Equipment Review: Best Electric / Manual Knife Sharpeners & Our Testing Winners

What if you could buy a knife sharpener that not only repaired the new breed of ultrathin chef’s knives but also honed the wider cutting edge of more traditional blades?

We tested 9 knife sharpeners (5 manual knife sharpeners, 4 electric knife sharpeners) to find the best one:
Chef'sChoice Trizor XV Knife Sharpener
Chef'sChoice Diamond Sharpener for Asian Knives
Kitchen IQ Angle Adjust Adjustable Electric Knife Sharpener
Shun Electric Sharpener
Chef'sChoice Pronto Manual Diamond Hone Asian Knife Sharpener
Victorinox SwissSharp
Miyabi 2-Stage Diamond/Ceramic Handheld Knife Sharpener
Wusthof Two Stage Hand-Held Sharpener

Are You Using the Best Cutting Board? Watch now:

Japanese bladesmiths have long favored chef’s-style knives with blades that are ultraslim—that is, sharpened to about 15 degrees on either side of the blade—and for good reason: In addition to being thin and lightweight, these blades have a supernarrow cutting edge, which helps make them razor-sharp. We’ve also come to favor a thinner edge. After years of testing dozens of knives, our repeat favorite is from Victorinox, a Swiss-made knife that is sharpened to 15 degrees on either side of the edge, allowing it to push and slide through food more easily than do more traditional European blades sharpened to at least 20 degrees.

To maintain that narrow edge, we use a tool specifically designed to sharpen a blade to 15 degrees. Our favorite models, both from Chef’sChoice, are a manual and an electric sharpener that each do a fine job of restoring an ultrakeen edge to an Asian-style knife. But in recent years the trend toward slimmer knives—and slimmer knife sharpeners—has spread west, as European manufacturers including Wüsthof, Henckels, Messermeister, and Mercer have launched their own 15-degree knives and sharpeners. (In fact, Wüsthof and Henckels have discontinued their 20-degree knives.) We were curious to see what these new sharpeners had to offer—and were especially eager to test the claim of one that it can even hone a 20-degree knife to 15 degrees.

So we rounded up nine models (including our previous favorites), five manual and four electric, from both Western and Asian manufacturers and priced from roughly $20 to $200. To evaluate them, we bought nine of our favorite Victorinox chef’s knives and assigned one to each sharpener; we then dulled the knives identically and sharpened them according to manufacturer instructions. To assess sharpness, we slashed sheets of copy paper and sliced delicate tomatoes, repeating the dulling, sharpening, and slicing process four more times with multiple testers.

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[HTMLguruLady]

please make a new one of these. This one is five-years-old already and there are several new models of electric knife sharpeners on the market. Thanks!!

[TheIkaika]

I have the Chef's Choice XV. It makes your knives ridiculously sharp. Shaving sharp!!!

[owenlindley]

Best source for honest reviews. Have purchased many items due to these reviews and haven't been disappointed yet. Thanks for your excellent reviews.

[clairechapin]

These are some of the best ways I have for comparing products. ATK always test several products. They explain why they chose a winner. Usually you get what you pay for. They also give a less expensive options. I have been very satisfied with their recommendations.

[tavishmcdonell]

I used to struggle with various water stones trying to do all this manually. Waste of time and shaky results. I just picked up the Chef's Choice 15 they recommend here and it's amazing. In one minute you can turn a totally dull knife into a perfect blade. Totally worth the $.

[runnerrun]

A review like this should be a standard in reviews of any topic!!!

[DannoCrutch]

I'm an advanced knife sharpener and for the average person, this video is excellent.
Criteria and control's were great. Hard to beat that Victorinox for the money and then some.

[charlesleone]

Your reviews are always so thorough, comprehensive and well thought out. I work for a major kitchen product retailer and I always refer them the ATK reviews of all products. Thank you for the service you provide.

[gpcm]

America's Test Kitchen has to be one of the best youtube channels. Side by side reviews?! SWEET.

[kash]

Where's the dude that says "ATK must be getting paid by [brand that won]"? He forgot to post on this one.

[Niftynorm]

For all the negative commenter's try reading all the information that is posted above regarding this test. Although for some ignorance and negativity are pure bliss. I have had good results with their reviews over the years.

[elizabethshaw]

Finally! I have one of their winners and I had no idea when I purchased it. :-)

[semco]

I purchased the Chef's Choice 310 electric sharpener just to sharpen my kitchen knives primarily, but will use it to sharpen my hunting, and pocket knives also when not in the field.

[onewithgreyhair]

Thanks so much for this review. I have a couple of manual sharpeners AND a whetstone (not cheap) and BOTH my husband and I have tried to sharpen so many knives. We consume lots of foods that need to be chopped and its so frustrating. We've even had our knives professionally sharpened BUT they lose their edge so quickly. FYI we do not have cheap knives. It's so frustrating. We'll be purchasing the electric model. Thanks for showing the "Winner for electric" @2:48 Chefs Choice Trizor Edge; about $150.00 and the winner for manual @4:20 Chefs Choice.

[tomfoolery]

I have 4 Victorinox knives, some are R, H. Forschner Victorinox over 25 years old and my newest is a 10" Chefs knife. I was concerned that my older Chef's Choice 433 diamond hone (found out this is a 20º) might be putting the wrong edge on my knives so I contacted Victorinox (online chat) and they informed me that ALL of their knives are ground to 20º, however honing to 15º would not hurt and assured me that is is just a matter of preference.

[sknabnoj]

I'd like to see a test between your best options and the Ken Onion edition of the Worksharp sharpener. It would be really interesting to see because the angle is not as harsh, it's more rounded and may slice even better.

[SonomaComa]

I love these reviews!
I like to watch them even if I'm not shopping for the product.

[ashunderwood]

Chef's Choice is Killin it! I just bought the newest version of your top recommendation. I hope it's works as well as you say.

[RCSTILE]

I absolutely love ATK. I record their shows. I have their cookbook. I buy practically everything they reccomend but no one in their right mind would sharpen a $200 plus Japanese knife in an electric sharpener.

[zuckmedic]

Nothing can beat a professional human sharpenner.