Andis Dog Clippers Compared (2026): AGC2, AGC Super, Excel 5 Speed, Pulse ZR II, Emerge and Vida
As an Amazon Associate, GroomBoard earns from qualifying purchases.
Quick picks
Best overall for salons
Andis UltraEdge AGC Super 2 Speed clipper
Groomers clipping all day, and owners doing full body clips on doodles and thick coats.
Worth knowing: Corded, and more machine than a light trim needs.
Check price on AmazonBest cordless
Andis Pulse ZR II cordless clipper
Mobile groomers and anyone who wants detachable blades without a cord for faces, feet and wiggly dogs.
Worth knowing: About eighty minutes per battery, so a full day needs the spare charged.
Check price on AmazonBest for home
Andis Vida 5 in 1 cordless pet clipper kit
First home groomers with a small or medium coat who want more than a budget kit.
Worth knowing: Lighter duty than the Bravura; it will not clip a dense doodle body.
Check price on Amazon
Shopping for grooming gear? See our shortlist of tools worth buying, grouped by what you need them for.
Ask a room of groomers what clipper they reach for first and most of them say Andis. The brand sends a third of the Amazon clicks on this site, which is why this page exists: six different machines carry the name, they overlap in confusing ways, and the right one depends on whether you groom in a salon, in a van or at a kitchen table. This is the whole current range in one place.
Our picks are research based. We compared the manufacturer's published specifications and the listings for each model, and we grouped them by the work they are built for. We do not claim side by side bench testing.
At a glance
Two things every Andis professional clipper shares
The blade system. AGC2, AGC Super, Excel 5 Speed, Pulse ZR II and Emerge all take the standard A5 detachable blade. That is the blade a salon already owns a drawer of, the blade an Oster A5 or a Wahl KM takes, and the blade our Andis blade guide explains size by size. Buying a second Andis never means buying a second set of blades.
The rotary motor. Andis professional clippers use a rotary motor rather than the magnetic or pivot motors in cheap kits. A rotary motor keeps its speed under load, which is the whole difference between a clipper that walks through a dense doodle coat and one that bogs down and heats the blade.
Our Top Picks
Best Andis clipper for a salon table
Andis UltraEdge AGC Super 2 Speed, Best Overall
The machine most working groomers own. Two speeds, a rotary motor that does not slow in thick coat, and a housing that runs comparatively cool and quiet for a corded clipper. It takes every standard A5 blade, so lengths swap in a second. If you buy one Andis for a fixed table, this is it. It is corded, and more machine than a light face and feet tidy needs.
Check price on Amazon →Best when one corded clipper has to cover every coat
Andis Excel 5 Speed, Best for Speed Control
The same rotary motor and blade system as the AGC Super with five speeds instead of two, from a slow, quiet setting for faces and nervous dogs up to full speed for a dense double coat. Groomers who do not want a second clipper for delicate work pick the Excel for that range. A 14 foot cord and the usual Andis blade drive. It costs more than the AGC Super, and a salon that only ever runs full speed will not use the difference.
Check price on Amazon →Best professional cordless for mobile groomers and detail work
Andis Pulse ZR II, Best Cordless
A genuine professional cordless: swappable lithium ion batteries so a full day never stops for a charger, five speeds, and it still takes detachable A5 blades. In a van, on a dog that backs away from a cord, or for faces and feet all day, nothing else in the range does this. Expect roughly eighty minutes per battery, so a salon day needs the spare charged.
Check price on Amazon →Best cordless that keeps working when the battery runs down
Andis Emerge Cordless, Best Cord or Cordless
A lithium ion detachable blade clipper that runs cordless and, unlike the Pulse ZR II, plugs in and keeps cutting when the battery is flat. One speed, a high power motor and a contoured grip. For a groomer who wants the cord gone on faces and feet but does not want a second battery to manage, it sits between the AGC Super and the Pulse in price and in freedom. Less runtime per charge than the Pulse.
Check price on Amazon →Best if the price is right
Andis UltraEdge AGC2 2 Speed, The Classic
The AGC2 is the clipper a generation of groomers trained on: corded, two speeds, 3,400 and 4,400 strokes a minute, the same rotary motor family and the same A5 blade system as the AGC Super. The Super is a little lighter and quieter, and that is the whole difference. When the AGC2 is the cheaper of the two, buy it and spend the saving on blades.
Check price on Amazon →Best Andis clipper for an owner grooming at home
Andis Vida 5 in 1 Cordless Kit, Best for Home
A slim cordless with an adjustable 5 in 1 blade and an eleven piece kit that includes the guide combs, so every length named in a breed haircut guide is in the box. It is the honest middle of the home range: more clipper than a budget kit, less money than a Bravura. It is lighter duty than the professional machines and will not clip a dense doodle body; for that, the AGC Super above.
Check price on Amazon →Best for paw pads, faces and the sanitary area
Andis Emerge Trim, The Finishing Trimmer
Not a clipper but the tool that finishes what the clipper started: a quiet brushless cordless trimmer with an adjustable comb for the hair between the pads, around the eyes and under the tail. Most salons run one beside the big machine. Our paw trimmer guide has the alternatives.
Check price on Amazon →Which Andis clipper should you buy?
- A salon table, one clipper: AGC Super 2 Speed. Add the Emerge Trim for feet and faces.
- A salon table, every coat type from nervous Yorkie to matted Newfoundland: Excel 5 Speed.
- A mobile van, or a groomer who does detail work all day: Pulse ZR II with the spare battery.
- Cordless freedom without managing batteries: Emerge.
- Home grooming, small or medium coat: Vida 5 in 1 kit, and our home grooming clipper guide for the alternatives.
- Home grooming, a doodle or poodle body: AGC Super 2 Speed, with the A5 comb set from our doodle clipper guide.
What to buy with it
A professional Andis ships with a #10 blade and nothing else. The lengths most pet cuts are set at come from a #7FC, a #5FC or a #4FC, or from a guide comb over a #30, and the blade lives or dies on oil and a cooling spray. Our Andis blade guide covers the whole numbering system, and best clipper blades for dogs compares Andis against Oster and Wahl.
Salons that run on GroomBoard keep the blade and comb for every pet's cut on the pet's record, so the next groom starts from the same numbers. If you run a salon and your notes live on paper, the free trial moves them in from a photo of the book.