Panasonic Electric Razor for Men, Cordless Wet Dry Lightweight Shaver with Ergonomic Grip, ES3831K, Black

I purchased this as a travel razor to replace a decades old unit of the same brand. I did not have high expectations because of its price and running on AA batteries. I am happy to report on the first trip using it, it has preformed very well. It’s powerful and provides a close and non irritating shave I would have expected from a more expensive razor. It’s fast and comfortable and cleans up easily. Turns out to be a good unit!

Fantastic electric foil shaver!! I bought this and a couple other more expensive brands/types to find out which would give me the closest head shave. This one wins hands down. It's better than the high dollar multi-blade foil razors that are 3 times the price, way better than the skull shaver, and better than a good multi-blade Mach razor. I like my head to be as smooth as a baby's butt.........and this guy can do it quickly. The reason it works so well and shaves so close is that it only has one foil. It's one big flexing foil with a blade that cuts over the full semi-circle, so it cuts no matter which part of the foil the hair comes in contact with. The multi-foil razors only cut over a small angle of the curved foil, so you have to orient them to the changing surface of your skin all the time. This one cuts at any angle.........and the holes in the foil on this razor are BIG.....so your hair easily fits thru and gets cut. It shaves much closer than the skull shaver, and does it quicker and quieter for about $80 bucks less! Compared to the multi-blade Mach-type razor it shaves as close if not closer. How can that be? Simple..........because the foil keeps the blades from contacting your skin you can push the razor into your skin harder than you can a Mach-type with exposed razor blades, which if you use a lot of pressure will cut and nick the heck out of your noggin'. It's also easy to clean and doesn't get hot as you use it. So it's the best performer for a head shave, is cheap, but it isn't rechargeable. I figured that would be a show-stopper, as I didn't want to have to buy AA batteries all the time.........but after reading the reviews that kept mentioning how long the batteries last........I figured I'd give it a try. I've had it about a month now, use it every morning for about 5 minutes......and it runs as strong now as the day I bought it. Really. I don't know how it uses so little energy, but I can see why people claim the batteries last for many months! And lastly.........it's smooth! The motor just hums compared to the other razors, especially the skull shaver, which sounds and vibrates like the motor cost a buck. The only thing I can't comment on is how much the replacement foil and blades are..........this might be one of those things where it's cheaper to just buy a new razor than to replace the foil and blades. I hope not, but we'll see when I get there. Honestly, I expected this cheap electric shaver to probably be a piece of junk........but boy was I wrong. This is the only one I use now, and for the price it just blows the competition away. Incredible!!

I usually don't give 1-star reviews or return products, but this time I'll have to. Seeing all the great reviews on how close of a shave it would give, I thought I couldn't go wrong with purchasing one of these just for the convenience as I have been using dollar-store disposables for years for close shaves with no problems; being sanitary, following the natural direction of the hair, and making sure not to over swipe has yet to fail me with skin problems or irritation.When I used this for the first time on dry facial skin, I was confused because it really wasn't cutting uniformly after about 5 minutes of trying. Although some hairs appeared to have vanished, I still had a very noticeable amount of hairs at least 5mm long hugging the sides of my face, chin and upper lip. Maybe they would go away if I tried going over them from multiple directions? Nope. Maybe trying to flatten out the surface of my skin by stretching it? Nope. Maybe a wet shave would work? Nope. My frustration eventually led me to try putting more pressure on the device against my face. Not only did this not get rid of the outstanding hairs, it really irritated my skin with a burning sensation. I sprayed a mist of rubbing alcohol on the shaved area (even more burning) and wiped it off with toilet paper and saw small splotches of blood.I have a cheap Wahl beard trimmer that I use to maintain my hair line. I also use it for shaving when I'm out of disposables that I'm willing to reuse. It has a clipper form factor, cuts close, and doesn't irritate my skin as nearly as much as this shaver did (although it still does irritate my skin to an extent). Although it's small, requires 2-3 passes, and not really suitable for a quick shave, it works much better than this product.I'm not sure what sort of hair type the majority of the users of this product have, but this definitely was not made for me. Instead of giving a "close and comfortable shave," it left me sitting with an incompletely shaven face that needed to be disinfected with rubbing alcohol and slathered in petroleum jelly. But I guess that's my fault, right? Nonetheless, it's really disappointing that this could not do what shaving cream and a disposable razor could do in one swipe. Perhaps I would have been better off with trying a higher-end model or maybe I'm just destined to use manual razors for the rest of my life.I probably should have filtered and read the critical reviews first as they mostly express the same issues but ... at this point I'm really hoping I don't get ingrown hairs from this.