BaByliss men’s super-x metal review: A sleek and stylish hair clipper for grooming at home

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The humble hair clipper might seem like a purely functional grooming tool but, hey, it’s still a gadget, right? And what man doesn’t like his gadgets to look as good as they perform? Just because it’s a hair clipper doesn’t mean it can’t look like something from a Marvel movie.

This brings us neatly on to the BaByliss men super-x metal series cordless hair clipper – the beauty brand’s latest, most advanced and most futuristic-looking hair clipper. The brands previous japanese steel hair clippers (£66.49, Johnlewis.com), looked pretty cool but this latest model, new for 2021, takes things to a whole new level.

Even its name makes it sound like it landed on earth from the Marvel universe. But is it really the new superhero of home hair clipping?

To find out we put the super-x metal series hair clipper through its paces over several weeks – road-testing it not just on No.1 and 2 buzzcuts but on longer styles to check out different cutting lengths and we even attempted a few DIY fades (it’s all in the flick of the wrist we discovered).

As well as performance, we took into account overall appearance, battery performance and accessories included too.

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The first thing that struck us about the super-x metal series hair clipper is how sleek and modern it looks and how beautiful it feels in the hand. Though it lacks textured surfaces or thumb rests that many other clippers feature for grip and stability, it fits so snugly in the hand it doesn’t really need them. It’s solid, robust and heavy, without feeling unwieldy, and has a premium, luxe, minimalist feel which matches its price tag.

The comb guides themselves snap securely into place and – in a really useful touch – their cutting lengths and grades are highlighted in silver to prevent the user from accidentally using the wrong guard (a common risk with less clearly marked guards).

Even the textured taper lever has been designed with care and then there’s the pulsating blue LED digital battery life indicator which adds a futuristic feel and which we found curiously additive to watch. (Hey, what can we say? We’re the shallowest of gadget geeks.)

Read more: 8 best hair clippers for a professional buzz cut at home

As a bonus, BaByliss have taken steps to remove all single use plastics from their packaging so everything inside the box it comes in is protected with fully recyclable paper and cardboard. A small but welcomed touch.

First off, let’s talk about the motor. Where some clippers rattle and hum this one positively purrs, getting the job done with less noise and vibration than many other clippers we’ve tried.

It offers a similar range of cutting lengths as most clippers on the market – from a grade 1 (0.8mm) to a grade 8 (25mm) – but because the taper control allows fine adjustments you effectively get many more, which is especially handy for precision fades.

The lever allows you to reduce the cutting length in tiny 0.1mm increments and there are five different taper lever positions. Handily, each position is marked and, in another nice little touch, the lever clicks into place with each of the five settings, locking the length into place during cutting to avoid lever slips.

Cutting time was more than ample – a three-hour charge will give you three hours cutting while a twenty minute “quick charge” provides enough time to do a basic cut. The Japanese steel precision blades certainly plough through hair without problems and there was no snagging along the way – even on longer hair. Though we found it helps to blow the hair out of the blades every couple of strokes.

Accessories are kept to a minimum (apart from ear taper combs to help you get a clean line around ears you just get a cloth storage pouch) you get a USB charging stand which looks pretty cool too. This allows it to be cordless (handy for manoeuvrability when on the job) and the lithium ion battery means there’s no drop off in performance whilst cutting. Overall, it was a joy to use.

With an RRP of £120 it might not be the cheapest clipper on the market, but the BaByliss men super-X metal series cordless hair clipper is certainly one of the most stylish, while delivering on performance and being a dream to hold and look at. If you’re looking for something less pricey we’ve included some options in our round up of the best clippers on the market. But this is perfect for the style-conscious or anyone wanting to upgrade their current clippers to something that’s bang up-to-date.

Buy now £74.99, Amazon.co.uk