Anyone using cheap Chinese razors?

[the_guitarest]

I started using DE razors a couple of years ago. I have only bought cheap Chinese razors and they do the trick very well.
Can anyone tell me the biggest difference between the Chinese razors and the more expensive branded ones? Are they really worth the difference in price? (Birthday comming up ;-))

Greetings from Belgium!

 

[jmudrick]

The Yaqi DOC and Baili / RR Teck2 are very fine shavers as are other US branded razors from Fine, IB etc. The difference is in materials and compromises in precision that cast Zamak brings with it. Worth it is your call , I use them happily as I do much more expensive razors from Timeless etc.

 

[les24preludes]

The star of the Chinese razors is the Yintal Bronze. Made of solid brass, well engineered and quite efficient. Will cost you around $12-14. I bought three. Because it really starts to get interesting when you start mixing up the handle and cap with other plates. Here's a very good performing Frankenrazor with a Fatip OC plate. Weight 108g, very solid and a great shave - efficient and smooth. Looks classy in brass, and holds the blade very rigid so minimum irritation. The razor balances nicely and the handle is very grippy.

 

[flash75]

To answer whats behind your question, there is no correlation between shaving quality and price.
I have 2 cheap baili razors and expensive ones as well. The Baili s finish and build quality is very good.
Id recommend the Upgrade 3 Piece razor Br171 or br173 over the old Version as the blade tabs are covered and the newer one gives me a excellent shave. Not so much worse than my Rockwell 6s.

Gesendet von meinem Redmi Note 4 mit Tapatalk

 

[BBS-1]

To answer whats behind your question, there is no correlation between shaving quality and price.
I have 2 cheap baili razors and expensive ones as well. The Baili s finish and build quality is very good.
Id recommend the Upgrade 3 Piece razor Br171 or br173 over the old Version as the blade tabs are covered and the newer one gives me a excellent shave. Not so much worse than my Rockwell 6s.

Gesendet von meinem Redmi Note 4 mit Tapatalk

There is also no correlation to how much it costs to make a razor to any varying degree of gap or blade reveal/exposure in relation to the shave plane. Those high priced razors you are not paying for a better gap/angle/reveal etc. which is where all the work is done but for materials, build quality and artistic design. Not that they don't design to certain criteria for gap/angle/reveal etc. but it is not the reason for the high cost. Now certain companies will design razors on purpose to perform poorly on their lower priced models while make the higher priced ones to perform better to create a false association. Others don't play that game and just make different plates all priced the same regardless of gap.

With that said I would suggest the Van Der Hagen razor as a really good shaver for under $20 USD. If you want to spend a little bit more they have a long handle version which you can get in gun metal or chrome if you buy direct. You can get cheaper but build quality comes into play like with the dollar store razors. They work great when you get one that everything lines up correctly and then you have to factor in how long that type of razor will last.

The other end of that spectrum is the Dorco PL602 which I believe is bakelite, as long as the mold isn't worn you'll get a good razor without the issues of the dollar store one.

 

[Tonysco]

I have a good few 'cheap' razors, though im not sure if they're made in china;

The kanzy razor - Great build quality, holds the blade very securely, quite mild but excellent with a feather blade, zero alignment issues. The head is similar to what i've seen on a good few cheaper razors from different companies.

The Yaqi matte black - Good build quality, the head is essentially an exact copy of the standard edwin jagger head and it shaves the same, the handle however is better imo and easy to grip. Good weight.

New WS TTO - I'm sure this is a Weshi or similar, good build, mild but a nice long handle that's easy to grip, best paired with a feather or shark blade imo. The black plastic 2 piece is also very good.

Lord L6 - Made in Eqypt im sure, can be had for less than £5 delivered here. Head is similar to a merkur but there's a good bit of play in mine, you have to mess around to get the blade centred. I wouldn't really recommend this one, at least not to someone new to shaving with a DE.

Ming-shi futur clone - Very good quality for the money, the blade in mine lines up fine on each side. Very aggressive on its highest setting, i use mine on 3 or 4 most of the time.

Gillette 7 o'clock's - Both the metal head version and all plastic type are usable at best, but really more of disposables that you put new blades into. The hinges on the plastic type snapped after its 3rd use for me, The steel head version had plenty of alignment issues. I wouldn't buy unless you saw them in their home counties, they cost about 25 pence each, with some blades.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

My preference is always a top quality product at a low price. Found it in a Schone nickel over brass open comb razor. Manufactured in Italy by Fatip, it sells for $20-$25. Sold all my other razors.

Everyone has to find what satisfies them. $5 or $500, a safety razor is a blade holder with a convenient handle.

 

[jmudrick]

My preference is always a top quality product at a low price. Found it in a Schone nickel over brass open comb razor. Manufactured in Italy by Fatip, it sells for $20-$25. Sold all my other razors.

Everyone has to find what satisfies them. $5 or $500, a safety razor is a blade holder with a convenient handle.

I second. The nickel Schone is an unbelievable deal and as good a shaver as any.

 

[BBS-1]

My preference is always a top quality product at a low price. Found it in a Schone nickel over brass open comb razor. Manufactured in Italy by Fatip, it sells for $20-$25. Sold all my other razors.

Everyone has to find what satisfies them. $5 or $500, a safety razor is a blade holder with a convenient handle.

It is a little bit more than a simple blade holder because the DE blades are not stiff. Even if covered the opposite edge you couldn't use your hand as a handle to shave with.

You can though if using an SE blade though I wouldn't recommend trying to shave your face that way.

 

[BBS-1]

I second. The nickel Schone is an unbelievable deal and as good a shaver as any.

Depends what you value the most. With that said you should be able to find something that has a good balance between price, build quality, performance in the $15 - $30 USD range for DE razors. My opinion is the Van Der Hagen is one that meets this criteria.

For SE you can get that for $15 or less if you buy the old vintage Gem, Ever Ready or Star razors.

 

[jmudrick]

Depends what you value the most. With that said you should be able to find something that has a good balance between price, build quality, performance in the $15 - $30 USD range for DE razors.

For SE you can get that for $15 or less if you buy the old vintage Gem, Ever Ready or Star razors.

Vintage is a whole other kettle of fish. Of course nothing beats a $15 MMOC.

 

[fast shaver]

Baili, Yaqi, Lord L6 and Black Tiger razor's are just as good as my Edwin Jagger DE89 & Merkur razors at getting a fine close shave.

 

[mozartman]

To answer whats behind your question, there is no correlation between shaving quality and price.
I have 2 cheap baili razors and expensive ones as well. The Baili s finish and build quality is very good.
Id recommend the Upgrade 3 Piece razor Br171 or br173 over the old Version as the blade tabs are covered and the newer one gives me a excellent shave. Not so much worse than my Rockwell 6s.

Gesendet von meinem Redmi Note 4 mit Tapatalk

I would add one caveat to that. The main performance advantage of the Rockwell 6s, the Karve, and the more expensive "high end" razors is the availability of a variety of base plates or designs of varying aggressiveness and blade gap and/or exposure. Otherwise, I suspect their advantage lies mainly in aesthetics and perhaps durability. One can buy a user grade vintage adjustable Gillette Slim for under $20. That works well for me, but I find the 6s to be far smoother and more comfortable. Apart from not being adjustable, the $15 RazoRock Old Type is very good.

 

[albsat]

The star of the Chinese razors is the Yintal Bronze. Made of solid brass, well engineered and quite efficient. Will cost you around $12-14. I bought three. Because it really starts to get interesting when you start mixing up the handle and cap with other plates. Here's a very good performing Frankenrazor with a Fatip OC plate. Weight 108g, very solid and a great shave - efficient and smooth. Looks classy in brass, and holds the blade very rigid so minimum irritation. The razor balances nicely and the handle is very grippy.

View attachment 942016 View attachment 942017

Nicely done. I am tempted to go this route too as I have a spare Fatip plate and no handle.

Also to all :

There is a Yaqi razor offer on aliexpress with 3 plates offering. Seems a good deal to me.

 

[Bobo17]

The star of the Chinese razors is the Yintal Bronze. Made of solid brass, well engineered and quite efficient. Will cost you around $12-14. I bought three. Because it really starts to get interesting when you start mixing up the handle and cap with other plates. Here's a very good performing Frankenrazor with a Fatip OC plate. Weight 108g, very solid and a great shave - efficient and smooth. Looks classy in brass, and holds the blade very rigid so minimum irritation. The razor balances nicely and the handle is very grippy.

View attachment 942016 View attachment 942017

I've been looking at this. Is the top players and cap both brass too or just the handle?

 

[les24preludes]

The handle is solid brass. I'm guessing the cap and plate both have to be brass, given the weight of 37g, with some kind of electroplating. The handle is very grippy, good knurling - I sawed a bit off the bottom and rounded it off in my drill press but only because I liked it slightly shorter.

 

[Bobo17]

It's a steal if cap and plate are solid brass. Wonder if they will chrome them like fatip does.

 

[les24preludes]

There's a silver version as well. Same weight, so must also be brass with a different plating.

US $12.48 8% OFF|YINTAL Bright Silver Men's Classic Double sided Manual Razor Long Handle Safety Razors Shaving 1 Razor Simple packing-in Razor from Beauty & Health on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[Bobo17]

Well that's intriguing.

 

[santamariasteve]

Is the difference between a new Chevrolet and a new Cadillac worth the price?

The answer is very subjective, and the answer is both Yes and No.