I have been using the Lupo 72, Lupo 95, and Game Changer .84 SB this last week or so. All are the safety bar versions. I have used the same blade, soap, and brush to keep it as consistent as possible. With the exception of today, I have used only one razor each day, which means my exact memory of each one is a little fuzzier than if I had alternated razors on the same day. But even if I did that, the two sides of my face are different, and I would have to alternate which razor on which side on different days, so the results would have been similar. In any case, my overall impressions are:
Comfort - GC 84 > Lupo 95 > Lupo 72
Closeness/efficiency - Lupo 95 > GC 84 = Lupo 72
I did not find much difference between the GC 84 and the Lupo 72 in terms of efficiency. Ask me one day and I will say one is better. Ask me another day and I may say the other is more efficient. But the Lupo has a little more blade feel.
The interesting thing, and a few others here have also observed this, is that I found the Lupo 95 to be more comfortable than the Lupo 72, and more efficient. So I would choose the 95 over the 72. The 95 is surprisingly comfortable given how efficient it is.
My history: I started using a DE in 2014. My first razor was a Merkur Progress. After using it for a few months, I started using a Slim Adjustable. The Slim was my daily driver until relatively recently, usually set at 5. Every now and then I would use the Progress. I also used the Fatboy, Superadjustable, post-war Tech, New short comb, but kept going back to the Slim.
Then some months back the results started degrading. The closeness was not there. Maybe my beard is changing - I don't know why the results would change otherwise when I am using the same razor. I started increasing the setting of the Slim, to 7 and sometimes 8. I got a FOCS after reading all the glorious reports, but that was a disaster. I found it very uncomfortable, and not very efficient. The next stop was the GC .84 SB. Much better! And most recently the Lupo. I still use the Progress from time to time. Before the Lupo 95 the Progress gave the closest shaves of any razor I had tried. The issue is the handle - if it were better I would use the Progress more. Now I would have to do a shave-off between the Lupo 95 and the Progress to decide which gives closer shaves.
Comfort - GC 84 > Lupo 95 > Lupo 72
Closeness/efficiency - Lupo 95 > GC 84 = Lupo 72
I did not find much difference between the GC 84 and the Lupo 72 in terms of efficiency. Ask me one day and I will say one is better. Ask me another day and I may say the other is more efficient. But the Lupo has a little more blade feel.
The interesting thing, and a few others here have also observed this, is that I found the Lupo 95 to be more comfortable than the Lupo 72, and more efficient. So I would choose the 95 over the 72. The 95 is surprisingly comfortable given how efficient it is.
My history: I started using a DE in 2014. My first razor was a Merkur Progress. After using it for a few months, I started using a Slim Adjustable. The Slim was my daily driver until relatively recently, usually set at 5. Every now and then I would use the Progress. I also used the Fatboy, Superadjustable, post-war Tech, New short comb, but kept going back to the Slim.
Then some months back the results started degrading. The closeness was not there. Maybe my beard is changing - I don't know why the results would change otherwise when I am using the same razor. I started increasing the setting of the Slim, to 7 and sometimes 8. I got a FOCS after reading all the glorious reports, but that was a disaster. I found it very uncomfortable, and not very efficient. The next stop was the GC .84 SB. Much better! And most recently the Lupo. I still use the Progress from time to time. Before the Lupo 95 the Progress gave the closest shaves of any razor I had tried. The issue is the handle - if it were better I would use the Progress more. Now I would have to do a shave-off between the Lupo 95 and the Progress to decide which gives closer shaves.