Review (3/5): The Best & Cheap Electric Shaver You Can Buy! However You Get What You Pay For Though!
UPDATE: 08-01-21
Its been nearly another year that I've owned these shavers, which makes a total of 3-years of ownership. Has my opinion on these shavers changed? Well, one just has to take a look at my updated rating and you have your answer. About a month after my first replacement, (which you can read about in the 2020 update) I discovered that the battery wasn't holding a charge as good as my first shaver, it got so bad that the charger would die, unless I had it plugged in all the time. This did not give me confidence at all!
Also, the cutting head from the get go, felt like it wasn't as sharp as the first shavers cutting head. I mean, we all know the blade isn't made out of Japanese steel but this is ridiculous, a new shaver head should be sharp! Because I did not want to write this product off too soon, I continued using the shaver for almost a complete year, and now the shaver head feels as dull as the last shaver after 2-years of use. For an entire year, this shaver was providing me a nice shade of red rash on my neck, nothing like walking into a store looking like you just came back from getting tortured by someone.
I simply could not put up with it anymore, and I am sorry to have to admit this, but I went back to a name brand shaver. I did my research, and I discovered that Panasonic was still making quality shavers made in Japan. I decided to also switch from a rotary design shaver, to a foil design shaver, as they provide a closer shave. The Panasonic Arc4 ES 8243AA is a much nicer shaver hands down! If you want to take 30-minutes for a red rash shave, then stick with Aefee, if you want a 10-minute shave that leaves you looking good afterwords, get the Panasonic.
Review has been updated to 3 out of 5 stars as of August 1st 2021...
UPDATE: 09-05-20
My wonderful shaver has recently been pulling my hairs, and taking twice as long to shave, which is due to the shaving head being dull. I went searching for replacement heads for my shaver, saw that there used to be some that were sold on Amazon, but they are out of stock, with no confidence that they will be back in stock, anytime soon. I saw that this shaver was still being sold to this day, and for cheaper then before! I thought, for 17-dollars, that would be about the same cost for a replacement head, for a cheap shaver, might as well buy a new one, even if my old one still works. I then decided it was time to go and update my review to reflect the longevity I got out of my old shaver.
Only to discover that it wasn't 1-year that I've owned my shaver like I thought, but 2-years! My oh my how time flies. That means, that I have been shaving on the original cutting head for 2-years, thats unheard of for electric shavers, holy cow! So there is my longevity review guys, 2-years, still kicking, just needs a new head, but no replacement head in stock. 17-dollars is all I had to pay to buy a new shaver, its a no brainer. So, guys, if your looking for a shaver that is going to get the job done, this is what you need. Now, if the company can get replacement heads back in stock that would be great. But for now, you can just buy a new shaver when your head goes dull.
I am keeping my review at 5-STARS! :)
Original Review:
I have used several electric shavers in my life, all of them being Norelco. I was never a fan of the two-bladed shavers, I grow a thick beard, and it just takes too long to shave with those things. The 3-bladed shavers can be hit or miss depending on brand/model. Norelco used to make quality shavers back in the 80's and 90's. Since Phillips's acquisition of the Norelco brand however, the quality has gone down drastically. Many reviews complain of underpowered motors, motors burning out early, and poor shaving quality, unless of course you buy the high end 200 dollar model, then your in heaven lol.
Thankfully these day, we have a choice. I don't know about you, but I am not in the rich income bracket, I can't just dump 200 dollars into a shaver just to get something that is quality. Fortunately, there are many different types of shavers made in China now, that are much more affordable. What sold me on this shaver, is that it uses a 800MAH lithium rechargeable battery, that can be charged via USB. It uses a pretty blue LED battery indicator display, which shows minutes of run-time remaining.
It uses a standard 3-bladed system, with a pop up side-burn trimmer. It is also easy to pop the blades off and clean them, and even though I didn't require this feature, it is also IPX7 waterproof. The shaver comes with a nice velvet pouch, a brush, USB cable, and a operators manual. When I turned the unit on, I couldn't believe how quiet this thing runs, most certainly quieter then the old 80's - 90's Norelco models. So the question you might be asking is, how does it perform?
If all you have is stubble, you can expect this to provide a pretty smooth shave within a reasonable amount of time. I just did nice and slow rotational movements, as you are supposed to do with this type of shaver, and it did a pretty good job! If you let your beard get beyond a stubble, as one would expect, it does take longer to get the job done, but the shaver was able to do it, and seemed to have enough power, not just in time duration, but also in horse power.
Since I did not do a wet shave with this, I can't speak as to its effectiveness. I bought an electric shaver for the convenience of a dry shave, as wet shaving is a pain in the but for me. While the water proof rating allows one to simply run the head under the water stream to clean it out, I however just used the brush that they supplied, and some canned air, and it did just as good, without fully taking the blades out of the head. Recharge time is faster then they state when utilizing a powerful Anker wall charger that puts out 3 amps. I charged my battery from 45 minutes left, to 60-minutes left, in only 20 minutes.
In conclusion, I believe this to be a very nice electric shaver. And for the price I paid for it, I expected it to be weaker in construction, however, that is further from the truth. The construction of this shaver is top notch, and rivals higher end Phillips Norelco's in my humble opinion. If you need a quality electric shaver that will get the job done, and doesn't break the bank, I highly recommend this one! 5 out of 5 stars!