6 Finest Beard Trimmers (2026): Full Beards, Hair, Stubble

A beard grows a few millimeter each two or three days—an eighth of an inch per week, on common. So testing beard trimmers can take a very long time.

Normally, we check every beard trimmer as soon as a beard has grown out sufficient for a very good trim—utilizing a minimum of two reducing lengths. Weight and stability issues, and so does the blade’s means to get to the awkward areas across the neck. We verify the trimmer’s means to operate as a shaver, whether or not for balding or on the neck.

Our testers verify how well-made and simple to make use of any attachments are, and we confirm producer claims about battery life and energy. We additionally verify in with skilled haircutters, particularly to confirm claims of sturdiness and reliability amongst manufacturers and fashions.

Tester Matthew Korfhage has coarse and offended hairs, with a seeming thoughts of their very own. Tester Andrew Williams has a comparatively full beard, with straight-growing stubble. We have tried to replicate any attainable points—fighting thick bristles, as an illustration—in our opinions, so that you might be certain of the very best trim with the least quantity of effort. And we would additionally run a blade right into a horsehair broom, to check a motor’s energy and its probability of bogging down when confronted with a thick, full beard.

To pick beard trimmers price testing on the newest rounds of testing, I consulted a variety of barbers in Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, in addition to suggestions from workers at hair provide shops. I consulted a variety of guides by different reviewers, together with trade publications for barbers in addition to different specialised websites dedicated to beards and trimmers. And fairly merely, some names have earned their good status. A brand new mannequin from Wahl, Philips Norelco, Panasonic, or Andis will nearly at all times advantage testing.

Some beard trimmers have been despatched by producers as evaluate fashions; others I purchased and expensed. Our reviewers maintain top-pick beard trimmer fashions for sturdiness and comparability testing, typically over the course of years, and re-test battery life and efficiency over that point.

This is some assistance on choosing the proper options on your facial fuzz.

• Ceramic versus metal blades: Ceramic blades can maintain their sharpness higher than metal, however the smaller tooth of premium beard trimmer blades are typically product of chrome steel.
• Barrel management: Some beard trimmers have on-device twist controls. For a neater life, decide one with minimal attachments. However there is usually a trade-off in accuracy and added unwieldiness. Such dials additionally add a failure level to the trimmer guard.
• Ni-MH versus Li-ion: Keep away from trimmers with excessively lengthy cost occasions and those who use previous nickel-metal-hydride batteries. They do not maintain their cost so long as lithium-ion.
• Waterproof? Beard trimming within the bathe isn’t as exact a course of as moist shaving, however a water resistant design does allow you to wash your trimmer underneath the tap with confidence.
• USB charging: It took far too lengthy, however USB charging cables for beard trimmers have now grow to be pretty normal, typically along with proprietary charging ports. A serious bonus for journey.
• Small versus bigger tooth: Bigger blade tooth can reduce thick, dense hair, however smaller tooth enable for a better, extra exact reduce. The latter is exemplified by the Philips OneBlade household.
• Extensive versus slim blade: Hair trimmers have wider blade surfaces than beard trimmers. The narrower model of beard trimmer gives higher management, with minimal time loss for these with shorter facial hair.
• Do blades should be changed? Use blade oil (typically included) to keep away from rusting, and blades ought to final for years. Trimmer-shaver hybrid Philips OneBlade will want extra common replacements, although.
• Vacuum? Some beard trimmers have a vacuum characteristic, to keep away from getting hair trimmings all over the place. It is typically a gimmick, however it’s a gimmick with a motive: Beard trimmings are the worst. We’ll be including protection of beard hair vacuums in future protection.

OK, you have seen it. You’ve got lived it. Each beard trimmer’s charger is a few totally different form, incompatible with all different chargers. Talking as a reviewer of trimmers, it’s maddening—requiring me to maintain straight and separate an countless number of chargers when testing trimmers in opposition to one another. Lose a charger, and you have to safe a alternative (or declare it inconvenient to take action, and exchange the trimmer.) Company conspiracy! Grift!

Properly, sure and no. Proprietary charging cables are in fact one of many basic ways in which producers have used to extend income and decrease comfort, whether or not by promoting a number of cords to the identical particular person or by growing the probability clients will purchase a brand new machine. This was the impetus behind a much-ballyhooed European regulation that pressured small electronics producers (together with Apple) to standardize charging cables and scale back waste.

However a minimum of within the case of beard trimmers, the producers truly do have good motive to draw back from USB-C. The USB-C format doesn’t like water very a lot, and small quantities of moisture may cause shorts. When you can mitigate danger with silicone flaps and the like, USB-C ports are nonetheless not ultimate for belongings you take into the bathe; therefore the profusion of two-pin beard trimmer connectors whose ports are fastidiously insulated from one another.

May these waterproof connectors even be standardized by European parliamentary motion, as laptop computer and iPhone chargers have been? Certain! Maybe! However this hasn’t occurred. So in the meanwhile, get used to a bunch of humorous twine shapes till and except wi-fi charging turns into normal. For now, USB-C charging is extra typically an indicator of price range trimmers with a brief guarantee.