Best Hair Clippers
Skip the Barber Fees & DIY Your Haircut With These Top Clippers
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Your favorite barber shop may be right down the street, and it may even be the center of your social life, but depending on how fast your hair grows, it may also become a serious drain on your wallet. So there’s something to be said for stretching out the time between visits with a little self-care … and a good hair clipper.
RELATED: How to Cut Your Own Hair
Certainly, maintaining that crew cut can be handled completely at home. but cleaning up an undercut or trimming some sideburns can also be helped along at the bathroom sink. Not only will it save money, but — with a little practice — home grooming may even become a point of pride.
Hair clippers are best identified by the comb-like blades sitting on top of the device that operate like a series of little scissors to trim hair to any length. Most home kits bear the same resemblance to those used by your barber, but probably aren’t as quite as powerful or durable.
Others sport modern builds that can be mistaken for some of the market’s top beard trimmers or electric shavers. Read the product info first to be sure you’re picking up something that matches your needs as well as your skill set.
What Makes a Great Set of Hair Clippers?
- Accessories: Most clippers come bundled with a variety of comb attachments to cut all hairstyles. Lubricating oil and a mini-brush to wipe down the blades are a must-have to maintain performance.
- Design: Lightweight, ergonomic, and cordless is nice, though clippers with a cord often pack more power. Look for a model that fits comfortably in the hand, but can withstand the abuse you’ll put it through over the years. Materials such as stainless steel and high-carbon steel are high quality, heavy duty materials for clipper blades.
- Performance: A good pair of hair clippers will glide through a thick head of hair reliably, while never overheating or producing irritable noise. Take battery life into account too (you'll want to splurge on a model with lithium-ion battery if you have the option) if you opted out of a power cord.
- Special Features: Adjustable length settings, powerful motors, specially engineered blades, even sensors … the more, the merrier. Does it double as a facial hair shaver or nose hair trimmer or even a dog clipper (for the pet owners out there)? Great.
- Warranty: Your investment is only as a good as the insurance policy that comes with it. View the fine print and see if the device is covered for at least one year or more.
Ask Yourself These Questions Before You Buy
- Are certain hair clippers required to obtain a certain hairstyle(s)?
- Does cost matter?
- Is any experience needed to operate them?
- Should extra accessories be considered?
- Will you be cutting your own hair?
- When should you perform a thorough cleaning?
- Does the brand matter?
- Should you look into an Amazon protection plan?
- How often will you use them?
Gather expert feedback, look at customer reviews, and definitely ask your stylist or barber. But once passed the pre screening phase, you can then be schooled on the hair-cutting essentials.
RELATED: Best Barber Scissors
To help make choices a little easier, we've picked a selection of clippers that should match up with your comfort level and your hirsute needs.
Best Hair Clippers for Men
Andis Professional Master Adjustable Blade Hair Clipper
This professional-grade Andis clipper is a favorite electric shaver for traditional cuts to fades and every length in between. This impressive hair-cutting system features a ceramic blade designed to be corrosion resistant, run cooler, and stay sharper than conventional steel blade cutters. It also ensures safety when contouring around the head. Portability is overshadowed by the device’s incredibly powerful motor that operates swiftly with little sound. Keep the clipper stored in its heavy-duty storage case when traveling.
Wahl Professional Essentials Combo
Durable and powerful, this combo is a testament to the brand’s renowned design pedigree, with a sleek shape that compliments its powerful motor. Wahl tapered the blades to cut hair 40 percent faster than a basic clipper, while preserving sharpness for longer use. The company provides a five-year warranty on the blades themselves, with the actual clippers earning a lifetime warranty. Let the acclaimed Powerdrive motor direct the haircutting experience and attach any of the Secure-Fit guide combs, which are built 70 percent stronger than existing combs from the collection.
Conair Number Cut 20-Piece Home Haircut Kit
What gave the superlative of this clipper away? Was it the color-coded guards? Maybe the easy-read guide on the body? Maybe it was simply the number of items you get for the price? Spoiler: It’s all that, and more. The clippers feature five-position taper control, so when combined with the 10 guards that come with it, you get over 50 different settings to get the whole family looking good.
Wahl Professional Peanut
The Wahl Peanut clippers boast a compact, ergonomic design that makes maneuvering around the contours of your head a breeze. The blades are swappable, which makes cleanup fast and simple, and the included lengths (1/8", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2") offer the most standard cuts, allowing you to execute your own fades or shape your facial hair too.
Andis 01690 Professional Fade Master Hair Clipper
Perfect for close cuts and, as the name suggests, fades, this professional level Andis 01690 clipper is a must have for those who keep their coiffure cropped, thanks to its barber-grade blades. These blades adjust from 00000 to 000 and can be zero-gapped, which is perfect for the freshest of expert-level fades. Can you use this for other styles? Sure, but since it lacks guards in the box, you might want to save those cuts for your stylist or barber, unless of course that’s you, since Andis is a favorite of the pros.
Oster Classic 76 Universal Motor Clipper
Going old school means getting back to your roots — pun intended. The Oster Classic 76 is durable and built to last a long time. Designed for use by barbers, there is no long list of colorful guards listed on the box. You won’t need them with these bad boys. Barbers need only a few tools — a good comb, a good set of scissors, a good set of clippers, and a good set of eyes. This clipper is just about ideal for any good barber. Its sleek, ergonomic design includes two blades (000 and 1) and features a quality universal motor. If you’re just buzzing at home, you might want to look past this one. If you’re cutting at home, this is more your speed.
Best Hair Trimmers for Men
Braun MGK7221 All-In-One Grooming Kit
Braun’s model MGK7221 is an effective manscaper from head-to-toe. With sharp Braun-quality blades and 13 length settings, this is a perfect standalone hair clipper or an add-on to your well stock home hair removal inventory. It’s also 100% water-friendly for great cuts in the shower and washing blades after allowing for easy care, which can't be said for its corded counterparts. The lithium ion battery fully charges in one hour for 100 minutes of cutting — that's a long time.
Wahl Stainless Steel Beard and Nose Trimmer
Perfect for trimming behind ears around necks, this is a clipper that can pull double duty by getting a little hair, everywhere. Not just for edging and detailing, this has attachments meant for noses, ears, and beards. Keep it all clean with this lean mean Wahl machine.
Remington Head-to-Toe Grooming Kit
Cheap in price, yet powerful in performance, Remington’s PG525 head-to-toe groomer covers a lot of (your) ground. Five attachments give you 14 different length adjustments to from crown, to crown jewels without missing a beat. What do you get? A hair clipper comb with eight length settings, full-size trimmer, foil shaver, nose, ear, and detail trimmer, vertical body hair trimmer and body hair trimmer comb, plus three beard and stubble combs. The blades are designed to cut through all hair types, and are also helpful for shearing through facial fur of any length. Throw in a lifetime warranty and the dual-purpose trimmer supersedes its budget-friendly value.
Bevel Trimmer, Limited Edition
Bevel set out to design a clipper that would be sleek and sophisticated, but overall, effective. The Bevel team should be very happy with what it came with, and you should be too. Quick adjustments (that means no screwdrivers needed), consistent cordless power for up to four hours, and once you zero gap the blade, get up to the skin without worrying about bumps and irritation.
Looking for more tips and tricks to cut hair, head-to-toe? We have you covered … or uncovered, however you want to think about it. Check out more of AskMen’s grooming advice for head, face, and beyond. Stay smooth man.
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