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You never know when you might want one of the best hair clippers on hand. We’ve all had the urge to buzz everything off our head—right there at home, DIY style, no barber necessary—and many of us have even given into it. It can feel liberating, whether there’s a new season or a renewed sense of self behind the action. At-home clipping can even be a cost-saving measure, given that the best hair clippers can give you a perfectly even result all around the dome. Sure, it might lack any fancy handiwork that the barbers can deploy, but sometimes you gotta have it.
Regardless of how frequently you need hair clippers at home, it’s a smart investment for all guys, since the urge will likely present itself. Usually, these devices pay for themselves after just a few uses, too. Hey, at the very least, you can use it to shave out your dog’s paw pads between your own cleanups.
But this device should be a dedicated hair clipper, since beard trimmers aren’t usually powerful enough to mow through the dense mane atop your head. Hair clippers can make decent beard trimmers, though they often lack the finesse for precise detailing.
While we’re on the topic of buzzing, check out our at-home buzz cut guide, the best celebrity buzz cuts, as well as the imperative beard-to-hair ratio rules—because while you want your head to look like a smooth tennis ball, you don’t want the beard to match it, or else you might actually look like a tennis ball.
How We Tested the Best Hair Clippers for Men
Every year, we check in with this list and make sure it’s updated with the latest and greatest products in each category—or to keep some time-tested favorites on their rightful throne. We’re considering different needs as we make our choices for this list, too, since not all guys will want the same thing. Some shoppers may want more than one clipper too; in addition to the go-to clipper, perhaps you want a more portable one for the road, or one for fresh edgework.
We caught up on our DIY buzz cutting at the start of the pandemic, but between the dozens of domes that comprise the GQ staff, we also try all of the new devices as they hit the market.
The Best Men’s Hair Clippers, At a Glance
Best Men’s Hair Clipper Overall: Panasonic ER-GP80 hair clipper, $150
Best Hair Clipping Set: Wahl color-coded cordless hair clipper set, $40
Best Dual Hair Clipper + Beard Trimmer: Bevel Pro hair clipper and beard trimmer, $350
Best Vacuum Hair Clipper: Remington vacuum haircut clipper kit, $44
Best Professional Barber Hair Clipper: BaBylissPRO Barberology GOLDFX hair clipper, $230
Best Palm-Held Hair Clipper: Mangroomer palm-held hair clipper, $30
Best Corded Hair Clipper: Oster Fast Feed hair clipper, $74
Best Travel Hair Clipper: Wahl Peanut cordless hair clipper, $69
Best Bargain Hair Clipper: Andis beSPOKE hair clipper, $18
Best Clipper for Clean Edges and Detailing: Andis Professional T-Outliner, $130
Best Men’s Hair Clipper Overall: Panasonic ER-GP80 hair clipper
Panasonic's hair clipper is an investment, but well worth the spend. This is one of the sturdiest devices, outlasting any drops or checked-luggage abuse. It has some of the fastest blades in the game, at 10,000 rpm, and it's cordless, with a 50-minute run time. You can achieve dozens of different lengths with the adjustable clipper, and the carbon-fiber and titanium shell looks sleek in its upright charging stand.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 0.8 - 15 mm
- Cordless: Yes
- Run Time: 50 minutes
Charge Time: 1 hour
Best Hair Clipping Set: Wahl color-coded cordless hair clipper set
The clipper set you remember owning in college—or from when your mom shaved your head in high school—is also the web's best-selling hair clipper. And now it's cordless! The steel blades on Wahl's professional model are as durable as any you'll find in the barbershop, but the guards are helpfully labeled for beginners.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/16 - 1 in.
- Cordless: Yes (can also run while plugged in)
- Run Time: 1 hour
Charge Time: 12 hours
Best Dual Hair Clipper + Beard Trimmer: Bevel Pro hair clipper and beard trimmer
Bevel officially makes the sexiest and most muscled-up device on the market; the Bevel Pro even makes its user feel powerful, given its heft and strength. It’s a barber’s dream product, but well worth the spend for anyone demanding a professional-grade beard and/or hair cleanup at home. Its leverless button-powered gap delivers a clip anywhere from 0-2.5mm sans any clipper guards. Swap in the #1-4 guards for a clip of up to half an inch and admire how they swivel into place on the magnetic head. You can also choose from three different clipping or trimming heads (T-blade, wide-tooth clipper, and finer trimming).
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 0.0 - 4 in.
- Cordless: Yes
- Run Time: 4 hours
Charge Time: 2 hours
Best Vacuum Hair Clipper: Remington vacuum haircut clipper kit
You can't overstate the magic of a vacuum-ized hair clipper. Remington's sucks up some 90% of clippings, to make cleanup a breeze. It also comes with 8 different blade guards, including some for fading and tapering.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/8 - 1 in.
- Cordless: No
Best Professional Barber Hair Clipper: BaBylissPRO Barberology GOLDFX hair clipper
Is this is an objectively absurd amount of money to spend on a hair clipper? Sure. But BaByliss Pro's FX line deals in extremes—in this case, a grooming device designed by the same team of Italian engineers responsible for Ferrari's engines. If that sounds more like an endlessly-quotable Rick Ross flex ("My clipper a Ferrari/my whip a Bugatti"?!) and less like a product spec worth shilling out over $200 for. But make no mistake: that baroque silhouette masks some serious horsepower. If the high-torque motor isn't enough to convince you, the ultra-strong titanium-coated blades just might.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/16 - 3/4 in.
- Cordless: Yes (can also be used while charging)
- Run Time: 2 hours
Charge Time: 3 hours
Best Palm-Held Hair Clipper: Mangroomer palm-held hair clipper
With nine guards, Mangroomer's palm-held clipper delivers a customizable clip as it glides beautifully over and around your dome. The ergonomic design makes it easy to buzz the back and sides, unlike the awkward fumbling that some clippers require. And, for what it's worth, cutting with this guy is actually lots of fun; it's the device to get if you plan on being bare-headed forever.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1.5 - 15 mm
- Cordless: Yes (can also be used while charging)
- Run Time: 1 hour
Charge Time: 5 hours
Best Corded Hair Clipper: Oster Fast Feed hair clipper
Oster is a perennial barbershop staple, so it's little surprise that its adjustable clipper gets the job done at home, too. Though it comes with just four guards, its razors are sharp and well-suited to buzzing it all off or tightening-up a once-crispy fade. Best yet, it's built for ridiculously long use so it won't sputter out on you midway through. It's a little pricier than some of its counterparts but well worth the investment, especially if you're chasing that telltale just-back-from-the-barber look but can't muster the energy to book an appointment.
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/16 - 1/2 in.
Cordless: No
Best Travel Hair Clipper: Wahl Peanut cordless hair clipper
Pack the Wahl Peanut in your bag for touch-ups and styling on the go; at only 4 inches long and weighing just 4 ounces, it totes easily and doubles well as a cheek and neckline detailer, should your weekend beard need a dusting-off. The storage case is sold separately, but you can still pick up the whole rig for around $80. Note, too, that there is a corded Peanut option, should you not mind the extra bulk. (You’ll save a Hamilton or two, if so.)
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/8 - 1/2 in.
Cordless: Yes, with 2 rechargeable AA batteries included
Best Bargain Hair Clipperr: Andis beSPOKE hair clipper
When you consider Andis' century-plus legacy in the hair-cutting game, this clipper is an absolute steal. It's got all the trappings for an at-home cleanup, powered by Andis' muscle and in a sleek new design (part of the brand's visual overhaul to keep up with the 21st-century competition).
Specs:
- Cutting Lengths: 1/16 - 1 in.
Cordless: No
Best Clipper for Clean Edges and Detailing: Andis Professional T-Outliner
Another Andis favorite to round out our roster: The T-Outliner isn't a clipper—it's a trimmer, technically. That's the gold standard in line ups, shape ups, edgework—whatever term you use for the perimeter of your hair line, neck line, side burns, and even the beard borders. There are plenty of lower cost products out there, but this professional-grade tidier-upper is a true cut above the rest. You can zero gap it for ultra-clean lines, and if you fancy a fresh fade from some trusted hands, it’s also got four blade guards for that task.
Specs:
- Zero Gapping: Yes
- Cordless: Yes
- Run Time: 100 minutes
Charge Time: 1 hour
Can you buzz your head with a beard trimmer?
Please don’t. Beard trimmers are devised for less-dense hair and more detailed tasks. If you mow through your head hair with a beard trimmer, you will likely end up with an uneven buzz. You could even unleash unnecessary pulling to the hairs in the process. All of that said, some devices are specifically engineered for dual beard trimming and hair clipping functions. They often have a stronger motor and interchangeable clipping/trimming heads, though.
How do you buzz your own hair?
If you’re going to buzz your own hair, then make sure to use a designated hair clipper—and not a beard trimmer. Don’t try to do anything fancy, like fading the edges, since you don’t have that proper training (and since doing so behind your head will be virtually impossible). Use your clipper on the same setting all around the hair, trimming against the grain of growth to properly lift hairs as you go. Make sure the hair is clean and dried before clipping.
