Andis T-Outliner vs GTX-EXO

The published figures

These are two power systems under the same stroke rate, and Andis is unusually forthcoming about both - which is the reason this comparison can be made at all. Most trimmer makers publish no motor figure of any kind.

The one figure that is identical

7,200 strokes per minute, published on both. That is the number the whole category argues about and here it is a tie, which clears the comparison of the thing people usually decide it on.

What differs is how that stroke rate is produced. The corded trimmer uses a magnetic motor: an electromagnet pulling a spring-loaded armature back and forth at mains frequency. Simple, proven, and the reason the tool buzzes in your hand and is audible across a room. The cordless uses a rotary motor - a spinning armature converted to reciprocating motion - which runs quieter and transmits much less vibration.

Neither is better at cutting hair at the same stroke rate. One of them is nicer to hold for twenty minutes.

The battery, and the sentence Andis will not write

The standard case against a cordless trimmer for line work is that torque drops as the cell drains, and a lineup is the one job where a tool losing power halfway is unacceptable - there is no way to pause in the middle of an edge.

A published 1 hour 40 minutes goes a long way toward answering that. It is the longest published runtime in this category and far more than one session asks for, so a fading cell is unlikely to meet you mid-edge.

What would settle it completely is corded operation, and here the record is split. The retail listing states cord/cordless. Andis's own product page does not: it publishes a charging stand, an adapter and a voltage range, and never says the tool cuts while plugged in. We are citing the listing for that one claim and flagging it as the listing's, because it is the difference between a cable and a stopped haircut and the maker should be the one saying it.

Half the weight, and what that does to a line

14.5 oz against 7.8 oz is the largest proportional difference between these two tools, and it changes how they are used rather than how well they cut.

A heavy trimmer sits into the skin under its own mass, which steadies a long edge and is part of why the corded T-Outliner has been the default outlining tool in barbershops for decades. A light one is quicker to reposition and easier to hold at an awkward angle behind an ear or along a nape, which is most of what a home user is doing - the nape guide is the clearest case for the lighter tool, because you are working blind with a mirror.

The blade material is where the corded tool wins

Andis publishes a carbon-steel T-blade on the 04780. Carbon steel takes and holds a keen edge, which is what a line needs, and it rusts if it is put away wet - so it needs drying and oiling, which is true of any T-blade and is covered in the cleaning guide.

On the GTX-EXO, Andis publishes the blade as a GTX-Z set with a pre-set tight gap that is zero-gap capable, and stops. That tells you the geometry and nothing about the metal, and the metal is what decides whether the blade rusts, runs cool or holds its edge. If the material matters to you, the corded tool is the one that answers the question.

The decision, in one line each

• Cutting lines at home. Cordless. Half the weight, four combs and a charging stand in the box, and a battery that outlasts the job by an hour.
• Cutting lines all day, professionally. Corded. No cell to degrade, the mass works for you on a long edge, and the blade material is stated.
• Noise matters - a sleeping house, a small bathroom. Cordless. Rotary at the same stroke rate is a quieter tool.
• You want the tool to last twenty years. Corded. Everything else here is built to, and a lithium cell is not.
• You want a specific blade steel. Corded. The GTX-EXO never tells you which one you are getting.

Either way, the tool is only half of a clean line. The neckline guide covers where the line should sit, which is the part that goes wrong far more often than the hardware.