PanasonicElectric Razor for Men, Electric Shaver, ARC5 with Premium Automatic Cleaning and Charging Station, Wet Dry Shaver Men, Cordless Razor, with Pop-Up Trimmer ES-LV97-K, Black

This is the best purchase I’ve ever made yet when it comes to hair grooming. It’s holding strong after 4 years! You get a close shave like you would a Wahls and pinpoint sideburn trimming. You can always couple with a manual multi blade shaver too to go the extra mile. It only takes me a couple of minutes to get a nice clean tight shave. I also love the self clean feature it has. And it works great on wet facial surfaces too! Get this!!

So for historical context, I've owned 2 Panasonic ES LA93-K's over about the last 10 years. Before that I owned an old Braun. I've always used electric shavers. I did a lot of research before buying the 93's and they were a top rated shaver. The only problem I had with them was the battery would die and not charge. Last one lasted 4 1/2 years. They were always like shaving with a Lexus - high quality shavers. Before I bought the last one I tried the venerable Braun Series 7 7865 and the then newest iteration of Norelco. Neither one was as good as my first 93 so I bought another 93. I always liked them but I can't say I was happy with battery life. Shaves were always close the first 6 months to maybe even a year, but the blades do dull and it took longer and more work to get a close shave. Also, they got progressively louder as they aged to the point where it was very annoying. But they worked. This time out I decided to revisit the world of shaver reviews just to see if there were any new improved entries. I have to heartily recommend shavercheck.com. A really excellent site! I sort of was hoping that either Braun or Norelco had something that had lept ahead of the pack. Yes - there were improvements for certain, but their newest shavers, sometimes costing a small fortune, had their detractors and failings. Again - the shavers that were standing out were the Panasonics. Panasonic has not been standing still. My Arc 4 had evolved to an Arc 5 and an Arc 6. New smaller faster motors. New head designs. New blades. New charging stands. As always - mostly good to great reviews with a few disgruntled owners. On balance it looked like a no brainer to get another Panasonic. So I bought the Arc 5 ES-LV97-K. This shaver comes highly recommended by Ovidiu on shavercheck.com. He is very practical, saying that you're not going to sacrifice much to the very expensive Arc 6. You'll still get a very close shave that is not a problem for sensitive skin. So after a month here is what I've experienced. The 97 has some definite design and engineering improvements over the old 93's. The motor IS faster. There are more blades that cut more efficiently. The whole shaver is lighter but very substantial. The head is smaller and swivels in 6 directions. I call it the "bobblehead" because it works so well. It still cleans extremely easy under the faucet or the charger/cleaning stand. BTW, you can wash it manually and just dry in the stand - unlike the new Braun series 9 where you HAVE to run the cleaning cycle using their cartridges, etc., every time you charge the shaver in the stand. This new shaver is A LOT quieter than the old 93's. It shaves smooth as silk and is a real pleasure to use. My old shavers I had to grind away at my face forever to get a decent shave. The secret with this 97 is let it do its own work. Not too much pressure. Be patient and go slowly. Let it catch and mow down the whiskers. Keep the blades clean (I now clean it manually every 2 days) - it really makes a difference. Keep the foil as flat against the face as possible and of course try to go against the grain (you'll hear it cutting). Avoid side to side movement which isn't allowing the blades to cut efficiently. I follow Ovidiu's advice and lock the head for round radius's like jaw etc. That works better too. Then unlock for best bobblehead effect. So....am I impressed? You bet! This is really a big step up. I'm still getting baby close shaves in one half the time - yea! My only question now is how sharp will the blades be after 3-6 months? (replacement blades never seem as sharp as OEM). And will the battery live longer than 4 1/2 years? Bottom line - I'm super happy with this shaver - and for the price of $171 - what a good deal!

Even though I do get a close shave. About 2 times during a shave I accidentally turn off the shaver, because of the placement of the on/off button. It would have been good if there was a locking mechanism to prevent this. I know you can lock the on/off button while the shaver is off. So the shaver does not turn on by mistake while traveling. But you can't do this while you are shaving. I do like the way the shaver head swivels to help the blades stay in contact with the contour of the face. And again I do get a close shave every time.

Iv'e used this model for years, and thought I'd try braun... big mistake. Bought the same original Panasonic model and the shaving is much faster and less painful. It's not perfect, but the best out there. The price is reasonable, they don't force a bunch of annoying accessories that don't work or you never use (like cleaner).

I’ll preface this by saying I purchased this today and have only used it once. I’ll update this along at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year of usage.I have a bald head and prefer my face shaved. I’ve been shaving my head for the past 12 years, and my face for almost 15 years (in my earth 30’s).I have an awful, thick cul-de-sac natural hair growth pattern, and hate the way my head looks after about 3 days of razor shaving my head, but it is honesty such a PITA that I usually only do it every Sunday morning, but by Sunday I’m looking pretty rough. I prefer my face shaven, but grow tired of the intense razor burn and bumps I always get on my chin and neck. So the only way to minimize the rash is to use a super fresh, sharp razor, but shaving my face and my head multiple times a week with only 1-2 uses per blade has really been racking up some serious coin over the years. So I usually just run the Clippers with no guard over my face and settle for some minor stubble.After watching some YouTube channels trying to find some videos on the best, easiest, cheaper way to razor shave my head, I found a video discussing how Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shaves his head, and I was shocked to see him holding an electric shaver (not this, but the Braun Series 9 Pro). I knew nothing about electric shavers whatsoever. I’ve never even personally met a man that has experience with them, so I spent about a week researching them. After watching a dozen or so hours worth of shaver reviews on YouTube, it pretty much came down to this shaver, the Panasonic Arc5 and the Braun Series 9 Pro. Multiple videos corroborated each other by saying the Arc 5 gets a much closer shave, but the Braun is way more forgiving for a newbie. My cul-de-sac flashed before my eyes and I knew I needed the closest shave possible to fend off this thick horseshoe on my scalp.I received this model today, charged it for about an hour, and nervously stuck it to my face. Was it going to pull? Was it going to pinch? How could this thing actually cut the hair when you can’t see or feel any sharp edges? I did one there-and-back pass over my cheek and all the hair was gone. Just like magic. I quickly did my whole face and head and I’m absolutely BLOWN AWAY with the simplicity and effectiveness of this device. I did my whole head and face in about 10 minutes, but the hair was pretty thick on both regions, and I was going slow as I built confidence with it. I imagine I could do my head and face every other day in prob 5 mins or less. There are spots that I guess I pressed harder on then others, and those spots are completely smooth with no stubble felt whatsoever. I would say if on a scale of 1-10 and ten is sharp, long stubble and a razor shave is a 0, this shaver left my head and face at about a 0.5-1.0.It’s pure magic. The hair gets trapped inside and isn’t all over me or the sink. When I’m done I just pop the top off and rinse it out.I can’t believe I went my whole life without using an electric foil shaver. I immediately started texting all of my bald friends to recommend them throw away their razors and get them one of these.I would say I’m pretty hard to impress—I’ve been using Amazon for close to a decade with dozens of items ordered a month and I’ve only left a handful of reviews. This product warrants the praise and is WORTH EVERY PENNY.