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Best side cutters

Updated: October 2026

You opened amazon.co.uk looking for the best side cutters and the star row has already mixed a £7.99 flush cutter with 5,250 reviews and a £27.26 insulated diagonal cutter with 5,750. Those are not the same job. In this folder you pick by the cut in front of you: a 160 mm pair with a real insulation mark, a flush cutter for ties and soft copper, or a pack of spares. The [side cutters comparison](/hub/cutting-tools/side-cutters) holds the full table. This page names who each kept listing is for, and who should skip it. It is not a UK-wide ranking, and it is not a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You opened amazon.co.uk looking for the best side cutters and the star row has already mixed a £7.99 flush cutter with 5,250 reviews and a £27.26 insulated diagonal cutter with 5,750. Those are not the same job.

Our top picks

KNIPEX Knipex 70 06 160 diagonal cutter

Best overall

KNIPEX Knipex 70 06 160 diagonal cutter
9.4/10about £27.26
View offer
HOUSERAN HOUSERAN 6 inch flush cutters, 2-pack

Best value

HOUSERAN HOUSERAN 6 inch flush cutters, 2-pack
9.2/10about £10.99
View offer
BOENFU BOENFU 6 inch flush side cutter

Alternative

BOENFU BOENFU 6 inch flush side cutter
8.8/10about £7.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What best means here
  2. 2.The insulated diagonal cutter
  3. 3.Flush cutters for soft wire and ties
  4. 4.The 160 mm Sharp-tec pair and the three-size set

What best means here

A 4.7 from 5,750 reviews is a large sample of one 160 mm Knipex. A 4.4 from 5,250 is a large sample of one 6 inch flush cutter. A 4.6 from 132 is a thin sample of a three-size set. A 4.2 from 1,005 that is copied across two Sharp-tec ASINs is one corpus, not two tests. Stars tell you the listing is busy. They do not tell you whether the edge is flush, whether hard wire is allowed, or whether the handles are marked 1000 V. The criterion is the job. Mixed DIY copper and a toolbox want a 160 mm diagonal cutter, and only one row in this batch is sold as insulated. Cable ties, model sprue and florist wire want a flush face and a stated soft-wire limit. A 10-pack is better value only if you will actually use ten flush cutters. The FLZOSPER 4.5 inch mini at about £4.59 has no review line in the saved listing, so it is not a pick. How you choose the type sits on the side cutters buying guide.

The insulated diagonal cutter

The Knipex 70 06 160 is about £27.26 on the amazon.co.uk file, 4.7 from 5,750 reviews, 160 mm, with 1000 V in the title and VDE on the specification line. Edges are induction hardened, about 62 HRC. The saved listing names soft and hard wire and does not print a millimetre capacity. Knipex’s own product page states Ø 4.0 mm soft, Ø 3.0 mm medium-hard and Ø 2.0 mm hard. Keep those sources separate. RS listed the same part at £38.56 including VAT when checked. That is a trade shelf, not the Amazon price. Most of the 40 UK reviews in the file praise the edge and the grips. One says the tip snapped while cutting 1.0 mm cable after about three months. Another says not to cut pattress screws with them. Skip this listing if you only trim nylon ties and want a flat tail. A bevelled 160 mm cutter leaves a point. Skip it if you thought 1000 V on the sleeve was a permit to work live. Prove the cable dead. In this set it is the top pick when you want that length with an insulation mark on the listing.
KNIPEX Knipex 70 06 160 diagonal cutter

Testsieger

KNIPEX Knipex 70 06 160 diagonal cutter
9.4/10about £27.26
View offer

Flush cutters for soft wire and ties

For a flat tail on a cable tie, a sprue or florist wire, the cheap single is the BOENFU at about £7.99: a 6 inch spring flush cutter listed up to 2.3 mm, 4.4 from 5,250 amazon.co.uk reviews. The standard on the page is DIN ISO 5743, a pliers line, not a voltage mark. UK reviewers say there is no lock, so the jaws stay open. Some say the blades do not meet at the tips. One says 0.8 mm paperclip wire chewed the edge. Others praise a flush cut on florist wire and cable ties. Skip BOENFU if you need a sheath, if you cut paperclips, or if you thought DIN ISO 5743 meant 1000 V. The best value two-pack in this set is the HOUSERAN at about £10.99: two 6 inch spring flush cutters, 4.6 from 732 reviews, listed up to 12 AWG and not for hard steel. One reviewer says the spring tends to fall out. Others praise a flush cut on cable ties, 1.5 mm² copper and craft wire, and say not to use the tip on copper. The colour field says pink. The bullets say red. Skip HOUSERAN if you cut steel or if a spring that can drop out is a deal-breaker. If you already know you need a flush edge rather than a bevel, finish that fork on side cutters vs flush cutters. KAIHAOWIN packs are spares for ties, not a harder steel. KH008 at about £16.90 is ten 5 inch spring cutters listed to 16 AWG soft copper, with UK notes of broken jaws on speaker cable. KH001X6 at about £22.90 is six 6 inch cutters, soft wire only, with UK notes of a snapped tip. Buy a pack when you will spend the spares on ties. Skip them for hard electrical wire, steel, or as a substitute for the Knipex.

The 160 mm Sharp-tec pair and the three-size set

Sharp-tec BR-DP-160 is the blue 160 mm pair at about £12.99, listed for copper, aluminium and soft iron with no diameter and no spring. Sharp-tec BSL-30068 is the red 160 mm pair at about £9.99, carbon steel, 220 g, same materials, still no diameter. Both saved listings carry the same 4.2 from 1,005 review text. Do not count that sample twice. Those shared reviews describe misaligned jaws, edges that meet only at the tip, a gap when closed, and tools that arrived rusty. Skip both if you need a printed millimetre capacity or an independent review file for each colour. If you still want this length cheap, the red pair is the lower shelf price, and you inspect the close on paper the day it arrives. They are not the insulated pick, and they are not flush cutters. The US PRO 1820 set is about £12.68, 4.6 from 132 reviews, one 6 inch, one 8 inch and one 10 inch drop-forged diagonal plier, with no wire class. Two of eighteen UK reviews say the edges do not cut. Skip it if you need a stated capacity, a flush tail, or a 1000 V mark. A workshop drawer that wants three handle lengths and will check the jaws is the only honest buyer. Walk away from a 10-pack if the real job is one copper tail in a consumer unit.

Common questions

Which pair is the one to buy for mixed DIY copper?
The Knipex 70 06 160 in this set, at about £27.26, if you want a 160 mm cutter with 1000 V and VDE on the listing. The Sharp-tec 160 mm pairs are cheaper and share one review file, with no diameter printed. None of them is a flush tie cutter.
Which listing is the insulated one?
Only the Knipex 70 06 160. The other ten listings in this comparison do not name IEC 60900 or VDE. A rubber, PVC or TPE grip is not that mark.
What should I buy for cable ties and models?
A flush cutter with a soft-wire limit: BOENFU at about £7.99 for one, or HOUSERAN at about £10.99 for two. Skip them for steel. A 160 mm bevelled cutter will leave a point on the tail.
Is the highest star rating the hardest cutter?
No. The 4.7 Knipex sample and the 4.4 BOENFU sample describe different tools. Stars are not a hardness ranking, and a shared Sharp-tec 4.2 is not two rankings.
Are the two Sharp-tec pairs the same tool?
No. Different model numbers, weights, colours and prices. They share the captured review text, so you do not get 2,010 independent reviews.
Is the US PRO set a good workshop buy?
Only if you want three lengths, accept 132 reviews, and will check the edges. It states no wire class. Two UK reviews say it does not cut. A 10-pack of 5 inch flush cutters is not a saving against one 160 mm insulated diagonal cutter.

Related pages

Side cutters for electricians

Side cutters

Side cutters buying guide: edge, length, wire class

How to use side cutters without a snapped flush tip

Side cutters vs flush cutters: bevel or a flat face

Sources

Sources listed in the research digest for this comparison, retrieved 20 October 2026. Prices and review counts are amazon.co.uk listing lines. This is not a lab test.

  1. Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 14 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. HSE HSG85, Electricity at work: safe working practices (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. HSE INDG291, Providing and using work equipment safely (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. ISO 5749:2004, Pliers and nippers — Diagonal cutting nippers (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. Maun Industries, Is VDE a legal requirement for insulated tools? (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Knipex 70 06 160 diagonal cutters (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. Digital Toolbelt, Side cutters vs diagonal cutters (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. Toolsmith, Wire cutters: flush, side, end and cable (retrieved 20 October 2026)