Fadeking Hair Clipper Review: Better-Valued than Novah?

Not all affordable clipping devices come with a good build quality. Well, Fadeking has been one of the very few exceptions in such regard!

The Fadeking hair clipper promises to be an all-in-one hair clipping solution inside a barber-style kit. It’s not only meant for aspiring professionals, but also for home groomers who wish to try out versatile hairdos.

It has a captivating housing design, a blade that’s capable of blending your hair and advanced features to make it contemporary.

My Fadeking clipper review is going to tell you why it gives you better value for money, along with the areas it has certain shortcomings.

Fadeking Hair Clipper: Specs

The technical specifications for the Fadeking hair clipper tell you exactly what to expect in terms of mechanical elements for this device.

• Dimensions: 18 x 4.3 x 4.0 cm
• Weight: 14.6 Ounces
• Colors: 5 (Golden, Black, Gold+Bronze, Silver+Black, Silver+Red)
• Blade Type: Fading Tooth Top
• Blade Number: #440C
• Blade Material: Stainless Steel
• Motor Power: Approx. 6,500 RPM
• Motor Type: Rotary
• Accessories: 12
• Battery Indicator: Numeric LED
• Battery Runtime: 80+ Minutes
• Battery Capacity: 2600 mAh Li-ion
• Charging: USB-C + DC Charging
• Modes of Use: Corded/Cordless

Pros & Cons

I have listed out the positive and negative aspects that I found out regarding this hair clipper and it’ll help you set your expectations before even making the purchase!

What I Like

• Great value for money indeed, with haircut versatility and an entire barber-kit
• Fading blade lets you imitate the industry-standard blending cuts
• Motor is powerful for the price
• Contemporary features like numeric battery indicator or USB Type-C charging
• Long battery life with corded functionality
• Every accessory included, even a barber cape and storage case

Areas for Improvement

• Blade is good, but not great enough to match Wahl or Andis
• Lever isn’t as tight as high end clippers
• Not meant for full-day barbershop use, light use is okay

Verdict

The Fadeking hair clipper can be best described as the beginner-friendly, entry-level, versatile grooming tool that’s high-value for a lot of consumers. It’s cordless, houses a fancy look, tactile and embedded with a lot of newer features, delivering way more than expected!

Unboxing the Fadeking Hair Clipper

Fadeking’s device arrived at my place inside the solid carry pouch shaped like a mini briefcase. The pouch itself is solid and durable, keeping things intact inside.

You’ll have to unzip the pouch to expose the inner components. The Fadeking clipper rests at its designated spot, while on the other side are all the guide combs.

From the barber cape to the additional accessories like charging cable (no adapter included), cleaning brush or blade oil, they rest on the other side.

It’s worth noting that the number of accessories change based on your purchase type as there are two:

• Clipper only (one I’m reviewing)
• Clipper + Trimmer combo

What’s Inside the Box: Fadeking Hair Clipper, 6 Guide Combs, 1 Barber Cape, 1 USB Type-C Cable, 1 Cleaning Brush, 1 Blade Oil, 1 Carry Pouch, User Manual.

Standout Features in Fadeking Hair Clipper?

In this section, I’ll be discussing the standout features in the Fadeking hair clipper. These should tell you how good this hair clipper actually is!

Feature Highlights

• Fading Tooth Top blade ranges between 0.5 mm to 1.2 mm
• Cylindrical, knurled-barbell texture retains grip at all times
• 6,500 RPM (approx.) rotary motor capable of versatile performance
• 14.6 ounces of weight seems ideal for a cordless tool
• 80+ minute battery life with USB Type-C charging
• 6 guide combs cover every necessary length, along with lever
• BaByliss-like Aesthetics with Average Durability

It’s quite clear that Fadeking has borrowed its aesthetics from BaBylissPRO hair clippers, especially from their MetalFX line.

The bottom half is a cylinder with the top half widening to let you rest your thumb. The entire housing is draped in one color unless you pick the duotone variants.

Right down the middle, the power slider rests and at the feet, the large black rectangle serves as the numeric battery indicator. On the underside, the charging ports and hanging hooks are planted.

Despite the aluminum build, I wouldn’t call it the most durable device. Dropping it could definitely dent the handle, but otherwise it hasn’t shown signs of wear, tear or slowing down.

Knurled-Barbell Grip

The cylinder portion I just told you about has knurled-barbell textures to allow for a firm grip even if you have sweaty palms.

It shows no sign of slippage at any given point and responds to your slightest movements. It’s quite rare to be honest, such tactile confidence in an affordable clipping device.

While pencil-holds aren’t possible due to its size, you’ll be able to glide over hair bodies or beards at precisely the angles you choose to proceed with.

14.6 Ounces of Weight - Head Heavy?

Fadeking’s 14.6 ounces of weight is actually industry standard for cordless hair clippers. Wahl has different weight gradients and compared to them, Fadeking clipper seems to be at the median.

Although this weight is manageable, doesn’t cause fatigue to your wrists, the overall body balance seems to be leaning toward the head.

A head-heavy hair clipper as such requires some getting used to. But it comes in handy for precision work, fine tuning or accurate blending operations.

Fading Tooth Top Blade Feels Sharp

In case you’re wondering about the blade unit for the Fadeking device, it comes equipped with a Fading Tooth Top blade that’s dedicated for blending work.

Other than that, you’d be able to apply soft transitions, fades and tapers. It’s worth noting that the stainless steel blade isn’t zero-gapped.

It struggles with bulk trimming, thus not a great option for those who wish to work with longer or textured hair. The smoothness of refined blades isn’t there, but this makes it forgiving and easy to control for beginners!

Rotary Motor Does What it’s Supposed to

Fadeking won’t tell you how fast the rotary motor runs, but my assessment guesses that the torque is around 6,000/6,500 RPM.

The motor isn’t that loud and even when it struggles with coarse hair, there’s less pulling than a lot of other affordable tools.

When you place it under heavy load, you’ll feel that the motor is working at its full speed, but the consistency is maintained - I’ve actually been surprised by this performance!

Adjustment Lever Seems Generic

The quality of the taper lever isn’t like those you’d find in a modern hair clipper. It’s generic and not as tight as you’d like it to be.

Despite that, the lever is functional and allows you to alter between cutting lengths that are approximately 0.5 mm and 1.2 mm - diverse enough for different fade lengths.

This aspect might be unnerving for professional groomers, home consumers won’t find it to be an issue for their regular usage, unless you are skilled enough to make micro-adjustments.

Complete Kit for Entry-Level

This hair clipper is actually a complete kit required for a wide array of grooming. Aside from the carry pouch, you’re getting a total of 6 guide combs: 1/16”, 1/8”, 3/16”, 1/4”, 3/8” and 1/2”.

However, these guards are better than the device is priced, yet the quality might seem to be lacking if compared against the top dogs in the industry.

These guards snap on perfectly and don’t feel flimsy once attached. Also, the barber cape is a very useful addition for self-grooming at home.

Good Battery, LED Indicator, Modern Charging

Fadeking advertises their hair clipper to offer 300 minutes of runtime. It’s not entirely a lie, but I’ve found out that the functional runtime is between 80 to 100 minutes (down to 40% charge).

Anything less than that lowers the motor torque. The numeric LED battery indicator has proven its worth and has been quite accurate.

The USB Type-C charging allows you to recharge it using your phone’s charger or power bank (takes around 2 hours). This marks the Fadeking tool as an ideal travel hair clipper!

How Was My Experience Using the Fadeking Hair Clipper?

Now comes a very practical elaboration of my personal experience of using the Fadeking hair clipper. It focuses fully on its real-life behavior, not some stats written on the brand website.

Experience Highlights

• Strokes are stable and predictable for basic fades and blends
• Motor power is consistent for generic grooming, lacks heavy-duty power
• Grip is comfortable, heat levels remain minimal
• Versatile with the lever and guide combs
• Leans toward home-usage, barber-use is limited

Cutting Range

One of the major reasons I enjoyed using the Fadeking clipper is its easy to control design. The performance excels between short to medium hair body, blade struggles less across finer hair.

As there’s a cutting length variance option using the lever, smoothing out transitions is basically its core trait to benefit from.

With the shortest length setting, you might even use it as a balding clipper, given that you’re doing the hair maintenance on a regular basis.

Comfort & Handling

Direct contact against the scalp using the Fading Tooth Top blade has been pleasant so far, even while operating on sensitive skin.

There’s very little vibration present, but it’s nothing you cannot handle. The cutting actions don’t feel harsh and even in adverse conditions, the tugs were minimal.

As per maneuvering it goes, the weight and texture make it comfortable to glide and apply strokes. It doesn’t feel awkward to hold on to, nor does the metallic handle heat up much.

Grooming Efficiency

Well, Fadeking isn’t something like an Oster 76 Classic when it comes to bulk removal. The motor isn’t aggressive and chopping through dense hair isn’t part of its forte.

The area it excels at is short to medium hair. Guide combs run smoothly and the motor maintains a consistent torque if the texture is finer.

If you’re fine tuning a hair body after a basic trim, or working maintenance on a short hair body, the efficiency is almost as much as an industry-standard tool!

How Versatile Is the Fadeking Hair Clipper?

The versatile aspect for the Fadeking clipper kicks in with different ranges of tapers and fades. It relishes on its simplicity and higher control.

Haircuts like buzz, crew or even tasks like neckline cleaning or beard trimming become possibilities in the right hands. The guards and adjustment lever contribute to this factor a lot.

Mostly, bulk trims and line up works are where the Fadeking device comes short as. Therefore, the brand sells a trimmer as part of a combo for the latter sort of operation.

Cleaning & Maintenance

You’ll have to treat the Fadeking clipper like an actual hair clipper, although low-maintenance ones per se.

You can get away with cleaning the blades using the brush provided inside the package. This should be done after each session, or if needs be, in the middle of the session.

Oiling the blades is of utmost importance here, since it makes the blades last longer and the grooming sessions feel smoother. Also, it reduces the tendency of blade heating up.

How Was the Fadeking Hair Clipper Tested?

I did a bunch of full head haircuts with the Fadeking clipper to test its potential, including basic fades, tapers and even maintenance trims.

Various lengths of buzz and crew cuts were applied with this tool. During this time, the battery life was tested as well as performance at different levels.

I also paid close attention to the adjustment lever to see how much control it gives me over the blending work.

A wide variety of hair textures and densities was included in the test. The evaluation is informed by the cutting behavior, comfort, reliability and a few more essential metrics.

Who Should Consider the Fadeking Hair Clipper?

Let me give you five grooming enthusiasts who might find this Fadeking hair clipper to be useful and worth purchasing.

Firstly, home groomers who wish to try out different haircuts by themselves, the kit and easy-to-use design comes in handy here.

Secondly, beginners who wish to learn tapering and fading can consider this device. Third, those who are looking for a cordless hair clipper within budget.

Fourth, travel enthusiasts can make good use of it due to the modern charging methods and lighter weight. Lastly, barbers who want a tool for lighter blending work might find Fadeking useful.

Fadeking vs Novah: Battle of the Affordable Hair Clipper Kits

Both Fadeking and Novah have developed budget-end hair clippers for consumers, especially those who like doing haircuts at home.

These two devices come with kits and are often compared by the netizens as viable purchase contenders.

This Novah vs Fadeking section compares their two affordable hair clipper kits to see which one is designated to a particular type of grooming operation to help you make up your mind!

Build & Materials

First of all, both of these hair clippers are made with aluminum to add durability to the handle. Their gripping textures are based on similar principles.

That said, Novah feels like a tad bit more premium in hand and the durability is slightly higher. Some consumers therefore prefer calling it a barber-grade tool.

Fadeking in this regard caters more toward everyday ease and is considered more of a home-grooming tool.

Blade & Cutting Precision

The two blades feel similar too as neither are zero-gapped and both are made with stainless steel, designed for blending and fading.

As per the outcomes go, Novah blades seem to deliver somewhat crispier and sharper cuts. The hair cutoff points seem more refined, especially when you’re blending different lengths.

Fadeking’s blade does basic fading and blending. While it remains functional for daily routines, the crispiness seems to be lacking a little against Novah. It’s worth noting that neither are capable of bulk removal on coarse hair.

Motor & Power

While the motor powers remain similar on the Fadeking and Novah tools, the latter offers a boost mode to chop through tougher hair textures.

But the boost usually works on blending works and not for bulk removal. This boost lets you create crispy fades and tapers on textured hair, better than Fadeking does.

This comes at the cost of battery life, making it last around 60 minutes if you frequently use this. Also, such aggressive cutting actions aren’t kind on skin, where Fadeking’s blade is gentle even on sensitive skins.

Battery & Interface

If the boost isn’t engaged on the Novah, its battery can outclass Fadeking by 10-20 minutes, depending on the type of haircut you’re applying.

Additionally, the two have built-in battery level indicators in numeric form via the LED display. Fadeking only shows the battery percentage whereas Novah highlights turbo signal, low battery warning and a maintenance notification.

Accessories & Versatility

Novah hair clipper kit offers a larger library of accessories, totaling the guide combs up to 10 only for the clipper, with additional 4 trimmer combs.

Fadeking gives you the option to choose whether you want the standalone clipper with 6 guards or a clipper-trimmer combination.

In this regard, you’ll have to pay the extra for Novah since the only purchase option is the combo, no solo clipper buying available. 

Key Takeaway: If you’re looking for just a hair clipper at a lower price dedicated to fading and blending hair that’s not very coarse or kinky, Fadeking becomes your ideal choice.

 Otherwise, those who wish to push the boundaries of hair versatility, want some extra guide combs and fine tuning with a precision trimmer is your necessity, not to mention the extra cost, you can consider Novah kit.

FAQ

Here are a few frequently asked questions that I’m about to answer concerning the Fadeking hair clipper.

Q: Can the Fadeking Hair Clipper be used on wet or damp hair?

Ans: No! The Fadeking hair clipper is not waterproof and the stainless steel blade might start rusting if you trim over damp hair. Even without this concern, its motor is not powerful enough to chop through damp hair since it tends to increase hair volume. Lastly, there’s corded use support on the Fadeking clipper and taking it up close to a damp hair body can be risky in many ways.

Q: Is the blade on the Fadeking clipper removable and replaceable?

Ans: Yes! The Fadeking clipper’s #440C Fading Tooth Top blade is widely available on the market - be that physical barbershops or online marketplaces. Thus, if your blade runs dull or needs replacement, you can simply unscrew the blades from the handle and attach the one you buy within a few minutes.

Q: Are Fadeking replacement guide combs available separately?

Ans: Fadeking utilizes a universal guide comb mechanism, thus any standard, universal guard you buy from the market will fit perfectly with the Fadeking hair clipper.

Concluding Remarks

In my opinion, the Fadeking hair clipper is positioned as a personal, home-grooming tool that’s practical, budget-friendly yet highly functional. It doesn’t build up any premium hype, nor does it advertise itself to be a versatile tool. Instead, it does one thing it’s meant to be doing, and does it well - blending of different sorts.

This hair clipper is not going to replace the high-end barber tools, but it can certainly become your home’s most go-to clipping device for everyday work.

The kit system covers everything you might need and thus it offers better value for your money. You don’t really need to pay extra for such usage as Fadeking vows to serve you just right!