Looks cool, but quickly overwhelmed.
The Goldbox offer (half price) suckered me into buying this model, despite recently having happily switched away from Norelco to the Braun 360 Complete. One of the advantages of the Braun was the much better handling of longer whiskers as the occasional 1-week-slump generates. Hoping that the hype of the new shaving heads resolved this issue, I eagerly tried out the Arcitec. It's still completely overwhelmed and no competition for the Braun at all. For the daily shave, the Arcitec 1059X is quite able to provide a reasonable shave.<br /><br />The design may be the main reason to get this model as the shape and the cool display are likely to grace every bathroom. It's modernistic, yet understated. Yes, this is one of the best looking shavers on the market! The shaving head is fairly flexible and adapts to contours well, As with any dry shaver I tried so far, it won't match a wet blade, but it's not bad either. In fact, with restricting the whiskers to a one or two day length, the results are fairly comparable to the Braun 360 which so far yielded the best results for me. Then again, past that point, the Braun is a clear winner loosing only to a wet blade (again).<br /><br />Handling of the Arcitec is reasonable and style concerns certainly overrode function, but still to a subtle degree that's acceptable albeit not perfect. Battery life is excellent and the charging stand has actual suction cups to make it easier to keep the base planted on the counter top. There is also a travel case included which doubles as a charging cradle. (The power supply plugs into the case and contacts allow the razor to be charged when plugged in.)<br /><br />Overall mostly a cool design and quite functional for the daily chore. However, if you're less diligent with your shaving schedule it's hopelessly overwhelmed with the longer (and thicker) whiskers. The lift'n'cut feature is standard for Norelco and reasonably effective. However, it also irritates the skin a bit more.
Rating: 3 stars