Bought this for my father inlaw several years ago for Christmas. I always wondered why he doesn't use it andwould rather use the old school hedge shears. I borrowed the ryobi hedge trimmer recently and was so disappointed with this ryobi product. The thing doesn't cut well. It seems to rip the folliage rather than cut. You need to do many passes to trim. There is no lock switch so your hand gets tired of holding the trigger down. It's also very noisy.

It’s great. Couldn’t fault it, it’s light weight and easy to handle and as I’m in a wheelchair to be able to do the gardening again I’m just over the moon. Also it’s easy to change the blades.

I have a hedge trimmer and pole hedge trimmer which are more than enough for trimming my hedges. But, since I added this little one, my Sunday garden works become a lot more efficient and fun. I don't see any negative side on this tool when I use it for a right purpose. If you don't have any trimmer, get a normal 500mm one. But if you need something to do more detail job this one would be great