A fact of life: Hair will always keep growing. Another fact of life: Many want to keep it in check! Most men don’t spend too much on grooming accessories but there is one thing that piques our interest — old-style razor, triple-blade razor or a trimmer. Personally, I am in favour of triple-blade options because of the convenience but if it’s a special occasion — like going to meet my mother-in-law or school reunion — I don’t mind getting that 7O’Clock blade working.

Over the weekend, I gave an electric trimmer a try, thanks to a review I needed to do, that of Xiaomi UniBlade Trimmer. Look, Xiaomi is no stranger to making all kinds of products, besides smartphones, TVs and tablets. They have a screwdriver kit, rollerball pen, body composition scale, shoes and even sports tops. They even have a number of trimmers on offer. The latest one has some bells and whistles that will do the trick for most people.

First, as a rule, it’s better to trim when your beard hair is dry. And if you are new to trimmers, use a longer guard or dial setting when trimming to ensure you don’t cut your facial hair too short. And remember, clean your trimmer’s blade after each use, besides your face when you finish. Trimming is also shaving.

Let’s get one query out of the way — does a trimmer give you a very close shave? No, it doesn’t. It’s a trimmer. Even with a powerful blade, expect a normal razor to do a better job for a close shave.

Further, there has been a surge in the sale of trimmers after the pandemic. Now that people are working in hybrid conditions, bristly growth is being taken care of through trimming on office days.

The Xiaomi Uniblade Trimmer has a good build and in the box are two accessories – a comb head with dial and a three-way precision shaving head. The battery is built-in and 1.5 hours of charging ensures the trimmer runs for several sessions. We couldn’t kill the battery over a week.

Xiaomi UniBlade Trimmer comes with a three-way precision blade and comb Picture: t2ONLINE

The shaving head is the main component. There is one dot on the head and two dots on the trimmer handle. Press the blade head into place to match the first (hollow-looking) dot and then twist the accessory to match the second dot. The blade is flexible and moves according to the contour of your face.

Is it sharp? It is but there is no chance of getting a nick. To clean up an area, you need to run the trimmer twice or thrice but it gets the job done (and well).

The comb attachment has to be used with the blade attachment. After putting the blade attachment into place, push in the entire rig into the comb. It locks into place. For beard trimming or haircut, this comes in handy. There is a dial. Like I mentioned earlier, go with a longer guard or dial setting.

There is IPX7 water resistance, which means you can wash the trimmer under the tap. What I like most is USB-C charging; the port is at the bottom of the trimmer handle.

What do I miss on the trimmer? A display to show the remaining charge. Also, there could have been an accessory for nose and ear hair trimming. Otherwise, the Xiaomi UniBlade Trimmer (Rs 1,499) gets you a tidy, stubble-free look with minimal fuss.