Best Electric Shaver? Need Advice!

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by John Clark, May 6, 2020.

  1. John Clark

    John Clark New Member

    Hello, I'm new here. I didn't realize the site was quite as oriented towards blades. I'm still hoping there might be enough electric users to give me some thoughts and perspective.

    I need to use an electric shaver for a number of reasons that would take too much time to go into. This is an important purchase, as the shaver i used for my head, and 2/3rds of my face. For the past seven years, I've been using a Panasonic which has mostly done the job. During this time I also had a Norelco that I used for travel as it didn't require a base to charge. The Norelco is at least 15 years old.

    The Panasonic is quickly losing the ability to hold a long enough charge, so, as my primary shaver, I need to replace it. I am also, frankly, very tired of the expense of having to replace its blades and foil four times a year. Yes, they only last for a quarter unless you want to spend three times the amount of time required. And thats NOT cheap. For that reason, I think I probably need to avoid Panasonic's regardless of quality, as the new blade and foil combos are even more expensive, and if I needed to replace them as often as my current one could easily result in greater expense than the shaver cost to buy!

    Online reviews seem to be more like ads for the various makers, and I've not found any definitive favorites researching that. On top of that some say Braun are clearly the best, others say Panasonic, yet others, Norelco.

    I've been leaning slightly towards Philips-Norelco, as they have always been the most comfortable to use. However, recently, a friend who was visiting with his wife over a weekend suggested I try his newly purchased Norelco 5000 series shaver that he had just bought at Costco. I gave that shot and could simply not believe how poor its performance was. First of all, the motor had, at best, 1/3rd the power of my 15 year old Norelco. Secondly, I could not even get it to cleanly shave everything. Now, I realize that they have several series above this one, but as poorly as this performed, I am very hesitant to spend $200.00 or more for those. My old Norelco was nowhere near the top of their line and is far, far better than this cheaply made, junky, under powered new model.

    Any expertise, thoughts or experiences associated with current top of the line electric shavers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

    John
     
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  2. lightcs1776

    lightcs1776 Well-Known Member

    I had the best experience with the Norelco when I used an electric. However, I was never really satisfied with any of them.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     
  3. whaap

    whaap Active Member

    I've used many electrics over the years. Presently I use a Braun and it gives me the best electric shave I've ever had. A blade does it faster but I have difficulty standing for the length of time it would take using a blade razor. I'm very happy using my Braun setting down. As a result I can't contribute much to the technical side on this forum but it's a great group just for what you can get socially.
     
  4. steve207

    steve207 Well-Known Member

    Panasonic arc 5 works for me the foils work best for me with the rotary style i get more ingrown hairs and best part about the Panasonic is that it is a wet or dry so can use ether way so i can still wet shave to i hope this helps
     
  5. John Clark

    John Clark New Member

    Thanks for your thoughts. The Panasonic ARC5 does get more "best of" reviews than anything else. However, on my current Panasonic, as I noted above, I have to replace the heads/foil unit three to four times a year. That would run me about $200.00 a year with the ARC5. I just can't afford that unless they have somehow moved to a much longer lasting blade/foil assembly.

    John
     
  6. steve207

    steve207 Well-Known Member

    Well John I've had mine for almost a year haven't needed to replace the foil and blade yet but if you don't mind not having a real close shave the norelco oneblade works real good as you use that one as you shave you go against the grain of your beard you need to pay attention to the way grows to get it work the blade lasts for me 6 to 7 months the oneblade isn't an everyday shaver it more of every week to month or more the oneblade was designed to get at any lengths of beard look into it see what think of it
     
  7. Badgerstate

    Badgerstate Well-Known Member

    Braun or Panasonic, take your pic. It seems like Pansonics are more effective but give worse razor burn. For a while last year I was using a Braun Series 3 with shave gel and it worked really well.
    Honestly, if I didnt enjoy the nostalgia of using a brush and a DE so much, I could easily have a Braun Series 3 and shave gel be my daily drivers.
    I recently started cutting my own hair and I bought a cheap Remington corded rotary shaver for shaving the back of my neck and that thing works really well too. It was only like $27 too.
     
  8. Tallships

    Tallships Well-Known Member

    I've Tried Braun and Norelco neither gave me the shave a DE/SE gave me, but my experience with them was a number of years ago.
     
  9. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    I have heard many people sing the praises of Braun electric shavers, so that might be worth looking into. My Remington 300 Triple Foil still works as well as it ever did, and it is 35 years old. Their current production HF9100 gets great reviews, and looks similar to one I used back in the 1970s. That electric shaver was one of the best razors I have ever used of any type.

    You do know that electric shavers need to have the batteries replaced every so often, right? It will need to be taken to a shop that services electric shavers, as this is not something most people can do at home. It will cost you, but less than the cost of a new razor. I have had the the batteries on my Remington several times.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2020
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  10. John Clark

    John Clark New Member

    Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm still not much closer to understand what my best option would be. I suppose that depending on which way I go, Braun, Norelco and Panasonic still offer 30 day returns if you aren't happy, so if my first choice doesn't work for me, I can move on and try another. The catch is that won't, within that period, know anything about the longevity of the blades when I am using it everyday for my entire head, and 2.3rds of my face. As I mentioned before, my problem with my current Panasonic, which had otherwise worked quite well until it started failing to keep a charge long enough. The issue was that I needed to replace the foil and blade assembly a minimum of three times a year, and more often, in recent years, quarterly. Thats a big chunk of change. I would be leaning towards a Panasonic ARC5 now, except for that. It's hard to imagine that Panasonic suddenly developed blades and foil that last at least a year, minimum, given my use. I know one of you commented that you've used yuour ARc5 for nearly a year without changing out the blades and foil, but I'm assuming you are just shaving your face, which is somewhere between 1/3rd and 1/4 of the use my gets give all the surface area that I am shaving daily.

    Another part of me would really prefer to get a Norelco, as they are far more comfortable to shave my head with. Yes, they don't get quite as close as the Panasonic, but it does get close enough given the much greater degree of comfort. But again, the 5000 series that I recently used was so underpowered, compared to my 15 year old Norelco (spare) that I also have trouble believing in their current products. Also, you apparently must buy their high end units (all $200.00 or over) because it is necesary to get their cleaning system, as they no longer make similar models that can flip open to be cleaned. You must literally remove the entire head assembly and separate the blades to clean them manually, which is far too much effort. I nrealy bought a high end Norelco at Costco over the weekend (knowing I could return it within days if I wasnt happy) but it was not offered with the cleaning system.

    That leaves Braun, and I know they have gathered a very good reputation over the years. There are two issues there, though. None of the sites that rate shavers to be used to shave your head rate them very highly, for that specific series, except for the top of the line Series 9, which is very expensive. Also, I've read a number of comments from lifelong Braun owners and fans, saying that when they recently upgraded to a new 8 or 9 series, they flound them to be a shadow of what they used to be compared to their previously owned Braun shavers of 5-10 years ago.

    So, still a quandary, but again, I greatly appreciate all of your thoughts and comments.

    John
     
  11. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    With electric shavers, blade / screen replacements are just part of using the product. Taking care to minimize pressure against your skin will extend the blade and screen life, and also result in better shaves. I never had to replace blades more than twice per year with any electric shaver, and usually only once per year. Keep in mind that after 15-20 years, maybe less nowadays, the blades and screens will usually be discontinued.

    Replacement electric shaver blades are pricey for the same reason Gillette Fusion cartridges are pricey - profit for the razor manufacturer. A safety razor and double edge blades are usually the least costly shaving option, followed by two and three blade cartridge systems.
     
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