Introduction
Hopefully, you’re already convinced that you should try electric shaving. For arguments on why you should, check out my take on Why use an electric shaver?
Who am I to tell you that? Well, I‘m certainly not a journalist or a men‘s health expert. I am just a guy who has tried a LOT of different ways to shave, who in turn became convinced that electric shaving is the way to go and who, consequently owns a few different types and models, one of them being perhaps the most famous electric shaver of all time, the Braun Series 9 Pro. So, this is my Review of it.
Braun Series 9 Pro is a foil shaver, as opposed to the the shaver I reviewed roughly a month ago, the Philips S9000 Prestige, which is a rotary shaver, In foil shavers, blades move in a linear motion and are located behind the protective foil which touches the skin. The blades themselves, as it is in rotary shavers, never touch the skin.
The most obvious difference is that in Foil shavers the head is shaped rectangularly, which is similar to the shape of the cartridge razors, which makes the mechanism more familiar and oftentimes, more intuitive to use than the rotary shavers.
Braun Series 9 Pro is the previous generation of the Series 9 Pro, the newest being the Pro+ models. However, as they use the same shaving cartridge, the Braun 94M, a huge part of this Review will apply to the Braun Series 9 Pro+ as well, the only real difference being the vastly improved trimmer on the Pro+.
Features
If you look at the official marketing, for example on Braun’s website, you will get a sense of he available features, so I don’t intend to repeat each one here, including the description. What I will do is attempt to separate the marketing speak from the usage in the real world.
ProLift Trimmer
The ProLift Trimmer is simply Braun’s name for the distinct, gold shaving element. What it does is: It lifts the longer, flat-lying hairs which makes them stand up to be more easily captured by the combs and cut by the blades.
Despite the fancy name, which might make you react negatively, this element indeed seems to deserve a prominent spot on the product specifications, as the shaver indeed does deal well with the long and flat-lying hairs, as we’ll see later in the review when we come to the shaving performance.
Unique Sonic Technology
Braun claims that the shaver features sonic technology which causes micro-vibrations and helps to capture more haits. I am quite satisfied with the results of the Series 9 Pro but I suspect that sonic technology refers to only the normal vibrations that the linear motor provides during normal operation.
Precision Switch
The shaving head on the Braun Series 9 Pro is not free to move in all directions. Rather, it simply moves back-to-front. This is in my view better than shaving heads on the foil shavers which move in all directions, as that in my view is a big loss of precision. This is especially true when comparing the Series 9 Pro with the older top-of-the-line Panasonic Ar 4, which is a previous generation of Panasonic shavers. The old Arc 5 featured a head which moved a lot and was way too sensitive to pressure. However, Panasonic made the head move in response to more pressure in their new shaver – and now things are much better.
That being said, in the foil shavers I don’t prefer the head moving at all. Maybe it’s the fact that I used more rotary shavers than foil shavers, but the head of foil shavers is just a rectangle which is difficult to get to all the places, so how does that additional loss of precision help? In the rotary shavers that makes more sense in my opinion, as the head is almost always shaped in such a way that it is easy to get it anywhere. When you combine that with the blades that flex inward and the head that moves, it is easier to simply do a pass over the jawline for example using small circles, as the entire system is built with flexibility in mind. With the foil shavers, in contrast, you sometimes get the feeling that the head is made flexible in a feeble attempt to correct the shaver’s potential deficiencies.
The “Precision Switch” refers to the possibility of locking the shaving head in place or enabling the free motion from top to bottom. This is for me perhaps the best and most important feature of this shaver, as personally. I prefer to have the shaver head almost always locked, as otherwise moves too much for my taste.
Shaving Performance & Experience
Efficiency
Regarding efficiency, the Braun Series 9 Pro is a “top of the line” foil shaver and therefore must be very efficient. Right? Yes, indeed, that is right. I would almost go as far as to say that it is the most efficient foil shaver. We’ll come back to that “foil” part later, as it is important.
The shaver easily deals with short hairs and beards with less than 3 days of growth. The combination of the powerful motor and the multiple blades makes it very efficient in doing that. However, the longer the beard gets, the more passes are needed to get rid of it. My experience at least, did not follow the advertised principle that it makes no difference if the beard is 1, 3 or 7 days old.
Make no mistake, the shaver is very efficient, both when it comes to short and longer hairs – and especially when it comes to the longer or flat-lying hairs, when compared with other foil shavers, it comes out on top. It is certainly better than the competition from Panasonic, the Series 900+.
When it comes to Braun’s advertisement, that the shaver can deal with a 7-day-old beard, I do believe it is capable of doing so, I have personally tried it on a 5-day worth of growth and that has worked. However, it certainly did not perform the same as on a 3-day beard and it required more passes to get the desired closeness. But it does that while providing supreme comfort, so you might not even mind that it requires multiple passes to get the job done.
But when we compare it to a top-of-the-line rotary shaver, like Philips S9000 Prestige, in my experience, Braun and other foil shavers fall short. In my experience, the competition from Philips will almost in every scenario do the job faster, especially if we’re dealing with longer beards. So, if you shave infrequently, you should seriously consider the alternative in the form of a rotary shaver.
Let’s be honest, though. You are extremely unlikely to get the desired closeness on a 5-day beard even with a cartridge or a safety razor on a single pass. From what I gathered from various wet-shaving sources, some safety razor enthusiasts do as much as 3 full passes on the entire face, with full lathering before each pass.
Compared to that, electric shaving is way more efficient, albeit it offers a less close shave.
Closeness
The closeness of the shave is pretty good, and at certain places, absolutely excellent. The best results I have had are on the checks, while on the lower parts on the neck and under the chin, it is very good, but not excellent. At least this was the case for me, I don’t think I have ever succeeded in getting the same closeness on the neck as I was on the cheeks.
Be aware, though, that the previous paragraph is based purely on personal, subjective experiences and the highly scientific analysis of seeing how much grain I could see while wearing my contact lenses and running my palm across the face, against the grain,
However, here we come to the other alternative to this shaver – the Panasonic S900+ (Arc 6), the closest shaving electric haver overall, with the closeness comparable to that achieved by using the safety razor. In fact, IF you shave every day and/or have a soft beard, I will go out on a limb and say that the Panasonic will be a better choice for you.
But the Panasonic is, in my view, less efficient and worse when dealing with longer hair and a bit less comfortable to use, so Braun might be a better choice for you. The Review of the Panasonic S900+ is coming, so make sure to stop by again in the future.
What is not to ignore is the comfort of the shave, as, of course, a more comfortable shave will lead to better closeness, since you will not mind doing an extra pass or shaving for a little bit longer.
Comfort
This is the most comfortable shaver I have ever used. Even with my unfortunate combination of tough beard and sensitive skin, I have rarely, if ever, experienced any razor burn or discomfort. It is very forgiving, meaning you will not feel razor burn or redness when pressing a bit too hard. You might feel an occasional pinch, on the very sensitive areas, like the neck, especially if you move the shaver a bit too fast and don’t take your time. But even with this, I feel that the comfort with the Braun Servies 9 Pro is ahead of the competition from Philips and Panasonic.
The fact that it is so comfortable means that you can take your time when shaving which in turn helps with both closeness and efficiency issues, mentioned earlier. If your shaving experience is very comfortable, that means you will not mind it lasting a bit longer and you also don’t mind doing a few more passes to get the best closeness possible.
The comfort is so good that, in contrast to the Philips S9000 Prestige, with the Braun, I would recommend dry shaving as in my opinion the extra time and effort that you spend on wet shaving comes with diminishing returns. That is not to say that wet shaving is not even more comfortable, but dry shaving is already comfortable enough, that you might as well save the effort.
Dry shaving
For a lot of people, dry shaving is the most important part of the electric shaver review, so I will attempt to summarize everything I have written above when it comes to dry shaving.
Dry shaving is for me the preferred use of the Braun Series 9 Pro. The shaver offers one of the best combinations of efficiency, closeness and comfort, so it shines in a situation when you have 2-3 days’ worth of beard growth and just want a quick, comfortable and decently close shave.
But also if you have several days worth of growth – Braun says up to 7, and I tend to agree – the Series 9 Pro is a good choice, as it deals with longer or flat-lying hairs efficiently and comfortably. It is the best foil shaver when it comes to longer beards. However, it doesn’t match the efficiency of the top-of-the-line rotary shaver, like the Philips S9000 Prestige, but it is comfortable and more forgiving to use.
All in all, as I have sensitive skin, I have found the experience with this shaver extraordinary. I will go as far as to say that if you have very sensitive skin and shave relatively often, this is the shaver you should get.
Unfortunately, I also have a tough beard, which makes Braun a less obvious choice for me during longer durations without shaving, such as 3-5 days’ worth of growth. In these cases, Philips competes more effectively as it takes care of the beard more quickly and requires fewer passes than Braun to get the same or similar level of closeness.
Regarding the comfort, I think it is the best option you can buy. It is noticeably more comfortable than the Philips and even if Panasonic has improved greatly in this regard, it still falls a bit short of the Braun.
That being said, you might still feel an occasional pull or a pinch, especially if you use quick movements or excessive force. However, when used normally it does not cause as much skin irritation as the competition. It also doesn’t heat up during a shave of normal duration, meaning in my case, for beards up to and including 3 days’ worth of growth.
Wet shaving
Just to clarify, wet shaving doesn’t mean that the shaver can be used while showering, although it can. However, the shaver cannot be used while charging, only when the charging cable is disconnected. I just hope nobody is foolish enough to try to use it in the shower while it’s connected to power.
Wet shaving means using the shaver with shaving cream or gel, similar to how you would use a safety or cartridge razor.
So, wet shaving with Braun Series 9 Pro is an enjoyable experience, as long as you don’t use a lot of shaving cream or gel. A thin layer is more than sufficient and it will improve the already excellent comfort even further. However, if you use a thick layer of shaving cream, that will worsen the experience as the shaving cream will probably choke the shaver a bit and make the shaver less efficient,
I rarely bother with wet shaving when using the Braun Series 9 Pro, as it takes some extra time to set up and as the shaver is already comfortable, the wet shaving is a bit unnecessary. However, if you take the time to do it properly, you can make it even more enjoyable. You might consider doing this whenever you have extra time (and willpower) for shaving.
You can start by washing your face with warm water, then take a small amount of shaving gel, rub it between your palms, and apply it to your face. I particularly like Nivea’s Ultra Glide Shaving Gel for sensitive skin. Just make sure you don’t make a rich lather which will cause your shave to last longer as the shaver will have a bit of trouble when dealing with the foam.
If you’re just starting with electric shaving I would recommend that you indeed start with wet shaving as it will feel the most similar to shaving with a cartridge razor, especially if you lock the shaving head in place.
Battery and charging
The battery life on the shaver is very good, with the battery lasting up to 60 minutes on a single charge. In real life that means you can probably complete up to 6 complete shaves without recharging, as even on a 3-5 day beard you’re unlikely to spend more than 10 minutes on a shave, especially on a dry-shave.
This means that you should be able to go on a week-long – or even two-week trip without bringing the charger and without the need to disconnect it from your charging station. Or you can invest extra money into the Braun charging case if you originally decided to get the model without it. Say what you will about Braun, they do have great ideas and know how to earn extra money.
Provided you get the model with a cleaning and charging station, you will probably never need to think about the charging anyway.
Cleaning
There’s just something about manually cleaning the Braun shavers I don’t like. It might be the relatively compact size of the shaving head, which makes it not as easy to take off the cassette or the fact that there is not that much space inside the cassette itself, which makes it not as easy to simply clean under the running water. Whatever it is, it makes me recommend not to get the model without the cleaning and charging station.
Even if adds a bit to the price, for me, the convenience is worth it. The cleaning and charging station will, as the name suggests, both clean and charge your shaver. To do this, it uses Braun’s cleaning liquid which makes sure that the shaver is cleaned and lubricated.
You are expected to simply after every shave just rinse off any shaving cream with running water, place the shaver inside the cleaning and charging station and press its single button. The cleaning program will be selected automatically, most likely simply depending on how long was the shaver used. It is convenient to simply place the shaver inside the station, turn it on and forget about it. The next time you want to use the shaver, you will find it right there, clean, charged and ready to be used.
The process can be quite noisy and long-lasting, so it is not recommended that you start it right before going to bed. It is also recommended that you unlock the shaving head before using the cleaning and charging station because, at least in my experience, using it while locked can lead to cleaning liquid flying out of the station and getting your table wet. I imagine this happens as the fluid is driven through the shaving head and if the shaving head is left locked in a particular angle, the fluid can get out of the charging station and wet your table a bit. Because of this, I recommend not to leave your shaving head locked when using the cleaning and charging station, and not to put the station near the food, just to be on the safe side.
One capsule of the cleaning liquid can be potentially expected to last for about three months, depending on the usage. However, if left unattended for a longer time, the liquid will evaporate, so if you’re not planning to use it for a longer time, you can take it out and close it again using the cap. That is surely convenient but it makes the whole thing more expensive. Philips’s solution is almost the same – a plastic container is inserted into the cleaning pod which can be taken out and closed again. I very much prefer the solution from Panasonic – Panasonic provides only an inexpensive detergent which you are supposed to mix with water yourself inside the container which is a part of the cleaning station itself.
Comparison to the competition
As I spoke quite a lot about the alternatives, you might want a summary. So here it goes. In short, when it comes to dry shaving, for me, the situation is as follows: the Philips S9000 Prestige is the most efficient, the Panasonic S900+ offers the closest possible shave and the Braun Series 9 Pro is the most comfortable. But the differences are not that big and Braun might be the compromise that you’re looking for. Here are the quick comparisons though,
Philips S9000 Prestige
As I mentioned in the Review of the Prestige, it is a very efficient rotary shaver which will make short work of even the tough 5-day beards.
In this sense, I believe your shave will be faster with the Prestige, provided that the beard has 2-3 days’ worth of growth or more. Yes, if you never shaved with a rotary shaver, ever, you might get a faster shave with Braun, provided that you don’t have a lot of growth or that you have a soft beard. In almost every other case, I do believe you will get similar closeness in less time with the Prestige. Be aware, though, that if you take your time, Braun will probably give you a slightly closer shave.
However, if you have sensitive skin, this one gets complicated, as the Braun is more comfortable to use, so you probably won’t mind spending an additional minute or two to get better comfort and closeness.
Panasonic Series 900+ (Arc 6)
If you shave every or every other day, then in my opinion, Panasonic S900+ is the shaver you want. The newest Series fixes a lot of problems that the older model had with comfort, so in the case of short beards the comfort is on Braun’s level. However, with the longer beards, Panasonic is less efficient than Braun which might cause you to press harder and cause a bit of irritation.
However, when it comes to closeness, Panasonic wins, hands down. Panasonic shaves so close you’ll ask yourself how can an electric shaver shave almost as close as a safety or cartridge razor. It is truly incredible how close Panasonic gets. Panasonic, in my view, also works the best when wet-shaving, the experience is much better as the shaving gel softens the beard and thus improves efficiency. Dry shaving is great with Panasonic as well, provided that the beard is short, however with Panasonic, I prefer wet shaving.
So, again, wet shaving with Panasonic on a 1-2 days-old beard can’t be beaten, as the experience is superb and the closeness is unmatched, Of course, wet shaving takes a bit longer, but hey, you do have to die one death.
However, be warned, once again, that on tough beards or beards with a lot of long, flat-lying hairs you will probably have to do more passes than with Braun and Philips.
I guess there are no clear-cut answers. If you were to ask what I prefer, Panasonic is my personal choice as I enjoy the closeness and the wet shaving doesn’t bother me – I enjoy taking some time for myself every day.
This all goes to show you that shaving is a deeply personal experience and it all comes down to what beard and skin type you have, as well as your personality and what is the most important to you.
Conclusion
The Braun Series 9 Pro is a highly comfortable, powerful, and close-shaving electric razor. It offers a great overall package, despite being a bit on the pricier side. I believe you won’t regret purchasing it, as it excels in nearly every aspect. It is also extremely easy to use, especially if you’re completely new to electric shaving and are coming from safety or cartridge razors.
If you don’t shave every day and have a lot of long, flat hair and sensitive skin, the Braun Series 9 Pro will not let you down.
