The stand is a cool accessory if you want the shaver to loom over your bathroom countertop, but you can’t keep it in a drawer or cabinet. The refills are kind of annoying to deal with, and the cleaning process amplifies the normal buzzing sound of the shaver quite a bit. The way the thing starts and stops in cycles might even startle unsuspecting housemates early in the morning. Included in its beard styling package is a detachable trimmer head that comes with 5 trimmer comb guards. As well as a secondary detachable head accompanied by 4 sets of comb covers designed for maintaining different beard stubble lengths.
Braun’s system is totally contained in the snap-on cartridge, which doesn’t seem to be a major problem during cleaning after daily use, but makes it tricky to get out clumps of four-day stubble. All of the other systems separate the inside cutter and the foil, which makes it easier to do a thorough cleaning. The size of the head gets in the way, though, if you’re trying to shave around a moustache or even just around your nose.
For Rotary shavers, the most effective way to achieve a close, comfortable, and irritation-free shave is to allow the blades to gently move across the face in an overlapping circular motion. This circular motion optimizes the blade’s cutting ability while overlapping each shaved area philips shaver can reduce skin irritation by limiting the number of times the blades touch the skin. The Braun Series 3 is a durable, wet/dry shaver that performs very well with fine and very light-growth facial hair. The 9500 comes with a Quick Clean Pod that makes post-shave cleanup a breeze.
Probably the biggest surprise in our testing was that the high-end cleaning stands weren’t saving time or effort. Braun’s Series 7 shaver performed well, and when the speed was cranked up all the way it matched the Panasonic for efficient and smooth cutting. Without the extra foils of the Arc5, though, it’s at a slight disadvantage for a speedy shave. In the end, if you find that a foil-type shaver just can’t get close to hairs that are growing in swirled growth patterns, you might be a good candidate for a rotary-type design. This gives a reasonably close shave, like the Series 7, but it struggles to clean up long stubble without tugging. When we put it against the less-expensive Panasonic Arc3, though, it just seems a bit sad.
We’d read about big differences between the different designs, and we found that Braun’s fully enclosed cutter cartridges are definitely harder to clean thoroughly than Panasonic’s. Our testers ranked each design in side-by-side testing, judging which razor shaves closest by checking to see which designs could pick up stubble left behind by the others. There’s not any reason to buy this over the Arc3 unless you get a great deal on it. The Arc3 is still being developed and upgraded in Panasonic’s Japanese lineup, so it will likely be easier to find blades for the Arc3 in the long term. The Arc4 ES-LF51-A is a design from 2012, while it’s still “current” according to Panasonic’s U.S. sales people we wouldn’t bet on it staying that way for many more years.
The Wahl Lifeproof electric shaver is a capable, durable option for those looking to stay well-groomed, on a budget. This information is sent to the GroomTribe app and used to suggest how I might improve my shave. This 30 day return policy does not apply to televisions, any over sized product(s) shipped via truck freight, cell phones or open box/clearance merchandise. All unlocked cell phones and open box/clearance merchandise are Final Sale. You might be hoping that shaving in the shower will help clean the blades, but you definitely want to check out ones with dedicated cleaning stations, as the blades will need regular lubricating to keep a keen edge.
Cleaning the Arc3, even without Panasonic’s pricey optional stand, is a breeze. Panasonic designs their razors with a “sonic vibration” cleaning mode, which moves the cutting bar even faster than philips electric shaver the normal shaving mode to help rinse and dry the parts more thoroughly. A Foil shaver’s blades move left and right cutting every hair that enters each hole imprinted on the foil guard.