Braun Series 9 Shaver Review: The Rolls-Royce Of Razors

You might not be surprised to hear that the world’s best electric razor offers a pretty good shaving experience – but it’s hard to overstate just how much of a game-changer it’s been for my skin.

I’ve always been a bit wary of electric razors and beard trimmers. When I was 17, I had a particularly negative experience with one: it trimmed so poorly (and my stubble was probably so soft and nascent) that I had to virtually push my flesh into it – and it would cut me so badly that my entire neck would be covered with hundreds of little wounds. It looked like I’d been attacked by a swarm of mosquitos or an angry cheese grater, and it hurt like hell.

I’ve tried a variety of other electric razors from a variety of brands since and have always had consistently poor or painful results. Eventually, I gave up on trying to find one that was ‘right’ for me.

At the same time, I’ve always struggled with conventional razors. I have fairly sensitive skin and find that I always break out after shaving. I’ve tried all sorts of different skincare regimes and all sorts of razors – every brand, every conceivable number of blades, I’ve even tried using old-timey safety razors and straight razors, which is what all the grooming buffs on Reddit say is the best way to prevent break-outs. Nothing’s worked.

Well, until now. I’ve been shaving with the Braun Series 9 Pro Electric Shaver for a few months now and it’s been an absolute revelation.

The Series 9 Pro is Braun’s top-of-the-line electric razor, and it’s one impressive piece of kit. It’s made in Germany – you know the Germans always make good stuff – and the one I got came with a travel case and a ‘SmartCare Centre’ (a fancy name for a cleaning/charging station). The latter is useful but not essential: it’s easy to clean the foil with hot running water, which you can do because the razor is entirely waterproof.

I call it the Rolls-Royce of razors because it’s expensive (around AU$750 full price!) but it’s got so many features. It gently massages your face whilst you shave, which allows you to shave faster and closer. It’s got a trimmer for grooming, a shaving head with 5 different shaving elements and even intelligently adjusts its power to your beard’s density.

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One of the best things about it is its battery life. The Series 9 Pro’s powerful Li-Ion battery lasts for 60 minutes of continuous use and includes a 5-minute quick charge option. In practice, this gives it a battery life of literally weeks. That makes it particularly good for travel.

But the best part about it is hands down how smooth it is. It’s so easy to use and it barely irritates your skin during a dry shave. You can shave quickly and aggressively without having to worry about hurting yourself, which if you’re someone with as poor time management skills as I have, is a very useful thing.

Most importantly, I don’t break out anymore after I shave! My skin has never looked or felt as good.

It’s worth pointing out that no matter how good your shaver is, you’re quite likely to experience some degree of irritation or initially suboptimal results when you make the switch to electric. Your skin and your facial hair need time to get used to an electric razor, as an electric razor will physically change the way your facial hair grows. That’s why Braun (and most other electric razor manufacturers) suggest you take it slow when you first make the switch to electric.

The Braun Series 9 Pro makes the transition to electric smoother in that regard as the razor’s well-designed, spring-loaded, pivoting head contours to the shape of your face and makes it very difficult for you to push too hard. No shoving your skin flesh into the blades here. You can also lock the head in place for particularly stubborn areas. I found this particularly helpful while getting my skin accustomed again to an electric razor.

In that sense, I highly recommend the Series 9 Pro, particularly for people making the switch from conventional to electric. It might seem counter-intuitive to start your electric shaving journey with the equivalent of a Rolls-Royce but really, that’s exactly what you want: to make the transition and experience as effortless as possible.

If only my first car had been a Rolls and not a Ford…

Find out more about the Braun Series 9 Pro here.