Skull Shaver Beast Clipper Review – Is It A Beast Though?
Skull Shaver Beast Clipper
The Skull Shaver Beast is a DIY hair clipper that has a patented ergonomic design. The aim of the design is to make self-hair cutting easier. While the design and features are great, it’s not what the original head shavers are in terms of performance.
Pros
Soft touch finish is comfortable
3 Angular supports
LED screen battery indicator
Three blade adjustments
Color coded clipper combs and tapering combs
Cons
The ergonimics do not work very well and fingers do not fit well inside
It is top heavy
Chrome plastic looks cheap
Takes 4 hours to fully charge
Clipper combs rattle
I am always on the lookout for the next shaver, razor, and hair clippers to make head shaving a bit more of a breeze and give a closer shave with comfort in mind.
The Skull Shaver Beast Clipper was next up to get tested, used, and reviewed.
We’ve tested and used Skull Shaver products in the past, and the most recent was the Skull Shaver Palm and the highly-rated Skull Shaver Gold Pro. These are both head shavers and what the company Skull Shaver is well known for rather than DIY Palm Held Hair Clippers.
The Brand – The company Skull Shaver first sold its shavers on amazon in 2012, and the business took off from there, with its shavers becoming known worldwide now. The patented ergonomically friendly design is one of their unique selling points.
After becoming a bit of a fan of the Skull Shavers I was looking forward to seeing if the Skull Shaver Beast Clipper performed well and finding out why it is called a beast.
Let’s take a close look at the features and how well this hair clipper matches what Skull Shaver the company tells us on their sales page about the Beast.
Skull Shaver Beast vs Beast Pro (updated)
I contacted Skull Shaver to ask what are the differences between the Skull Shaver Beast Pro and the standard model. I could see the display was numbered in percentage rather than LED dots, but I could not find any other differences.
Reply:
Thanks for your email. I’m happy to assist you.
Please be informed that the Beast Clipper Pro compare to Beast Clipper has a LCD display shows the level of charge, to make sure you never run out of battery.
Also it allows up to 90 minutes of cordless operation, instead of 60 minutes of cordless operation for Beast Clipper.
Hope you find this helpful.
Both of the extra features are very useful. Not necessary, but useful.
Update: You now see the Beast Clipper either named Beast Clipper Pro (UK/EU) or Beast Duo Clipper (USA). Basically, only the Pro and Duo versions are now available, and these are both the same hair clippers –just a different name for the country in which they are sold.
Description & Features
The Beast is a home clipper designed for self-cutting hair at various clipper comb lengths and trimming beards. It’s a DIY clipper with the popular Skull Shaver patented ergonomic design.
Unboxed, a buyer gets the hair clippers, 4 standard detachable combs, 4 tapering detachable combs, USB cable, base stand, blade oil, and instruction manual.
- Handle/Body – The body or handle of this clipper is what put Skull Shaver on the head-shaving map with success and popularity. The Beast has a similar ergonomic design to the head shavers, enabling a user to use the clippers in a hand-friendly manner. The finish is soft to touch.
- Blades – The stainless steel blades have three adjustments from 0.5mm – 1mm.
- Angular Support –The angular support feature allows the blade section to be moved backward and forward, providing three cutting angles.
- Combs – 8 Combs in total. Four are standard 3mm, 6mm, 9mm, and 12mm, and four tapering combs for tricky areas like around the ears. If you require larger combs these are sold separately.
- Cordless/Corded – May be used with its cord or cordless. Not to be used corded near water for obvious safety reasons.
- Charging and Battery – The lithium-ion battery should provide up to 90 minutes of runtime when fully charged and takes 4 hours to charge fully.
- Battery life indicator – The Beast Clipper has a useful battery light indicator on the top of the unit to let users know how much charge is left.
- Accessories – Apart from the combs it comes with a stand, cleaning brush, oil, and USB cable for charging.
- Warranty – Buyers get a 12-month warranty covering products purchased by the company’s official distributors. Buyers pay the shipping for returns, though, which has caused many previous customers to complain.
How Well Does The Skull Shaver Beast Perform?
Skull Shaver, like many companies, makes some interesting exaggerated claims. The first one spotted is the name ‘Beast’, which makes me think it is going to be a beast of a machine when it is not. It motors like any other hair clipper.
Another claim is ‘new and revolutionary approach to haircutting‘. It’s not, Remington and Phillips also have palm-held DIY clippers, unless they are talking about their patented ergonomic design which is a slightly different approach (not quite revolutionary).
How did I test and use the Skull Shaver Beast?
I am a balding guy and already keep my hair very short, or completely bald which means I only use clippers (DIY style) without a comb and cut as close to the scalp as possible. This means that I cannot test out how well the clippers perform solo when attaching combs.
However, for any clippers I test and use, I have a model (my brother), and I could get an idea of how well they work with his supportive head of hair to help.
At first glance, the Beast reminded me of the Skull Shaver head shavers and felt just as good in the hand, which I like.
Using the clippers when sliding the fingers inside to make use of its ergonomic patented design seemed very awkward. The unit is top-heavy, and the fingers just don’t hold securely enough.
They feel like they need more room for fingers to get inside correctly, and if the blades are adjusted back, you’ll find one finger loose and the other barely fitting inside.
It worked much better when holding the head section at the sides and the front and back.
The 0.5mm was okay, but nothing special. I have definitely used better clippers, and prefer the Remington ShortCut Pro — aka QuickCut for DIY’ing a same length buzz cut.
How was using the Skull Shaver Beast when using the combs?
As mentioned, I made use of my brother here. What was not good was the sound of the combs rattling when they were attached.
There is a good assortment of combs, and I like the various colors that help with identifying each size easily in the future.
My brother also found the unit quite awkward compared to other home hair clippers he has used.
I cut around his hair to see how it performed overall, and it did complete the job. Again, nothing wowed us, but it did get the job done.
Build Quality and Ergonomics – 6.5/10
The build quality seems very good, and it is a solid appliance, although the chrome-looking plastic around the head and the finger support section seems very cheaply made.
The ergonomics are what would push a person from buying or using a standard set of home hair clippers toward a product like this, but it doesn’t work for me. It’s top-heavy and awkward, and that’s a deal-breaker for me.
It would be a much better hair clipper if I could hold the whole unit in my hand, in the palm.
Holding & Grip – 6/10
The sections on the sides and the top and bottom help a user when using the Skull Shaver Beast somewhat.
Holding it at the side or the bottom still does not feel that practical, and the oval shape doesn’t seem to serve it very well.
Ease of Use – 6/10
From what I have experienced and written, you can see that it falls short in the ease of use department and misses that revolutionary quote Skull Shaver makes.
The clipper combs do clip on and off easily, though! And, adjuting the blade taper size from the slider at the back is easy to use and useful.
The pivoting support settings are handy when adjusting for making fades and trimming at the bottom of the neck area.
Cleaning and Maintenance – 9/10
The Skull Shaver Beast can be cleaned easily enough with the brush provided like any other hair clippers. As always, use the oil provided regularly to take care of the blades.
The small stand that comes with the Skull Shaver Beast is simple and very useful for storing the clipper safely.
Charging and Battery Life – 7/10
Sixty minutes of runtime with a fully charged battery is enough to get the job done. However, it takes 4 hours to fully charge, which is a heck of a long time.
Value for Money – 6.5/10
This clipper is quite expensive and overpriced, considering the main ergonomically friendly features are not suitable.
It’s priced up at around $89.95 (£69.99 – €69.99).
Any Common Consumer Issues, Complaints, or Positive Reports?
I was surprised that a lot of users really love this product, but these are on Amazon, and some are not quite right (including this one – this is by far the greatest $150 you could ever spend). Are you sure about that? This is the classic Amazon grouping reviews for other products from the same company together (he is writing about one of the head shavers, for sure, and not the Beast Clipper).
I quite like one comment that states, a gimmick, better off with a proper pair of clippers. I only like it as I agree, although I think Skull Shaver has just been trying to work on the success of the head shavers, and they haven’t pulled it off with the Beast, as yet.
Users do complain that the battery charge stops working after a period of time.
Final Thoughts – Who is the Skull Shaver Beast Best Suited For?
As you may have read, I was not that happy when testing out and using the Skull Shaver Beast. Yes, there are good features, and the overall idea or concept is excellent, but if the main patented feature makes it harder to use than a standard clipper then that’s a deal-breaker.
It can only be suited for someone who does not find it awkward to use or spends time overcoming that awkwardness.
If you have to shave your hair and fade it at various lengths, you will have to spend more time using the clipper and need a bit more skill. Fades are tricky enough as it is.
The Beast is also touted as a beard trimmer, but I am guessing that would be its secondary use. It’s a little awkward to use around facial hair as well.
