View: All Equipment • Knives

NextGen San Sebastian Elite Knife

Made By: NextGen
Price: $179 Buy Now!

I was given a free early version of the NextGen Elite knife to test out and I've been using it for several months. Here are my thoughts on what it excels at and where it falls short.

What We Like About the NextGen San Sebastian Elite Knife

The San Sebastian is designed to be super-comfortable to hold, with a rubbery-padded ergonomic grip that fits your hand when using a pinch grip. It accomplishes this and it is one of the most comfortable knives I've ever used. Whenever I am cutting something that requires pressure, like cheese or winter squash this is always the first knife I reach for.

The blade is decently sharp and has held it's edge very well. I don't think it's the sharpest knife I have, but it does the job of a chef's knife well.

I also like that they offer both a right handed and left handed version to take advantage of the ergonomic grip.

What We Don't Like About the NextGen San Sebastian Elite Knife

The San Sebastian with the black rubber handle isn't the most stylish knife I have, but some of the other versions are classier. If you want a "pretty" knife over a comfortable knife it's probably best looking at other ones.

The knife felt slightly unbalanced to me, or a bit unwieldy. It's a little hard to explain, but with my Top Pick knives I feel like I have slightly more control. It isn't bad at all, just enough to bump this out of the Top Picks and into the Recommended category.

This higher price is also something that moved it into the Recommended and out of the Top Picks category. At $175 it is near the top of the less expensive home knife category and the performance doesn't quite match up to that price tag.

Why We Recommend the NextGen San Sebastian Elite Knife

I love the concept of this knife, and it is super comfortable to use. As I mentioned, I always use it to cut hard foods, and I'll often rotate it in when I'm cooking for long periods of time to give my hand a rest. The higher price, and the very slightly "off" feel knock it out of the Top Picks but it is still a knife I highly recommend.

If it sounds right for you, buy one today!