Side by Side Comparison of: Black & Decker vs BLACK+DECKER

Since my being sidelined by emphysema, my dear wife has managed to keep up with the lawn. In searching for a lighter and more manageable trimmer, I stumbled across this one, and ordered it. We are extremely pleased with it. Very light and easy to manipulate, and the battery exhibits the longevity between charges typical of Li-ion type .... just what was wanted. I was fearful that this battery was too small, but it regularly lasts for several full trimmings around the lawn, and thus stands out for excellence. Our application involves edging grass only, which is nonetheless a tough assignment. My wife easily manages the machine, and easily operates the battery charger, which is small and offers no clutter (unlike most, which need a room of their own, or so it seems...).

I'm not an outdoorsy guy. I hate doing lawn work. And I have a large yard with tons of trees. I've heard other men have conversations about their weed eaters and the troubles they've had. Multiple trips to Lowes Hardware to get or replace them. I never mention I use an electric weedeater. I feel like my man card would be revoked.HOWEVER, this thing is GREAT. It comes with two batteries so you always have on charged. And provided it's for personal use, you'll get weeks worth off one battery. Never have I come anywhere near close to going through both batteries in one day. It's strong enough that it can tackle anything you throw at it, and it just starts. No pulling a cord. No putting in gas. Just grab it, hit the button, and it's on and working.Again, if you run a lawn service company, you probably don't want this. If you're just a normal guy with a normal yard, buy this. And tell people, please, only if we stand together can we all admit to using electric tools. :)

Have had this trimmer for about 6 months. Works great for my corner lot with lots of sidewalks, curbing, etc. Professional-looking results. Battery easily lasts for an all-yard trimming session. Easy to rotate head for either edging or trimming as needed on the fly. Easy to replace string spool, although it seems to go through string pretty fast. So much easier than dealing with a cord and ample power for moderate trimming and edging tasks.

I've used this trimmer twice. Pro: This last time I finished my big double size yard that has lots of tough weeds and tall grasses growing where they shouldn't and it did a marvelous job, as much cutting power as a gasoline unit. I found 2 Cons: One, it's heavier with this bigger battery, harder on my bad back...however the trade off is the battery power stayed strong thru the entire trimming job, a couple of hours ! Never showed any weakness until maybe the last few minutes. Other Con is: It's REALLY hard to put the battery into the trimmer. Takes almost more strength than my beat up old hands can muster up. I've almost given up a couple of times and finally got it to click into place. The battery fits into the charger just fine, and charges fully in a few hours. So not sure why it's so hard to fit it into the trimmer. I had to remove the string spool a couple of times and fix it, as for some reason it must not have been wound properly to begin with. But it does seem to advance ok. It's a keeper...I like it for it's power...but it's a painful ordeal for me to get the battery into it. This is my second battery power trimmer....the first El-cheapo lasted 5 yrs. I hope this one will last as long as I'm needing it anyway...I'm old, who knows how long that will be ? (72+ female)

I own 8 acres. Three I maintain and landscape, the other 5 are woods. When I mentioned getting one of these everyone I spoke with said battery weed eaters are horrible. NOT true! On the two litium batteries, I can weedeat the entire landscaped property without the pain of mixing oil and gas for fuel, fighting with the pull start and lugging all that weight around. If this can take care of my property I'm sure it can handle others!

So far I don't have any issues. Easy to take out of the box and start using. The batteries were even charged up. Light weight to use. Easy battery to change out. And with trimming around my house, my pond (15 ft in dia.) and our flower beds, it seems one battery is enough. About 30 minutes.

Perfect fit and cheaper alternative than the big box stores. I originally thought I got the wrong string but found out that my trimmer was actually missing a little piece that kept the string from auto feeding. Amazon is a great place to find these little gems and when I originally thought I got the wrong item, they were making it too easy to return. Thankfully I figured out what the problem was and we are back in business.

Works great with my old Black+Decker weed wacker. Recently I had been refilling with bulk string from the store, but was having issues with the autofeed system.Ordered these and now the Autofeed is much more consistent and better. For a few bucks a summer it is sure worth it!Will keep these on hand! :)

Do you pay a premium for these? Yes. You could probably just reuse the same one and wrap with new string. However, I'm an honest person and I'll tell you, I'm just too darn lazy to do so. I find a value in being able to simply grab a new one and pop it in, especially when I run out of string halfway through my trimming. These work well and seem to last a decent amount of time. They aren't the cheapest way to go about it, but I don't find that I feel short-changed by using them either.

Easy to install. So much better than the old gas trimmers that were a total cluster to re-string. The spool that came with the trimmer lasted 3 months, just installed a new spool. Estimate I will go through around $8 worth of line per season trimming and edging a 1/4 acre city lot. Well worth it!

I never thought that I would be writing a review on trimmer string, but the difference between this and the 3 packs I have been purchasing at Home Depot is remarkable. The HD product jams constantly, and I spend more time pulling the spool off and fixing the kinks than I do trimming. This works perfectly, feeds smoothly, and my work gets done with a lot less aggravation. I will never go back.

These Black & Decker AF-100-2 replacement spools are extremely fast and easy to change and are long lasting. I admit, at first, I was hesitant to buy them as they only contain 30 feet of line; however, after a VERY rainy summer and a broken down lawn mower and grass that quickly became three or more feet high, the original 30-foot spool (also Black & Decker AF-100-2) that came with my trimmer cut the entire lawn seven to eight times before needing to be changed. The durability and amount of trimming completed with the original spool amazed me. The area I trimmed with the original spool is approximately 50' x 50' and includes unwanted blackberry canes and rock garden bed borders. Also, I'm not kidding about the grass -- we bought the trimmer after the lawn mower died and had to wait until the constant rain subsided a bit. We purchased the trimmer in early June; it is now the end of August. We replaced the original spool with one of these replacements. These spools last, and last, and last!

This trimmer is perfect for light duty yards. There is plenty of battery power, and two batteries is enough to complete all the trimming and edging on my corner lot. The feel is very solid, yet light weight.Cons: the biggest con is the edging power when it comes to edging. It does the job but takes long time. I wouldn't get it if you have a lot of edging to do. The trimming line is a bit thin so edging thick grass, like St. Austine, will shred through quite a bit of line. The second downside is the length of the stick. I'm 6 foot and I have to lean over a bit to do a lot of edging. After 10 minutes my shoulders start to hurt and I need to stretch.Otherwise I like the product.

I have other 20V Black+Decker products and this one works pretty well. My only gripe is that it is a single string trimmer, for some grass runners it takes multiple passes to cut completely when edging. After about the year, the screws that connects the long shaft in the middle got loose - easy fix. I recommend buying a spare spool so you have it handy if you run out during usage. The battery is quite good, I can generally do all by trimming and edging with one battery. However, you should have a spare just in case. I also have other B+D 20V products (hedge trimmer, blower, pole saw) and the batteries are all compatible. I made the jump to cordless equipment a few years back and have not looked back. I highly recommend this product and would have given it 5 stars if it was a double string trimmer.

NIce weed eater and was really impressed by the edger. Automatic feeding of spool worked great and after 6+ uses on a large snigle family yard (and a corner lot) I still have plenty wire left.Battery (and two is even better) is great because you can swap them out quickly if needed and they wok on all the other 20v tools black and decker makes. This saves you 20-30 dollars each time you order another product from this line. I've noticed the battery is strong enough to last about 15 continual minutes with any one of their tools.The battery takes a long time to charge to get those 15 minutes of action. Several hours in fact, so plan accordingly.

Light weight and easy to use. The guide wheel is great for edging a walk or fence as it prevents the string from cutting into the fencing. I have a small lawn, but a decent amount of walkways and fence line and was able to use the same battery charge for two separate trimmings. Only knock is that this product lacks power for tough/thick grasses, even using the extra power 2 setting; the string and battery/motor just aren't strong enough. However, makes quick and easy work of light-to-medium tasks.July 2017 Update:So I've been using this trimmer for the better part of 2 mowing seasons and I highly recommend it! As noted previously, each battery charge lasts for more than 2 yard trimmings. I'm also still on my original spool of string (though I recently ordered replacements, from Amazon, of course). I only have a fifth of an acre lot, but have fencing on 2 sides, driveway, walks, and a fair amount of garden edging. This edger easily handles residential trimming chores and is by far the lightest, most comfortable string trimmer I've owned! I really appreciate the guide wheel for edging walks and fences -- it's a must-have feature for now on. I won't being going back to a gas powered model with their numerous drawbacks -- mixing gas/oil, jerky pull start, choke adjustment, smell, noise, and the occasional muffler burn.

We have a 3/4 acre lot with 23 flower beds, a veggie garden and numerous fruit and ornamental trees to edge and trim. I bought this to get rid of the power cable hassle of getting around everything, switching outlets etc. It was the same reason we bought a 20v B&D hedge trimmer. It has worked out very well. About 80% of the trimming and edging was done on a single charge at low setting. The other 20% was finished with a battery from the hedge trimmer. We now keep up with the task instead of putting it off because of the hassle. We also have a B&D 20v drill. With all 4 of the batteries being inter changeable, we can trim our 30 hemlocks in one day instead of dragging it out. I hope it lasts as long as the hedge trimmer.

Pretty impressive performance from this lithium powered trimmer. Assembly was quick and easy and I was out the door giving it a trial run with one of my LBXR20 lithium batteries from my Black & Decker hedge trimmer or blower.The device was used primarily on the extended run-time setting which gave more than enough opportunity to clear the concrete walk, two driveways and some weedy overgrowth on the front and back yards. I still had power left on the battery when I was done and put it back in the charger after somewhere in the 20 to 30 minute range. (I didn't wear a watch so I can't be precise.) If I got this much from the less powerful battery, I'm sure I'll be impressed with the run-time of the supplied double power battery.As far as I could tell, the feeder and line both did their job admirably but since I don't know how to judge how much time or work I'll get out of the original spool I went ahead last night and ordered up a two pack of replacements for future use.All in all I must say that I have been very impressed with the three B&D products I have from this line...string trimmer, blower / sweeper and hedge trimmer.At some point I may consider the quick charger but am not having any issues with the supplied chargers as I usually have a spare battery ready to go.

These spools are great! I've used my Black & Decker lightweight weed eater for 3 years and am pleased with the performance. The spool is so simple to insert and it feeds easily with bumping it on the ground.

The weed whacked seems to go they this faster then it did the original nylon thread that it came with. Not sure why that is the case as this is supposed to be OEM replacement.Otherwise works fine and fits the model we have as expected.

Exactly what I needed. I take care of my lawn even though I am in a power chair, this trimmer and string are the best I have bought with adjustment on the trimmer and string that goes a long way.

This works well with my Black and Decker battery powered trimmer. The auto-feed feature worked flawlessly with the spool that was already on the trimmer when I purchased the trimmer. When I put on the first replacement spool it would not auto-feed for the first several times I used it. I had to manually remove it and unwind it each time the line got short. After a while the auto-feed started working again. I don't know why it wasn't working, I didn't change anything before it started working properly again. When it works, it's great so I'm still giving it four stars.

I'm not usually mechanically challenged but the instructions on this were not great so it took longer to replace than I thought it should but considering how these things used to work it's akin to sliced bread in the handiness. Little more clarity on instructions and it would be a 5 star.

It was well packed and shipped, but I had to return it and the trimmer be cause the trimmer was not heavy duty enough for my type of Floridagrass, line is .065 and it went through the one that come with the trimmer 15 minutes.

There is a lot to like about this product. It is light weight, powerful and it seems that getting two batteries along with the trimmer really makes it a good deal. It has one fault in my opinion, the trigger/handle is much to hard to pull. There is no way to lock the trimmer in on, so you have to keep the handle squeezed quite tightly. I'm not a little guy, but I find that after using the trimmer for 10 or 15 minutes my forearm gets quite cramped. Perhaps the trimmer I received has a abnormally strong spring. I use a velcro strap to hold the trigger handle down which is certainly a safety hazzard, but it is the only way to use the product for a long period of time.

This Trimmer/ Edger is a great overall product with several flaws. The battery is long lasting (I typically use mine for 30 to 45 minutes with no issues). It also comes with two batteries which helpful for larger yards and projects. The main benefit of this trimmer is that it is light. The weight makes yard projects easy to complete without fatigue.My main complaint is that the hand grip is height adjustable but does not adjust around the trimmer. When in edger mode, the hand grip requires an awkward arm positioning which is fatiguing. The ability to twist the hand grip would fix this issue.

I had a Black & Decker rechargeable trimmer about 13 years ago and I was very impressed. I then used a lawn cutting service for several years before going back to do my own lawn again this summer. I was excited to see a more powerful and lighter (lithium) battery so I bought this trimmer. Unfortunately, my first one only lasted about 1 month before the battery would give out every few minutes. I decided to give it another chance and replaced the first one and it has been running great for 2 months now. It's more powerful than I expected and it's fine for basic yard work. I wouldn't recommend it for heavy brush but for grass and weeds that grow against a fence or basic edging, it works very well, is light, and the string lasts a long time. I run it for approximately 15-20 minutes on its high setting with no problems.My 3 stars is due to the first battery being defective but I would have given it 4 if that did not happen.

Forget using the low setting to cut anything. There is a speed control you should forget 1 and use 2. When I first got it I was so disappointed. It would not cut anything. On 2 I haven't found it as powerful as a cheap electric. That said I didn't send it back and I do use it. If you use it on the maximum setting it is still not going to cut what an electric one will, but you don't have to pull out cords. It is nice for that reason and it is nice that you don't have to keep tearing it apart to get the line to feed.Just feeding line automatically is why I didn't give up on it. It came with 2 batteries. I'm a senior citizen and my yard is small. I hate having to store 2 batteries and I work 30 minutes and quit. One battery on the highest power works OK for me. If you are OK with that then it works fine as long as you aren't trying to cut big stuff.

The batteries last me through the job unlike my previous trimmer with Ni-cad batteries. Even on the highest speed setting this thing doesn't have quite enough oomph though in thick grass. There's a wheel to assist in edging which is nice. This thing is the lightest trimmer I've used to date, but I have to switch it back and forth between hands because the trigger needs so much force to hold in.

I bought it because I have a small yard and my gas weed eaters are older and hard to start not to mention heavy, if you have a larger yard or heavy weed eating to do then DO NOT buy this, but for small yards or light weed eating it works fine, I can complete my entire yard on one charge, I also have other tools with the same battery so even if it runs out I have an extra.. Oh I would not use for edging, I have a black and decker edger and it is worth dragging the extension cord for that. I am not sure about the auto feed, it doesn't always work properly but works well enough for me. I gave it three stars because it suits my needs nicely but does take a bit to cut through tough weeds and would not want to use it for large jobs or heavy weed eating or edging, doesn't have the power for that.

Kept unwinding even before I had it in the weed wacker.

too thin,lasted about 3 minutes,and about 20 feet of edging!

Maybe someone can help me with this, but I followed the instructions exactly, yet the spool gets stuck and does not feed automatically the way it's supposed to. Using a BLACK+DECKER GH900 6.5-Amp String weed cutter.

Cuts well but I feel like it feeds too fast when doing edging?

They're overpriced, but they're easy to install and last a somewhat reasonable amount of time. If I had to use my weedeater more, I would just want something where I can spool it myself for far cheaper.

These come in b&d packaging so I hope real thing, but ordered 2 packages 6 weeks ago, and a reel in The 2nd package literally broke INSIDE the weed wackier compartment. Past the 30-day return policy so I am posting my disappointment here. Used to buy the 3 packs at Home Depot but this was more cost effective. Now, maybe not if 1 out of 4 goes bad - & this never happened with the packages from HD, and we've had b&d weed walkers for probably 8 years. Not sure about the quality of product Amazon is buying or how old it is (& this was Amazon, not 3rd party)...

I am giving it one star because it has no explanation of the symbols on the charger. On my first attempt to use this, it would not work. I thought that since I had charged the batteries a week earlier that I needed to charge them again. One battery blinked red when inserted, the other blinked green once then nothing. The "instruction manual" needs to included more info on troubleshooting. Are the batteries faulty or..?

This is the third B&D trimmer/edger I've had in the past 6-7 years, each with a different type of battery. I've got to say, each model has become progressively weaker. If you want to use this one as an edger, forget it. I often have to go over the same grass 4-5 times. And I thought the wheel was a great idea until I tried edging in a straight line with it. Ugh.

it is an ok trimmer, not an effective edger. Not especially powerful, even for a 20V. The biggest issue is the battery life. It might run for 30 min on a good day. I have a tiny yard, and one fully charged battery will not finish the job. If you need your trimmer to run for more than 30 min, ever, do not purchase this product. It will do fine for very small jobs.

I was very happy using the last two series Black & Decker trimmers that were 18V. They made me give up gas trimmers for good. But this one has me thinking of going back to gas. I really won't do that--instead I'll find a battery model that works better than this one. The main problem is that Black & Decker has not figured out how to make the line advance feature work more than for about ten uses before it stops working. For me, that's about 3/4's of a year. The trimmer still works, but it just beats you to death because you have to go over the same ground repeatedly with a 4" piece of sting until it finally advances. The last time I used this one, I decided that I was done with Black & Decker trimmers. I'm getting too old (and the units keep getting heavier too). The Black & Decker battery blowers work ok and I will continue to use mine until it bites the dust, but I'm done with this trimmer.

Trimmer worked great and was my favorite garden tool...for about six months til it quit. Great product until automatic spool feed lever gives out (which unfortunately is very common per their customer service).Bought this in April of 2015 and worked great until October when I first had to replace the spool that came with it. So I bought two new spools and each one lasted all of ONE week! Have bought four new spools since and now the feeder lever has quit altogether. Even the replacement levers I just bought are useless. Luckily it's still under warranty so I'm sending it back in for repair but when it quits again, I'll just scrap it and go back to a gas trimmer. Purchase at your own risk.

This string trimmer worked as advertised for approximately 40 minutes on the first use.To spool out more string, you tap the trimmer head on the ground. After doing this about 5 or 6 times on the first use, a retaining clip inside the trimmer head broke. As a result, the string unspooled indefinitely. I won't claim they all do this, but as this was my only experience, I returned it and will probably avoid B&D in the future.

These didn't seem to last nearly as long as other black and Decker string replacements I have gotten. Going back to other product, not sure if these are fakes, but the others would last me an entire season on three spools. Went through 4 of these this year already and now need more.

I’m lucky to get through weedwacking my yard one time without running out of string. My previous weedwacker and string lasted at least 3 times.

There is nothing automatic about these "Autofeed" spools. I have to stop every few minutes, remove the cap on the spool, rotate the spool a bit to get some more length, and then replace the cap. Tedious. Fortunately, I don't use this thing every week.

Be careful when you order the Black and Decker Trimmer because the "also bought" suggestion for replacement cord MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT spools for the trimmer in your cart. I had to return the two spools that were shown with my Black and Decker cordless trimmer (which is really nice) and go back and find the right replacement spool.

Line is constantly breaking. Never had this problem before.

I chose the 2-pack, b/c the unit price was lower than either the singles or the 3-packs. Got two 2-packs. Just finished the first spool and was surprised at how fast it went. Much more brittle and shorter-lived than the one that came with the trimmer. Also, realized after purchase/delivery that you can buy a big spool of line and re-wrap the existing trimmer spool yourself. For some reason I had previously thought that wasn't an option with this model.

Product broke after 3rd use - cap to spool broke apart and whole assembly fell out, and now I have to ship it 200 miles away for repair...Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:34:00 AM): Thank you for contacting Black&Decker. How can I help you?Me (9/11/2017, 10:34:38 AM): I need to find out how to get an exchange or repair on a LST420 20V MAX Lithium High Performance Trimmer and Edger, 12" I bought 6 weeks ago that is already brokenMe (9/11/2017, 10:34:44 AM): bought it on AmazonPaula D (9/11/2017, 10:34:53 AM): I apologize you are having this issue today. I would be more than happy to assist you with this, one moment please.Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:35:01 AM): What is your zip code please.Me (9/11/2017, 10:35:10 AM): 29485Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:35:49 AM): What you will need to do is get the unit in to a Service Center. The closest Service Center to you is listed below or you can mail the unit in to them. Factory Service Center #0423557-B Wilkinson BlvdCharlotte, NC 28208704-392-0245Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:36:12 AM): Just send the tool itself with a note stating what is wrong with the unit and your contact information. Name, address, phone number. You can also include a copy ofyour receipt to speed up your repair.They will evaluate the unit and repair or replace it per warranty.Me (9/11/2017, 10:36:28 AM): Seriously, 200 miles away?Me (9/11/2017, 10:36:52 AM): I don’t have a box that will hold a trimmer...who is paying for the box and the shipping?Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:37:49 AM): It is the customers responsibility to get the unit to them and they will send it back. As a 1 time courtesy I can email you a label but we do not have boxes.Me (9/11/2017, 10:39:24 AM): So your brand new product broke on the 3rd use and i have to find a box, buy a box, ship it to another state when i have two small engine repair places aroundthe corner, and you’re going to do me a "courtesy" and send me a label...? Wow, what a great first experience with B&DPaula D (9/11/2017, 10:39:40 AM): Once again I apologize but that is the closest place that works on our Lawn and Garden.Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:40:14 AM): Would you like me to send you the label?Me (9/11/2017, 10:40:20 AM): yes..Paula D (9/11/2017, 10:41:07 AM): What is your shipping address please.

I bought this in January of 2016. A few months ago the trimmer line stopped spinning, which required my husband to take the whole thing apart to fix it. It worked for a few more months, but is broken again. Time to replace with another brand.

It broke and the battery is shot, but my return window has closed. (I fully understand how to charge batteries, and not get memory charges or overcharges) Had for only a short while. Used it 3 times on a .75 acre. It fell apart at the cuplink, and then wouldn't work right after that. My unit is dead. Please don't waste your money.

Used this only three times for a total of less than an hour and a half when it simply stopped working. Amazon's return policy has expired and I cannot get any reply from Black and Decker except to mail it to California. I have many of the MAX 20 volt products but this one is a great disappointment. This will definitely influence my future purchases.

Battery charger has already failed. When plugged in it only has a red light flashing with no battery attached. Tried to charge the battery and it will still only flashes red. Tired to charge both batteries and they will not charge. Not sure if it is the batteries or the charger. Included instructions do not say anything about the flashing read light. Not happy with this product.

Don't waste your money on this one. It *dies* do a decent job trimming, on the extended run time setting.However...Each battery only last 15 minutes or so. (So much for that 30 minutes per battery B&D claims) That wouldn't be so bad, except that it takes 5 hours to recharge 1 battery, os..if you only get half your trimming done with both batteries, you have to wait for a minimum of 5 hours to have another battery to pop in to continue.I suppose, B&D would be happy as clams if one bought a couple of extra batteries, but I only have 1 charger, so, I guess I would have to buy another charger.Too bad B&D didn't offer a fast charger for these batteries. I could handle a 1/2 hour charge on a battery. LI-On batteries can handle it, with the proper charger.Anywho..this is going back to Amazon for a refund..It just isn't working out, use time-wise.

Well, the Black and Decker weed whacker died so this is useless.

The string is terrible. I went through three spool in an hour of weed eating. I wasn't weed eating anything tough--it was waist-high grass. I hacked one of the spools to add a small length of electric fence wire (about the same diameter), and it lasted a *lot* longer.

Ugh. Don't bother. Breaks every 3 steps. The whole reel was used up before I finished edging my small driveway. Waste of money and time.

I ordered what I thought were 2 original OEM Black and Decker spools as shown in the picture. What I got were 2 RED (not black) colored spools with made in China written in big letters on the package. I decided to try 1 spool of the 2 pack only because I needed to do some weed eating ASAP. The OEM spools would last through several battery recharges on my BD cordless weed eater and get hours of use. This spool emptied out after 20 minutes. Don't waste your time or money on this product.

These worked ok. Until a piece off the plastic lever that feeds the spool broke on the B&D weed eater it goes to. We are in Afghanistan and that was our only Weed eater. Apparently it was not built for such harsh environments. Needless to say I was more than disappointed.

These spools are terrible. B&D should be ashamed to put out a product of this poor poor quality. The spool that came with the weed eater came apart on the second time out. Ordered a two pack. Stuck a new one in and second time it came apart. Have the third one in now. We will see next time out.