I’ve tried out various hair clippers over the years, and they all put up with abuse on the road. I’m happy to finally have found one that I can write about and recommend here for you minimalists, who want the few things you take to work well, and serve multiple purposes.
Top Pick for Travel Hair Clippers
Our favorite clippers so far for travel are the Hatteker Beard / Hair Trimmer Kit. These are powerful, functional clippers that check all the boxes for road use. The Hatteker:
- Has all-in-one grooming attachments including a standard wide hair trimmer, two progressively more narrow blades for details, an adjustable precision trimmer and other combs, and a noise and ear trimmer; take just what you need
- Is fully IPX7 waterproof
- Charges via USB, so you can charge it from your favorite travel multiplug without bringing an extra plug; one-hour battery, lasting over several weeks of moderate use in our tests
- Is lightweight and comes with a travel pouch; there’s also an included charging cradle for home use
Add to these features that the clippers simply cut the best of any that we’ve tried that are suitable for travel, and are also the quietest.
- Top Pick for Travel Hair Clippers
- What We Look For in Travel Hair Trimmers / Grooming Kits
- Our Favorite Travel Hair / Beard / Nose Hair / Public Hair / Manscapping / Bikini Trimmer: The Hatteker Review
- Another Great Travel Trimmer (But You Have to Carry a Wall-Plug Charger): Philips Norelco Multigroom Series 3000
- The Competition: Other, Lesser Travel Hair Trimmers We've Tried
- Wrap Up: The Top All-in-One Travel Hair Grooming Solution for Women and Men
What We Look For in Travel Hair Trimmers / Grooming Kits
To meet the cutoff for consideration as a travel hair trimmer, we required the following features:
- Lightweight and small (but still grippable)
- Internal rechargeable battery (some bathrooms don’t have easily accessible electrical sockets, especially in certain countries)
- Charges via USB; this means you don’t need to carry an extra charging cable and plug brick, since you likely already carry a USB charger. (Here’s our favorite travel USB charger and universal plug adapter for any country.) This also means you don’t have to worry about checking voltage as USB charging works anywhere (though most battery-powered trimmers nowadays do also accept 100-240V).
- One single unit with attachments so there aren’t several different machines to carry around, as with this model
In addition we considered recommendations of related products from the Wirecutter, Consumer Reports, and Amazon reviews to understand which brands tended to be more reliable. Generally all of the popular brands were reported to do a very good job with actually cutting hair.
We’ve tried out a few models that were fine, and two that were terrible; our top pick was outstanding.
Our Favorite Travel Hair / Beard / Nose Hair / Public Hair / Manscapping / Bikini Trimmer: The Hatteker Review
Our favorite travel hair trimmer is an all-in-one unit for all sorts of grooming on the road.
It meets all of the basic requirements we identified above, and it cuts hair smoothly without requiring repeated passes over the same area.
The Upsides to the Hatteker Hair Trimmer
- Even, professional, quick cutting action; doesn’t clog or sputter or cut unevenly like one other travel trimmer we tried. The blades of the Hatteker didn’t get at all hot in our tests, and cut quite close when the guard was removed, without breaking any skin.
- It’s extremely, impressively quiet; I was recently able to listen to a podcast at medium volume (on our favorite Bluetooth travel speaker) while cutting my hair, and did not miss a word of John McWhorter’s bizarre digressions.
- Includes a whole array of trimmer attachments: a large trimmer for the hair on top, two smaller trimmer options for precision work like moustaches, beards, and body and of course pubic hair, a noise hair trimmer attachment, a shaver attachment (not as good as a straight razor but fine for body hair), and a small comb.
- It’s very lightweight at 147 grams (5.2 ounces), as measured with the largest clipper attachment.
- It’s IPX7 waterproof, which is certainly overkill. This rating means you could dunk it under one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. In any case, it will certainly survive in the shower (though do dry it afterwards and put a few drops of the provided oil on the blades). This means it’s also easy to wash off.
- It charges via a USB-to-power-in plug, which connects to any standard USB wall outlet brick (there’s one included), though you could also just use any USB-out to charge the battery, from a laptop for example. Our current favorite all-in-one travel adapter is reviewed here.
You could also, in a pinch, charge it from your favorite travel backup battery.
- There’s a 60-minute battery, which in our experience is enough to get through multiple sessions of grooming over a few weeks without needing to recharge. The charge indicator is EXTREMELY handy too; it shows the number of minutes of battery remaining. With other clippers I have sometimes gotten halfway through cutting and had the battery conk out, leaving me looking hilarious.
- One of the cutting guard options is a precision dial, which gives you a variety of lengths in a single piece that’s thus easy to carry.
- It also comes with a carrying case and a charging cradle, which are fine, though neither is particularly useful in my book. There is also a small cleaning brush, oil, and a very poorly written but at least understandable instructional manual.
- There is a one-year warranty when purchased from Amazon.
- As of the most recent update of this article, I have been using this same Hatteker unit myself, most weeks, for four years. It still cuts flawlessly and the battery still holds the same charge as far as I can tell; this is much better than I expect of this or any modern electro-gizmo with moving parts and especially a battery.
The downsides to the Hatteker Hair Trimmer
- The connection to the unit only works with the specific cable (provided), there isn’t a USB-mini or USB-C connection in, which would mean you could then use the other cables you’re already travelling with. But note that you can connect that cable to any USB port on a computer or USB phone adapter, or the universal USB travel plug shown above. So we are still staying minimalist.
- The carrying pouch is flimsy and unlikely to provide much protection to the unit; you may want to consider also using a Skooba cable stable (also fits other electronics and cables). The Hatteker is pictured below in this cable case, which is likely to better protect the unit.
- The internal battery, like all such batteries, will someday fail to hold a charge, and Hatteker provides no way to replace it. This is a problem with every competing model I’ve found on the market now too. Products with built-in batteries last for a few years if we’re lucky, depending on use, temperature, etc. This is a problem with just about every clippers, mobile phone, and all the rest, in our stupid, throw-away culture of electronic consumption.
Another Great Travel Trimmer (But You Have to Carry a Wall-Plug Charger): Philips Norelco Multigroom Series 3000
If you’re just taking short trips, you don’t necessarily need to take the wall plug and charging cable with you. In that case the Philips Norelco Multigroom Series 3000 is also a good lightweight option. I’ve used it in my Barcelona home for years and it has held up perfectly. It is every bit as good as the Hatteker Trimmer I take everywhere for travel, except that it charges via a wall plug (rather than a USB cable) which adds a (very small) amount of extra stuff to carry.
The battery life is also one hour, and I have not noticed a degrade in the battery life performance over the 3+ years I’ve had it around for use when I’m brushing up on my Catalan and trying to be seen in the city with the sexiest women in the world. Various options in the Philips Norelco Multigroom Series are often recommended as great beard, body hair, and head hair trimmers and they are small enough to travel with and yet powerful enough to take care of whatever you need. The blades do not need maintenance and it has not rusted when it has gotten wet.
The downside to these Philips trimmers is that the on/off switch is a little hard to press; sometimes I have actually had to use two hands to get a solid grip and slide the switch. It sticks a bit and I’ve seen other reviewers have the same issue.
Overall this is just as high quality as the Hatteker trimmers and from a very established brand. It’s not my top choice for travel only because of the proprietary wall charger.
The Competition: Other, Lesser Travel Hair Trimmers We’ve Tried
I tried the hair trimmer pictured above, marketed as the Kooltech F40 in parts of Europe. It appears to be extremely similar to the Kebor Hair Grooming Kit in the USA. (Sometimes different brand names are tacked on to a product for different markets, including occasionally with a few superficial design changes.)
These clippers also meet all of our requirements for travel: they’re light, charge by USB, and adjustable to various cutting lengths. I liked it that the guard was built into the unit, it seemed that this would also help protect the blades in travel. And the product is very cheap.
Unfortunately it was also really crummy at cutting thick hair. It took lots of passes to do a reasonable job, so it was not at all fun to use.
I have also previously used and travelled with a Wahl product, the Wahl All-in-One Grooming Kit.
It does a great job cutting hair and held up for several years of road use, until the motor gave out.
To be fair, it was likely getting banged around a lot in my carry-on — I wasn’t making much of an effort to protect it.
But it doesn’t cut as smoothly nor as quietly as our top pick above, and it is not waterproof, and lacks USB charging, meaning that one also has to carry the specific charging cable for it.
Another very light trimmer that is good for travel is the Bed Head Buzz Off Multi-Use Trimmer, which is not available at present. It lacks the many features and attachments of our main pick however, and also needs it’s own specific charging cable. And it’s noisy.
A very lightweight travel option that is extremely cheap is the Wahl Professional Half-Pint Trimmer. However, it runs on an AA battery which needs to be replaced after just a few cutting sessions. I don’t think this is so much of a problem because I often travel with a very small AA-battery recharger like this one that just takes the same USB-C cable you use to charge your phone.
Unfortunately, on my very first use it I left it got a bit wet and then immediately rusted over. This has never happened with other trimmers I’ve reviewed for this article, so the Wahl Half-Pint’s inability to withstand any water at all makes it not worthwhile.
I love that the Wahl Half-Pint so small and packable, but it’s also worth noting that this and other travel trimmers at this very mini size mean less blade area, and so it takes longer to cut hair. The other ultra-mini trimmers I’ve seen appear to be similarly flimsy and get bad reviews, so for now I won’t be trying out any more of them.
The Wahl Half-Pint has just two guard attachments for two different lengths.
It’s too bad that this is a piece of crap, because Wahl trimmers generally work well in my experience and get good high marks from me and from other reviewers and consumer organizations.
Wrap Up: The Top All-in-One Travel Hair Grooming Solution for Women and Men
Update after nearly one year/3 continents/an estimated 50 trims: No issues to note. No damage to the unit, and the battery still holds a full charge.
Update after four years of use: No issues and the blades still cut well. So bravo! This is beyond the lifespan that I expected for this, for sure. There are some scratches on the unit from my rough road use, but no performance issues at all.
Update after five years of use: The unit still works great, but the battery only lasts for about one and a half haircuts. Five years is much better than I would have expected from any battery-powered tech, so I’m pretty happy overall. The unit shows some scratches and cosmetic damage from me banging it around as I travel, but still cuts hair perfectly.
I use the Phillips Oneblade which is smaller and lighter than your recommended trimmer and also recharges using USB. It’s probably not as robust as some, but I’ve used it for 3 years for head and beard without problem. The easy blade replacement seems a plus. Worth a look if you’ve not considered it.
Great post! I’ve been looking for a reliable trimmer that’s travel-friendly, and your recommendations seem perfect. I appreciate the detailed features you highlighted. Definitely adding this to my travel essentials!