A good beard trimmer?

raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,892
572
126
Hello, I've been working at growing a trimmed beard so I'm looking for a good beard trimmer. I have one and it's decent. Just wondering if there's something even better or are all beard trimmer generally similar at keeping beards looking good? I just use the actual trimmer, nothing fancy about it.

I mean, my facial hair can get a little scraggly after a few days so just wondering.
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
That seems to be what I'm looking for. It seems to give you the ability to cut the beard how you want. Thank you, The Vrolok.

Yep. I generally keep my facial hair between stubble and short scruff beard, this does the trick just fine.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,022
136
I've used many, everything from 10$ ones up to fancy $100 ones. They all use sliding metal plates to cut hair...so they are all exactly the same. The only minor difference is if you are trying to "completely" remove the hair, some have a thinner surface material that allows cuts a few microns closer (but a razor is always better). If you are just trimming though it doesn't matter.

At the cheap end though, you usually get low build quality and simple steel blades that wear out quicker. If you step up to the medium range you can get better built units and blades with titanium etc that last longer. Not worth getting the super expensive ones...your only paying for crap like digital displays and voice controls.

Basically something in the $40-60 range is going to trim hair as well as any electric trimmer can.
 

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
11,905
148
101
I use a Wahl that I got at Kohl's a few years back. I try to keep the scruff look more than the terrorist look and it works fine.
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
7,517
3,172
146
I've used a fairly cheap Norelco trimmer which has been some variant of http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Norelc.../dp/B00D8LDMR6 for years, works well enough.
I got that one for Christmas this year except I got the regular version not the Axe version. Anyway it works ok. Does a decent job at trimming and has enough power to not bog down for those times when I go a couple weeks in between trims.

I liked my old one better though. It had a detachable head so you could use different attachments like a nose hair trimmer or a thinner trimmer for side burns.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
23,121
1,272
126
Basically something in the $40-60 range is going to trim hair as well as any electric trimmer can.

As someone who's bought probably 2 dozen different sets, I have to say this is not accurate.

I currently have the Andis BRG+ and they blow everything else out of the water, they leave my edge way cleaner and sharper than any other set. Also they mow thru thick unruly hair like it was butter. Expensive yes, but imho worth every penny. My last ones cost $50 and broke after a little over a year.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,022
136

If your going to get one, make sure it has a good length adjust feature like this one. 1mm steps up to 25mm (~1 inch) or so is good. There are others which only offer predetermined steps of like 4mm and some only do 12-18mm max which is lame. This is a cheap battery unit though, and once the battery wears out you have to toss it...it can't function without the battery (I've had to toss ones like this myself).
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,022
136
As someone who's bought probably 2 dozen different sets, I have to say this is not accurate.

I currently have the Andis BRG+ and they blow everything else out of the water, they leave my edge way cleaner and sharper than any other set. Also they mow thru thick unruly hair like it was butter. Expensive yes, but imho worth every penny. My last ones cost $50 and broke after a little over a year.

I admit I've never used a $200 unit. This one seems to claim a ceramic blade? That could indeed be superior to a metal blade. Many people don't realize that facial hair is about as hard as copper, it will wear out a steel blade. Blades coated with things like titanium and tungsten seem to do better (and can be had for moderate prices). My hair is so thick and gnarly I have actually broken teeth off trimmers before.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
23,121
1,272
126
I admit I've never used a $200 unit. This one seems to claim a ceramic blade? That could indeed be superior to a metal blade. Many people don't realize that facial hair is about as hard as copper, it will wear out a steel blade. Blades coated with things like titanium and tungsten seem to do better (and can be had for moderate prices). My hair is so thick and gnarly I have actually broken teeth off trimmers before.

Ceramic is superior in every way, but for these the main reason is they don't get hot. If you're a barber who uses clippers all day metal blades won't work. I got my clippers for $169 and I've spent about $80 on various guards. With the 000 that comes with it (only 1) I can cut as close as the best electric shaver I've used which was a pretty good one.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,022
136
Ceramic is superior in every way, but for these the main reason is they don't get hot. If you're a barber who uses clippers all day metal blades won't work. I got my clippers for $169 and I've spent about $80 on various guards. With the 000 that comes with it (only 1) I can cut as close as the best electric shaver I've used which was a pretty good one.

I have to say, I really dislike the clip on guard things. I much prefer an adjustable design that lets me pick any thickness (or per mm at least). Having a handful of guides is a big mess and almost never has the size you want.

I didn't realize they made ceramic blade clippers though, my comments were from comparing a bunch of only metal ones. I might try to find a nice ceramic unit next time...but I just recently received a new trimmer for christmas. It actually took 2 battery charges to trim my beard with it. We'll see how long it lasts.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,082
136
Plug in Wahl. I swapped to a cordless model recently and it didnt do a high quality job.
Went back to the corded one. Nice and wide, good power, relatively quiet. Just make sure you put it all in a decent case. The cases they usually include with the kit arent that nice.
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,256
406
126
I've used a regular Wahl one you get at Walmart for a few years until it recently crapped out and now doesn't hold a charge at all. I can still use it but I gotta connect it to the charger plugged into the wall. Before this one, I had another Wahl that worked for about 5 years.

At Walmart I've seen another Wahl one but this one is Lithium powered and has a 5 year warranty. I've liked the Wahl ones but this last one I had kinda has left a bad taste in my mouth. A trimmer should last longer than 4 years in my opinion, especially since I NEVER abused it or anything like that. But I'm leaning towards the lithium Wahl one at the moment, it's about $40 bucks.
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
As someone who's bought probably 2 dozen different sets, I have to say this is not accurate.

I currently have the Andis BRG+ and they blow everything else out of the water, they leave my edge way cleaner and sharper than any other set. Also they mow thru thick unruly hair like it was butter. Expensive yes, but imho worth every penny. My last ones cost $50 and broke after a little over a year.

I have the Andis BRG+ as well, but last week saw a Phillips Multigroom Pro at Costco for around $40 and wanted to try it out. I was hoping it might be better since its smaller and lighter, with the benefit of a nose hair remover. After two days my stubble shows a lot of gray, so I wanted the multigroom to get down to .5 - 1 days worth of stubble that I normally get with the Andis. Well, even in Turbo mode it feels like the multigroom isn't doing anything compared to the Andis. Using the multigroom is like not shaving after two days. For people trimming a beard its probably fine. Not so good for detail work, although I haven't used any attachments yet. I also have a 00000 blade on the Andis, and I don't know what the multigroom is, or if there are other blades I can use with it besides the included attachments.

Although to be fair, my corded Andis T-Outliner is almost like using a razor, but it will cut you like a razor too. I just don't like the cord on clippers.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
Wahl is cheap, works fine, lasts a long time, next step up would be clippers with a more instead of a vibration thing.
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
I keep a fairly full beard, the wahl beard trimmer I have does the job to keep it at a 4 or so. Charge once every few weeks, works great.

Also this should honestly go without saying by now but, pics?