Poonjaji (a very generous B&B member) kindly allowed me to test drive his OneBlade razor this past week, and here’s my review. I’ve broken the review down into four parts: Design, The Shave, Blades, and Price.
Design
This is a really nice looking, all stainless steel, single-edge razor with a pivoting head. It looks terrific. The stainless steel is beautifully finished. And it allows the easy use of Valet Autostrop-style blades, which I really like. The blades slip into the back of the head without a fuss, and they snug in securely without any effort or need to make adjustments. You can tell when you hold it that it’s a nice piece of machinery. Overall I’d describe it as a mild-shaving Valet Autostrop made of stainless steel with a pivoting head.
The OneBlade was designed by the Pensa industrial design firm of Brooklyn. They were hired by the CEO of OneBlade, Tod Barrett, who was hired by the guy who came up with the concept, Porter Stansberry, who publishes a financial newsletter. Mr. Stansberry has a wiki page with info about his background, and Pensa has a website if you are interested.
The pivoting head on the OneBlade is a key design feature. But for me, a pivoting head is too close to what cartridge shaving is all about, because although it makes it nearly impossible to cut yourself, it takes away some of the control over blade angle. I feel as though the razor is doing a bit too much of my shaving for me. If I really needed a pivoting head razor that dialed in the blade angle for me, I’d have to ask myself how interested I am in traditional wet shaving at all. I happily use my pivoting head Fusion from time to time, but when I do, I’m stepping back from traditional wet shaving.
In addition, the pivoting head on the OneBlade seems to me to be a potentially weak point in an otherwise solid stainless design. One of the great things about a Timeless, Above the Tie, Rockwell, or other stainless razor is that you can hold it in your hands and just know it’ll last forever. There are no moving parts to break or wear out with repeated use. The head on the OneBlade kind of rattles a little and has an internal spring (teflon-coated stainless steel) that doesn't feel like it will last forever. I was afraid if I dropped it, it would be game over for the razor, not for my tile floor. No problem for a $10 cartridge razor, but this isn’t that.
The Shave
So how is the shave? For me, very good. Comfy. Definitely on the mild side. I used it for five consecutive days, and it was as easy to use on Day 1 as on Day 5. If you’ve used modern cartridge razors with pivoting heads, you’ll understand how to work this razor right away. Very intuitive. The head is kind of large, and the razor is heavy stainless, so it’s not exactly flickable. And the beautiful handle is not the most ergonomically shaped. But it was really easy to get used to right away. You do need to rinse the razor often, as lather builds up quickly under the head (no lather catcher space on this one).
And I got pretty close shaves with it. Closer than with some razors; not as close as with others. Seems pretty mild and reasonably efficient for how mild it is. It didn’t change my life, but it gave pretty close shaves without irritation. This would be a nice razor for those days when a guy’s mind is elsewhere and he just wants a risk-free comfortable shave.
Blades
The blades have been a topic of discussion, but to me they are a positive feature of the OneBlade, not a negative.
I’m not into despining or clipping blades to make them work, and you don’t need to with this razor. The blades that fit without modification are the excellent Feather FHS-10 (Stainless) or Feather FAS-10 (Carbon Steel) -- the same ones that fit the Valet Autostrop. I prefer the FHS-10 and get mine from Maggard's. They cost $7.00 per 10 pack, which is not as cheap as DE blades, but a competitive price for SE blades. You can also get them from Japanese retailers on Amazon, but they are more expensive there. I'm told Tryablade has them, but I've never bought from there. You can also buy them from OneBlade (in packs or by subscription), but you don’t have to at this time. I’ve heard rumors about OneBlade gaining some sort of exclusive distribution rights, but I’ve never heard anything definitive, and that doesn’t seem to be a problem for North American buyers right now. [I did stock up recently for my Valet though, just in case].
These blades seem to last as long in the OneBlade as they do in a Valet Autostrop. And why wouldn’t they? A razor is just a blade holder after all. For me, an FHS-10 blade lasts 7-10 shaves. The one I used in the OneBlade was still going strong after 5. OneBlade recommends changing the blade after every use (??). But OneBlade also sells the blades. Which brings us to price.
Price
The base model OneBlade sells for $399, and the Gunmetal Gray Special Edition for $499. To the best of my knowledge, the razor is only available from the manufacturer’s website, so there are no dealer discounts. Let’s leave aside OneBlade’s recommendation that you change the blade with every use, assume the blade cost will be that of any other SE razor, and just focus on cost of the razor itself.
Is the OneBlade razor worth $400-$500?
I just don’t see it.
What’s unique about the OneBlade is you get three attributes in one razor: (1) Use of the excellent Valet-style Feather blade; (2) Quality stainless steel construction; and (3) A pivoting head. I appreciate all three attributes now and then, but I don't need them every day or in one razor. All three attributes are available on other excellent razors for much less, just not all in the same razor. Overall, it seems to me like a pretty good razor if you like pivoting head razors. So this razor might have a place in my cabinet if it sold for $100-$150. (I’d just be really careful about not dropping it.) And judging from its construction, I’m guessing it could be profitably sold at that price point.
But at $400-$500, there's something else going on. The razor doesn't justify that kind of scratch all by itself. The pricing is not even close to that of other superbly made stainless steel razors that will last forever. Single-edge razors are not Swiss watches or bespoke suits or automobiles or even fine wines. They are simple machines, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, whose sole function is to hold a razor blade. This is a good razor, but it's that good. So this razor appears to be priced with something else in mind.
It seems to me the OneBlade is intentionally way overpriced simply to attract a certain type of consumer.
I'll just leave it at that.
Design
This is a really nice looking, all stainless steel, single-edge razor with a pivoting head. It looks terrific. The stainless steel is beautifully finished. And it allows the easy use of Valet Autostrop-style blades, which I really like. The blades slip into the back of the head without a fuss, and they snug in securely without any effort or need to make adjustments. You can tell when you hold it that it’s a nice piece of machinery. Overall I’d describe it as a mild-shaving Valet Autostrop made of stainless steel with a pivoting head.
The OneBlade was designed by the Pensa industrial design firm of Brooklyn. They were hired by the CEO of OneBlade, Tod Barrett, who was hired by the guy who came up with the concept, Porter Stansberry, who publishes a financial newsletter. Mr. Stansberry has a wiki page with info about his background, and Pensa has a website if you are interested.
The pivoting head on the OneBlade is a key design feature. But for me, a pivoting head is too close to what cartridge shaving is all about, because although it makes it nearly impossible to cut yourself, it takes away some of the control over blade angle. I feel as though the razor is doing a bit too much of my shaving for me. If I really needed a pivoting head razor that dialed in the blade angle for me, I’d have to ask myself how interested I am in traditional wet shaving at all. I happily use my pivoting head Fusion from time to time, but when I do, I’m stepping back from traditional wet shaving.
In addition, the pivoting head on the OneBlade seems to me to be a potentially weak point in an otherwise solid stainless design. One of the great things about a Timeless, Above the Tie, Rockwell, or other stainless razor is that you can hold it in your hands and just know it’ll last forever. There are no moving parts to break or wear out with repeated use. The head on the OneBlade kind of rattles a little and has an internal spring (teflon-coated stainless steel) that doesn't feel like it will last forever. I was afraid if I dropped it, it would be game over for the razor, not for my tile floor. No problem for a $10 cartridge razor, but this isn’t that.
The Shave
So how is the shave? For me, very good. Comfy. Definitely on the mild side. I used it for five consecutive days, and it was as easy to use on Day 1 as on Day 5. If you’ve used modern cartridge razors with pivoting heads, you’ll understand how to work this razor right away. Very intuitive. The head is kind of large, and the razor is heavy stainless, so it’s not exactly flickable. And the beautiful handle is not the most ergonomically shaped. But it was really easy to get used to right away. You do need to rinse the razor often, as lather builds up quickly under the head (no lather catcher space on this one).
And I got pretty close shaves with it. Closer than with some razors; not as close as with others. Seems pretty mild and reasonably efficient for how mild it is. It didn’t change my life, but it gave pretty close shaves without irritation. This would be a nice razor for those days when a guy’s mind is elsewhere and he just wants a risk-free comfortable shave.
Blades
The blades have been a topic of discussion, but to me they are a positive feature of the OneBlade, not a negative.
I’m not into despining or clipping blades to make them work, and you don’t need to with this razor. The blades that fit without modification are the excellent Feather FHS-10 (Stainless) or Feather FAS-10 (Carbon Steel) -- the same ones that fit the Valet Autostrop. I prefer the FHS-10 and get mine from Maggard's. They cost $7.00 per 10 pack, which is not as cheap as DE blades, but a competitive price for SE blades. You can also get them from Japanese retailers on Amazon, but they are more expensive there. I'm told Tryablade has them, but I've never bought from there. You can also buy them from OneBlade (in packs or by subscription), but you don’t have to at this time. I’ve heard rumors about OneBlade gaining some sort of exclusive distribution rights, but I’ve never heard anything definitive, and that doesn’t seem to be a problem for North American buyers right now. [I did stock up recently for my Valet though, just in case].
These blades seem to last as long in the OneBlade as they do in a Valet Autostrop. And why wouldn’t they? A razor is just a blade holder after all. For me, an FHS-10 blade lasts 7-10 shaves. The one I used in the OneBlade was still going strong after 5. OneBlade recommends changing the blade after every use (??). But OneBlade also sells the blades. Which brings us to price.
Price
The base model OneBlade sells for $399, and the Gunmetal Gray Special Edition for $499. To the best of my knowledge, the razor is only available from the manufacturer’s website, so there are no dealer discounts. Let’s leave aside OneBlade’s recommendation that you change the blade with every use, assume the blade cost will be that of any other SE razor, and just focus on cost of the razor itself.
Is the OneBlade razor worth $400-$500?
I just don’t see it.
What’s unique about the OneBlade is you get three attributes in one razor: (1) Use of the excellent Valet-style Feather blade; (2) Quality stainless steel construction; and (3) A pivoting head. I appreciate all three attributes now and then, but I don't need them every day or in one razor. All three attributes are available on other excellent razors for much less, just not all in the same razor. Overall, it seems to me like a pretty good razor if you like pivoting head razors. So this razor might have a place in my cabinet if it sold for $100-$150. (I’d just be really careful about not dropping it.) And judging from its construction, I’m guessing it could be profitably sold at that price point.
But at $400-$500, there's something else going on. The razor doesn't justify that kind of scratch all by itself. The pricing is not even close to that of other superbly made stainless steel razors that will last forever. Single-edge razors are not Swiss watches or bespoke suits or automobiles or even fine wines. They are simple machines, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, whose sole function is to hold a razor blade. This is a good razor, but it's that good. So this razor appears to be priced with something else in mind.
It seems to me the OneBlade is intentionally way overpriced simply to attract a certain type of consumer.
I'll just leave it at that.
