Ad Terras Per Aspera

So, I got a Norelco 9160XL SmartTouch-XL shaver for Christmas from my Mom, to replace the Norelco shaver who was around five years old, and the battery was starting to go on it. And I’ll have to tell you, I like it.

It’s got the famous Norelco three headed design, except this one uses those new triple ring blades that are supposed to increase the shaver’s ability to cut hairs efficiently; it also has the pivoting heads, allowing the shaver to follow the contours of my face. Also, the motor is both faster and nearly silent.

Between the new blade design, the pivoting heads, and faster motor, I have to admit I’m getting a better shaving experience out of this. But wait! There’s more! (… Why do I suddenly feel like one of those TV salesmen? “Call now, and get a second widget for free! Act now!”…)

It has an LCD display on the front that tells me the current charge level, and two lights that tell me if I either need to clean it out, or replace the blades. Actually, the whole thing about cleaning this out is so much easier: I can rinse it out with tap water, and you know, not get electrocuted doing it.

Oh, and it has a charging base, where my old one just had a simple cable. You know what happens to shavers with simple cables? Cats knock them off tables, denting just one grill/blade out of three, causing you to have to buy a set of three, new, expensive replacement sets just after you got it. At least with the charging base, and the better fitting hard plastic cover over the head, this shouldn’t happen again like it happened to me with my old shaver.

Also, the thing is made of high impact plastic. I accidentally dropped it in the bathroom sink, and did my impression of someone dying a horrible and painful death, thinking I destroyed my new shaver in less than a week. It survived! Not only that, I think it bounces.

As for battery life, it usually took my old shaver’s entire charge to help me shave a beard off (between using a pair of sissors, the sideburn trimmer, and the shaving head), and in the end, it wasn’t even finishing the job, and it took about 6-8 hours for it to fully charge. Now, with my new shaver, I shaved off my beard, and not only did it in half the time, but did it with less than fifth of the charge.

All and all, I give the shaver a 9/10: -1 being for, even though I got it as a gift, it was a tad overpriced, though I guess you have to pay more than you used to for get high quality.