I was already planning on writing this article a little while ago—but when the pandemic hit and forced us all to stay at home, I realized I might as well do it now.
Because it’s timely: you’ll be at home a lot for the near future, so you may as well be very comfortable all the time!
So as it’s a good time for it, let’s figure out what the best underwear options online are for us guys.
Before I dive into each product, let me talk a bit about choosing:
How do I choose the right underwear?
This is one of those things that many people can figure out if they introspect. For the most part, you don’t need advanced knowledge to know how to choose.
The problem is, it’s easy to forget what matters to you when it comes to underwear—you may only notice when you’re irritated with a certain flaw in your existing collection, for example.
Certain things are more obvious:
You want a product that won’t tear, at least not for a while.
A lot of underwear nowadays has moisture wicking fabric or design, which basically keeps things from getting too humid or sweaty.
One of the tougher things about choosing well here, is the fabric. You may already know if you have a preference for cotton or polyester clothing, and if so, that’s great.
If you don’t know if you have a preference, then that’s probably a good sign—it means you may not feel much of a difference in your existing wardrobe (not just underwear) between polyester and cotton fabrics.
Polyester is synthetic, and some think that cotton feels more natural and better on the skin. In general cotton is breezier, but comfort is fairly subjective.
Related to the fabric, is how you’ll be using the underwear. If, for example, you’ll be exercising or moving around a lot, elasticity, proximity to skin, and dryness will be most important.
And in that case, synthetics may be preferable.
If you just want a decent pair of underwear for normal use, you may care about more ordinary concerns: will it ride up, for example.
Additionally: if you like having certain colors, that’s a thing to keep an eye out for. And of course, if your size is available.
And as you may expect, all of this is tempered by price: how easy are you to please with this, and how little can you spend to get what you want?
Just a note before we dive in: every item here claims to have moisture-wicking, which keeps things dry, and all but one are an Amazon’s Choice brand.
Okay, ready? Let’s start with #7:
Item 7: Under Armour’s Men’s Original Series
Under Armour’s Original series is geared towards athleticism and functionality.
This being the case, it’s not so great if you want ordinary-use underwear—it lacks conventional features and is pricey—but it’s solid if you need something to be active in.
You can check out the product here.
Pros:
- Larger-than-usual range of sizes available: Small to 4X-Large (a step above XXX-Large).
- Wide range of colors available.
- Keeps cool and dry. Admittedly, all the underwear on this list claims to do so, but it’s extra true in this case. This is partly because it comes with Under Armour’s signature HeatGear fabric, which is popular among athletes and or those who are generally active.
- Flexible—again, keeping in line with the athletic angle of this product.
- Despite not having as many reviews as some of the other items here, it still has a large number (2,000+ range) to back up it’s 4.7 rating, which is very high.
Cons:
- Material is polyester. Remember, this is by design, so it’s not exactly something I consider a major flaw. On that note, a compression fit isn’t great if you prefer something that doesn’t hug your skin as much.
- Price starts at $22, and can go as high as $72. It varies, of course, based on color and size, but TWO pairs of large briefs is $27.97 at the time of this writing, which is pretty steep—especially compared to other options here.
- These do not have a working fly, meaning the slit in the front of most men’s underwear is nonexistent. That’s not uncommon in athletic underwear, though.
See Under Armour’s On AmazonItem 6: Champion Men’s Boxer Briefs
Overall, Champion Men’s Boxer Briefs are solid, and in and of themselves seem like a fine choice: highly rated, not too expensive.
But it’s still more expensive than several other options on this list, without offering some of the other pros.
You can see this product for yourself here.
Pros:
- Although you may laugh at this, it has a marginally higher score than quite a few of its competition on this list, at 4.6/5.
- Mostly cotton (58%) with polyester and spandex mixed in. Some people like having cotton-synthetic mixes rather than fully one or the other, so this is good for them.
- Prices CAN be okay. Technically they start at $14.99 and extend to $33.42, and these come in packs of five.
Cons:
- Unfortunately, while the price can be okay, more often a Medium or Large 5-pack will be about $20, which isn’t too bad but is pricier than some of the others here.
- Colors are limited to black, navy, and grey.
- Lower than average number of sizes available: starts at Medium and only goes up to XX-Large.
- Although this product does overall have a lot of reviews, at just under 800, it has by far the smallest amount of reviews of all the products here—which easily cross into the thousands.
- Additionally, it’s the only product here that is NOT an Amazon’s Choice brand. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad.
- Not available for Amazon Prime, but shipping is usually free.
- Some consistent complaints that these ride up despite claiming not to. However, there are not many of these.
Item 5: Calvin Klein Underwear
What can I say? It’s Calvin Klein. The quality of these seems pretty much assured, so the tension really comes in more for price and customization.
You have an enormous amount of choice with these, but they tend to be pricier. Is the Calvin Klein name a worthy investment, or overpriced and unnecessary? That’s your call.
Take a look here if you want to see more.
Pros:
- A major point of attraction for a lot of guys here is the brand power. Yes, many of the items here come from famous brands—but Calvin Klein is widely perceived to be a high-end brand, something more prestigious. So if you want to impress a partner, this could be a good option.
- Super wide collection of fits and styles available, and a choice of ordering packs of three or packs of six.
- By FAR, the largest selection of colors of all the items here. I mean, just look:
Cons:
- Limited number of sizes to choose from: Small to X-Large only.
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, a bit expensive. The price range is $24-$96. There are a lot of choices, which is part of why the range goes high. But for example, a simple medium 3-pack would be about $27, which is high compared to what else is here.
- It’s possible there’s TOO MUCH choice with this one, at least if you’re looking online. This line comes in such a wide range of colors, and you can also choose different fits and fabrics. Yes, choice is good, but for those who just want to quickly buy reliable underwear and don’t need anything special, this is probably too drawn-out.
Item 4: Hanes Men’s Sports-Inspired Cool Dri Boxer Brief
Similarly to Fruit of the Loom, the bottom line here is that these are quality pairs of underwear that come at a fairly reasonable price.
There’s not that much distinct about these, other than their general reliability.
View the product here for more details.
Pros:
- Still on the upper end in terms of the number of reviews, at over 5,000.
- Mix of fabrics, but large amounts of cotton with smaller amounts of polyester.
- Although the price range is wide, starting at $14.89 and going to $72.99, it’s overall got pretty good value. That’s because these come in packs of 5 and Medium and Large are close to the starting price ($15.99).
Cons:
- Colors are more limited than some competitors: black, dark grey, blue, red, and gray.
- Some of the underwear come with colored lines on the side of the leg that are different from the overall solid color—thus adding an accented stripe. Some may not mind, some may find it annoying.
- Although the rating is overall high, and it’s been reviewed THOUSANDS of times, this is rated at 4.4…a bit below the 4.5 I want to see.
Item 3: New Balance Men’s Boxer Briefs
These are a bit pricier than usual, but in fairness, more athletic underwear like this tends to be more expensive anyway.
When that’s taken into account, it’s pretty affordable…IF you prefer more synthetic, athletic underwear.
Here’s the product, if you want to check it out yourself.
Pros:
- Not only is the number of reviews on the higher side (above 5,800), it’s sustaining a 4.6/5 score, which is higher than many options here.
- In addition to having a range of color available, there are also a range of prints. You can also have just solid colors if you want.
- Good for athletics, admittedly because of the synthetic material (and yes, I did put synthetics in the cons part).
- On that note, in general these are fairly flexible, and are good for staying in place while moving around.
- IF you prefer compression-style underwear, this is well-priced.
Cons:
- More limited size range, from Small to X-Large only.
- Entirely synthetic—90% polyester, 10% spandex. Though again, this is by design: these are compression-style boxer briefs.
- Yes, the price isn’t bad if you like this style. But if you just want underwear in general, this is a bit pricey. The range is technically $14.98-$59.99. But realistically the price is closer to $17 for a medium or large-sized pack—and these are packs of 3. Other contenders here are lower-priced for packs of 5 or even 7.
Item 2: Gildan Men’s Regular Leg Boxer Briefs
This is definitely one of the strongest options on the list, primarily because it retains a pretty good value, has been reviewed a ton of times, and offers a ton of color and design choices.
Take a closer look at these boxer briefs here.
Pros:
- More color variation than usual, though most of the variations are of the same general color spectrum. For example, there are many shades of blue or gray, but nothing green.
- Along that note, each pack comes with a range of colors within a certain color spectrum. There are enough options that you can choose a 5-pack with a mix of blue and gray, but you can also get one that’s mostly blue. Some packs have stripes as well.
- Most of them are 100% cotton, though the Sports Grey underwear specifically is 10% polyester.
- On the higher end in terms of number of ratings: currently over 7,000, which backs up its overall high rating well.
- Price is good, with the range limited to $14.79-$17.99. A medium 5-pack is just $14.97, for example. While a larger or smaller size could be more expensive with other sellers, they’re all about the same price here.
Cons:
- Smaller range of sizes than average: starting from Small and going to XX-Large at most.
- Consistent stream of complaints that the boxer briefs tear at the seams within a short amount of time (most of them with photographic evidence). Luckily, most of these complaints are limited to spring 2018, and some spring 2019—hopefully the issues have been fixed by now.
- Despite that I consider the rating to be overall high, and that it’s backed up by such a large number of reviews, it’s still a 4.4/5 instead of a 4.5 or higher.
Item 1: Fruit of the Loom’s Men’s Coolzone Boxer Briefs
Put simply, this earned its top spot for being a reputably good product, for a proportionately lower price.
There’s one thing thing, which I’m not sure is a pro or con because it depends so much on personal preference:
This line of underwear is almost entirely cotton, but there’s a mesh material in the groin area to prevent sweating. Make of that what you will: I’m sure some of you will think it’s a great idea, others will hate it.
Anyway, you can take a look at the product itself here.
Pros:
- Decent range of colors.
- In addition to the usual range of colors/sizes, offers three different types of fit (short/regular/long leg fits).
- Has one of the largest numbers of reviews, clocking in at over 9,600. So it’s high 4.5/5 rating is one of the most trustworthy on this list.
- Mostly cotton—which, again, is not preferred by everyone but generally seems preferred by many.
- Great value. Each product comes as a pack and prices start much lower: from $14 to $40. If you got a 7 Pack of medium-sized briefs with the widest range of colors, it would be $20.99. If you got a Large size, it would be $20.06, which is even better. And if you got mostly consistent colors, it’d be closer to $14.
Cons:
- In practice, colors rotate often on this line. In other words, it’s more likely the color you get won’t be the same as in the picture, compared to some of the other brands here.
- Consistent complaints that the leg bands are too small/tight, making it uncomfortable and difficult to flex with you. This mostly is the case for the larger sizes, though not necessarily.
Conclusion
Well, there it is! These are the best underwear for men available online.
I stand by the ranking, though I admit it’s not flawless.
For the most part, however, the higher on the list it is, the better the value: price per product. Of course, quality is still taken into account.
And if you know what you’re looking for, some options lower on this list may be better for you.
For example, if you want athletic or compression-style underwear, New Balance is probably #1 in value—and if you want name power, then Calvin Klein is your best bet.
If you’re not sure, just take your time figuring it out…or go with the top two reliable options!
You might want to hear this:
staceym said…
“My boyfriend loves these. They are his new favorite underwear and I think they look great on him. He wears a 36 size pant and ordered an XL —and they are a perfect fit. We hang them to dry and have not noticed any shrinkage. Will continue to purchase these for him.”
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