Men who are going bald are in a tough spot.
On one hand, they try every method imaginable to stop people from noticing they are going bald. This includes the habitual wearing of hats, comb-overs, splurging on expensive mixtures that have a negligible effect, or even wearing fake hair.
On the other hand, when you engage in all of that stalling and deceiving, people notice your balding issues even more!
Not that you are merely balding, but that you have a huge emotional issue with it.
This makes you look weak. And nobody likes to be viewed as weak.
To help you barge right through that psychological barrier and embrace your bald genetic heritage, we will give you the best of the best balding clippers.
Sure, you can opt for a wet shave, but when you embrace your new bald lifestyle you should aspire for something far more convenient. Clippers for balding men are there to make the job quick and easy to get that clean-shaven head look. Such close cut hair clippers will make sure you avoid common problems like ingrown hair or irritation.
Without further ado, here are the best balding clippers reviewed in 2019.
Clarifying ‘balding clippers’ and how to choose yours
Obviously, there are many tools that can produce a clean-shaved head. Even a sharp knife meant for kitchen work can achieve that task.
However, as we live in modern era when companies cater to every niche of human need, there is no point in going the primitive route, when you can tread the convenient and easy route instead.
After all, even the price tags match what is expected from the mass manufacturing era.
Unlike your regular electric hair clippers, balding clippers are designed with a core feature in mind:
Providing a close shave thanks to a powerful motor and a sharp blade.
Outside of that, when selecting clippers for shaving your head to the scalp skin level, you should consider convenience – corded or cordless – battery life, versatility, ergonomics, weight, longevity, design aesthetics, and the ease of use.
The rule of thumb is to count on specialized hair clipping brands like Wahl, Andis or Oster. However, that is not always the case, as even generic brands can sometimes surprise you, as you will see in this review lineup.
7 Best Balding Clippers for Your Head Shaving
1) Wahl Balding clipper #8110
If you’ve seen a military recruitment scene in a movie or documentary, the military personnel would use these close cut clippers to facilitate rapid head shearing of new army recruits.
Thanks to its powerful electromagnetic motor, surgical-grade blades, and robust design.
Its specialized nature for providing smooth shave trims is revealed with its only two blade settings -1/16th and 3/16th.
In practice, this means that you can either go for scalp shave – complete removal of visible hair – or a barely noticeable buzz leftover.
It has a very comfortable grip suitable for long hours of work, and the blades are as sharp as you would want them to be.
It also comes with two included guards that facilitate fading of the sides of the head and the back of the neck.
Needless to say, both the blades and the motor are designed to last you a long time if you maintain it properly. And speaking of maintenance, here is what comes in the package: oil, cleaning brush, 8-foot high-grade quality cord, blade guard, two attachment combs, and an instruction manual.
Unfortunately, there is a big downside when it comes to maintenance; in order to clean Wahl’s clippers, you have to unscrew the shaving head for a thorough rinsing. Additionally, the blades are very sharp, so you should use extra caution until you feel confident enough in using this powerful balding clipper.
2) Philips Norelco QC5580
- Super easy maintenance; each part of the balding clipper can be easily disassembled without the use of any tools. Then simply rinse it in water.
- Self-sharpening stainless steel blades; another maintenance chore checked out!
- Lightweight at 1.03 pounds which included the lithium-ion battery (60min on one full charge).
- Wireless mode, or corded mode. Whichever suits you best!
- Compact length at 8.8 inches.
- 180 rotating head to smoothly go over every inch of your scalp.
However, all these goodies come at a cost. Philips Norelco QC5580 doesn’t have that sheer shaving power like Wahl’s Balding clipper has, neither in the terms of the motor or the sharpness of the blades.
Nonetheless, that is a comparison with the best Wahl balding clippers.
To offset that, Philips offers you one of the easiest-to-use balding clippers that still do the job of a clean-shaven head, but in a gentler, slower manner. It also gives you a greater degree of customization with 14 hair length settings – from 0 inch to 19/32 inch.
All of that means is that you won’t have to employ nearly as much caution as you have to with Wahl’s balding clippers. As such, Philips Norelco QC5580 is a great balding clipper.
3) Andis Professional Ceramic Hair Clipper
Why ceramic hair clippers?
It turns out, ceramic blades offer unmatched durability and sharpness, overtaking stainless steel, be it self-sharpening or not.
Additionally, this smooth shaving clipper can get you an exceedingly close shave with #00000 CeramicEdge blade. It would leave your hair at only 0.2mm! Yes, that’s correct; not 2mm, but 0.2mm!
As you can see from the pictures, the Andis balding clippers are also very compact and sleek, weighing only 0.9lbs. In terms of robustness of the machine itself, you’ll be pleased to know that the body is made out of durable polymers. Not unlike those you would find on modern handguns.
The praise doesn’t end there.
Both cooling and noise characteristics are excellent; Andis BGRC won’t worry you with excessive heating nor produce overbearing noise. They claim it is 70% cooler than competitors, and that just might be the case.
And on top of all that, it comes with a Cord Pack Adapter, so you can render it wireless for extra convenience!
Andis truly covered all of their bases with this model, and may be the best balding clippers on the market.
4) Andis Professional T-Outliner
As you can see from its bulky, all-business design, it’s all about function over aesthetics.
The T comes from the ‘T-blade’, meaning that it is the main feature that makes it so versatile to the point of being great for shaving your head.
And not only your head; you can easily use it to both trim and shave your beard as well. This goes for neck shaving, mustache trimming, ear edging, and fades. It really does it all!
Moreover, we have so far introduced stainless steel and ceramic blades; the T-Outliner employs carbon-steel alloy. We don’t know where exactly would it rank compared to ceramic blades, but they would definitely outshine the standard-fare stainless steel.
Carbon-steel blade will give you three major advantages:
- longevity
- sharpness equivalent to wet shaving
- quick trimming
But that is just a ‘mere’ standard for the T-Blade; its main feature is the shape itself.
The ergonomic design allows you to easily maneuver all over your head, be it your face or your scalp. This alone ranks Andis Professional T-Outliner among the best tools for your personal grooming.
As you can tell by its thick body, it has a powerful electromagnetic motor running at 7200 spm (strokes per minute), which is surprisingly quiet!
The only flaw would be its bulkiness; it doesn’t have that ergonomic comfy grip that other models have, but this is only a matter of getting used to it.
T-Outliner also can’t be cordless, but nonetheless, its unmatched versatility as electric best balding clippers is hard to pass by.
5) Remington HC4250
Remington HC4250 Shortcut Pro Self-Haircut looks like it was a part of a Star Trek movie set. In fact, you might confuse it for a phaser!
It lacks any lengthy body; instead, it is stretched out in its width, so you have to use your entire palm to hold it securely.
This immediately tells you that it is not a professional balding clipper.
However, if you are seeking best cordless balding clippers, Remington HC4250 is definitely a prime candidate. Although sporting unique design, it is well thought out in terms of ergonomics and weight at 1.2 pounds. That may seem a lot, but in this case, it’s all about how the weight is distributed in such a compact and wide chassis.
In short, you will suffer no hand fatigue.
To add to that comfort of use is its very low noise output.
As for the question of being good for head shaving, its wide and curved blades will contour over your head remarkably well. The precise stainless steel blades will cover large swaths of your scalp with just a few motions. Which brings us to battery life – 40 minutes of lithium ion battery power, which you can fully charge in about 4 hours.
Lower than the industry standard, but just what is needed for a very efficient and compact smooth shaving clipper. After all, given that it is not meant for professional use but for self-haircuts, an extra-large battery would have been a downside.
In the whole package you will get a generous ensemble of accessories: oil, cleaning brush, traveling bag, 9 combs from 1/16” to 5/8”, and a charging adapter.
Remington thought about the cleaning aspect as well by making the HC4250 waterproof and easy to disassemble.
To conclude, if you want a home-focused, cordless bald head shaver with an exciting futuristic design and wide-stroke efficiency, Remington HC4250 would be a great choice!
6) Wahl Professional Peanut Clipper
As a specialized brand, Wahl always tries to cover all aspects of haircutting business.
As a result, on our hands we have a compact Peanut Clipper that should be viewed as a direct competition to Philips Norelco 5580. And it is a formidable competition indeed.
The weight of the Peanut Clipper is simply amazing at only 4 oz. and the length at 4”!
It just might be the most lightweight compact balding clipper on the market!
If this draws worries about a potential compromise on its performance, we are glad to report that we did not detect anything that would put it into question.
As always, Wahl blades are exceedingly precise, sharp and they are powered by a rotary motor.
With all that said, don’t expect the performance you can get with Wahl Balding clipper #8110 or the Andis BGRc. As the name suggests, Peanut balding clipper is all about small size and cordless mobility, making it a perfect companion gadget for your travels.
Within the package you will find:
- 4 attachment combs: 1/8″, 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″
- cleaning brush
- oil
- red blade guard
- instruction manual
7) Oster 76 Classic
Consistently reaching 5-star reviews, Oster 76 Classic has legendary performance and reliability. As such, they epitomize Whal’s vintage aesthetic, looking more like a microphone in 1960s studio.
The blades on Oster 76 are superb- cryogenically tested and detachable (sizes 000 and 1) for one-over bald shaves. If you have developed a habit of going over one head area multiple times, Oster 76 will definitely make you lose that habit!
The Wahl’s #00000 blade will get you a 0.2mm cut, matching its biggest rival – Andis BGRC.
Unfortunately, with classic design come classic issues – noise and heat – especially if you use it for hours as a professional hair stylist. In fact, this can become such an issue, that it is recommended you use a cooling spray.
Those are its only flaws though. Textured ergonomic grip, exquisite vintage design, powerful motor, precision blades…all conspire to create an outstanding head-shaving experience if you don’t mind some noise and heat.
The package contains lubricating oil, cleaning brush, blade guard, clipper grease, and a 9-foot power cord.
Of the current lineup, Oster 76 is the most expensive balding hair clipper, but as it is an all-purpose hair cutter and trimmer, you can consider it a solid investment.
Conclusion
In the year 2019, you will not find better alternatives for head-shaving than these 7 models.
All you have to do is decide what the most important factor is for you:
- If it is uncompromising performance, then go for Oster 76 Classic, Wahl 8110, or Andis BGRC.
- If it is compact size and wireless convenience, then go for Norelco QC5580, Wahl Peanut, or Remington HC4250.
- If it is the very high-end you seek, with no compromises, then Andis Ceramic BGRC is your best choice.
- If it is cheap price, versatility and performance, regardless of aesthetics, then Andis T-Outliner would suit you best.
Whichever model you end up choosing, always remember – best way to counter disappointment is to figure out what is the most important to you. And without the price tag entering the equation, in this review lineup some models offer you to have the cake and eat it too!
