13 BEST ELECTRIC SHAVERS FOR MEN, TRIED AND TESTED FOR SENSITIVE, WET AND DRY SKIN

Traditional razors might be the cheapest way to shave, but when it comes to speed, ease of use and sheer comfort, electric shavers are a discerning gent’s grooming tool of choice. Used correctly, they can deliver results every bit as good as a traditional wet shave and, as a bonus, they’re less messy, can be used any time and anywhere (even when there’s no water or mirror around) and they put an end to painful nicks and cuts.

They’re also great for people with sensitive or blemish-prone skin, because they don’t slice off a layer of your skin like razor blades do; for older guys with the odd wrinkle to navigate, as there’s less risk of snagging your razor on the creases; and, since they tend to cause less razor bumps and ingrown hairs when removing curly hair, they’re also a good option for Afro-Caribbean guys.

Buying an electric shaver is a lot like buying an electric car, though – you need to do your research before committing to a model you like, compare charge times and consider how your shaver will handle tricky bends. Performance will be important but appearance will probably be a factor, too, because, in the same way a car reflects its owner, an electric shaver speaks volumes about its user, too. All you need to do is match the car, sorry, shaver, to the man.

Luckily, we think you’ll find something to suit from our best electric shaver shortlist – from entry-point essentials to high-end (and hi-tech) models aimed at gadget geeks. So, plug in, charge up and get that stubble gone.

How we tested

We put each shaver through its paces on two occasions – once on light, day-old stubble and again after several days’ growth. Performance was key, obviously, but functionality, appearance, value for money, charging time and how they felt in the hand were taken into account, too. Keep reading to find out which ones came out on top.

The best electric shavers for 2023 are:

  • Best overall electric shaver – Braun series 9 pro: £269.99, Braunshop.co.uk
  • Best first shaver – Braun series 3 proskin 3040s wet and dry shaver: £49.99, Amazon.co.uk
  • Best electric shaver for sensitive skin – Panasonic ES-LV97-K premium performance shaver: £164.99, Amazon.co.uk
  • Best electric shaver for ease of use – Philips oneblade pro face and body: £97.98, Amazon.co.uk

Braun series 9 pro

A lightweight shaver – albeit with a hefty pricetag – this German-engineered premium offering from Braun offers a close but gentle shave. The heads are optimised to lift hairs and guard skin at the same time, and it boast 40,000 cutting actions a minute. The LED display, meanwhile, tells you how many minutes of shaving you have left, allows you to enable a travel lock and, handily, even tells you when it’s time to replace the foils and cutter cassette.

Overall, results were some of the best – and smoothest – we achieved, though the slide-up trimmer wasn’t as well positioned as on other shavers, making precision trimming a little tricky. A cleaning station makes it a cinch to keep clean, which more than made up for that though.

Buy now £269.99, Braunshop.co.uk

Philips oneblade pro face and body QP6550/15

The original Philips OneBlade pretty much re-invented the way men shave, thanks to unique blade technology that features a flat, super-safe cutting surface that makes it virtually impossible to nick the skin. Now, this bigger, flashier, pro version pimps things up with the addition of an LED display (handy for telling how much charge is left), a travel lock and the addition of a 14-length precision comb, giving it greater versatility as an all-round grooming tool. Phew!

As the name suggests, it can be used on both face and body and we can report it is as good at delivering a clean smooth shave as it is at trimming body hair. It was also especially good for creating precise edges when tidying up neck hair. You do have to replace the blades every four months and it’s more than twice the price of the standard OneBlade but it’s sleek, simple, portable and we found it almost impossible to fault its performance.

Buy now £97.98, Amazon.co.uk

Panasonic ES-LV97-K premium performance shaver

This top-end foil shaver features no less than five blades, gently arched and aligned to catch as many hairs as possible – regardless of stubble density or direction of growth. The head itself moves in 16 directions, tilting and wobbling like a jelly to ensure it follows the contours of the face and automatically adjusts to beard density, while a pop-up trimmer allows you to tidy up sideburns and remove stray hairs from under the nose.

So smooth is its passage over the skin that we barely felt it going to work, and the results were top-notch. While the sleek design, deluxe carry case, super-fast three-minute quick charge and the fact it’s self-cleaning (you just pop it into the cleaning station) elevates it above most other foil shavers.

If we have one criticism it’s that the flexibility of the head makes it feel a little delicate – even though we suspect it’s actually pretty robust. Truth is, given the premium nature of the shaver (the RRP is over £300), we suspect you’d want to handle it with gloves anyway.

Buy now £164.99, Amazon.co.uk

Wahl lifeproof shaver

Solidity and durability is what Wahl is all about, and this super-tough shaver takes things to the next level. Designed with shock-proof housing but light and comfortable to hold, it’s a great foil shaver for those who might throw their gear around. It’s also perfect for anyone who travels a lot as there’s a handy travel lock function that ensures it doesn’t accidentally go off in your case.

It’s not the quietest shaver we tried but was a cinch to use – Wahl have stuck to basics and kept things simple and it delivered a great shave. The yellow and black design reminded of us of a DIY tool you might pick up in B&Q, but in a sea of blue, black and silver shavers we rather loved it for that.

Buy now £45.00, Amazon.co.uk

Babyliss men 7861U 12-in-1 Japan steel multi trimmer

With more men than ever alternating between being clean shaven and sporting beards, this versatile grooming gadget is perfect for mixing things up on the facial hair front. A multifunctional shaver/trimmer it sports an array of interchangeable heads allowing you to trim and shave everything from ear, nose and eyebrow hair to body hair, while a dinky foil shaver head allows to get a smooth, clean shave.

Because of the size of the head, shaving does take a little longer and results were excellent rather than exceptional, but then it’s a tool designed to cover a lot of bases rather than focus on one. In that respect, it’s pretty much the last word in multifunctional grooming and with all BaByliss products, a lot of effort has gone into making its design, ensuring it looks as cool AF.

Buy now £42.49, Amazon.co.uk

Braun series 3 proskin 3040s wet and dry shaver

A great, mid-priced shaver, this super-speedy foil number from Braun is designed, not only to guide more hairs into the cutting parts – thus knocking a bit of time off the shaving process – but to tackle up to three-day-old stubble too, making it the perfect lazy man’s shaver.

True to its promise, it powered through weekend stubble like a freshly sharpened mower through an overgrown lawn. The slide-up trimmer is handy for navigating tricky bits while the LED display tells you how the battery’s faring. Another noticeable attribute was how secure this particular shaver feels in the hand during shaving, and how it manages to be both lightweight yet robust.

With cool design and great performance, simplicity of use, a reasonable price point and the quick charge feature – you can get a quick five-minute shave on a five-minute charge – this is the perfect shaver for newbies.

Buy now £44.99, Braunshop.co.uk

Remington F6 style series aqua

A couple of things caught our eye about this shaver. Firstly, it comes with a “stubble styler” guard which clips onto the shave head, allowing you to maintain a three-day-old stubble look if you fancy a change from being totally clean shaven. Secondly, the pop-up detailer is – quite literally – a stand out feature. Distanced a little further away from the body of the shaver than on some other models we tested, it makes defining much easier, making this model perfect for precision freaks.

The multi-direction shave heads make fast work of stubble, wherever it sprouts, while the textured grip offers fantastic stability – handy if you’re using this 100 per cent waterproof shaver in the shower. And with USB charging, meanwhile, it’s super-practical for travel, while the mid-price price point makes it superb value for money.

Buy now £50.99, Amazon.co.uk

Philips series 9000 wet and dry electric shaver with quick clean pod S9987/55

The daddy of electric shavers (its suggested RRP is over £469), this state-of-the-art rotary number offers everything you want from a top-end shaver and then some. Beautifully designed – it looks and feels super-luxe – it’s engineered to provide an incredibly smooth shave with minimum irritation. The construction of the blade guards makes their passage over the skin incredibly smooth, while an inbuilt sensor “reads” skin and stubble and adjusts accordingly. It really does glide over the skin and can even tackle five days’ worth of growth with relative ease.

What elevates this shaver, though, is how interactive it makes the shaving experience. Not only does a (very Star Trek-looking) pulsating ring of light around the shave head tell you when you’re applying the right – or wrong – amount of pressure, you can link the shaver to an app for customised advice about your shaving technique. The digital display is both fun and useful, too, but unless you’re really into your gadgets (or sci-fi) they’re possibly a bit gimmicky. We still got a superb shave though.

Buy now £249.99, Boots.com

Remington ultimate series RX7 rotary head shaver

If you’re looking for a gadget that’ll shave your head rather than your face, Remington’s new ultimate series RX7 is the boy for your bonce. The successor to the company’s popular RX5 head shaver, the new model offers 30 per cent increased flex around the five shaving heads, meaning it hugs the contours of the head more, for a closer, smoother and faster shave.

On top of that, there’s a turbo speed function designed for ploughing through tougher hair and for times when you’re in a hurry to perfect your pate.

We like the fact it leaves a barely perceptible amount of hair (0.2mm), which means you look more Jason Statham than Uncle Fester, while the ergonomically designed, cordless handle makes head shaving a cinch in a way a standard, longer chassis wouldn’t. As a bonus, a pop-up trimmer allows you to tidy and shape sideburns and remove stray neck hair. Impressive.

Buy now £77.99, Amazon.co.uk

Wahl Li compact travel shaver

One of the big advantages of electric shavers is their convenience – especially for travel, when the last thing you want is a washbag full of razors, shaving creams and aftershave balms.

This specially designed travel shaver takes things to the next level, though, by shrinking things down. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, with a special travel lock to prevent accidental activation, and a washable foil head, it’s perfect for holidays, festivals or last-minute overnight stays. Given its size, it delivered a great, close and irritation-free shave, helped, in part, by the flexible foils, which tilt to the contours of the face.

At first, the eight-hour charge time seemed like a stretch but Wahl estimates this makes for a month’s use, so it’s a small price to pay. It comes with a cleaning brush, blade oil and storage bag and an impressive five-year guarantee. All you need to add is the holiday.

Buy now £29.99, Wahl.co.uk

Panasonic ER-CKN1 multishape modular personal care system

If you’re a guy who sometimes sports facial hair and at other times likes to be clean-shaven, this customisable grooming tool is your man. Although the main unit comes with a beard, hair and body trimmer, you can also buy a three-blade foil shaving head to transform it into an electric shaver.

The floating blades deliver an excellent shave, by following the contours of the face, and the main unit itself is a joy to hold.

Call us shallow but what impressed us most about this multifunctional marvel was its appearance: sleek and minimalist with a matte black finish, it’s as nice to look at as it is to hold and, unlike many other multifunctional tools that feel gimmicky, it feels solid and built to last.

What’s more, you can add other heads to the device to further increase its functionality – there’s even an electric toothbrush head available. Not the cheapest multifunctional shaver around but definitely one of the best – and certainly the most stylish

Buy now £69.99, Panasonic.com

Remington limitless X5 rotary shaver

The new kid on the block, the X5 has been designed to make shaving fast and comfortable with the help of super-fast cutting speed (130,000 cutting actions per minute, apparently) and PowerSense technology, which adapts to the pressure you apply and analyses hair thickness to maximise performance.

What marks it out from the other shavers we tried, though, is the clever 360-degree Pivotball (which the entire shaving head sits on), which allows maximum manoeuvrability over the contours of your face.

It certainly powered through stubble in no time, though it was better on shorter stubble than longer stuff. Unencumbered by too many whizzy features, it’s delightfully straightforward to use, making it great for electric-shaver newbies. The fact that it’s 100 per cent waterproof and a cinch to clean is a big plus, too.

Buy now £149.99, Boots.com

Remington T series hair and beard trimmer MB7050

The beauty of adaptable, multifunctional tools like this one – apart from the value for money they represent – is they’re great for guys who only occasionally shave using an electric device or those who fancy giving it a go but don’t want to shell out on a dedicated shaver.

An award-wining trimmer, this snazzy gold-and-black number from Remington allows you to trim your hair and beard as well as craft stubble but it also includes a foil shaver attachment, so you can shave too.

With a much smaller surface area than a dedicated shaver, it takes a bit more time to get the job done and, in truth, you do get the impression it’s not designed to be used as a shaver all the time, but for occasional shaving, it’s absolutely fine.

Other features that impressed us include superb battery time (five hours), the five-minute quick charge and the fact you can wash it under a tap. A good buy if electric shaving is only one of the many things for which you need a grooming device.

Buy now £54.00, Amazon.co.uk

Electric shavers FAQs

How does electric ‘dry’ shaving differ from wet shaving?

Electric shaving is fundamentally different from wet shaving – whereas a traditional razor blade slices off hair at the surface, removing some skin cells in the process, electric shavers gently ‘roll up’ the skin, exposing hairs and cutting them just below the hairline.

There was a time when wet shaving always produced closer results but advances in technology mean an electric shaver can deliver a shave comparable to a traditional razor blade, in terms of closeness.

What’s the difference between rotary and foil shavers?

Rotary shavers use rotating shaving heads (usually three) to slice through stubble at different angles, while foil or ‘linear’ ones have blades that cut from left to right that are concealed under a protective foil.

As a rule of thumb, rotary shavers are good if you have tough stubble, while foil shavers are a little more straightforward, easier to master, and are better for those with softer or lighter stubble, who are new to electric shaving or have sensitive skin.

Each requires a different technique (you move using gentle circular motions with rotary shavers and back and forth swiping with foil ones) but the results are generally the same – a no fuss, super-smooth shave with the minimum of irritation.

Do I need to use a pre-shave product before using an electric shaver?

You don’t have to use one – you’ll still get a great shave if you skip a pre-shave lotion or solution – but using one can deliver a better and faster shave, because they help remove oil from the hairs and help lift them away from the skin, making them easier for the shaver blades to slice.

How do I get the most from an electric shaver?

Use your fingers: Using your free hand, stretch the skin just in front of the shaver heads as you shave – this will ensure hairs stand upright, making them easier to cut.

Don’t press too hard: Electric shavers require only light pressure to get the job done. Let the shaver do the work for you, to limit skin irritation.

Don’t save sensitive bits until last: Many shavers generate heat as they go to work, and that can irritate skin, so tackle sensitive areas, such as the neck, first, while the shaver is still cool.

Keep things clean: Always follow the cleaning instructions and change the foils and cutters as advised. Worn foils and blunt cutting heads will only impair the quality of your shave.

Be patient: If you’ve just switched from wet to dry shaving, your face will take a couple of weeks to adjust to the new shaving technique, especially since electric shavers remove the hairs just below the surface of the skin rather than at surface level. Once you switch, try not to move back and forth between wet and electric shaving.

When’s the best time to buy an electric shaver?

Electric shavers are one of those items that are regularly discounted – especially the top-end models, which often see prices halved – so, if you see a decent offer at an online store, make the most of it. You can also look out for discounts during Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday sales.

The verdict: Electric shavers

As we discovered while putting numerous electric shavers to the test, you don’t always get what you pay for, with some cheaper models delivering a perfectly serviceable shave and more-expensive ones sometimes over complicating things. Although, we do recommend looking out for special offers on the premium ones, as they’re often heavily discounted.

If a super-close but gentle shave is worth making a dent in your bank balance, the Braun’s series 9 shaver is our absolute favourite. If you’re a beginner, both Braun’s series 3 proskin and Remington’s limitless X5 rotary shaver tick a lot of boxes, and are worth a punt if you just want to try electric shaving.

Panasonic’s premium performance shaver, meanwhile, is great for experienced shavers or those fancying an upgrade. We also have to give a special nod to the Philips oneblade pro – a brilliantly versatile tool that deserves a place in any man’s grooming kit.

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