Maintaining your blades increases a knife's lifespan. For this update, we researched the market before buying and testing the 9 best knife sharpeners available. Depending on how often you do it and your standards for sharpness, you might justify a fast and expensive electric model or choose a more compact, time-consuming manual device. Our hands-on assessments of sharpeners provide unique insight into the best products for a variety of needs. We tested these sharpeners for speed, versatility, ergonomics, and storage. We honed this review to help you quickly and easily find the best blade sharpener for your cutlery needs.
Electric or Manual: Electric | Sharpening Tiers (coarse, fine, and polish): 3
REASONS TO BUY
Fast
Robust
A clear step above other products
REASONS TO AVOID
Requires great care
Expensive
We aren't the only ones to appreciate the performance of the Chef'sChoice Trizor XV Sharpener EdgeSelect 15. This heavy, sturdy, all-electric knife sharpener is widely regarded as the best on the market. We started testing with a really old, dull thrift store kitchen knife that struggled to even cut potatoes cleanly. Efforts with other sharpeners slightly improved its state, but it wasn't until we undertook an extensive session with the Trizor, following all the instructions carefully, that we entirely refinished this particular blade. The result was a nearly factory-ready edge that could smoothly cut over-ripe tomatoes.
The primary shortcoming of the Trizor XV is its prodigious speed and power. If you lose your focus, even for a moment, you can do irreparable damage to a blade. Like any powerful tool, this knife sharpener takes great attention to maximize the benefits without doing great harm. An experienced user can refurbish old blades for decades while performing more routine, periodic resurfacing of knives in regular rotation. If you're willing to pay for premium performance and use the tool with care, the Trizor is an all-star.
The Trizor knife sharpener is fast, precise, sturdy, and creates a very refined edge every time.
Electric or Manual: Manual | Sharpening Tiers (coarse, fine, and polish): 3
REASONS TO BUY
Sturdy
Versatile
Sharp-looking
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Requires two hands
The Brod & Taylor Pro is a robustly built, highly effective, good-looking, manual knife sharpening tool. We like that the unit quickly sharpens a variety of knife styles, including paring knives, serrated bread knives, and chef's knives. There are three sharpening tiers: course, hone, and polish. One can reshape the blade's edge as needed by changing the angle to meet one of these tiers as it passes through the sharpener. Moreover, the spring-loaded arms all but guarantee a consistent blade bevel. Lastly, the sharpener loses only half an inch of blade contact where the handle contacts the sharpening arms.
While we're chuffed with how easily the Brod & Taylor sharpens dull knives, we still have a few gripes. Our chief complaint is that it won't sharpen scissors. And despite the heavy base and rubber feet, two hands are required to safely and effectively operate the device. There's also a learning curve to effectively hitting all three sharpening tiers correctly. Finally, the Brod & Taylor costs about as much as its electric counterparts. That said, this piece will be well worth the cost in an active kitchen where sharp knives are a must.
The Brod & Taylor's spring-loaded arms adjust to hit three tiers of sharpening refinement.
Electric or Manual: Manual | Sharpening Tiers (coarse, fine, and polish): 3
REASONS TO BUY
Versatile
Simple
Stable in hand and on counter
REASONS TO AVOID
Bulkier than some alternatives
Won't sharpen the entire length of smaller blades
The Kitchellence 4-in-1 Kitchen Knife Sharpener is simple, comprehensive, and reliable at sharpening a variety of blade styles across a vast range of sharpening needs. Whether you need to refurbish a neglected blade or resurface a well-maintained tool, the Kitchellence is a good economy option. It features three sharpening tiers, a handle that accommodates a full fist, and rubberized surfaces that sit securely in hand or on your counter. For the price, you really can't do better.
As expected, the Kitchellence is noticeably slower than the top-ranked models, especially when sharpening knives that have been neglected for quite some time. The manufacturer doesn't explicitly encourage the sharpening of serrated knife blades with this tool, but there is no reason you couldn't if you needed to. For the typical domestic kitchen, Kitchellence hits the mark for performance, utility, and price over the competition and is the model we recommend to most individuals.
The Kitchellence knife sharpener is simple in all the right ways and versatile for all your knife sharpening needs.
Electric or Manual: Manual | Sharpening Tiers (coarse, fine, and polish): 3
REASONS TO BUY
Tiny
Affordable
Three sharpening options
REASONS TO AVOID
Wide angle on the ceramic "fine" sharpening surface
Less ergonomic than bigger options
The Work Sharp EDC Pivot is the model we recommend for camping, traveling, hunting, and fishing. It is small enough to disappear into all but the tightest travel bags. It is versatile and can sharpen blades as well as fish hooks. The main, coarse sharpener surface is mounted on a flexible spring attachment that helps correct sharpening sloppiness. You can also "lock out" the flexible attachment if you wish.
The most peculiar thing about the Work Sharp EDC Pivot is that its two main sharpening "V"s are set at different angles. For the most part, those with multiple texture options mount those options at the same angle as one another. This allows you to make rough and fast adjustments to a blade and then polish and refine that edge with the fine-textured sharpener. This isn't the case with the Work Sharp, and it is noticeable in use. Edges come out fine, but matching angles (or even angles closer to one another) would make for smoother edge surfaces. This minor issue aside, this is our favorite portable model to date.
The Work Sharp EDC Pivot in use on the go. For portable use, this is the best we tested.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Compare Products
Every knife edge requires resharpening from time to time. Select a knife sharpener carefully and that task will be unobtrusive and fast.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Why You Should Trust Us
We researched dozens of knife sharpeners before landing on the ten tested for this review. We compared each sharpener's speed, versatility, ergonomics, and storage size. Speed was tested by reconditioning very old blades. We acquired a selection of beaten and worn blades and used each sharpener while resurfacing them. Versatility is a function of a sharpener's different degrees of sharpening resolution, sharpening angle(s), and ability to sharpen serrated blades. Each of these is largely defined by manufacturers' recommendations and design. We tested ergonomics by using each sharpener on a variety of knife shapes and sizes and in a few different settings. We looked for sharpeners that run smoothly, do so without striking the blade toward the tester, and do so in a comfortable angle and position. Storage size is a function of the measured footprint, as well as overall volume.
Our testing of knife sharpeners is divided across four rating metrics:
Speed (40% of total score weighting)
Versatility (35% weighting)
Ergonomics (20% weighting)
Storage (5% weighting)
We've had lead test editor Jediah Porter reviewing blades, in the form of pocket knives and multi-tools, since 2013. It was thus logical to put him in charge of this assessment of knife maintenance tools as well. The review of this category involved conducting each protocol with every model, dimensional measurements, fine-tuned sharpening of kitchen and pocket knives, and reconditioning of very badly worn and neglected blades. Needless to say, Jed's collection of both vintage and in-use knives is now very well-tuned. Nick Miley joined this review in the most recent update. Nick has been writing consumer product reviews for over a decade. He brings a background in cooking, lab research, and journalism to bear in his assessment of knife sharpeners.
Objective measure of dimensions allowed us to effectively compare storage space requirements of each product.
Running each tool through our sharpening gauntlet of tests.
The Chef's Choice Trizor is high powered and they approve it for use on serrated edges.
Analysis and Test Results
In testing knife sharpeners, we discovered some clear differences between various products and have compiled our summaries to empower you to make the wisest choice. Our information is sorted between objective and subjective measures and accounts for the relative importance of each metric. We consider, for instance, speed and ergonomics to be more important than versatility or storage size.
Value
Rating the value of each sharpener is no easy task. We consider how well each performs versus the price and try to account for the wild card of the consumer's intended use. For example, how often will the sharpener be used? What kind of knives will the unit be sharpening? And, what is the skill set of the user?
The Kitchellence and KitchenIQ stand out in the class for high performance and budget-friendly prices. The Kitchellence offers three tiers of sharpening and a handle that accommodates even the biggest of hands, while the Kitchen IQ has three tiers but is compact and easy to store in a silverware drawer. We like both of these models as they offer good value to the consumer, but they have their drawbacks, namely in the time needed to make a dull knife sharp again.
Speed
Perhaps the biggest differentiator between knife blade maintenance tools is the speed of their work. All else equal (blade steel, hardening, and degree of sharpening required), one sharpener may do a job an order of magnitude faster than another. The primary difference is whether a sharpener is electric or hand-powered. However, the Brod & Taylor is an exception to this rule. We were quite impressed with the speed at which this tool will bring a neglected knife back to life.
The fastest sharpener in our review is the Chef'sChoice Trizor 15. Its coarse grinding wheel can completely recondition a dirt and rock-dulled blade in seconds. The same task on something hand-powered like the Kitchellence sharpener could take several minutes. The other electric option in our test, the Work Sharp E2, isn't quite as fast as the Chef'sChoice, but it is way faster than the run-of-the-mill hand-powered models.
The Trizor takes blades from dull to razor-sharp faster than any other model we tested. This is very convenient, but also requires attentiveness to avoid removing too much metal in the process.
Credit: Laura Casner
Small manual options like the Work Sharp EDC Pivot are slower than bigger, manual options with handles such as the Kitchellence and significantly slower than the electric models. However, one must be more careful with an electric sharpener. These machines require careful reading of the instructions and attention to the process because one can damage or prematurely wear a knife if not careful.
Be careful with your high speed powered knife sharpener. Let your attention drop and you'll do decades (centuries?) of "sharpening" in mere seconds.
Credit: Lindy Taggart
Versatility
Yes, there are multiple things that a blade sharpener can do. More accurately, there are different ways that a product can sharpen your edges. Mainly, you can choose the number of different gradations of sharpening texture. "Coarse" texture sharpening surfaces work faster and remove larger amounts of material, which is good for badly damaged or very dull blades. "Fine" textured surfaces work to polish existing major knife edge structure. Other versatility differences include the angle of edge construction and whether the tool can be used to sharpen serrated blades and scissors.
Most products we tested feature two textures, but the Kitchellence and Chef'sChoice Trizor products offer three textures. This is potentially more than many folks will need, but having too many options isn't bad, and a discerning knife user will appreciate the added refinement of the third sharpening texture.
All these different blades require different sharpening approaches. Few products will effectively resurface all of these different edges.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Almost all of the assessed products have fixed angles for final edge tuning. The different textures in a single product might present slightly different angles, but not by much. Only the Work Sharp EDC Pivot has noticeably different pre-set angles. The coarse sharpener is at a visibly smaller angle than the fine sharpener. If it is going to be different, this is the way to do it, but we don't know why it needs to be so different. We noticed no significant impacts from this differential.
The flat surfaces of the Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone allow for an infinite range of sharpening angles. This is both a blessing and a curse. You get to pick, and you have to maintain, the sharpening angle for your task. Sharp Pebble includes a rudimentary blade clamp that can help guide your moves, but we found it very limited in its utility.
The Whetstone from Sharp Pebble is extremely versatile in experienced hands, but might not be very intuitive or easy for beginners to pick up and use.
Credit: Jed Porter
The manufacturers of half of the products we assessed claim that their sharpeners are suitable for tuning serrated edges. They mean that their products will sharpen the pointed portion of serrated blades. The points do the most work, so this is acceptable. On the other hand, the points are easy to sharpen, and all of the tested products (whether "approved" for such use or not) can be pressed into that surface. As it turns out, a manufacturer approving their sharpener for serrated blades seems to be essentially meaningless.
Sharpening scissor blades is trickier and less common than sharpening serrated blades. In our test, only the electric Work Sharp E2 and the Sharp Pebble Whetstone are set up to sharpen scissor blades. Doing so, even with a product designed to help you, is difficult and high-consequence. If you elect to resurface scissor blades, do so carefully and consider practicing with an unimportant set of scissors first.
Few of the compact options have three gradations of sharpening texture. We like this about the Kitchellence sharpener.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Ergonomics
What does it take to sharpen a blade? Ideally, a sharpener will be large and heavy for stability and include clear angle guidance. The electric options and, to a lesser degree, the Work Sharp fit this description. The next best are sharpeners with large, heavy bases and rubber feet for increased stabilization. The Brod & Taylor sharpener fits this description, as does the Kitchellence.
The Kitchen IQ is surprisingly user-friendly given its small stature. The rubberized base and grip make it stable and secure, and the notch along the base allows you to key it over a counter edge for additional security.
With the Kitchellence, our hands and blades fell naturally into place while sharpening, creating a nice ergonomic feel.
Credit: Laura Casner
The smallest "portable" products are the least friendly ergonomically, but they still work fine. The Smith's Two-Step and the Work Sharp EDC Pivot are both optimized for portability at the expense of some usability. Nonetheless, you'll figure out how to optimize their use, and you will reap good results. One problem with these models is that one's hands remain close to the moving blade while sharpening.
Portable models like this one are convenient. Their biggest drawback in ergonomics is how close the fingers are to the blade.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone is the trickiest to use. One must manually create and maintain an even angle and pressure with every stroke. Further, before every use, Sharp Pebble requires that you soak the stone for 10-12 minutes in water. You won't be using this for quick sharpening; you have to plan ahead and be ready to pay close attention to what you are doing.
Storage
Though storage is a relatively small percentage of our scoring, many of us are tight on space and don't want to add more clutter to our kitchens. Storage is not a complicated metric to examine. Some of the smaller products we tested were the Work Sharp EDC, Smith's 2-Step, and Kitchen IQ. On the larger end (and thus harder to store) were the Chef'sChoice Trizor and Work Sharp E2 models.
Conclusion
Every knife needs sharpening. Every knife owner needs a knife sharpener. Despite what the manufacturers of knives might purport, every edge needs a tune-up at some point. Doing so can be a breeze or an ineffective (or even counter-productive) waste of time. We thoroughly assessed each model in this review and compared our findings here. Hopefully, our recommendations and overall assessments will help you sharpen your knives for many tomato slices and sushi nights to come.
There are significant bulk differences between the tested knife sharpeners. The powered versions on the left are much bigger than the fully portable options on the far right.
GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. No sponsored content. No ads. Just real, honest, side-by-side testing and comparison.
