Review (2/5): Robot in disguise?
At first sight, this razor may cause some consternation to Transformers fans, who can't be faulted for thinking that the arcitec 1090 is really the Decepticon known as "Frenzy" in disguise. It stands at attention like a little bathroom sentinel on its silver base, proudly announcing the shaving time on its shiny chest, the three circular razor heads seemingly following your every move while waiting to transform when you least expect it.
Even when it's on the move, it can remain snugly in its futuristic-looking pod, which also has charging capabilities, and looks not unlike a cryogenic holding chamber from sci-fi movies.
From my (and my husband's) experience with this razor, it would be a much better piece of equipment if it actually did something as cool as transform into something else. Unfortunately, it's not much more than a pretty face, and isn't for all types of facial hair (or leg hair for that matter)
Pros:
- Cool looking with a sleek, modern, hi-tech style. Fits very comfortably in your hand.
- There's a display with BIG numbers to indicate how much shaving time you have left. If you ever get caught half way through your shave with no juice, then it's time to see your Optician right away.
- Easy and quick to charge (1 hour). The quick charge feature for a single shave is a nice feature for when you're pressed for time and out of charge.
- Aesthetically pleasing and efficient stand with suction cups to hold it firmly to the counter top. Razor and stand look great next to your expensive bathroom faucets.
- There's a safety lock feature to prevent it from accidentally coming on when travelling. Also useful to prevent your kids from trying to use it.
Cons:
- It gives a reasonably close shave on coarse hair, but you have to keep going over the same spot repeatedly to achieve that. Men's facial hair was okay, but the hair on the neck and chin was almost a mission impossible. (Ladies, forget trying to shave your legs with this razor.) My husband had to resort to a cheaper Norelco model to get those stubborn hairs, and the arcitec left the area under his chin and on his neck feeling irritated and sore.
- It took 12 minutes to shave, almost twice as long as compared to his other razor, even with the larger shaving area.
- The trimmer feature looked useful and functional, but proved to be in a very inconvenient position relative to the shaving heads. You'll need to remove the shaving heads entirely for the trim feature to do its job, and even then, it was not very effective.
- Washing/cleaning after use was easy enough though it meant having to open the three individual cutting heads separately. A simple mechanism to pop all three open simultaneously would have been nice. In addition, the area for catching hair isn't very big.
- The travel pod is a nice bonus feature, but on the big side if space is an issue. You probably don't need the travel pod anyway, since the razor comes with a safety lock.
- Very expensive, and not as efficient as cheaper models.
Norelco did recommend in the manual that you should use it for three weeks without using any other razor so that your skin would adjust to the razor, but at this price, I'm afraid I'll need instant gratification.
Amanda Richards, December 17, 2007