Braun, which turns 100 this year, is still going strong with an extensive line of electric razors. The brand currently has over 20 models on the market, all of which are engineered to deliver a high-quality shaving experience. There’s a lot of marketing mambo jumbo when it comes to selling electric shavers. If you buy a high-quality razor—think a $200 braun shavers model and above from any of our recommendations—then it’s possible to get several years out of your device. If you neglect to clean your electric shaver, you risk the chance of shortening the razor’s lifespan and also running dirt across your face when shaving. A dirty razor can result in uneven shaving and potentially cause ingrown hairs or acne.
The GilletteLabs Heated Razor has neither of those attributes, but it is a razor and is technically electric. The trimmer has a slim profile and weighs only 4 ounces, making it easy to control and hold in hand. Despite its small size, its single-speed motor delivers an impressive 6,000 cutting strokes per minute.
To me, the regular Series 9 is a bit gentler while the Pro/PRO+ Series 9 feels a bit more powerful. Price and value for money aside, the Series 9 is currently Braun’s best shaver. The alternative — the new and more popular Series 7 70 (360 Flex) — is in my opinion an inferior shaver in every aspect. It even manages braun hair removal to capture flat hairs that go in different directions quite well, although is not as good as the Series 9 in that regard. There are a lot of currently available versions, but what you need to know is that they all shave the same. As we now know, a higher series number doesn’t always imply better performance.
Experts might say that’s because electric razors don’t cut as close as a traditional razor/shave cream combo. But in practice, I didn’t notice any difference between the closeness of my shave. In fact, I found that without shaving cream, I could see spots I missed and manage the details of my shave much better.
All these don’t come cheap though, and especially the Pro models have a hefty price tag. For most users, these will shave faster and with less effort compared to other less capable Braun models like the Series Flex and the ones below. The new 94 cassette only has a slightly tweaked cutter (the gold one, called a ProLift trimmer) which is now even more capable at catching longer, flat-lying hairs. You may still stumble upon a 92xx or 90xx model, but those are becoming a rare sight or sometimes even cost more than the newer generation.
The changing interval is Braun’s standard 18 months, but you can expect that to vary based on how you use the shaver. It’s a high-quality shaving head that resembles the ones of the old Series 5 and 7. The Braun Series 7 70 (360 Flex) comes with a new shaving head/cassette called 73b (black) and 73s (silver). As we saw above, the outgoing generation was arguably Braun’s most successful line of shavers and one that propelled Braun for many years to the very top.