Xikar Xi2 Cutter Review (Hero Series)
Verdict: Wouldn't Buy... not at Hero Series money. This was my first real cutter... the first one that wasn't a $5-10 counter grab at the cigar shop... and it taught me a lot, including what sixty dollars should and shouldn't buy. The blades are excellent and Xikar's lifetime warranty is real. But the special-edition graphic I paid extra for is literally flaking off, the body is plastic, and the blades aren't geared. At around $30 for a standard Xi2 on sale, this is a solid recommendation. At $60 for the Hero? No.
The Setup
- What it is: Xikar's Xi2 teardrop double guillotine... fiberglass-reinforced polymer body (plastic, in plain English), spring-loaded blades, pull-tab release, the brand's signature shape, backed by their lifetime warranty
- Edition: Hero Series... special graphics over the standard body. Mine's the American flag design
- Street price: $59.99 MSRP for the Hero Series; the standard Xi2 runs anywhere from around $40 on sale into the $60s at full freight depending on shop and color
- What I paid: $59.22 all-in on Amazon last August... my own money, nobody sent me this
- In service: about eleven months... it was my daily cutter for the first seven or so, until my wife's birthday gift benched it (that's the XO review)
What It Gets Right
The blades. No idea how many cigars this has cut at this point, but it's a lot, and there's been zero degradation... still clips clean, no tearing, no crushing. Quality of cut is genuinely good, and blades are the one place Xikar didn't compromise.
Light and thin enough to forget. This is the cutter you throw in a pocket... gym shorts included... and don't notice all day. That's a real advantage over heavier metal cutters, and it's still the one I grab when pocketability is the whole job.
The action sounds fantastic. Pull the release tab down maybe an eighth of an inch and the blades snap open, quick and solid. Open and close both have that satisfying mechanical crack to them. I fidget with my gear constantly, and this one's a great fidget... with one caveat below.
Solid where it counts. Closed, there's no shake or rattle. Open, you can get a little wiggle out of the blades if you deliberately try... but the springs are strong and nothing about it feels fragile. I don't expect the springs to break, and if anything ever does, Xikar's lifetime warranty means they'll repair or replace it.
What Sinks It
The graphic is quitting. This is the entire reason the Hero Series costs a premium, and after eleven months of normal pocket time... not abuse, pocket time... it's coming off around the edges. At this point I could take a fingernail and scrape off most, if not all, of it. Whatever the Hero premium bought me is leaving one flake at a time. If you want an Xi2, save the money and buy the standard one... the graphic is the first thing to die, and then you just own a standard Xi2 anyway.
It's not geared... and one spring is way weaker than the other. My biggest gripe. Squeeze it closed and one blade travels all the way home... fully seated... before the other blade even starts to move. It's not subtle, and it's not a functionality problem, the cut comes out fine. But for $60 of mostly plastic and two blades, I expect better than a lopsided action I can feel on every single cut. (This exact annoyance is why the geared XO won me over the day it arrived.)
Plastic at a premium price. I didn't fully register when I bought it that except for the blades, the whole thing is polymer. It's good polymer... but $60 is real cutter money, and at that number the material stings a little.
The release button loosens if you fidget. Play with the snap-open action enough in one sitting and that release tab works itself a little loose... you just re-tighten it with your fingers, and the grooved edges make that easy. It's never come out on me, but it's noticeable when it needs the twist. A thing to know, not a dealbreaker.
Bottom Line
There's a good cutter in here: excellent blades, real warranty, featherweight pocketability, and an action that snaps like it means it. The problem is the invoice. The Hero graphic... the thing the premium pays for... wears off, the body is plastic, and the ungeared, uneven blade action bugs me on every cut at this price. Find a standard Xi2 around $30 on sale and it's a legitimately good buy and an easy recommendation for a first serious cutter. Just don't pay for artwork that's renting, not staying.
Would I buy it again? Not the Hero Series, no. The standard Xi2 at a sale price... maybe, as the dedicated pocket-duty cutter. But my $60 already taught me its lesson: buy the blades and the springs, never the graphic.
Best for: someone stepping up from the $5 counter clippers for the first time... in the standard version, at a sale price. And for Xikar: gear this one and we'll talk.
Gear gets the same one-question treatment as the cigars... would I spend my own money on this again? Not at this price... the standard version on sale is the version to buy.
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