Gillette Fusion Power Battery Powered Shaving System, 1 System
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List Price: Our Price: $10.47 You Save: $2.06 (16%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Gillette Fusion Power Battery Powered Shaving System, 1 System
Customer Review: Gillette Fusion Power has pluses and minus over Mach 3 Power
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a thick beard. I shave daily. I have been using Gillette sensor-series products almost exclusively since the Gillette sensor debuted in 1990.
I graduated from Sensor, To Sensor II, to Mach 3, to Mach 3 power.
I normally shave wet, with no shaving cream, and with down strokes, although I use some upstrokes. I have tested the Mach 5 both wet and dry, with no cuts or major problems.
I have used the Gillette Fusion for 1 week, and here are my findings.
Pluses:
1) An overall great shave.
2) The Fusion shaves better dry than any previous Sensor model. (Although I rarely have a reason to shave dry).
3) More blades. More microfins!
4) The plastic handle, while bulky, is very nice. The plastic is gentle to the touch, aa nice departure from the rigid, cold metal of the M3.
5) Comes with a coupon for $2 off additional cartridges.
Minuses:
1) The confort strip wear out WAY too quickly. My Mach3 blades last 3 weeks, My Fusion blade needs replacement after 1 week. Hopefully, the replacement blades will be better than the original ones (if so, I'll edit this review).
2) Since there are more microfins with a larger area, and sincen the microfins become more imporant to the overall shave, the microfins trap more hairs than ever. Even washing the blade doesn't get rid of all of the microhairs trapped in the microfins.
3) The 5 blades make upstrokes more difficult and don't offer the precision of the M3 and previous models for the tough spots (e.g. under the nose). On the soft ares of the face (e.g., the cheecks), the larger footprint makes it harder to press close and cut hairs close to the skin. However, this problem is somewhat offset by the additional blades and microfins.
4) As always, the blades are more expensive than previous version. At this rate of inflation, Gillette blades will cost $50 each by the year 2030. =)
Overall, it is a great product. I am undecided if I will keep using Fusion or switch back to the M3 as my primary. I might use both together (as I previously did with the M3 and Sensor Excel).
Customer Review: Long-time Mach III user had to upgrade
Summary: 4 Stars
Disclaimer: I've used the Mach III for my barely-less-hairy-than-an-ape face since it came out in the early-90's. The Mach III served me well, but the head kept coming off, the result of dropping it about 4 dozen too many times. I've been a Gillette user for a couple of decades, now, but I'm open to anything which works. Hint: I consider any electric, as much as I'd like to have one, useless. I've had a few, it was a waste of money for me, but my friends got exceptionally good hand-me-downs.
I was *ULTRA-SKEPTICAL* about a 5-bladed razor, *especially* a "powered" one. I mean, my triple-bladed beast was still cranking along, and after 15+ years, I've become accustomed to having my facial hair more pulled out than cut. It's a genentic thing not many people seem to suffer from, which is good for the greater population. Put it this way, I have '5 o-clock shadow by 10 AM'. It's not a good thing. If I skip shaving for 36 hours, I start to look like a psycho-drifter who has been on the road for a few weeks.
Anyway, I sprung for the powered version, figuring I could use all the help I could get. Shockingly, no pun intended, the shave was not only *amazingly* close, but I didn't have the typical 2-5 cuts from having a new blade. To make matters better, I mananged to have even sideburns for a change.
I've been in Vegas about a year and the mid-to-late-70's fat Elvis has started to transchannel my sideburns. Not mutton-chops...yet, but they're obvious. ;-)
Anyway, after not my first, but third powered-Fusion shave, about six hours after shaving (at which point I'd ususally give my wife a rash if I gave her more than a peck on the cheek) I said to her, "hey, feel my chin." I got an immediate "WOW!" It's so nice to look normal for an entire day.
There are downsides. Blades are stupidly expensive and don't seem to last more than a week, but the behavior was similar with my Mach III. I've considered having a ton of cartridges treated with near absolute zero cold, as that appears to help longevity, but have never gotten around to it.
Customer Review: Easy to please and hard to tell
Summary: 4 Stars
I should tell you from the start, I'm a marketer's dream. I've progressed over the years from an electric razor to progressively a one blade, two blade, three blade, and now a five blade gillette - battery powered and otherwise. Have I ever noticed a major difference moving one to the next - not sure - but like many others of you I tend to buy the latest just to say that I have it.
Shaving differences well truth be told the biggest revelation for me was when I switched from electric to the one blade gillette - I'd used the electric for twenty years since the time when I had to shave in the first place. What a revelation! The electric took for ever and seemed to grind your beard down much like a power sander. By contrast the one blade hand gillette was quick clean and gave you the impression that you'd actually had a shave in the first place.
Since then I suppose I have detected minor improvements as I've progressed from one blade to two and more etc. But the changes are only apparent initially and you soon just don't notice, and they are sure not as marked as the transition from electric to manual. It's a bit like the difference between an expensive bottle of wine and a slightly cheaper one, or a good hi fi system and a not quite so good hi fi system - the differences are suttle - but there sure must be a big difference between a one blade and a five blade gillette. The only "primitive" razor I've tried recently is a disposable and it is sure streets ahead of that.
Aside from the disposable I've never gone back to a lesser (ie fewer blades) gillette to test the extent of the improvement - perhaps I should. Anyway it's a good, well presented, piece of marketing - and as I said like many of you I'd rather have the five blade than many that went before.
Oh and by the way I don't cut myself with the five blader as I have with previous fewer bladed models so there is something tangible! Perhaps that is a good pointer to a better razor.
Customer Review: No Problems with Razor Bumps or Folliculitis! Nice Shaver!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you suffer from folliculitis, this may just be the razor you were waiting for! I tried the Mach 3 a few different times over the years but all it would take was just one shave and, boom!, my face would break out with folliculitis. Although Gillette claims the Mach 3 reduces irritation, I always found it super irritating.
Two things seem different about the Fusion. The closer spacing of the blades seems genuinely to reduce the irritation I found in the Mach 3. The Mach 3 always seemed to dig into my face and scrape away layers of skin. Not so with the Fusion!
Second, it seems to me that the way that the Fusion shaver cartridge is mounted to the handle makes for a better angle of shave. I haven't noticed that Gillette makes any claim that the way the Fusion's blade is mounted is any different from the Mach 3, but still, I think it is slightly different. I always felt like the leading edge of the Mach 3 shaver cartridge had too sharp an angle against my skin. It seems like the Fusion avoids this by mounting the "hinge" farther back on the shaving cartridge. Thus, the rubber fins in front of the blades makes the cartridge ride more level or flat over the face. Truly an improvement however it was achieved!
Before I used the Fusion, I thought five blades were a little ridiculous. I figured you could never get close in front of the ears, under the nose, etc. However, I have found that five blades aren't ridiculous. The special trimmer blade is nice but I find I don't hardly need it. I can get into close spaces generally without it.
Also, I bought the Power model but am not sure yet which mode I like best: power or manual. But since you can choose whether or not to turn the power on or not, buying the power model seems best to me. You can get the best of both worlds!
In the end, I have used the Fusion and enjoyed a totally comfortable shave! No folliculitis outbreaks resulted from my use of it! I really like the razor.
Customer Review: Gillette does it again...
Summary: 5 Stars
Call me a skeptic. A critical thinker if you will. Wary of profit margin mentalities in the marketplace. But about a year ago I decided to test razors. Everything I could get my hands on. Even vintage razors from the early 20th century.
I didn't want to like this razor.
However, it along with its Mach 3 cousins are damn good razors. Easily the best I've handled. And anybody that says it isn't is either crazy, or is being disingenuous.
Are 5 blades really necessary (is a Cadillac necessary compared to a Dodge Neon)? Get what you pay for I guess.
If you want the best, smoothest shave on planet earth with minimum irritation and you don't want to spend more time in the bathroom tending to your face than your wife? Then this is your razor.
If you want to shave with a piece of flint, save a few bucks and thumb your nose at the system? Not my problem. Will lesser razors shave your face? Yep, especially if you like nicks, cuts, razor burn, multiple passes, shaving against the grain, re-shaving, $20 shaving creams, $80 shave brushes, pre-shave oils, soothing aftershaves, witch hazel, styptic sticks, hanging out on internet forums wondering what you're doing wrong, etc... And if you can find the economy in that, let me know.
Did I mention this razors performance in more private areas? Nothing even comes close. And electric personal groomers are poor in performance by comparison.
As for the cost, for me this is a non-issue. I can get months out of one cartridge relatively easily and with a little common sense that seems abundant out here in the woods, less so in the city. Therefore, this and other razors of its type (Mach 3 innovation) are no more expensive to me than a 'classic' double edged razor which I have as well. It stays in the drawer mostly. But easily accessible if I suddenly need to go back in time, or remember why at one time why most men grew beards.