Simple poll, simple answer. Razors are relegated to dial, lever or handle twistable adjustments and currently in production. No plate systems that will be a seperate poll. If I missed any razors please let me know and I'll add them to the poll. I can't add all the possible razors so there will be a part 2 poll for the rest. Part 2 is here https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/best-modern-twist-adjustable-de-razors-part-2.67255/
There is a mistake on this poll. The Q Shave Parthenon is a different razor from the Q Shave Futur clone which is far as I know identical to the Ming Shi 200S. That choice will have to be for 2 distinct shavers unlike the rest of the choices now that the poll is uneditable to me.
If there is enough demand I'll add some options for Yintal adjustables. They have a decent presence on aliexpress and have some now unique designs like the old Ming Shi 3000s (which no longer is sold) under their brand name.
Out of all the modern adjustables I've used the best one I picked is the Rex Ambassador. With that said I wouldn't recommend it because of the price for most people. $$$ or higher razors are usually a non starter for casual or new wet shavers. There are plenty of lower cost options that will get you to the baby but none of those are buillt quite as well built or made with all stainless steel.
I have the Merkur Progress, the Ming Shi, and the Parker Variant. I like the Merkur Progress best. I also have @twhite 's TAR which was a limited run. It is an awesome shaver, too.
My vote for this group is the Merkur Progress. It gives an excellent shave and glides on the skin with ease.
Sad to say, of all the razors in both polls, I've only tried two. I was part of a pass around for an early version of the Parthenon, and that particular razor was a clog fest. They quickly redesigned it, but I was so unimpressed by the initial version, I passed on the redesigns, and I was waiting on the Model T, because 'wow! The first modern twist-to-open adjustable since the Gillette Super Adjustables!' As far as I'm concerned, the Model T is what you get if you redesign a Gillette Slim, but deliberately make it slightly worse in every way. The lid on that particular garbage can was to have production delays long enough that the competition produced 5 or 6 adjustable razors before the Model T finally hit the market. ...and then something like 10-20% of those were defective. Now THAT was a good razor. I liked the shave I got from the TAR. Seems like the more crude looking and basic the design, the better Tom's razors shave. If I had to play around with modern adjustables again, I'd go with the Merkur Progress. Yes, it's in current production, but it's a massive stretch to call it a 'modern' design. By that standard, all Gillette's adjustables except the Toggle are 'modern' adjustables, since the Progress pre-dates them, and the Toggle only beat it by a year.
Keep it simple. Design out from how I want the blade to perform. Set geometry of blade. Then just add what is needed to make it work. I also design for ease of manufacture. I hate having to work to hard.
Less than five months ago I wouldn't even of looked at any on this list ...... then I picked up a couple Merkur Progress and I've been using it nearly exclusively since.
I have the Variant and the Progress. I'll give a slight edge to the Variant. Both are near perfect. Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
Couple of things. The main criteria was can I adjust the razor on the fly when shaving which is why things like plate systems are left out of the poll. Razors like Tom's Tar were left out since he never published files for it. 3d printed adjustables as long as they are DE and the files are publicly available are valid options for the poll and any write ins meeting this criteria are welcome. The other criteria is the razor still being actively sold or in the case of opensource files available. That is the reason things like the Janus adjustable and Merkur Vision 2000 are not in the poll.
I personally like the Rex DE razors. I have two embassadors and I just got a Konsul slant adjustable. Once in a while I use my Rhodium plated 59’ Gillette Fatboy.
Thanks for bringing it up. I forgot to mention the Rex Konsul in either poll. Please add it as a write in since I can't edit the polls now.
