What the maker puts in writing
- “The only handheld mandoline slicer for kitchen with 4 adjustable thickness options (1mm (0.04 in), 2mm (0.08 in), 3mm (0.12 in), 4mm (0.16 in)). This vegetable slicer gives you precise control competitors can’t match”
- “2-in-1 mandoline food slicer and julienne slicer in one compact tool… handles both flat slices and julienne strips without switching devices”
- “Superior grip and safety with stainless steel-tipped hand guard vs flimsy plastic competitors. This onion slicer and fruit slicer securely holds vegetables for precise cuts while keeping fingers protected”
- “Compact veggie slicer design takes minimal storage space and gives you complete control”
- “Dishwasher safe and BPA-free construction with sharp 420 stainless steel blades”
The guard is the specification that matters
A mandoline is the commonest source of serious cuts in a home kitchen, and the injury happens at a predictable moment: the last slice, when what is left of the potato is too small to hold and your fingertips pass over a fixed razor edge.
Fullstar’s claim is the sharpest on this shelf: a stainless steel-tipped hand guard against “flimsy plastic competitors”.
That distinction is real. A food holder grips by pressing spikes into the vegetable, and plastic spikes blunt — after which they skate off a wet potato at exactly the wrong moment.
The other serious answers here: Gramercy is the only listing to include cut-resistant gloves. Joseph Joseph has three named grips for different shapes. Ibergrif has a blade lock for the drawer. OXO Precision has an automatic height-adjustable holder.
And two listings publish no guard at all: OXO’s cheapest handheld, and the old-version Benriner.
Four clicks
One more than any other adjustable handheld here — OXO gives 1, 2.5 and 4 mm (0.16 in) on two models, Ibergrif 1, 2 and 4.
What discrete clicks buy is repeatability. For a gratin you want 2 mm (0.08 in) every time, and a click delivers it without judgment.
The alternative is a continuous dial, and two listings here have one: Benriner at 0.5 to 8 mm (0.02 to 0.31 in) and Mueller Austria at 1 to 9 mm (0.04 to 0.35 in). Any thickness, no guaranteed return to the same one.
Only Benriner goes below 1 mm (0.04 in), and 0.5 mm (0.02 in) is crisp thickness.
Four hundred and twenty
One of only two blade grades published on this shelf. The other is Gramercy’s “Professional 4CR15” — which is the Chinese designation for a 0.4 per cent carbon, 15 per cent chromium steel, essentially the same alloy.
So the two listings that publish a grade publish the same family: martensitic stainless, hardenable, which is the right choice for a thin fixed edge.
The two Benriner listings publish an origin instead — “handcrafted Japanese stainless steel” — and the remaining nine say “stainless steel” or nothing.
Julienne without a second blade
Without switching devices.
The alternative is interchangeable blades: Benriner supplies one fixed straight blade plus three toothed ones, Mueller Austria five, the Mueller Pro-Series twelve. More cut types, more pieces to store and lose.
OXO Precision takes the middle route with julienne as one of five settings.
At $14.98, julienne with nothing extra to keep track of is the sensible design.
Three hundred and fifty grams
The heaviest handheld on this shelf, which here is a point in its favor — the handhelds run 70 g (2.5 oz) (OXO Large Adjustable) to 350, and the bench units 921 to 1,324 g (32.5 to 46.7 oz).
On a handheld you are pressing down through the tool, and a light frame flexes.
What is not published
No slicing surface width. Only Benriner gives one — “2.5-inch wide slicing surface” — and it is the figure that decides what actually fits across the blade.
No blade lock for storage, where Ibergrif publishes one. A mandoline loose in a drawer is the second hazard after the last slice.
No warranty, and the “competitors can’t match” claim names nobody.
Availability
On sale at around $15 on the American Amazon store at the time of checking.
Prices and availability are what Keepa reported on the date this page was updated; both move.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 4 October 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
