Stihl and EGO both make great battery powered mowers. I own both the Stihl RMA 510 V and the EGO Select Cut mower with Touch Drive – two of the most popular electric mowers in the game right now.

After using both mowers extensively, I like the EGO Select Cut mower better because it provided a better cut and has a more extensive battery series.

Read my experience using and abusing the EGO Select Cut XP mower here and my full review of the Stihl’s foray into electric push mowers here.

Comparing EGO Select Cut to the Stihl RMA 510 V electric mower

I took both of these mowers into my backyard for a little side-by-side comparison. Here’s what I found.

The EGO Select Cut mower is more powerful than the Stihl battery mower

It is always difficult to quantify the power output of an electric mower. Gas mowers are easy to compare because they have horsepower or ccs or other metrics. One metric that EGO advertises is torque.

EGO claims that their Select Cut mower puts out about 8.9 ft. lbs of torque. I am not quite sure that that means but it is a claim EGO uses to show that this mower is more powerful than gas mowers. After using the EGO Select Cut I can tell you that it feels more powerful than gas.

The Stihl RMA 510 V mower doesn’t have an advertised torque amount, but it felt like a pretty standard mower on par with gas.

Side-by-side the EGO mower is definitely the more powerful mower of the two. It’s hard to describe the feeling but it really feels solid, doesn’t miss a cut, and pulls you forward when you use it.

The winner: EGO Select Cut Battery Powered Mower

EGO Select Cut is cheaper than the Stihl RMA 510 V mower

Let’s get straight to the point – which one is a better price, the EGO Select Cut or the Stihl RMA 10 V?

The EGO Select Cut with one battery comes in at around just over $750. You can find it on Amazon for a really good price here.

The Stihl RMA 510 V is about $800 and can be found on Acme Tools website (no affiliation).

It is clear that the EGO Select Cut is the less expensive option here.

The winner: EGO Select Cut Battery Powered Mower with Touch Drive

The Stihl RMA 510 V has a more durable build than EGO

Stihl’s RMA 510 V mower comes with a great metal cutting deck that is 21 inches wide. Metal cutting decks are great for a few reasons. For starters, metal cutting decks are more durable than plastic cutting decks (regardless of how thick they are).

Metal cutting decks also provide more weight to the mower. Weight on a walk-behind mower like the Stihl RMA 510 V is not always a bad thing. The additional weight helps keep electric mowers grounded and stabilized.

The EGO Select Cut has a thick, plastic cutting deck. While this is still pretty durable, I prefer the classic metal decks for appearance, durability, and added stability.

If you’re looking for a more durable EGO mower, check out their new (about time) aluminum deck mower.

The winner: Stihl RMA 510 V Battery Powered Mower

EGO’s battery system is superior to Stihl’s

With EGO’s 56V battery lineup, you can use the same battery to power the Select Cut mower that you would to power your blower, edger, and dozens of other tools. If you grab a something like their attachment system that can swap out a ton of different tools, you can literally use the one battery and power head for like 8 different tools.

Stihls AP 300 battery system is still relatively new – just like Stihl’s presence in the electric and battery powered lawn tool game. You don’t quite get the breadth and variety of tools with Stihl that you would with EGO.

The winner: EGO Select Cut battery powered mower

The EGO feels easier to use than the Stihl mower

While the Stihl mower is a perfectly fine mower, I noticed a huge difference when I switched back and forth between the two. The EGO feels much more powerful, likely from its construction feeling really “solid”. It is a hard thing to put into words, but the EGO feels like it is just really well built.

One other noticeable difference is the self-propelled function on the EGO Select Cut. The self-propelled function is so hardcore that it literally pulled me forward when I started it. This allows you to mow your lawn really quickly and reliably compared to the slower, weaker feeling Stihl RMA 510 V.

Overall Review: EGO Select Cut vs Stihl RMA 510 V mower

The EGO Select Cut battery mower is better than the Stihl RMA 510 V battery mower because it is less expensive, more powerful, and has a bigger battery system. The Stihl has a more durable metal cutting deck and is a fine mower – but still isn’t quite up to par with EGO.

You can grab the EGO Select Cut mower on Amazon here.

How I tested out these mowers

I tested out the EGO Select Cut mower and the Stihl RMA 510 V in my backyard. I put both through thick grass while lowering the cutting deck, ran them until they died, took them over sticks and rocks, and cranked the self-propelled function all the way up.

If you want to watch more about how I’ve tested some of these, check me out on YouTube!

Why we compare electric lawn mowers

The reason we started The Lawn Review in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something.

What to look for in an electric mower

If you’re looking for a new battery powered mower, you need to make sure you understand what things matter on the mower. You will get hit with a lot of technical specifications and people throwing acronyms at you.

Below are my main criteria when buying a mower.

Battery-powered mower brand quality

Quality is going to be super important here. Just about everyone is in the electric mower game these days and there are a ton of junky mowers out there. Avoid anything from a weird brand on Amazon that takes 9 years to ship. It is probably being 3D printed in a Laotian bathroom. Go for brands that have consistent quality and focus on the details, not just flashy colors.

Some brands I trust off the top of my head are: Greenworks, Milwaukee, Makita, Toro, EGO, and Kobalt. SOME Ryobi mowers, although myself and others have had some problems with reliability. Brand quality matters, but it’s also important to look at the specs on each.

Luckily, Greenworks is on this list so we are in good shape!

Metal where it matters: the deck

Most electric mowers are plastic-y. Probably to reduce the weight of the mower so that the battery can get you further, but it feels cheap. Make sure to get metal where it matters – namely the deck. The deck is the part that covers the blades. Don’t get plastic here – a rock can rip through it.

Battery interoperability.

A ten dollar word used here, but really just make sure to buy a mower with a battery that is compatible with other electric tools. You’ll see a bunch of these brands that have battery lines that work with a ton of tools. Milwaukee, Makita, and Dewalt are all great options because you can use them for all lawn tools AND power tools – saving you a ton of money on extra batteries.

If you have more questions, check out our guide to electric lawn mowers, where we discuss what you should know before buying an electric mower.

The Greenworks 80V series is a good one – including their awesome and sleek leaf blower.

Self-propelled or not

Self-propelled mowers are lawn mowers that slowly crawl forward when mowing the lawn. They propel forward the mower, taking off a lot of the “pushing power” required by traditional push mowers.

Self-propelled mowers are ALWAYS more expensive because they have the additional power and functionality that makes life easier. They have their place, but because of the cost can often seem not totally worth it

The EGO Select Cut XP self-propelled mower is an absolute tank. EGO did it again – and this mower has all of the bells and whistles.

If you have never heard of EGO, you’re missing out on a modern day cult. Everybody that has one of their lawn tools is obsessed and promises to never go back. Heck, we did a five-way head-to-head matchup with a bunch of mowers and the EGO flock came out in full force to represent.

Bottom line: The EGO Select Cut XP is the cream of the crop when it comes to EGO mowers. It has powerful torque, a great self-propelled function, and is pretty durable. Psst….you can grab one of these for a really good price on Amazon instead of Lowes.

Let me break down my review of the EGO Select Cut XP – the model number LM2150SP or LM2156SP (whatever that means). I also compare the EGO Select Cut to the Stihl RMA battery mower.

Jump ahead:

My experience with this mower
Power
Battery performance
Durability
Value
My recommendation

My experience with EGO mowers

I’ve had the good fortune of using a few EGO mowers. They have a noticeable trait that makes them stick out: they are absolute tanks. They feel like a man’s mower. Bulkier, sturdier, more powerful – a self-propelled function that truly pulls you forward.

I’ve gotten to use a few and compare them across a bunch of other electric mowers – probably well over a dozen now. EGO is always one of my favorites because of how popular they are. Needless to say, I’m experienced when it comes to using these. In fact, I walked one of them on the street in my neighborhood until it died. It was well over an hour – that’s dedication.

My favorite EGO mower is the new EGO LM2200SP mower that is incredible – read more here.

EGO LM2150SP Select Cut XP Electric Mower Review

The EGO LM2150SP has a lot to love. Let me do a rundown of my experience using this mower to help you see if you would want to snag one of these. I’ll start by breaking down the power.

Power and feel on the EGO LM2150 / LM2156 mower

The EGO LM2150SP Select Cut XP is one of the best analogs to gas-powered mowers that I have come across. For starters, it just feels like a gas powered mower despite looking nothing really like one. When EGO says Select Cut XP – they mean that this is their highest torque mower. At 8.3 lbs/ft – the EGO Select Cut XP puts out more torque than just about any normal residential gas mower. More than Honda’s lineup of push mowers for sure.

One thing I love about the LM2150SP is that the self-propelled function is super easy to use and control – even when in use. You simply roll up this little cylinder to toggle the self-propelled function’s speed. Something that stood out to me the first time I used EGO’s Touch Drive technology was how it truly pulls you forward, whereas others are a bit underwhelming and still require a good bit of pushing.

Lastly, this mower has multiple blades. Two at a time will run on this bad boy, which means it will be tough to miss a blade of grass. The mower comes with three blades that can be swapped out depending on if you are bagging or mulching.

EGO 56V Battery performance

I put a ton of elbow grease and time into this series of tests. Like I mentioned earlier, I actually walked this mower around my neighborhood until it died to see how it compared to four other mowers. This isn’t the most scientific test in the world, but it does help you see how it is relative to other mowers (if you are shopping around).

Once the battery was dead, I plugged it into the charger to see exactly how long it took for the 10 Ah battery to recharge.

Here were my results:

The EGO ran for an hour and thirty one minutes before dying – not bad!
The 56V 10Ah battery took the least amount of time to fully recharge, compared to the other mowers – an hour and four minutes.

Battery time will vary wildly depending on many factors, like the load you are cutting – but is entirely dependent on the amp-hours (Ah) of your battery. The more Ah, the more run time. If you are grabbing this mower, make sure you have some higher Ah batteries to ensure it runs as long as you need. Mine came with 10.0 Ah, but I have smaller EGO batteries as well that fit into the 765 CFM blower and their Multi-Head tool.

EGO Mower Durability

One thing I dislike about the EGO, and most EGO mowers in general, is that they have plastic cutting decks. Traditional gas push mowers have metal decks – it is just the name of the game for heavy duty lawn mowing.

The LM2150SP from EGO is no different. A plastic cutting deck – I really prefer metal decks. I haven’t had a bad experience (yet) with these decks, but am always worried about cracking, chipping or otherwise just breaking in half.

To be fair, I’ve read hundreds of Youtube comments from folks who have their EGO mowers for 8+ years without the slightest damage to the plastic cutting deck. Otherwise, I haven’t heard or experienced any issues with durability. These things are built like tanks and will only leave you worrying about changing the batteries every 5-7 years.

Value and cost of the EGO mower

The EGO Select Cut XP (LM2150SP) comes in at around $450 for the tool-only version on Amazon, where I found it for the lowest price. That means if you already own the battery and don’t need an extra, you can get it for an absurd steal.

If you want to get it with huge batteries and a turbocharger (the LM2156SP version), you’re going to pay a lot more but can grab it on Amazon nonetheless.

My recommendation: EGO Select Cut XP Self-propelled

The EGO Select Cut XP is a really, really good mower. In fact, it has changed the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of skeptics who now are obsessed with it (me included). It has some pretty fancy functionality, is way more durable than I thought, is powerful as all-get-out, and if you get it tool-only, is a heck of a price.

All-in-all, this one gets the TLR stamp of approval. If you’re going with EGO and have money to spend, this is probably the top of the line option and will definitely turn your neighbors’ heads.

Tag: EGO Mower

Stihl RMA 510 V vs EGO Select Cut Electric Mower: My Comparison