The Panasonic ER-GB42 is a compact wet/dry beard trimmer that sets length with a single dial across 19 settings from 0.5 to 10 mm and charges on a cordless stand. Shaving Advisor's tested roundup rates it 8.0 out of 10 and calls it its go-to recommendation for travelers and short beards, praising the grip and a motor so quiet it barely makes any noise, but notes the small cutting head needs extra passes, can clog, and the blades need regular oiling. In a video review, owner Jaytee's found it powerful without tugging and far handier than a box of separate guards.
Full review
Shaving Advisor's compact pick
Shaving Advisor's tested roundup ranks the ER-GB42 its best compact trimmer for lighter beards with an overall rating of 8.0 out of 10, and 8.5 each for features and design and for trimming experience. The reviewer says it was a toss-up with the top spot for a long time and lost only because the Brio Beardscape V2 has more power for longer beards.
He has taken it on multiple trips and calls it his favorite travel companion: compact, consistently reliable, and at around $60 a bargain for anyone keeping a short beard or stubble sharp.
Design and the length dial
Shaving Advisor singles out the rubberized grip, the 19 length settings from 0.5 to 10 mm on a single dial instead of a bag of loose guards, and the cordless charging stand that keeps the counter free of tangled cables. Because the trimmer is fully waterproof it can be used wet or dry and cleaned by rinsing it under the tap.
In a video review, owner Jaytee's, who bought it on sale at Target, made the same point about the single attachment, showed shaping the edges of his beard with the comb on and the base with it off, and found it powerful without pulling hair out.
Trade-offs
Shaving Advisor's main complaint is the cutting head: it is somewhat small, so it takes more passes to cover the whole face and can clog with hair quickly, and it may slow down anyone with a long, dense beard.
The blades need regular oiling to stay quiet and sharp. The manual suggests after every use, but Shaving Advisor finds once a week is usually enough. The battery gives 50 minutes, which it calls plenty for a week-long trip, though recharging is slow next to modern lithium-ion trimmers.
Strengths
- +Rated 8.0 out of 10 in Shaving Advisor's tested roundup
- +19 length settings from 0.5 to 10 mm on one dial, so there are no loose guards to keep track of
- +Motor so quiet it barely makes any noise, per Shaving Advisor
- +Rubberized grip and a cordless charging stand; Shaving Advisor calls it its favorite travel trimmer
- +Fully waterproof for wet or dry trimming and rinses clean under the tap, per Shaving Advisor
Watch-outs
- −Small cutting head means more passes and can clog with hair quickly, per Shaving Advisor
- −Blades need regular oiling; Shaving Advisor finds once a week enough
- −50-minute battery and a slow recharge compared with modern lithium-ion units, per Shaving Advisor
- −Shaving Advisor says it is not for long, thick beards
How it compares
The Panasonic ER-GB42 Wet/Dry Beard Trimmer and the Panasonic Cordless Precision Beard Trimmer both set length with a dial across 19 settings from 0.5 to 10 mm. The ER-GB42's linked listing is $59.99 against $134.99 for the Cordless Precision, and Shaving Advisor gives the ER-GB42 50 minutes of battery to the other model's 60.
Rating sources
Counts as 4.12/5 in our score — this publisher's 6 scores on the site average 3.95, so its scores are adjusted up to compare fairly with other publishers.
“this guy is so powerful but engineered to where it's not going to have so much power that rips your beard off”
Not in the average — we derived this score from the review's words, and a publisher printed a score for this product, so the printed number counts instead.
Our 4.1 score is the average of 1 of the scored reviews above, each adjusted for how strictly its publisher scores. 1 derived score above is not in the average because a publisher printed a score for this product. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
