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How long do electric shavers really last?

No, actually I've never had a battery-powered electric shaver stop mid-shave (it could, I admit, if you start shaving with say, 1% power left), and I've used electric shavers back to the NiCad days. But almost any modern electric (let's say the last 5 years) uses a Li-ion battery that will deliver almost 100% power until it dies, and most have an indicator of remaining charge. Letting the battery get depleted until there's not enough charge for a shave isn't really a razor problem. Solved as you mention with a dual-power model, which are less common (and also not meant to be used wet), but most newer razors have a quick charge feature that allows enough power for one shave on a 5 minute or so charge. I was just curious if a particular brand or model exhibited the behavior of stopping while it was cutting a normal beard, but @StewB clarified the battery problem.

Electric razors come with their own set of Good Witch/Bad Witch features and limitations. No need for water, or really even a sink and a mirror. A quick shave, probably better than a blade in the hands of a neophyte (technique still required, but really harder to damage your face even unskilled), Consequently, arguably more comfortable for many as far as post-shave irritation (razor burn aside, you won't ever need a. styptic pencil). Ease of use - you don't need to unscrew anything, drop in anything, unwrap anything, dispose of anything, or really even clean up anything other than tap the hesd to remove whiskers. Press a button and shave. You can get more elaborate wet shaving electric, but you don’t need to. It's the ultimate lazy man's (or woman's) solution for removing hair.

Good Witch - above - aside, on the Bad Witch side of the ledger (compared basically to blade shaving), longevity is one. Most electrics are substantially plastic and electronics, past their prime as noted in about a decade. Likely something better comes along, or they just die, battery generally first. The titanium (or SS or bronze) Timeless or Wolfman DE mentioned will outlast your heirs. And their heirs. And the heirs of their great grandchildren. Nothing better will come along, because at it's core it's essentially a design and concept centuries old. It also needs no electricity. No batteries, no outlet. A new "head" - DE blade - costs maybe 0.20, compared to $30, $40, $50 - $100 for an electric replacement, creating a brand new, fresh from the factory razor. Every day if you want. For a closer, smoother, longer-lasting shave.

So ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice! :laugh:
Also glad your electrics have never run out.

As noted my primary travel razor for years was an older Ni-Mh version that was ideal for dual power as it came with a coiled power cord. As @StewB mentioned I'd also let this run out of power to preclude battery memory issues since it was very easy to use this with the cord plugged in. To clarify it wouldn't suddenly stop, rather the motor speed would keep decreasing until no longer effective. My newer Li-On shavers will suddenly stop when the power runs out and they all have the "2 minute" charge for a shave function if out of juice. The have an indicator light when close to out of power so we typically charge them before the power is out.

Now I use a Norelco PQ208 double header shaver that runs of a couple AA batteries. This thing will run forever as there will never be a dead battery issue. We've two of them, at $12-$13 each, around 10 years ago when we bought them, a second full razor was half the price of a set of spare replacement heads. Since I now only travel intermittently for leisure (used to fly weekly for business) I suspect even the razor heads will outlive me. Interestingly the PQ208 uses a simpler "Closecut" shaving head versus the lift and cut in my triple headers. While both provide a good DFS there is a difference in shave closeness that becomes more noticeable towards the end of the day. Neither compare to my BBS DE shaves at home. The primary advantage of the electrics is speed and convenience with a typical shave taking about two minutes with a triple header and about half a minute more with the double header.

I experimented with an electric wet shave using the Norelco AT810 AquaTouch and agree with you that there is no need for it. I don't get any irritation from a dry shave and the wet electric shave quality was the same as dry. Plus the shave needs to be cleaned and rinsed after each shave.

At home it's almost all DE shaving other than use of the Norelco razor trimmer for side burns and an occasional emergency shave when there is little time.

Interesting discussion.

Happy New Year!
 
Happy New Year as well (almost!). For the past five plus decades I've used just about every shaving implement made (and a very brief sojourn with a straight - shudder), starting first with SE, then carts, then DE, then electric, never really abandoning any of them. I currently shave probably 50/50 DE and electric, and have a pretty full stable of both, each for their purpose. I'd guess maybe 15-20 electrics, including vintage buried somewhere, and at least double that many DE razors with now only a smattering of carts (some also "electric" for the novelty). Hard to keep everything in rotation, but my primary electrics are the Braun S9 Pro, Philips Prestige new model and Panasonic Arc 6 Pro. And almost all wet shaving with my standard DE prep except when traveling. When I traveled (infrequent and retired, but previously about weekly internationally at one time), I used (and still do) a Panasonic CV51 (a cut down Arc 5). For DEs I favor adjustables - Rocnel, Taiga, Rockwell, Tatara, Rex, and a few others, including vintage Gillette Slims and a Fat Boy, but I also appreciate craftsmanship in 3-piece with Timeless, ATT, Feather, Blackland, Raw Shaving, antique Gillette and others. It's kind of a hobby...:001_rolle. It's all good, and the Universe of shaving is wide and inclusive! Some of the current "active" rotation that I'll get around to the next couple of weeks, with an Athena inbound to add :001_tongu:

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Rotary shavers indefinitely, cutters can be re-ground with toothpaste
Foil shaves, don't dent the foils, can be costly!

Rechargeable shavers are a mixed blessing... the batteries will need replacing in a few years. The older type electric shavers like the Remington F5800 allow you to shave whilst charging unlike most modern electric shavers that don't allow this...it's called progress??? I much prefer shavers that run on alkaline batteries...you know where you are with them, and they suddenly don't go flat on you, when you hurridly shave, first thing in the morning, before quickly going off to work etc..
 
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