Conair The Chopper 2-in-1 HCT423R review

The Chopper 2-in-1 Custom Styler is promoted as a multipurpose tool for hairstyling and personal grooming.

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

Conair's The Chopper 2-in-1 Custom Styler is a versatile, affordable clipper that includes accessories for custom fading and detailing, along with five-position taper control.

Pros

  • +

    Sporty design

  • +

    Comfortable rubber hand grip

Cons

  • -

    Switching between blades is tricky

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The Chopper 2-in-1 Custom Styler is promoted as a multipurpose tool for hairstyling and personal grooming. It comes with an interchangeable facial hair blade and is packaged in a 24-piece kit. It has a DC torque motor that Conair says has 50 percent more cutting power than its standard motors. There’s also a turbo button, giving you a 15 percent power boost when you press it.

The Chopper is 7 1/4 inches long and weighs 10 3/4 ounces. We couldn’t find its specifications in our research – or by asking Conair’s customer service – so we relied on measurements from our lab. Although its design is straight and stiff, our testers experimented with various grasping positions and were finally able to find a comfortable hold. They especially appreciated the clipper bright and bold color. “Yay, orange,” said one of our testers. “I also love the rubberized grip!”

The loudest complaint about this clipper is directly related to its noise. The Chopper’s motor is one of the most brash we tested, especially when we flipped to turbo power. The clipper also has an intense vibration, described by our testers as “tickly.”

Given its interchangeable blades, The Chopper boasts multiple precision settings, ranging from 1/8 inch to 7/8 inch in length. The clipper blade comes with seven blade guards for haircutting, along with left and right taper combs for detailing around the ears. The trimmer blade has a single comb that adjusts to five different positions. There are also three jawline combs included for detailing beards and goatees.

The Chopper and all its accessories are stored in a soft drawstring pouch. Along with its guard combs, the kit comes with a styling comb, a mustache comb, barber scissors, a barber cape and a cleaning brush. There’s also a tube of blade oil. We used the kit’s barber cape during most of our volunteers’ haircuts because it was by far the best cape in any kit we reviewed.

In theory, the interchangeable blades on the 2-in-1 Custom Styler seem like a great idea. In practice, however, we preferred to use combo kits like the Wahl Lithium Ion Pro and the Andis Promotor Combo when we needed to exchange clippers for trimmers. We found it much easier to use separate devices for cutting and detailing rather than switching back and forth between the Chopper’s two blades. Attaching and removing the blades required more effort than we expected, and one of our testers even nicked her thumb.

While the Conair 2-in-1 chopper is the lowest priced of the electric hair clippers we tested, we recommend the Remington Virtually Indestructible as our Best Value. The Remington feels much more durable, and it’s covered by a lifetime warranty. The Chopper’s warranty is the next best, with Conair guaranteeing the clipper for five years. The company’s customer service includes FAQs, telephone support and an online email form.

View our guide to the best hair clippers for the most current clipper models and hair trimmers. 

Jennifer Christensen

Jennifer Christensen has written for many newspapers and magazines and has broadcast experience in television and radio. She has earned journalism awards from the Utah Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists and enjoys being a writer for Top Ten Reviews. Jennifer has five amazing children and loves to hike, play the piano, kick a soccer ball and eat ice cream.