Review (5/5): The Best Of The Best
I upgraded from a Norelco 6865XL that I've had for about 5 years or so, and the 9160XL makes a world of difference. There are minor improvements - I like the color, it seems to clean easier, and the battery lasts a LOT longer. I haven't re-charged it yet after three weeks of continuous use, and I have half a battery left. But the vastly superior feature to the 9160 is clearly the increased size of the shaving surface. Instead of one ring of cutters per head, there are now three, leaving virtually no open space on the razor head to miss your face. For me, I would say shaving now takes - coincidentally - 1/3rd as long and I get a much better shave for it.
Other nice additions I like are the more intelligent placement of the "small" holes for the cutters. On the 6865 the large openings were on the outside and the small openings were on the inside of the razor, but on the 9160 the small openings are dispersed across the razor head in a more sensible manner. Also, there is a sensitivity dial that may prove useful to some people, especially on the neck.
As for downsides, there are two: I don't think this razor is significantly better at shaving the neck than my previous one, although the increased shaving area helps out. I think few electrics do a stellar job in this area so it came as no surprise. More importantly, the new "rocking head" mechanism on the SmartTouch series seems to be pointless. Perhaps it's helping and I can't tell, but when I pay attention to it, it doesn't seem to move hardly at all, and not in any way that gives the appearance of being useful. Since the major bonus on this razor - the 3 rows of cutting heads - is available on the SpeedXL line, one might be better off with just getting that model.
Word of warning: some of the other reviews complain that this isn't better than a traditional non-electric razor. Probably not, few electrics are. It takes quite a bit of time to get used to an electric, but it's worth the patience.