Panasonic Electric Razor for Men, Cordless Wet Dry Lightweight Shaver with Ergonomic Grip, ES3831K, Black

I'm not a big fan of the prior editions of Panasonic travel shavers ... I owned one and it was very anemic, wouldn't shave well at all ... but this current model blows me away, it runs faster and stronger off its batteries than my Braun runs off its (both use AA's). For that matter it runs stronger and better than my standard, home edition Braun. Let me put it up front: I'm a big Braun fan, they have served me well for years, but this inexpensive Panasonic travel sharpener is good enough, for me, for home use. It also has a great shape, great industrial design, did they hire Braun's designer or give someone with a new way of looking at things free reign to innovate? 'cause this is amazingly good looking and strong performing, shocking at $15 (batteries not included!).Pluses and minuses:+ Produces high RPM from fresh AA's. (I will add an update when I have used this for a couple of weeks, how long it takes to decline and what it's like towards the end.) Since this is a pretty good shaver, I may try Lithium AA's which are actually cheaper than the more traditional alkalines, if you look at total power available vs. cost (although the initial cost is quite higher). Note that Lithiums have a very steep power drop off - which is good - they deliver their full power and hence rpm right up until the end, then drop off quickly. So you won't be faced with the quandary of trying to keep going on alkalines that still have enough power for a shave but not enough power for good performance. Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA 12 Battery Super Pack Lithiums last a lot longer - up to 9x as long in the Ultimate edition - and weigh much less than alkalines which is also good if you are going on an extended trip or hike.+ Shaves closer than either of my Brauns.- I haven't had shaver burn from an electric in years - since my skin is conditioned to them. But with this one shaving closer, I have some shaver burn spots now.+ Shaves close enough that I could, in a pinch, get away without my normal "touch up" shave with a blade in the shower.- It's still not as close as a good blade with careful work, but it will certainly pass for dinner or a date.- No edge trimmer. I don't use this much, preferring to use a blade, but you need to know this.- Due to the lack of edge trimmer and almost all electric shavers' inability to cut down the occasional stray (longer) hair, you will need to carry a disposable blade for touch ups.+ Has a tiny button in the on-off slider which keeps the slider locked until you depress it. This is good for travel.+ It is water proof so it's harder to mess up. I don't do wet (shower) shaving so I don't know how well that works - I don't like leaving the head damp. I will keep it in mind for my periodic deep cleaning though - it's nice to know I can wash this is a bowl of soapy water and don't have to use those old-fashioned shaver cleaner liquids.+ Nicely designed, nice fitting clip-on clear plastic shaver head cover.- The cover doesn't have vent slots for drying out, an issue if you wet-shave with this.- + Bigger and heavier than other travel shavers - but still MUCH lighter than a home shaver. Gram shavers need an Eltron and you can even save a couple of ounces and some space with a Braun.- + The tiny utility brush doesn't fit into a slot on the shaver, and my prediction is you will lose it quickly. But hey there's always your toothbrush, right?I'll update here as necessary. It's good enough for daily shaving so I won't have to wait for a trip get a significant number of shaves on it.Notes: caucasian beard, lightly bearded but what I have is stubbly. Usually light to medium electric shave followed by a touch-up in the shower with a BIC single edge disposable razor.I wasn't in the market for a travel shaver, but a website reviewed the top 3 - Braun, Eltron and this one (Braun Mobile Shaver - M90 1 Count, Eltron #el-3040 Compact Travel Shaver} - and commenters liked the Panasonic so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad that I did.Update: 17 days on my first set of AA batteries (Rayovac alkalines). August 30-Sept 15).Update: 17 days on my second set of AA batteries (Rayovac's again). Sept 16-October 2. Surprisingly consistent. No more razor burn! Either the blade burnished in, or my skin toughened up.Update: Oct 3 to Oct 13 on third set of AA batteries (Rayovac's again). Fewer days of life - did these batteries come out of another device, they were rattling loose in the drawer. Chalk this one up as an anomaly given the consistent performance of the first 2 sets.Update: October 14 until January 19 (!!! yes true) on one set of Energizer Advanced Lithium AA's. So apparently lithium batteries do last a lot longer. That was about 97 days. So the $2 a piece cost of the battery (vs. .50 cents for alkalines) is more than recovered. The "death spiral" of lithiums is even more drawn out than alkalines however - it was running slow (but enough to shave) for about 10 days before they gave up the ghost.

I fully realize that one can spend several hundred dollars on an electric, cordless razor. However, this twenty dollar razor works great for me and is the second one that I've purchased. The first one still works but the plastic "clips" which holds the screen to the frame are either worn or broken.I keep this razor in my car for when I don't have time for a proper shave or perhaps missed a spot in the shower. It's a great value for little money, a rare thing these days!

This is a great electric shaver, particularly for the price. I have used these Panasonics for years and they work very well, even as an everyday razor, not just for traveling. I got my first one from QVC, for traveling and wound up using it as an everyday shaver. The older Panasonic model with the trimmer was nicer, but this one is fine. One thing to realize is that if you are switching from another razor, your beard with need a few days to get used to the new razor before you decide how well it works. I don't know why, but this is something that I've found to be true. After a few uses, you should find that the new razor works better, and a light touch yields better results than trying to grind the shaver into your face. My beard is fairly heavy (zero to one inch beard in three weeks), and this little razor can handle it just fine if I use it every day. Every once in a while I forget or for some reason don't shave and the next day can be a little rough for a little shaver to handle. If I go two days without shaving, bring on the blade and shaving cream. I usually get two-and-a-half to three weeks on a set of AA batteries, which is fine for traveling. I don't use the wet shave option, so can't comment on that. If it had the trimmer I would have given it 5 stars.

I usually don't give 1-star reviews or return products, but this time I'll have to. Seeing all the great reviews on how close of a shave it would give, I thought I couldn't go wrong with purchasing one of these just for the convenience as I have been using dollar-store disposables for years for close shaves with no problems; being sanitary, following the natural direction of the hair, and making sure not to over swipe has yet to fail me with skin problems or irritation.When I used this for the first time on dry facial skin, I was confused because it really wasn't cutting uniformly after about 5 minutes of trying. Although some hairs appeared to have vanished, I still had a very noticeable amount of hairs at least 5mm long hugging the sides of my face, chin and upper lip. Maybe they would go away if I tried going over them from multiple directions? Nope. Maybe trying to flatten out the surface of my skin by stretching it? Nope. Maybe a wet shave would work? Nope. My frustration eventually led me to try putting more pressure on the device against my face. Not only did this not get rid of the outstanding hairs, it really irritated my skin with a burning sensation. I sprayed a mist of rubbing alcohol on the shaved area (even more burning) and wiped it off with toilet paper and saw small splotches of blood.I have a cheap Wahl beard trimmer that I use to maintain my hair line. I also use it for shaving when I'm out of disposables that I'm willing to reuse. It has a clipper form factor, cuts close, and doesn't irritate my skin as nearly as much as this shaver did (although it still does irritate my skin to an extent). Although it's small, requires 2-3 passes, and not really suitable for a quick shave, it works much better than this product.I'm not sure what sort of hair type the majority of the users of this product have, but this definitely was not made for me. Instead of giving a "close and comfortable shave," it left me sitting with an incompletely shaven face that needed to be disinfected with rubbing alcohol and slathered in petroleum jelly. But I guess that's my fault, right? Nonetheless, it's really disappointing that this could not do what shaving cream and a disposable razor could do in one swipe. Perhaps I would have been better off with trying a higher-end model or maybe I'm just destined to use manual razors for the rest of my life.I probably should have filtered and read the critical reviews first as they mostly express the same issues but ... at this point I'm really hoping I don't get ingrown hairs from this.