Review (5/5): ES3831K (Black one) - Excellent value shaver
What a great little shaver for $13! I recommend it.
I have used a blade for over 10 years, and that was after many years of electric shaving (Remington/Braun). I have been using a Fusion for a while, but the price of blades seems high, they last no more than a couple weeks each and I'm always getting nicked around the chin area. (- what a life-saver those Styptic pencils are!). Then there's the foam and the mess. I decided to go back to electric shaving if I could find a cheaper alternative that gave me a reasonably good shave.
The Amazon reviews indicated this series of shavers fit my requirements. I chose the slightly cheaper ES3481K which does not have a trimmer or a carry case (despite what the product description says), but it does have the usual see-thru snap-on, foil cover.
My first impressions were - looks like an electric shaver; easy to access the cutter; once you work out how to open the battery compartment cover, that seems well-sealed against moisture; it's quite noisy with two new AA batteries, but no more-so than any other electric shaver; it's comfortable to hold and about the size you'd expect for a single blade shaver, but not particularly compact for travel - unless you compare it with expensive models that are often very large.
When using it for the first time (a dry shave) at lunchtime after a Fusion shave only 5 hours before, the shave was smooth, simple and fast. No nicks even where I got nicked this morning and the result is actually a really good close shave, especially around the neck area. I have found that even the Fusion cannot remove all the stubble on my neck without creating soreness, yet without much effort, this shaver has done an arguably better job. Not perfect, but who's going to know except my wife and she would like me to grow a beard!!
Overall, this shaver seems to meet the good reviews it has received on Amazon. I'm happy and who can complain at the price? The manual recommends a new foil every year and a cutter every two years - that's cheaper than the blades over the same time period, if it's true. As a reviewer said, it's almost worth buying more; for home, work, the car, etc. You can always have a close shave, because you can then shave several times a day.
I will update this review when I've tried the wet shave and after a few weeks of use.
Update #1: I've tried the shaver for both dry and wet shaves. Shaving was done in the morning both times.
For the dry shave I showered first, dried off and applied AFTA pre-electric shave lotion at the sink. The shave was good, the neck and jaw-line stubble took some extra time as always. Generally happy with the result.
The wet shave was in the shower, at the end of the usual shower routine. I used my body wash lotion - it has olive oil and tea tree oil in it, so provided a good shaving medium and lubrication. I rinsed off the foil a couple times in the shower spray during the shave. I found the shave more comfortable to do than the dry one and it seemed to achieve a much closer shave, even though, again, the neck and jawline took extra time to do thoroughly.
After each shave, I applied some liquid soap to the upright foil and ran the shaver until foam appeared on the foil surface, per Panasonic's instructions. Then rinsed the shaver under running water. This really keeps the cutting system clean and presumably sharp. Much better than brushing and blowing hairs all over the sink that I had to do with my previous dry-only electric shavers.
I really noticed the difference between the wet and dry shaves the following morning. The dry shave resulted in a lot of stubble the next day. The wet shave was significantly less stubble.
CONCLUSION: The wet shave gives the best result and is less irritating to the skin, due to the lubrication from the lotion. This little shaver really does a great job in the shower.
Update #2: Used everyday and I'm still on the same Duracell batteries I fitted when I bought the shaver! More than the 90 minutes battery life in the specs.
Update #3: May 7 2010 - Finally decided to change out the batteries after about 3 months. Noticeable increase in speed of the shaver and it seemed to have more power to slice through those whiskers. Maybe better to swap them out sooner rather than later, but the shaver doesn't really sound much different as time goes on.
I have settled on a dry shave each day using Afta and a wet rinse as described above. Not having a usable mirror in the shower made getting a complete shave tricky. The result is not as good but works well enough.
I saw the price was drastically reduced on the Silver one, as well as the black, in April, so decided to also order the silver one because of the travel case and trimmer option. (there's always one hair that seems to escape the shaver foil and the trimmer removes it easily) What a deal for such a great little shaver - can't beat it for value.