Braun Series 3-390cc Men's Shaving System

Comment: Of course, the title may not be saying much, since I use a shaver until it nearly falls apart, replacing the rechargeable batteries as they die. My last two shavers were a Remington Interceptor (which has the comb/trimmer between the cutters) and an ancient Remington triple screen. I have a fairly light beard, but do have a problem with hairs lying close to the skin. This has meant that even with the Interceptor I've had to use the side trimmer to cut those wayward hairs before the screen cutter would finish the job. The side cutters on both of my Remingtons failed within two months of each other, so a new shaver was mandatory. My son suggested I try a Braun.

I looked over the specs and decided on a Series 3. I felt the Series 5 and 7 were a bit too gimmicky for the price, and the Series 1 lacked the "comb", as Braun calls it, between the cutters. I had chosen the 370cc because I wanted to try out the cleaning/charging station, but the local Bed, Bath and Beyond store only had the 390cc in stock. With BB&B's liberal expiration date policy on store 20% coupons, the price was as good or better than anywhere else.

With the 390, I never use the trimmer, except for an occasional trim of my nearly non-existent side burns. The "comb" and cutters will grab those low-lying hairs, with a few extra passes, like no shaver I've ever used, and even take care of the occasional wild ear hair. The shave doesn't compare to a blade, but it is as good or better than any shaver I've ever used, and I have yet to get a shaver burn from it.

I've had it for about 5 weeks, and am in the process of running the battery full down before recharge three times, as recommended, to get full capacity. The first charge lasted about 3 weeks. The second charge is a little more than half gone, so it looks like 3 weeks on a charge is typical for my shaving. The shaver "Clean me" light comes on after every two or three shaves, so if you clean/charge it every few days, it will be ready to go when you have to travel. I drop it in the cleaner/charger daily, but don't plan to push the charger connection down until it needs cleaning, once I've gone through my full discharge cycles. When cleaning, the cleaning light stays on long enough for the alcohol-based cleaning fluid to evaporate, indicating that the shaver is dry enough to use. However, you can take off the head and run both the head and the shaver under the tap to clean it on the road. Even between cleanings, with the shaver in the station, the head will have a nice clean "lemony" smell, due to the proximity of the cleaning solution. It comes with a nice hard-side case for travel that should prevent any damage banging around in a suitcase.

At this point, if I had it to do over again, I would go with this shaver without a second thought.

Comment: Much better than the Norelco razor it replaced. The shave is more comfortable and closer. I really like the self cleaning feature. For a little over $100, it's probably the best razor you can get at this price point.

Comment: The Braun Series 3-390cc gives a fast close shave. The motor is quiet and sounds strong. The features work great. I am extremely pleased with this product.

Comment: This is by far the greatest shaver I've ever owned. The only reason I did not rate it a 5 is the trimmer could be a little better or could have a couple of difference sizes or something which would bump it up to 5 star. But over all this shaver is great and I've owned it for about 9 months now and have had zero problems with it.

Comment: My rotary died and after about 3 months of using nothing but blades I finally broke down and got another shaver. It's a dream. My face got used to it right away and it gives an excellent shave. I only used the cleaning system once so far since the battery does charge when cleaning and I wanted to cycle the battery a few times first. I'll probably start using it regularly after that. If you're worried about the solution evaporating, just cap it after cleaning it.