Imagine the horizontal spinning blade on a power lawn mower—but with teeth—and you’ll get the idea. The blades of rotary shavers are designed to catch hair growing in all directions, for a close shave. This straightforward and easy to use shaver has a rubberized, philips razor shock-absorbing coating to ensure it doesn’t slip out of your hands and is waterproof down to 1 meter of water—perfect for travel and if you’re accident prone. It’s on the simple side in terms of features, but that doesn’t mean it sacrifices on power.
The good news is that no matter what your budget, skin or hair type, or grooming acumen, there’s an electric razor that will suit your lifestyle. This list of the 15 top electric razors for men is the best place to start. The 2300 does have some good features like being washable and having a rechargeable battery, but as you may have guessed, I don’t recommend this shaver. It’s really just not as good as a standard electric shaver like the OneBlade or OneBlade Pro. After using the Philips Norelco 2300 twice, I’m not at all convinced that it’s worth trying to use again. You can’t use it to trim your beard to different lengths, and it doesn’t do a good job of clean shaving.
Its pop-up trimmer does not have enough cutting power to make it a useful grooming accessory. Nor can it be locked into place while in use, making it a challenge to use the trimmer for minor cleanups. I let them all charge up and then put them to use on my blond, relatively fine hair and sensitive fair skin.
We probably wouldn’t recommend a battery-powered razor for everyday use, but when you consider how often a travel razor gets used (less frequently) and its overall purpose (quick, on-the-go touch-ups) it makes perfect sense. You also don’t have to worry about carrying your charging cord around on trips, plus if your batteries die out at the hotel you can call the front desk and ask for fresh ones. The Panasonic Arc3 is fast cutting, powerful, and can be used dry or wet. Its flexible shaving head allows its blades to freely navigate the contours of the face or to be locked into place for a more traditional shaving experience.
Although no cleaning system is available, you can easily rinse the shaver under running water. The battery life is about 60 minutes, a bit less than what Braun’s model offers, but that should be more than enough for most people, even when you’re traveling. For the first iteration of this guide, we enlisted a panel of 12 to test a dozen electric razors each.
Braun’s Series 9 clean-and-charge base uses the same cartridges as the Series 7 base (and those of all other Braun shavers) and is functionally identical. Replacement cartridges last about three months and cost about $25 for a four-pack. Replacement foils are considerably more expensive for the Series 9; they currently run about $50, philips shaver compared with about $30 to $40 for the Series 7. That extra power and performance come at a dollar and design cost. Series 9 razors are notably bulkier than Series 7 razors, and some testers found the Series 9 razors tough to maneuver in tight spots (like the equally ginormous Panasonic Arc5, which this Braun line somewhat mimics).
I looked for raves and common complaints, particularly about battery life and stubble-y results (both major pain points). Then I reached out to Katie Sobelman, an aesthetician and skincare educator, to tell me more about why someone might want to use an electric razor, what they’re best for and how to select and use the right one for you. Foil-based systems use one or more cutting blocks mounted beneath the thin metal head. The foil’s perforations guide the whiskers into the block, where a pair of opposing blades slice them off. The action is more like what you’d get from a pair of scissors than from a knife. Rotary shavers use similar perforated surfaces to guide whiskers toward their cutters, but instead of snipping, hundreds of tiny blades slice hairs with a circular motion.