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Figuring out the best beard trimmer for your particular facial hair situation is a personal journey, because great beards come in many shapes and sizes: there’s the perfect stubble, of course, or a beard that’s artfully shaped and styled. But even if you opt to grow a long beard, you will still need to know how to trim it as it grows. And for all of those situations—for basically anything besides a close shave—you need a good beard trimmer.
Growing a Beard for the First Time? Here's What You Need to Know
The first step in growing a beard is to not cut it. Seriously. Even when you're in that weird in-between growth phase that looks more scraggly than suave, or you've discovered your growth pattern is patchy and realistically won't fully connect. A beard isn't one size fits all, so you've got to embrace what makes you unique along with trusting the process (read: be patient). While it's blossoming into a, dare we say, even better version of the beard you envisioned when you embarked on this journey, you'll want to keep it defined and trim along that way. That means shaving the neck and cleaning up the sides with a stellar trimmer. If you don't know what differentiates a “just OK” trimmer from one that is top-shelf, don't worry—we've got you covered.
How We Tested
OK: how would you test a beard trimmer? We used them, of course, over the span of several months, enlisting a roster of hirsute GQ staffers—with beards of various shapes, lengths, and textures—to lend their expertise. The only real stipulation we established was that each tester treat their trimmer of choice exactly the way they would under normal circumstances: with an utter disregard for its well-being. Which is to say, the trimmers we landed on here have been put through the wringer. They’ve had beard oil accidentally dribbled over their blades, they’ve been tossed carelessly into dopp kits (and the occasional Ziploc bag), they’ve been dropped one too many times on the shower floor. And despite all that, they performed exponentially better than any of the others we tried.
What We Looked For
Before we settled on our winners, we established a few key metrics of quality:
- Battery life: Is it better suited to long, leisurely styling or quick touch-ups?
- Versatility: Is it appropriate for head-to-toe use? And can it double as an electric shaver in a pinch?
- Cutting power: Is it more useful for detailing or hacking its way through Neanderthal-esque whiskers?
- Design: Is it ergonomic enough to hug the hard-to-reach areas of your face, but sleek enough to warrant prime of place on your bathroom counter?
Then we considered a whole host of secondary factors—price, precision, travel and/or gym friendliness, the occasional vacuum function—analyzed the feedback from our colleagues, and condensed it all into the easily-digestible list you’ll find below.
Some trimmers scored higher on individual metrics than others, but all earned their honorifics as the best beard trimmers on the market, through mountain-man winters and close-stubble summers. And now we’re passing on all the number-crunching to you, in the form of 15 top-notch options engineered to handle your specific type of scruff.
The Absolute Best Beard Trimmers, At a Glance
- The Best Beard Trimmer Overall: Philips Norelco all-in-one groomer, $90
- The Best-Value Trimmer: Hatteker beard trimmer kit, $37
- The Best Professional Grade Trimmer: Bevel Pro trimmer and clipper, $330
- The Best Vacuum Trimmer: Remington hair and beard trimmer, $42
- The Best Travel-Friendly Trimmer: Wahl Groomsman beard/nose/eyebrow trimmer, $28
- The Best Toss-in-Your-Gym-Bag Trimmer: Braun beard trimmer kit, $40
- The Best Trimmer for Your Body Too: Panasonic beard trimmer/clipper, $125
- The Best Trimmer-Shaver Combo: Panasonic "Multishape" trimmer/shaver, $130
- The Best Budget Beard Trimmer: Philips Norelco all-in-one beard trimmer, $22
- The Best Beard Trimmer for Lineups: Andis T-blade trimmer, $71
Best Beard Trimmer Overall
- Battery life: 17 hours
- Versatility: A
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: B
First of all, who wants to own 10 different devices? Secondly, beards deserve more than a simple, uniform trim. So consider a beard kit with various heads and guards, all of which can detail your scruff in interesting ways. This Philips kit is THAT kit, with a washable trimmer and heads that tend to eyebrows, mustaches, nose hairs, and even your head—but it shapes up beards best of all. Some of its heads draw clean lines, while others work to spot-check hairs in hard-to-clean places (like removing hair from right under the nose without accidentally shaving half of your mustache off). This latest version held a 17-hour charge on our watch—that's a whole lotta shape-ups.
The Best-Value Beard Trimmer
- Battery life: 1 hour
- Versatility: A
- Cutting Power: B
- Design: C
Our data analytics team tells us that this Hatteker kit is the top seller among GQ readers, and for good reason. First, it's a high-quality all-in-one kit that covers every kind of hair-trimming task, from lineups to sideburns to beards, eyebrows, and body hair. Sure, it may only hold an hour-long charge on 90 minutes of plug-in time, but that’s enough for a week-long vacation. Overall, it's a bargain, since it's a damn good (and comprehensive) workhorse.
The Best Professional-Grade Trimmer
- Battery life: 4 hours
- Versatility: A
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: A
Bevel recently launched one of the sexiest trimmers ever, a muscled upgrade of its best-selling original device. This new one has all the guard heads for a precise trim, a professional line up, and even a buzz cut. Rather than guards, the device uses a magnetized head to adjust from a zero-gap close shave on up, at ultra-precise 0.1mm intervals. It's got the same heft and gorgeous design of the previous device, along with four hours of cordless battery life.
The Best Vacuum Trimmer
- Battery life: 2 hours
- Versatility: B
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: B
Beard trimming gets messy, fast. You get clippings in your beard, on your hands, in your sink, but Remington's trimmer keeps the process clean while also keeping your beard tidy. It sucks up the large majority of hairs as they fall, making for easy disposal afterwards. This is a dual hair clipper and beard trimmer, and although it's not cordless, that wall power will give you a strong, consistent cut. Many beard trimmers can't handle the more difficult task of cutting head hair, which tends to be thicker and less cooperative. So if you want a device for both—and one that cleans house, then here you are.
The Best Travel-Friendly Trimmer
- Battery life: 1 hour
- Versatility: B
- Cutting Power: B
- Design: A
This pair of lightweight, battery-powered trimmers is great if you need to line up edges and snip at strays while away from home. (Why pack something expensive and cumbersome for a weekend away?) The nose-hair clipper might not be worth packing on all but the longest trips, but it cleans up fuzzy nostrils and errant eyebrows nicely.
The Best Toss-in-Your-Gym-Bag Beard Trimmer
- Battery life: 1 hour
- Versatility: B
- Cutting Power: B
- Design: B
Braun's low-cost, high-quality trimmer kit can do far more than tidy up your beard: swap in the nose and ear trimmer, the precision head, or the longer guards for general upkeep. It's the perfect, lightweight tool to tote in your gym bag or travel dopp, offering a couple weeks of beard-trimming sessions on its 60-minute charge. This particular model comes with a Gillette ProGlide razor, for any bare-skin detailing you may want to do (like a neck or cheek cleanup).
The Best Beard Trimmer for Keeping Body Hair in Check
- Battery life: 1 hour
- Versatility: A
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: B
Panasonic’s trimmer-clipper combo has 19 different settings and cuts at a dizzying 9,800 cuts per minute. And while it's one of the more dominant beard trimmers on this roster (since it has the muscle for your dome, too), it is also wonderfully suited to maintain your chest, groin, and back hair.
The Best Trimmer-Shaver Combo
- Battery life: N/A
- Versatility: A
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: A
The Multishape is perhaps the best multi-purpose device for guys who want a barbershop-level trim and/or shave (or any combination of those two things at any given point). When you buy a Multishape, you can also choose whether you want the hair clippers, the nose trimmer, and the toothbrush (!) heads—all are good, but the beard trimmer's half-millimeter intervals plus the shaver's wide foil head are the most superior picks. Oh, and be sure to buy the Lithium Ion battery (of the two options available). It'll last longer and charge faster. (The price here reflects a kit built with the trimmer and shaver heads, and Li-Ion base.)
The Best Budget Beard Trimmer
- Battery life: 1 hour
- Versatility: B
- Cutting Power: B
- Design: B
There’s no shame in wanting to buy an inexpensive beard trimmer. In fact, it's good to start with a smaller investment, in case you're unsure of how long you'll be growing things out. Our favorite in this department is the budget version of this list's top pick. Does it hold a candle to Philips Norelco’s sturdiest, most muscled all-in-one Multigroom? Not even close. But for a measly $22, this is a solid baseline pick for somebody looking to try out a trimmer, who plans to use the tool infrequently. It has seven guard heads, and can even swap in a nose/ear hair trimmer and a tiny eyebrow/mustache detailer. Not too shabby for less than the price of an IMAX movie ticket!
The Best Beard Trimmer for Lineups
- Battery life: 2 hours
- Versatility: C
- Cutting Power: A
- Design: B
The T-Blade is tough to beat when it comes to cleaning up between appointments. It'll give you a clean, barber-caliber line-up along the cheeks, burns, mustache, and neck. This is your go-to device for neckline cleanups, too: Steady-handed significant other or best friend not included. It's also great if you want to maintain a short stubble and are otherwise prone to ingrown hairs.
