Does paying more for an electric shaver give you a closer shave?

itm2

I've had many electric shavers over the years, mainly Braun, and all of them have required 10-12 iterations in certain areas of my chin to get a close enough shave. Last time I downgraded from a Braun Series 3 to a £20 shaver from Boots (having seen a good review of it on TV), and it was actually a slight improvement on the Braun, but it still requires many attempts to get a close shave in all areas.
I've tried wet shaving a few times in the past, but 80% of the time I finish up with blood on my face so I've decided to give up on the idea.
Does anyone know if any of the higher-priced electric shavers (e.g. >£100) actually provide a significantly closer shave than the more affordable ones (£50-80)? Or do they simply give you a bunch of "extras" that may not be of interest to many people? (e.g. cleaning stations, bluetooth,...)

cerebus

I would try wet Shaving again if I were you

Get a decent blade and Shaving cream/foam and keep your face taut whilst Shaving 

The only time I cut myself is when I'm rushing and don't keep my face taut 

Rodders53

Dry shaving via a machine isn't a one stroke operation.  Nor can any dry shaver cut the beard as close as a wet blade.

Some machines allow the use of shaving foam wet/dry shavers...  My preference is for Phillishave nowadays - one at the cheaper end (bought when 'on offer' in Boots often enough) - the 3000 series.  It copes if I leave a day or twos stubble and I've used it 'wet' occasionally. Around £40?

A Boots foil shaver I owned was one of my favourites (many years ago).  When I could no longer get replacement foils and cutters it had to be replaced.

matelodave

Over the years I've had a few, Braun, Philishave, Remington and TBH non are anywhere as good as a wet shave.

Like Rodders I find they all work best with a day or two of stubble but in the end I've reverted to wet shaving. Its quicker, closer and I don't get a sore face either which I do with electric.

Newcad

Best electric shaver I ever has was a Braun Syncron Universal, almost as good as a blade but no longer made.

Have a go again at wet shaving.

Usually if you are cutting yourself then it's simply the wrong technique or the wrong razor.

After years of having a full beard I started shaving again this year, and the first razor I bought didn't suit me at all, I would get nicks/cuts and not a close shave.

Not wanting to spend a fortune buying and trying different razors I bought an adjustable one, I now shave easily and closely with no nicks.

This is the one I got, it's a copy of a razor that was patented and very expensive because of that, but is now out of patent.
So you can now get good, well made, ones for reasonable prices.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shave-Factory-Premium-Adjustable-Safety/dp/B07Y57PBJ3/

I find that settings between 1 and 1.75 give a close shave without any 'drag' - it feels as if there isn't even a blade in it.
Settings of 1.75 to 2.5 give a baby smooth shave but with a chance of nicks.
Over 2.5 be careful, but as I say I get a very close shave at round about 2.

PS. Be careful if trying to adjust it with wet slippy hands. I sliced my thumb doing just that.

PPS. For comparison here is the original (now out of patent) one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Merkur-Futur-Adjustable-Safety-Chrome/dp/B009ZF8Y18/

EssexExile

Grow a beard, I trim mine once a fortnight. I'm very lazy.

TELLIT01

I've used an electric shaver all my adult life and never had one which will remove all whiskers on a single pass.  I've never got on with rotary heads like the Philishave and have generally used Braun.  I don't like the fact that the foil and cutter are now supplied as a complete unit, it's costly and wasteful in my mind.  It's almost impossible to clean the cutters properly.

Username03725

Muhle safety razor, pack of 500 Derby blades off amazon for less than a tenner, and shaving cream - not foam - applied with a nice brush. Baby's backside results every time and the only time you nick yourself is when rushing. The initial investment is a bit for the razor & brush but then it's cheap as chips and very effective.

AstonSmith

At a risk of taking this too far off topic, can I ask those who wet shave in this thread: how thick is your hair?

I can shave any part of myself (including my head) without any problems, but the stubble on my face is just too thick. Like velcro.

It doesn't seem to matter how wet my face is, how hot the water is, flannels or not, cream or foam type (with badger brush etc), DE safety razor or cartridge, the number of blades... the hair's so thick that I have to press down and thus often cut myself. And to rub it in, it's never very close. I was once accused by my employer of not shaving at all!

I ask because (no offence intended) those who claim to easily wet shave always seem to have very light facial hair.

I've tried everything I can think of except an electric razor, so I'm watching this thread with interest.

itm2

The main reason that wet shaves leave blood is that my chin always has at least one or two little spots or scabs that the razor slices through. Trying to work around them takes forever.

I totally get that (a) a dry shave will never be as close as a wet shave, and (b) dry shaves will never be a one-pass operation. The question was really to understand whether the high-end electric shavers really do shave any closer than those costing £40-60. So for example could they reduce my current 10-12 pass routine (for certain areas) to something like 3-4 passes?

Newcad

I think that as with most things  the answer has to be - It depends.

Whilst you would expect any company's top-end product to be the best that isn't always the case. With anything not just razors.
Often the top-of-the-range product is pushing the limits of what they can do and a model one or two lower down is better.

Then you have to start considering things like are you paying extra for 'The Name'.
Often a product from an (as yet) unknown is just as good or better than the big brand name.

In the end all you can do is read what others say in reviews, decide if you trust the review, and then take a chance.

PS. Despite liking my adjustable wet razor I am also considering getting a new electric for those times when I can't be bothered with a full wet shave, I'm also at the which to go for and how much to pay stage of choosing. (Personally for me a rotary head one is out, I never seemed to get a good electric shave with one of those).

Grumpy old man rant:
WHY would anyone need or even want Bluetooth on an electric razor?  Is a barber going to reach out of the internet and shave you? Have we all gone mad?
It's like having digital clocks in everything you buy, I don't need a couple of dozen clocks about my house. Just because you can put a clock in something doesn't mean that you should.
There again I've also seen toothbrushes with Blutooth, I thought whiteteeth was the idea of a toothbrush.
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