Share your experience with the Braun 9 Series

[Jason smooth]

Thr Braun 9 Series has been out for a while. I'm interested in your thoughts on this shaver. How do you like it, what do you dont like about it, would you buy it again?

I had a Braun Series 3 shaver 10 years ago with a charging station. As it did not cut my neck well, I moved to a Norelco Sensotouch 3D and then added a Prestige cutter on it before moving back to Braun and purchasing a Series 9 shaver.

The Braun 9 Series shaver was much lighter than my older Braun shaver. One of the main reasons was the newer Braun does not have as much metal on it and therefore with the plastic it was lighter and easier to lift and hold against my beard. The older cassette did not have the cutter and screen built in together so the whiskers that were cut easily were removed when you opened the head to allow the whiskers to be removed. With the built in cutter and screen on the 9 Series the whiskers stay in the shaver cassette. Though you can use water to remove it, I find the cleaning system to work effectively while it charges your shaver.

I like the way it cuts my beard. It is not aggressive, it does not pinch, and I do no get redness as the head of the shaver does not get hot. I still find the high end Norelco Prestige head cuts better on the neck area than the Braun. However the Braun still does a decent job, just not as good. With using the Norelco for many years, on my beard, the Braun 9 Series cuts a little closer than the older Braun and Norelco. I clean and charge my shaver once a week at this point. All in all I am happy with the shaver and if I had to do it all over again I will purchase it again.

 

[johnm1952]

Just starting with electric razors the last couple of months. I am on blood thinners and even a small nick leaks forever, so I figured I'd give the electrics a shot. I was in Florida the second week of Feb. (escaping Michigan winters) and started to get a little raw from the cartridge razor so I picked up a Braun series 3 from CVS. It worked OK as far as comfort, but not a real close shave. I used it until I came home in early March and it was OK, but after some research I started looking for something a little more high end. Since Amazon has a pretty good return policy I ordered the Norelco Prestige, The Braun series 9, and the Panasonic ARC 5. I used them each for a week to see which one I liked the best. I did not get along with the Prestige at all. Not a very close shave and actually some minor irritation which I never get. I was really hoping that this would be the best because it is a very nice looking machine. The second razor I tried was the Braun series 9. It did a very decent job and was really nice to use but not the bell ringer. It was a passable shave but still not perfect. Next up to bat was the ARC5. Bingo. This razor is the perfect tool for me. I get a remarkably close shave with zero irritation. I tried them all with LAB series preshave or AFTA.
My predicament now is if I want to keep the Series 9 for a backup and travel razor or return it for an ARC 3 which has a great price right now.
Another thing that I did not like about the Prestige is no cleaning station. I know that it is not needed, but I find them extremely convienient, with the Panasonic having the best.

 

[Scaramouche]

I switch between the 9S, 7S, ARC5, and Norelco 9000 and Prestige (among others). The 9S provides the most comfortable shave of any of them, closer than the Norelcos, and not quite as close as the Panny. Braun's cleaning system is the best of the lot for me, just ahead of Norelco's. Noise and vibration more than Norelco, slightly more than Panasonic. Trimmer slightly better than Norelco, on par with Panasonic (but more robust).

 

[slybrewguy]

The head on the Braun series 9 is just so stupidly large, I'm also not convinced the additional cutting element does anything that the middle cutter on the series 3-8 doesn't already do. I've owned several series 3, one series 7, and two series 9, and I can for sure say the 7 (this is the 'old' version, not the new one with no pop up trimmer) is my favorite. Never should have gotten rid of it. Another thing that really bugged me about the 9 is the fan in the cleaning station, 45 minutes that stupid thing ran for which was a waste of electric, a fire hazard over time, added substantial and unnecessary weight and footprint to the base, and caused me to mysteriously burn through cleaning cartridges 1-2 weeks quicker then any of my bases without a fan. The series 7 felt more solid in the hand, the series 9 housing started to separate just from how strong the motor is in relation to how cheap the housing is.

It gives a great shave, don't get me wrong... But not for $300-$400 when you can get a 7 for $150-$200 or one of their new models for $60-$120.

 

[Jason smooth]

Just starting with electric razors the last couple of months. I am on blood thinners and even a small nick leaks forever, so I figured I'd give the electrics a shot. I was in Florida the second week of Feb. (escaping Michigan winters) and started to get a little raw from the cartridge razor so I picked up a Braun series 3 from CVS. It worked OK as far as comfort, but not a real close shave. I used it until I came home in early March and it was OK, but after some research I started looking for something a little more high end. Since Amazon has a pretty good return policy I ordered the Norelco Prestige, The Braun series 9, and the Panasonic ARC 5. I used them each for a week to see which one I liked the best. I did not get along with the Prestige at all. Not a very close shave and actually some minor irritation which I never get. I was really hoping that this would be the best because it is a very nice looking machine. The second razor I tried was the Braun series 9. It did a very decent job and was really nice to use but not the bell ringer. It was a passable shave but still not perfect. Next up to bat was the ARC5. Bingo. This razor is the perfect tool for me. I get a remarkably close shave with zero irritation. I tried them all with LAB series preshave or AFTA.
My predicament now is if I want to keep the Series 9 for a backup and travel razor or return it for an ARC 3 which has a great price right now.
Another thing that I did not like about the Prestige is no cleaning station. I know that it is not needed, but I find them extremely convienient, with the Panasonic having the best.

You did a smart thing buy ordering all of them from Amazon to compare them to each other. I never even thought of that. Since I already had an older Norelco with the Prestige shaving head, I knew how that one was. I agree with you that that Braun 9 Series cuts a little closer than the Prestige shaving head. I read the Arc 5 provided the closest shave. However some reviews said it could be a little too close for those with sensitive skin and it does not have the shaving comfort of the Braun. This is what drew me to the Braun, but everyone's beard is different. I also like the Braun cleaning cartridge vs a cleaning packet of the Panasonic that you have to mix with water which is a slight hassle. But it would have been nice to try the Arc 5 first hand.

Does the extra cutting element on the Series 9 help cut certain hairs that the 7 doesn't do as well? I don't know the answer to that question but I can't see that it would not cut at least as good as the 7. Shavercheck.com review seems to think the additional cutting element does help.

 

[Macsta]

My experience mimics slybrewguy. The head on the Series 9 is too big for me to get a close shave on my upper lip, Having both the Series 9 and the new and old version of the Series 7, I keep going back to the old Series 7. Braun hit a home run with the Series 7, close (enough), comfortable and quite a bit cheaper than the Series 9. Like others have said, the Series 9 is a great shaver just not $100 or more greater.

 

[Jason smooth]

I have been using the Series 9 every day now. I would say shaving with a blade takes the same amount of time.the only thing is waiting for hot water, and using a brush and cream and set everything up is more time and energy. For now I am staying with the Braun and I am very happy with my choice. It cuts close. Is easy on my skin and cleaning is easy.

I received an advertisement on Facebook on the new Braun Series 9 shaver so I went to their web site and it seems their marketing crew is trying to get more sales on the 9 by focusing on the larger battery and slight upgrades on the latest 9 series that has been out for a while.

 

[Jason smooth]

As an update, I have been using the Braun Series 9 on a regular basis, and for a electric razor I am very happy with how it cuts my beard each day. A lot of debris stays in the shaver after you shave and I usually will just rinse it under water to get rid of it. Then the cleaning solution I use every 2 weeks to just keep it fresh and lubricated.

Bottom line, I have very happy with the Series 9 and highly recommend it. Its not as close as using blades but it still gets the job done.

 

[Flyboybob]

I’ve been using a Braun 7893s shaver since April last year and I was shaving every day with great results. In the last couple of months I have been working from home and last week I didn’t shave from a Thursday through the next Monday. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily, quickly and how comfortable my shave was on Tuesday morning. This is the 17th month of shaving on the original cutter cassette and there was no pulling nor drag while shaving. I don’t plan on changing the cassette based on the calendar, Braun recommends 18 months, but on the quality of the shaves. I considered the series 9, but went with series 7 because of the smaller head and lower cost.

 

[Scaramouche]

Now in its third generation, Braun's S9 is still the most comfortable electric I've used. Not as quiet as a Norelco, not as close as a Panasonic, but a great all-purpose electric that does everything well. Probably my favorite among electrics, and I pick up a Braun when I need to recover from a string of less than stellar DE shaves, or razor burn from another electric.