Best Hair Clippers 2024 – Forbes Vetted

The people who buzz their own hair, the guy who fades his sideburns beautifully, the mom who is prepared for everything including a gum-in-the-hair emergency: These are all candidates for a reliable pair of hair clippers. I researched the market and summoned eight industry-favorite devices to my doorstep to find the best hair clippers that deliver excellent results. Following extensive testing, my best overall pick is the Andis ReVite Clipper, which features the right balance of quality, durability and customization. My top value pick is the Wahl Color Pro Cordless Clipper, which offers incredible bang for your buck.

Here’s an overview of my top picks:

To further inform my testing process, I called on the expertise of my trusted barber, Evelyn Gutweniger of Nomad Barber in Berlin. In addition to trying out these devices with home users in mind, Gutweniger also advised me on what to consider when picking out hair clippers. Below, find the six best hair clippers, plus an in-depth buying guide to help you make the right purchase. (You can also check out my full reviews of the Andis ReVite and Wahl Color Pro Cordless devices as well.)

This 1-year-young clipper isn’t just rookie of the year—it’s the best in show. The ReVite strikes the perfect balance between professional-grade clippers and at-home ease. On the barber-worthy level, this gadget can zero gap and offers seamless tapering and fading capabilities, thanks to a large range of sturdy guards. It manages great full-360 navigability despite a slightly heavier weight than other tools on this list; that heft also speaks to its quality and power, which can mow seamlessly through thick hair. On top of that, this tool has a runtime that outpaces its charge time (130-minute endurance against a 90-minute charge).

The primary complaint from Gutweniger is that this pair of clippers is noticeably louder than others on this list. That’s not suggesting that they sound like a lawn mower, but if everything else is at a subtle hum, these ones are more of a proper buzz. That’s almost negligible considering its many other benefits, but still worth noting.

I remember my mom buzzing my hair (and both of my brothers’) with the corded version of this tool growing up. And I promise that nostalgia isn’t guiding the pick here; instead, it’s Wahl’s brilliant decision to color-code its guards, making it visually easier to change between clipping lengths or to recall the one you use each time. (It’s much easier to remember that you buzz on “yellow” than to remember “#5” or “5/8 inch.”)

Gutweniger, who often cuts with other Wahl devices, also raved about this one and trusted it enough to use regularly on her customers at the barbershop. She loves its sturdy guards, which don’t bend or bow as you move them around the head. Her main strike against it is the omission of any trimming options between 0 and 1/16 inch, which means you can’t really fade anything from a bare shave.

These clippers also require a 12-hour charge time—which, to my frustration, extended to 15 hours before I realized that the charging light doesn’t turn off or change its color once complete. Still, the 75-minute runtime is enough to keep heads buzzed for months on end, with a simple overnight re-up. Also, its pair of left and right-angled ear guards allow you to cleanly fade around the ears, just not from a bare shave. All this for just $40 or so—brilliant.

The Master Cordless is beloved by many barbers for its power, but you could consider it a luxury since it comes with a steep price tag, even without including clipper guards. You’ve got to buy those separately, which will add between around $10 and $30 and are often sold out. And while many brands sell guards that swap easily onto competitor devices, this one demands dedicated guards (making it all the more exclusive).

While Gutweniger warns of the device’s weight, it’s merely an indication of its muscled performance. (So much so that the device tends to heat up easily during use, too.) The guy who buys the Andis Master Cordless Clipper will likely not be buzzing his own hair in the end. He’s got a barber on call and perhaps even keeps these clippers set aside specifically for that use. (Or let’s face it, the guy who buys these is himself a barber who cuts any head of hair and just wants a device that lasts long and cuts strong and smooth.)

In my years as a grooming writer, I have come to think of BaBylissPro as the barbershop favorite since it’s got a fervent fandom among the experts I tap for their wisdom (or for their fancy fades on my own dome). Gutweniger is a recent owner of a BaBylissPro device, and this one got the most mileage out of her testing. “Cutting-wise, they’re smooth and quiet; these are professional guards,” she says of these durable, barber-favorite clippers.

The BaBylissPro holds a generous 90-minute runtime and travels fairly easily. But I don’t think it’s the best option for any run-of-the-mill buzz cut. Instead, it’s for the guy who wants things like skin-tight zero gaps, the best graduated tapers possible and the most trophy-like grooming device on God’s green earth. And for what it’s worth, the Barberology FXOne Clipper is also available in other colors, like rose gold; just be sure you’re buying one with guard attachments, or buy them separately if it’s just the clipper body you’re buying. (Also, the equally trophy-like BaBylissPro GoldFX foil shaver was one of our top picks in the race for the best electric razors for men.)

This is one beautiful machine, with its magnetic guards and its digital display and 0.1mm incremental trimmer adjustments. You’ll get dual beard trimming and hair clipping use from it, too, and you can take things all the way down to a zero gap if you need skin-tight cutting (be warned, that’s a task best done by the pros). Sometimes the design is to its detriment, since that sleekly graduated body lends itself to being more easily dropped, and if those magnetic guards are installed incorrectly, they are difficult to remove—so be sure to install them correctly.

But beyond those minor gripes, Bevel’s pro-grade device is a rarity in this space; it’s one of the few non-tentpole names to enter this field and perform among the best of them. (And it is inarguably the most beautiful device of the bunch.) Since Bevel’s acquisition by Procter & Gamble in 2018, though, it’s becoming harder to consider Bevel an outsider anymore. Rather, this quality is baseline for them, and this multitasking tool is one of the best upgrades you can make in the grooming realm.

I’ve said many good things about the Philips Norelco Series 9000 tools in the past—also our best overall pick for the best beard trimmer—but there are more kind words to say yet. In addition to being the most customizable grooming tool from beard to toe, this one also manages quite well for the head, according to Gutweniger’s testing. While the device doesn’t offer as many cutting options for hair clipping (since it cuts up to 7mm in small intervals, but then jumps to 9mm, 12mm and 16mm), what it lacks in length options it makes up for in customization. This includes the ease of fading hair around the ears with its two angled trimmer guards, as well as the ability to graduate in 1mm increments with its fixed dial-adjusted guards.

Gutweniger noted all of this in her hands-on evaluation, as well as the importance of having extremely sturdy, reinforced guards to ensure an even clip, which the Series 9000 does have. “It sits very nice in the hand, is easy to use and has a USB charger, which I find amazing for travel,” she says. Plus, it has a killer 17.5-hour runtime (no joke), on just 2.5 hours of charge. Who can compete with that?

Other Hair Clippers I Tested

Here are two other devices that were well-reviewed around the web but that didn’t make the cut on this roster of winners. That’s not saying they’re bad devices, but they aren’t among the best of the best for mass use or at-home buzz cuts.

Panasonic MultiShape: While this is one of the best beard trimmers based on my own extensive tests, it has some limitations as a hair clipper. In particular, its longest clipper head attachments don’t have the same sturdy reinforcement as its shorter guards, meaning you may not get an even cut on those longer buzz lengths. And that’s not all: “When I put the long guards on, I had the feeling that it was not the same height on both sides,” says Gutweniger. “It was going down on one side.”

Braun Hair Clipper Series 7: If you only need a short buzz cut (less than 3mm), then Braun’s clippers should be fine. But its guards aren’t as reinforced as the others on the winners list, so it ranked pretty low in my tests. Gutweniger says, “When you’re trying to do a longer length with the pressure in the middle, they can sometimes bend in and slide in, so it cannot likely be completely even.”

How I Tested The Best Hair Clippers

Since there are plenty of terrific hair clippers out there, I honed in on some of the best options from top brands and started with cordless picks as a baseline, since that’s a major factor for home users. Since I’m not a barber myself (and can’t just go buzzing my head over and over in a quick enough manner to fit this project), I called in the devices and assessed them for their runtime, charge time, guard options, detailing options and general power.

Then I handed them off to my own trusted barber, Evelyn Gutweniger, who got acquainted with them for a couple weeks and applied her studied perspective to each tool (but with amateurs in mind). She focused on details like reinforced guard heads and having a broad range of cutting intervals. She found some tools too heavy or unwieldy for solo use, or simply not up to snuff in terms of quality. The ones she liked best, she used on her own customers with a range of hair types and style preferences. Together, we closely evaluted the following factors when selecting the winners.

Ease Of Use

I kept in mind that the use case here is primarily for at-home, DIY buzz cuts (or those administered by your roommate, mother, girlfriend, boyfriend, whoever). Professionals have plenty of resources and opportunities to get acquainted with pro-grade tools, which they are using a thousand times more often than the guy who buzzes his own hair every couple months or so. Mostly, then, ergonomics and general navigability are top of mind here—can those buzzing their own blind spots manage with these clippers?

Customization

While hair clippers are much more straightforward than, say, beard trimmers in terms of their range of capabilities, it’s still important to find a device that offers creative options. I considered factors like the range of clipping lengths offered by its guards, and whether those guards are sturdy enough to deliver an even clip every time. And for those who need it, I examined whether or not the tool can perform zero gapping (a blade realignment that allows you to trim directly on the skin) or taper cleanly from a skin fade up into a graduated fade.

Power And Runtime

Things like “hairs cut per second” or “blade revolutions per minute” don’t really mean anything to most of us. Instead, you need a device that doesn’t lose momentum as it cuts through thick patches of hair—and generous battery life is always a bonus. My top picks all finished with at least 75 minutes of cordless runtime (up to 17.5 hours, for the Philips Norelco Series 9000). Gutweniger doesn’t give much consideration to charge time, since all you need to remember is to charge a device the night before using it, and it should have enough juice to last you a month or three in cleanups.

How To Pick The Best Hair Clippers

To save room in your bathroom cabinet, you may want to buy one single device to cater to your hair cutting needs. Here’s how to frame the search, according to Gutweniger.

Styling Preference

Gutweniger notes that most people who buy clippers for at-home use are strictly using them for a simple buzz cut. So a high-end tool might not be necessary, and even battery life might be overrated, since it’s easy enough to charge the device the night before you plan to use it. Most will last an hour or more fully charged, so since you’re not using the tool daily like you might with an electric shaver, that means you don’t need a long battery life. Also, if you plan to travel with the device often, then a smaller size and lighter weight might be more important to you.

Sturdy Guards

Sturdy, reliable guards are crucial for the best hair clippers. Nothing is worse than buzzing your hair and then realizing you have very uneven results. This usually happens when a device’s guard heads are flimsy and easily compromised by your hand’s pressure. Surprisingly, the price of a device doesn’t always speak to its guard durability. The least expensive clippers on this list (the Wahl Color Pro Cordless Clipper) have perhaps the best guards of all. Pro tip: “It’s important that the guard stay in place, and that people check that it’s actually on before use,” says Gutweniger.

Ergonomics

Weight and product design are two contributing factors to a device’s navigability around your head, specifically when it comes to buzzing the backside of your hair. “It could be difficult to hold a heavier device correctly in the back, so it might be easier when it’s a lightweight device,” Gutweniger says. She adds that even the barbers who are the best at fading hair have difficulty cutting their own hair in the back—so don’t hesitate to call in a friend in order to get the most even and presentable results (and to have them clean up your neckline).

My Expertise

I’ve been a men’s grooming journalist for over a decade, covering the beat for titles like Forbes, GQ, Men’s Journal, Robb Report, Spy, Gear Patrol and more. For Forbes Vetted, I’ve reported on topics including the best head shavers and the best body hair trimmers. I’ve grown my hair out past my shoulders a few times, and I’ve buzzed it all the way back down a hundred times. I’ve even had a hair transplant (in the name of research!) to have more of a canvas to work with up top.

For expert insight, I tapped Evelyn Gutweniger, a Berlin-based barber at Nomad Barber who has been cutting hair for 16 years and has worked in the U.K., Australia and Germany. She is who I entrust with my own haircuts, too. Each iteration of this story is edited and produced by deputy editor Jane Sung, who has overseen all tested beauty and grooming content for Forbes Vetted, ranging from the best nose hair trimmers to the top electric razors for men.