These are designed for occasional use only and using them often could cost you a fortune in batteries. The battery takes an hour to charge for over an hour’s shaving, though there is a five-minute rush charge if you need it, and you can use it wet or dry and rinse Braun Series 5 it under the tap when you’re done. Philips also sells this model with an optional cleaning pod, which does a fantastic job of cleaning and lubricating the head. You simply insert the supplied blue goo cartridge, stick your shaver in upside down and turn it on.
Among electric razors under $50, the Remington F outperformed lower-end Braun and Panasonic models in our testing. 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.
Especially given that the trend is to shave less nowadays, I now recommend the Braun Series 9 foil shaver over Philips’ almost equally impressive efforts. If you’re a two to three shaves per week guy you will probably prefer this too, as it is slightly better on longer stubble patches. That’s thanks to the titanium tipped blades that give it its ‘gold-painted’ appearance.
The result is that within seconds of being turned on, the foil chills to near zero, ‘reducing irritation’. In one of those curious quirks that you get with mass-market consumer devices, here we have an earlier version of the Braun Series 9. It has all the good points of its slightly later, titanium-tipped sibling but is unquestionably and deliberately, not quite as good. Possibly the real killer feature of the Braun for me is that using it actually feels like shaving.
The Philips Norelco 9800 is essentially a cheaper 9700 without the cleaning dock. Instead of a cleaning dock you are given a multi-length beard trimmer, similar to the one found on the 5700, which isn’t all that great. Over all, I highly recommend the 9300 and 9700 shavers if your neck and beard hairs grow in all directions. The circular motions coupled Braun Series 5 with the shaving head placement missed far fewer long hairs on me than the high end models offered by Braun and Panasonic. You cannot use Philips shavers while on charge and the 9300 and 9700 are no exception. Pressing the ON button while the shaver is charging will result in the battery indicator flashing and two quick beeps will sound.