Easy+ bump-feed head is one of the category's better line-management designs short of auto-load systems. Pre-wound replacement spools snap in without hand-winding: remove the bump cap, drop in a fresh 0.080-inch spool, replace the cap, and you are done in under 60 seconds. Bulk line users can hand-wind onto the standard spool instead.

During use, tapping the spinning head on hard ground advances a short length of fresh line when it wears down. The mechanism works reliably. The auto-advance option, which extends line automatically as it wears, tends to over-feed and waste line on some trimming angles; most experienced users leave it in manual bump mode.

Compared to traditional bump-feed heads on entry trimmers, the Reel Easy+ system is a genuine improvement. It does not match the near-instant reload speed of EGO's POWERLOAD button press, but the gap in real-world use is smaller than marketing might suggest — both take 60 seconds or less.

Weight and handling

At 8.92 lbs with the 4.0Ah battery installed, the RY40250 is approximately three pounds lighter than the EGO ST1521S with its 2.5Ah pack. Over a 30-minute trimming session that difference is felt: the Ryobi fatigues the wrist and forearm less, and users with shoulder or back concerns will notice the lighter balance during extended overhead or low-angle trimming. The straight shaft provides good reach under bushes and around garden bed edges.

Competitive position

Against the Craftsman CMCST930P1 at around $130, the RY40250 costs slightly more but runs a higher-voltage 40V motor that handles tougher vegetation more capably and covers larger yards with the bigger battery. The Craftsman 20V platform is appropriate for genuinely small yards; the Ryobi 40V serves a wider range of suburban lot sizes.

Against the EGO ST1521S at $229, the Ryobi saves $70 and includes 60 percent more battery capacity. The EGO's POWERLOAD head and 56V motor are meaningfully better for convenience and heavy-growth cutting. For routine residential maintenance, the Ryobi closes most of that gap at a lower price.

Against the DeWalt DCST972X1 at $349, the Ryobi serves a completely different buyer: the DeWalt is a heavy-duty 60V attachment-capable tool built for larger properties and professional use. The RY40250 is the right tool for a normal suburban homeowner.

Summary

The RY40250 succeeds by delivering genuine 40V brushless trimming performance, a useful 4.0Ah battery, and Expand-It attachment versatility at a price that makes sense for most residential budgets. Its limitations — modest heavy-vegetation performance compared to 56V rivals, and bump-feed line management that requires physical tapping — are real but not obstacles for the homeowner maintaining a standard yard. As a first step into the Ryobi 40V ecosystem, it is one of the most cost-effective battery trimmer kits available.