Panasonic ES-LV9N-s Electric Shaver

WOW!!!! Look, I've read more reviews on this product than I can begin to tell you. I bought the previous version of the Arc 5 and returned it. I bought a Braun and returned it. I bought the top of the line 9 series Norelco. I again, bought the newest 9295 Braun razor, and yes, returned it. Let me explain why. I am on blood thinners now. A small cut bleeds for hours and hours. I had such hopes that an electric razor would actually be as close as a razor without cutting me up. The newest version ES-LV9N-s Panasonic Shaver is the best there is. It is an answer to a dream. It is super fast, super close and super easy to keep clean and use. I can't say enough about this product. Sure, you can read reviews. It will give you pros and cons and then tell you, without actually being clear which is the best, to try one for yourself. These puppies aren't cheep children. Not in the least. So, nice to say, hard to do. But as Amazon and parent companies let you try one for 30 to 45 days, I took advantage of it. Now? Now I have one I'll have for many, many years to come. It is WELL worth the price. Trust me on this. It is WELL worth the price. If you don't try this razor, you so will be making a mistake. I've tried the best of them all. THIS is the best of the best. Try this razor. Thanks for listening....

I have primarily used electric shavers for the past 15 years (occasionally let my stubble grow over a weekend and blade shave) and this is easily one of the best I have owned. I have been using a Braun 9095cc for 2.5 years and while it is good, it is not "great." I have used various models of Norelco and Braun over the years but for some reason never thought to try Panasonic. I guess in my head, it was "Norelco owns the rotary market and Braun owns the foils" and anything else was a knock-off. I was wrong! Although the 9095cc is a "wet/dry" shaver, I had previously always dry shaved. Whether it was using talcum power or pre-shave like Aramis, I did a dry shave and then used the automatic cleaning station. I recently stumbled across a site that explained the benefits of wet electric shaving and decided to give it a go. I found that I get a closer shave with less irritation. To my surprise, Braun does not really support "wet shaving" despite the designation and their concept of a wet shave is plain old water vice a nice shave cream. Meanwhile Panasonic is fully committed to wet shaving and encourages it. Since my Braun was due for a new cassette anyway, I felt it was the perfect time to spend a few extra bucks and try the Panasonic.I am very happy with my purchase. The unit looks and feels very premium. The price point is comparable to the high end Series 9 and all things equal, I think the Panasonic looks and feels more expensive. The matte finish looks better than the chrome of the Braun. The head, while large, is very flexible and contours to my face better. I get an excellent shave on all aspects of my face with this unit. Brauns do well on my face but are OK at best for my neck and jaw line. Norelcos do really well on the neck, OK on the face, but also tend to cause ingrown hairs (I have even used tweezers to remove ingrown hairs and the tip was beveled, consistent with the lift and cut system).The Panasonic cleaning station is smaller, looks more premium, and over all is more practical than the Braun as it has a "dry only" option if you want to rinse the shaver under the sink but still dry it for the next day. I feel the Panasonic does a better job of cleaning the shaver too. Yes, it takes 10 minutes to clean a few hours to dry, but in my opinion, the longer clean cycle means the head was rinsed more. The Braun short cycle shakes the head a few times over a few seconds and the long (3 drops) cycle still only about 5 times in a few min. The Panasonic cycled maybe 10 times staggered over that 10 min clean cycle and in my head that seems like a deeper, more thorough clean. Maybe it is wishful thinking, but I feel "more cycles through cleaning fluid" results in "cleaner."The roller bars are noticeable and do make this unit feel pretty easy to glide over your face. I have experienced no irritation at all with the Panasonic.I have read some reviews that say this unit is very noisy- I have to say that I have not experienced that at all. It does vibrate very quickly, so it makes a higher pitched sound than the Brauns, but overall I perceive it as much quieter. I was even a little worried it was defective the first time I turned it on because I expected the loud chatter of the Braun. To put in context, despite the high pitched buzz, it was quiet enough that I hear the snipping sound of hairs being cut. Bottom line- not as quiet as a Norelco, but quieter than a Braun foil.I would recommend this shaver to anyone who prefers electrics, especially foils. While expensive, it is on par with the high-end Braun foils and Norelco rotaries out there.A few caveats: this unit is hard to find. I am not sure why as it has been out for a few years and is not bleeding edge tech. That makes me wonder if Panasonic is having production issues. Perhaps it is just ultra-popular, but it seems weird that the older Arc5 is still readily available and this unit is back ordered nationwide. Related to that, even the cleaning solution packets are back ordered. I found some Japanese-spec ones here on Amazon, but I still find it strange that a system/technology that has been out for years is back ordered. Either everyone loves it, or Panasonic is planning to axe the product line!A final thought- while I was comparing this a lot to the Braun series 9 and prefer the Panasonic, the Series 9 is still a very fine product. I would recommend this unit to anyone who even remotely thinks they want to wet shave. If you are a dry-only shaver I would still recommend this unit, but the Braun comes close. I have not used a Norelco in almost 3 years, so I cannot readily comment on them other than to say I went back to foils when Norelco killed the RQ12 "floating head" design and replaced it with a far inferior RQ12+ model.

Shipping was punctual thanks to the seller! I love this shaver. I bought a phillips sensotouch 3D a few years ago and loved it. I've been using that for years. Last year I had to buy a replacement head for it the (RQ12+) and I found that Phillips had stopped producing the original head the (RQ12). My shave times doubled and the shave wasnt as close. After putting up with that garbage replacement head for a year i went on the search for a quality replacement. I shave my face and head every day to every other day. I love this shaver it shaves my head and face faster and closer than my oroginal sensotouch 3D and much faster than the garbage replacement head (RQ12+). This razor also feels better built and comes w an easy to use washing station. I'm very happy with this purchase.

If you have the previous gen (ES-LV95-S), it's not worth upgrading. The two gold color rollers are pretty a gimmick and might impede the cutting of other blades. ES-LV95-S is better value especially when it's on sale or if you buy without the cleaning unit. You can use the blade/foil from ES-LV95-S for this shaver though. The other improvements (one touch turn on/off instead of two, up/down movement, touch lock) are nice but don't improve the closeness of shaving.[Update, 2/24/19] The vertical movement of the head is actually a con to me, not a pro. The vertical movement absorbed most of the force when pressing again the skin resulting not enough vertical movement for individual blade elements. Because of this, the shaver doesn't shave close as the old gen even with the blades from the old gen. In the old gen you can use a little bit of force and it cuts very close since the blade element can move up and down. On this new one you need to push harder and it doesn't even cut as close. As stated earlier the rollers are just a gimmick. Smoothing the skin might be nice but impeding the cutting and movement of the blades is not good. I'm not even sure if smoothing is needed if you use the old gen since it already cuts smoothly.[Update, 9/10/19] I upgrade to this shaver to 5 star. It's more refined and less aggressive than the old model. The vertical movement of the head actually make the shaver more gentle than old one. It's quieter also. I still use the blades from the old gen though. It's my main shaver now.