Need a Fresh Fade? Here Are the 10 Best Men’s Hair Clippers for Cleaner At-Home Cuts (2024)

There are a few grooming devices that every man should own, and a good hair clipper is one of them (right up there with an electric shaver).

Men’s hair clippers are usually more powerful than beard trimmers, and as such, can mow through denser patches of hair with precision, without pulling or tugging on those precious hairs atop your head. That doesn’t mean you need to buy an expensive, barbershop-caliber clipper, especially if you’re only going to buzz yourself at home once or twice a year. However, it is because of those few times a year that you need a reliable hair clipper in the first place—so that you get the job done seamlessly and evenly each time.

Read on for the 10 best men’s hair clippers, none of which offer the same list of benefits. What they do share, however, is an army of fans, including me. But first, some suggestions on how to begin your search.

The Expert: I’ve been a grooming journalist for more than eight years. I love trying new products, speaking with brand representatives, helping readers perfect their self care, and offering my own skin and hair up as a petri dish. My hair clipper game picked up steam with the pandemic, when I got in the habit of buzzing myself, rotating between five or six of the models below with each trim. Now I’m on the grow-out, but am keeping a couple clippers on hand for when I have finally had enough bad hair days. My writing has appeared in nearly every U.S. men’s media outlet, including GQ, Men’s Journal, Robb Report, and Gear Patrol.

The Best Men's Hair Clippers

What to Consider

First and foremost, you want customization, from design to process. No hair clipper is the universal best for everyone—though some come close. Ultimately, it comes down to how frequently you plan to use the device, how thick your hairs are (and how dense your overall hair is), as well as how detailed you want your cuts to be. What you need at home is vastly different from the options a professional barber needs.

You might only be giving yourself a buzzcut a couple of times a year, whereas others are giving their friends, partners, or children a fresh fade or a cleanup every couple of weeks. In the latter case, investing in a professional-grade device is likely more justified. No matter where your needs fall, evaluate a clipper’s guard options (like outlining “T” blades), as well as the range of trimming lengths, be it the ability to “zero gap” the device for a naked fade or use a half-inch guard for a high clip.

Convenience is another factor. Having a cordless clipper is ideal, especially if you’re giving yourself a buzz. You also want something with a fast charge and a generous battery life. Typically, you’ll find clippers with a 40- to 60-minute run time on a full charge; that’s more than sufficient if you’re managing periodic at-home clips. And some cordless clippers can be used while they’re plugged in, too. Plus, even if your device needs a few hours to juice up, it’s easily solved with an overnight charge.

Best of all, there is a great product for every budget; even the low-cost picks tend to carry a good warranty. However, if you do shell out more, you’ll have sturdier, heftier shells; higher-powered, sharper blades; and better quality overall. That’s not to say the lower-cost picks are low in quality; you can feel the difference, though, in how it hums or how hefty it is.

How We Selected

I used one primary standard to select 10 of the best men’s hair clippers: All models are great at-home options—whether you’re doing a DIY buzz or helping refresh someone else’s hair.

It can be a little difficult to standardize a list of hair clippers, because some use millimeters as measurements and others use inches or even industry-standard clipper settings. There’s lots of talk about voltage and which countries these can be used in. I picked all cordless options to better standardize this list. And though some of the more powerful clippers out there demand a plugging-in, there are some barber-caliber cutters on this roster that will mow through thick, coarse, coiled hair. (And I denote those.)

For guard options and trimming length, I use the standard unit of measurement that each brand does, which means some are in millimeters and others in inches. Hopefully, those are both simple to envision in your head, given that clippers tend to keep everything under or around an inch. But, if it helps, here’s a simple brush-up:

• 1.5 millimeters = 1/16 inches
• 3 millimeters = 1/8 inches
• 12 millimeters = 1/2 inches

I have more or less disregarded cutting speed as a measurement for comparison, though. Some clippers boast about how many thousands of hairs their product can cut in a second. That’s shorthand for a powerful device, but nobody is going to cut 65,000 hairs in a single second, so I’ll spare you the confusion here. Instead, I paid attention to customization options, charge duration, cost, and warranty. (Note that some retailers offer separate warranties from the manufacturer itself; you have to decide which warranty to pursue. In the specs below, I list the manufacturer’s warranty, not the retailer’s.)

Looking to trim more hair elsewhere? Check out our picks for the best beard trimmers, nose hair trimmers, and body groomers.

Panasonic’s clipper can sense the hair in its path and adjusts its intensity accordingly. This alone makes it one of the most customizable options and in a way no other features can top. That said, its ergo-friendly design and ability to mow through dense mops makes it a favorite among barbers, yet it’s also easy enough to navigate at home, thanks to its lightweight, half-pound body.

Although this hair trimmer is hard to find new or unused, it’s extremely reliable when well maintained over time. (So, do not hesitate to buy it used. Even the “new” appearing ones on Amazon are often rebuilt or restored.) It is powered by a V9000 motor, up from the brand’s old standard V5000. That’s more or less a 40 percent increase in oomph, which yields much less tugging and pulling on coarse, coily, and thick hair textures.

Although beard trimmers and hair clippers should be kept separate, Hatteker is one brand that devises most of its trimmers for duality. So, if you're a man who likes to grow your hair out but tend to buzz it, say, once or twice a year, then consider investing in this one; it will suit your beard and body needs wonderfully in the meantime. It also has a nice LED battery display and comes with all types of device heads for head-to-toe detailing.

Similar to the Hatteker kit above, Philips Norelco’s device is a true all-in-one pick. You can swap out any of its guards for nose trimming or groin maintenance, or target your head hair with a T-blade outliner, clipper guard, or angled fade combs. It takes customization to a max, and that this device “does it all” is what’s so impressive. But that doesn’t mean you should buy it if you only need a hair clipper. You can use it as one, if you buzz but once or twice a year. However, you’ll find better performance if you invest in a dedicated clipper.

This kitten purrs, and it’s got some serious heft, too. At nearly two pounds, you can feel the quality inside this machine. It’s a barbershop favorite for its high-quality engineering, though it’s not an easy one for a man to buzz himself with, for the same reasons. And because it’s professional grade, the clipper can be zero-gapped (meaning you can essentially shave all the way to the skin if you set it properly), and it cuts through coarse hair like a hot knife through butter.

Two Andis picks back to back? Indeed: The barbershop-staple brand also has one of the best at-home T-outlining devices, too. The Slimline Pro draws those clean lines around the edges (and on your beard, too). And like the Master Cordless above, this outliner can also be zero-gapped for the freshest, barely-there-est lines.

If you're a man who came to this roundup in search of a body hair clipper, then that’s why we’ve got Panasonic’s ER-GK80-S on this list: It won’t buzz your hair, but it can manage the hair under your arms, around your groin, and all the way down your backside. I like using it to snip untameable flyaways atop my head, too.