Stihl FSA 50 Cordless Grass Trimmer Review

Design and Features

• Adjustable shaft length
• Adjustable cutting head angle
• Converts to an edge trimmer

First off, this is an incredibly well-made grass trimmer. The steel shaft trigger, blade guard and handle feel premium, and there’s no wobble or rattling during use.

Weighing just over 4kg when combined with the AK20 battery, I thought this cordless grass trimmer would feel heavy. Thanks to Stihl’s excellent ergonomics and balance, it doesn’t feel weighty at all. The shaft length can be adjusted by about 20cm to suit gardeners of different heights, and the front loop handle can be adjusted to a comfortable position and locked in place.

A collar halfway along the shaft lets you rotate the cutting head, converting the trimmer to a powerful edging tool in seconds. The cutting head uses bump feed, too, paying out fresh line whenever you tap it on the lawn. In my opinion, bump feed beats auto feed because it’s more economical and has fewer moving parts that can go wrong.

Down at the business end of the grass trimmer, there’s plenty of adjustment available too. The cutting head angles to stay running flat on the lawn, regardless of your height. Flick the switch round to the “E” setting and the head drops straight down for edging the lawn instead. And another clever bit of thinking from Stihl, you can adjust it with your foot and not have to bend over. Notably, a cordless grass trimmer like this offers more convenience for different lawn jobs.

Running on the powerful AK system, the battery slots into the back of the trimmer and helps to keep things balanced and comfortable. And the 28cm cut width is wide enough for clearing decent swathes through long grass.

It all adds up to a supremely comfortable grass trimmer. The only place that might cause issues is when you want to stow it away. Although the shaft length is adjustable, it doesn’t fold or break down into two pieces. So, if you have limited storage a smaller grass trimmer would be a better option.

Performance

• Minimal vibration even at top speed
• Extremely quiet
• Effective variable speed trigger

Assembling the FSA 50 for its first use took me about five minutes. The loop handle bolts on and tightens in place by hand, but you’ll need a cross head screwdriver to attach the blade guard. The flower guard snaps into place without much fuss, but I had to be careful to avoid scratching the plastic.

It’s great to see that Stihl includes a pair of safety glasses in the box, and they’re big enough to go on over top of most glasses as well. Safety is always a priority when using a grass trimmer, so it’s a welcome addition to the FSA 50.

The lack of noise that this trimmer makes is impressive. If you really want to avoid annoying the neighbours, trimming on the lowest speed is almost silent. And controlling the speed is easy too, thanks to the sensitive trigger. I found it easy to keep it at a low enough speed to conserve battery life but kick it up to full speed when necessary. Additionally, the cordless grass trimmer design helps keep noise levels down for quiet operation.

The two stage safety trigger might not be to everyone’s tastes, however. To turn on the trimmer, you need to engage the rear and side safety switches before the variable speed trigger works. It’s an effective safety feature but a little fiddly to get used to.

The lack of vibration is another welcome feature. Even at full speed, the FSA 50 didn’t push much vibration into my hands. It’s definitely an easy trimmer to use, even for long periods.

I used an AK20 battery in the trimmer, which is rated to power the trimmer for up to 50 minutes. The smaller AK10 will give you 25 minutes of trimming, and the big AK30 battery provides an hour of use.

While the trimmer comes with a line trimmer head and 1.6 mm round line, you can swap it out for the Polycut 3-2 mowing head with plastic blades to double your working time. That’s good to know if you have lots of brush to clear.  

However, if you have a bigger garden to look after you might want to take a look at the FSA 50’s big brother, the mighty Stihl FSA 70R instead.

Should you buy it?