Review (5/5): Best Shaver Just Got Better!
Okay, so the title of the review is a little excessive, but I really do love this shaver. I used a older Braun 6-series for 5-6 years before it died, I think it may have died because I wasn't thinking and I used it in the shower. Then again, maybe it was a subliminal attempt to get myself a new one for Christmas! While I understand that the improvements are said to be slight over Braun's last flagship model, the difference is drastic and noticeable over my older model. I have a fairly sensitive face, when it comes to shaving, and the old Braun, while it gave me the best electric shave I had experienced, tended to occasionally pull a bit and would miss a hair or two. This new Braun is much, much smoother in its shave. It has not pulled at all. I love that it has three power settings. This 790 rarely misses a hair and is clearly a closer shave. The head of the shaver has more mobility, which is a big plus for someone like me who has a very angular and chiseled face reminiscent of the gods of Olympus... just kidding. Though, it is a significant improvement from the older models and a handy feature. The rubbered grip is also a big improvement, as the old one could be a little slippery at times. I prefer the new travel case as well. The old one was plastic and snapped shut, and it always popped open in my bag when I traveled. The new case is zippered and is a firm-formed material, which makes it much better for travel. The digital display on the shaver handle, showing battery life and "hygiene," is much more informative than the old display and is, again, very useful in travel situations. It is much more clear in the documentation of this model that you can clean the head with water, again, good for travel. I really like the new design for the replaceable foils. The old foils broke apart into 2-3 pieces, which made it a little more inconvenient for cleaning and maintaining the sharpness of the blades. This new foil is one piece and is virtually entirely enclosed, it would be hard to quantify, but the design seems to allow for a better cleaning through the base station. Finally, the base station is different from the old one. It is slightly less intuitive. I had to make sure I read the manual to make sure I understood what various flashing lights meant, as opposed to solid lights. The cleaning process was much more clear with the old model, you put it in the base station, clicked the button into lock and the shaver said "cleaning," and displayed the amount of time remaining. The new base station does not display this kind of information, instead the manual explains the various cleaning times. Getting it to start the cleaning is a little less straight-forward, and you can guess how much cleaning time is left by observing the rate at which the "hygiene" bars replenish. One really good thing about the new base station, is that it seems to go to sleep after being unused for a while. It wakes up upon pushing a button or replacing the shaver, this is a big plus because it saves energy and that is always good. The long and short of this review is that I love this shaver. I loved my old Braun, but this new one makes me wonder how I put up with the old one for so long.