Review (5/5): The Best In My Book!
I have ready many user reviews and some technical reviews on the Norelco Arcitec and it has brought me to three conclusions: 1) You can't please everyone but you CAN please most 2) Some of the reviews must have been written by the competition and 3) A little more attention to detail will help some of you understand the product better.
I have been mostly a blade man for about 25 years, having only made a few brief attempts at using an electric. For the past several years, I have been using the Gillette Mach 3 and now the Fusion razors. They are the best blades ever, give a quick close shave and cost so much money to replace ($28.99 msrp for 8 blades), that if I changed them out when I really should (weekly is ideal and almost necessary they go dull so fast), I will have paid for the Norelco Arcitec 1050 plus a little extra, in just one year of use.
In the interest of trying something new, I have tried electrics before. I tried Norelco's first generation of the Nivea wet shaver and it was great, though it did run out of Nivea fast, which was hard to find and expensive and then I got bored and distracted and stopped using it almost as quickly as I started. BUT, it is still a work horse and whenever I break it out of retirement, and it still does a great job, even with worn out blades.
So, I decided to give the Arcitec a try. First, everyone comments on design and style, so let's get that out of the way. Great, innovative, light, maneuverable, and incredibly effective. I am NOT a dry shave guy. I only do it out of necessity when I am in a hurry. I have always found that wet shaving, even with my other Norelco which can do either, was WAYYY better and more comfortable. But, this is enough to convert me in just one use. Quick, smooth, effect, close, comfortable.
Let's debunk a couple of design complaints I have read about in previous reviews...
The trimmer...Yes, the trimmer may be a bit small, but I have a small face, and I almost never use a trimmer, so no biggie. BUT, one of the complaints I have read several times is that placement is bad because "you end up cutting your hair with the razor when you try to use the trimmer". People... the razor head pops off! Just pull it off when you are using the trimmer. It's pretty obvious you are supposed to. Which leads me to...
Replacing the blades...Other's have complained that you can't replace the blades, just the entire head from the neck up and that appears to be true. One user even said it costs almost as much as a new razor. Rubbish! It's $33 and change on Amazon for a new razor head. It will probably be less by the time any of us actually need to buy replacements. When was the last time you replaced the blades in an electric razor (O.K., a GOOD electric razor) for under $30? Assuming you do it once a year, you will pay what yo would for one 8 pack of Fusion blades.
Cleaning the blades... you have to open three small slots, instead pushing one button for one big chamber. It takes three seconds, so what?
There isn't a big hair chamber... Again, so what? I always hated having a bunch of hair gather in my razor.
The battery supposedly can be damaged by over charging, unlike previous models. Most likely, Norelco is just being careful. The nature of lithium ion and lithium polymer batteries is that they CAN'T be over charged, they have no burn in memory, and are safe to leave in the charge at all times. Even my old first-gen Norelco Nivea razor with cheap NiCad batteries, could be left in the charger forever and it never burned and still holds a charge for months or even years. You can take the risk and leave it in the charger. I did it all afternoon and evening yesterday with no notable problems.
One last observation, and I'm not the first one to make it... The only difference between the 1050, 1060 and 1090 razors is the LED. Each one offers a little more detail than the rest, but costs noticeably more for that detail. In all other ways each razor is the same. Maybe it's just me, but why pay up to $100 more for a unit that does all the same things? I don't care if mine has an LED that says I have 65 minutes left.
So, nutshell... great design, great performance, great everything. Take negative opinions with a grain of salt. With a 60 day return policy to Norelco, it's worth a trial run. I've only had it for a day and I already like it enough to keep it.
By the way, if you like wet shaving, it looks like it can do that too.