The first question is: can you get a good grip on it? A reliable trimmer should be of a decent weight, comfortable to hold and easy to manoeuvre, even with wet hands.  

You also want to check that it has a decent range of guard lengths. Some trimmers also have a precision trimmer for edges.

Then there’s battery life and charging options. If you’re going to take your trimmer away with you, it’s good to know that you can give it a charge and it’ll last you for the duration of your trip.

Many beard trimmers will charge with a three-pin plug. Some will charge via a shaving socket. A few rare beasts may charge via USB, which is handy for regular travellers as it means you don’t need to pack another travel adapter.

And finally, there’s the question of whether it comes with attachments to help you trim sideburns, nose and ear hair and tidy up body hair.

All of the following products were taken home and tested and are the best of the beard trimmers we’ve tried out. We think they represent decent quality and good value for money.

				Portable					   					Versatile					   					Budget-friendly					 

				Full charge takes 8 hours					   					Slightly garish

With three stubble combs by default and the option for a dedicated body blade, this one razor can cover clean shaving, stylish stubble, or body grooming, all in an unbelievably portable form factor. It’s lightweight, powerful, and gives a great shave even on tricky areas like the jawline.

All that and it’s also one of the most affordable electric razors on the market. Although you’ll have to buy additional blades once every few months, it’s still cheaper than most shaving solutions.

				Excellent performance					   					Precision control					   					Great build					   					Long battery life					 

				Small plastic stand					   					USB-C would be appreciated

Made from precision-engineered Japanese steel, the clippers have an LED display to show battery life and charging time. As for charging, you’ll get 20 minutes of use for each 20 minutes of time plugged in. With a powerful motor and five settings, it’s a quality device, although bear in mind, its high-grade materials make it heavy.

There’s a nice additional feature for people on the move: if you leave your charging base at home, there’s a Micro-USB port on the base, so you can charge it easily on the fly. We’d love to see a USB-C charging option as well though.

				Precision trim and shaver heads					   					Body groomer head					   					Wet & dry use					 

				Two-pin shaver plug					   					Narrow hair combs					   					Hair combs need mid-trim sweep

The kit contains a cordless trimmer with a detachable trimmer head, eight further attachments that will either trim or shave hair, and a Gillette Fusion razor with two five-blade cartridges. Plus, there’s a charging stand, dusting comb, cable and accessories bag. 

A full charge takes an hour and from that, you’ll get 100 minutes of trimming time. There’s a quick charge option as well, to give you enough power for a quick trim in a pinch.

You can use the trimmer and seven of the eight attachments wet or dry – you can’t use the body groomer head wet.

You probably won’t use all of the attachments but there’s enough here that you’ll find the right trimmers for all of your needs. However, this is for short hair only and anything over 2cm will need another tool. 

				Wide range of attachments					 

				3-pin plug charging

Design and build are solid and the interchangeable head system works excellently, allowing you to swap between different attachments in seconds. The G4 comes with a wide range of different options, including a mini foil shaver and a detail trimmer. Combine them all and you can achieve just about any style.

Performance is excellent and battery life is good too, although we would like a power lead that plugs into a shaver point rather than a three-pin plug.

				Ergonomic					   					Budget-friendly					   					Handy 'zoom' dial					 

				Pop-up trimmer snags easily

It also delivers in terms of providing different guard lengths, with a handy ‘zoom’ dial you can roll to change the setting.

Its battery will give you – at the very least – the promised 40 minutes of trimming time per charge. But there’s little in the way of extra features and the additional, pop-up precision trimmer is disappointing.   

Emma is Home Tech Editor at Tech Advisor. She covers everything from kitchen appliances to smart home devices, from floor care to personal care to air care technology. She’s particularly interested in environmentally conscious brands and products that save people time and money.