The 9 Best Cigarette Rolling Machines

The Powermatic 2 Plus (about $77) is the most popular electric injector, and the one owners have the longest track record with. You spread a pinch of tobacco in the chamber, slip a tube over the nozzle, and lower the handle; a motor pushes the tobacco into the tube in a couple of seconds. It takes King and 100 mm tubes, and two lights show when it's on and when it has jammed. It comes with a tray, a tamper and a cleaning brush, plus a one-year limited warranty. You still dose each smoke by hand, and there's no density setting, so results depend on how evenly you load it.

The Powermatic III+ (appx. $209) does the dosing for you. Fill its hopper with enough tobacco for about 30 smokes, put a tube on the nozzle and press one button; it measures, packs and fills the tube on its own. A digital display lets you set the density and counts how many you've made, and it stops the motor if it jams. Powermatic backs it for a year or 20,000 cigarettes, whichever comes first. It costs nearly three times as much as the 2 Plus, weighs about 7 pounds, and it's fussy about tobacco: very moist shag needs to dry a little first, or it clogs.

The HawkMatic HK2 (appx. $80) is the main rival to the Powermatic 2 Plus at about the same price. It works the same way, with a chamber you fill by hand and a motor that injects the tobacco when you press the lever, but it adds a flip-top cover over the chamber, a counter, and a metal-alloy mechanism, and its seller describes it as quieter. It takes King and 100 mm tubes. HawkMatic is a newer, less familiar brand: apart from one roundup that called it a top pick, we found no independent long-term reports, so the 2 Plus remains the safer bet.

If you want an automatic machine but not the Powermatic, the HawkMatic HK3+ (about $205) is the closest alternative. Its aluminum body holds a hopper for about 30 smokes, a small display sets the density and counts tubes, and one button runs each fill. It locks the motor if it jams and carries the same one-year or 20,000-cigarette warranty as the Powermatic III+, for slightly less money. As with the HK2, the evidence is mostly the seller's own claims, so we rank it below the better-known III+.

The Powermatic 4 (appx. $79) is a manual-feed electric like the 2 Plus, but it has a large clear hopper on top where you keep a supply of tobacco, so you can see what's left and spill less. It's built on an aluminum frame, has a slot that collects loose bits of tobacco, and takes King and 100 mm tubes, with a one-year warranty. It costs about the same as the 2 Plus. You still spoon each dose into the chamber, and some find the hopper makes it bulkier on a small table.

The Top-O-Matic T2 (appx. $51) is an all-metal, chrome-plated hand-crank injector, and some owners have kept one running for five to ten years. It needs no outlet, a switch sets it for regular, King or 100 mm tubes, and spare parts are sold, so a worn cam or tube nipple can be replaced instead of the whole machine. It carries a one-year limited warranty. Cranking a lot of tubes in one sitting gets tiring, tobacco can spill from its open slot, and very dry or overpacked tobacco can wear the parts faster.

The Premier Supermatic (around $49) is a traditional crank-handle injector with a metal body, the original Supermatic design that roll-your-own forums still recommend over its later plastic version. You fill the slot, slide a tube onto the spout and turn the crank once to inject the tobacco. It takes King and 100 mm tubes and is simple enough that there's little to break. It's sold by a single tobacco shop on Amazon with limited stock, it jams if overfilled, and it's slower than an electric machine.

The Powermatic Mini is a palm-sized manual injector for anyone who only makes a few at a time or wants one for travel. You load the chamber, close the lid, slide a tube on the nozzle and push the slider to fill it. At about 14 ounces and around $28, it's the cheapest injector here, and it needs no power. There's no size adjuster, so for 100 mm tubes you pack a little extra tobacco at the ends, and it's much slower than an electric machine for a full day's supply.

If you roll with papers rather than filling tubes, the RAW 79mm Rolling Machine is the classic hand roller. It fits 1 1/4-size papers: you spread tobacco in the apron, roll it a few times to shape it, feed the paper in and lick the glued edge as you roll it closed. It costs a few dollars and fits in a pocket. It takes some practice to get firm, even results, and it doesn't use tubes or add a filter.