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February 27, 2008
It’s no secret that we lust after handsome, well-designed stuff, but the often astronomical price tags make us wonder: Is the old adage you get what you pay for an essential truth? We decided to test it by pitting four posh and pricey products against their budget-friendly counterparts, comparing aesthetics and performance. No battle was without its hardships: razor burn, bossy robots, and sore feet among them. But we emerged appreciably wiser—and even maybe a bit richer—for them.
 Braun Pulsonic ($270) v. Gillette Fusion Power ($13) the idea of putting vibrating razor blades to your face may sound unwise, but that’s the thinking behind both the Gillette Fusion Power and the Braun Pulsonic. The shavers shimmy and shake across your mug, employing minute vibrations to glide more smoothly. The Pulsonic, a sleek chrome electric shaver, manages this by blasting your face with high-frequency sound waves. While you can’t feel it, on the microscopic level the waves make your skin ripple like a wind-blown flag, causing hair to stand up straighter for a closer shave. Braun claims the Pulsonic provides the closest dry shave on the market, and it did perform admirably. Yet it still struggled to mow down hard-to-reach hairs nestled under the chin and along the neck. And while we liked the flexible shaver head, the stealthy sonic action, and the heft (the machine weighs a reassuring 6 ounces), it left our tester’s face feeling sore and caused irritation along the jawline. The simpler battery-operated Gillette Fusion, on the other hand, imparted no blotchy redness. And for the comparatively cheapo price of 13 bucks (single AAA Duracell included), it packs some interesting technology: An onboard microchip regulates five vibrating razor blades and a low-battery display. The vibrations, the theory goes, reduce friction between the blades and your skin, so you get a more comfortable shave with fewer nicks and less irritation. Press a button on the razor’s midsection and it begins to buzz like a miniature jackhammer. “It felt like putting a Pocket Rocket to my face,” our tester reported. But the results were worth the initial awkwardness. As promised, the blades effortlessly glided across his skin, leaving no whisker standing and proving that the vibration feature is more than just a gimmick. Sure, some men prefer the convenience of an electric shaver, in which case we’d recommend the Pulsonic, the gold standard of face mowers. But for a flawless shave that won’t mar your mug, we’d opt for the Fusion. One caveat is the steep cost, as with most razors, of the replacement blades: $14 for a package of four. In the long run, the Fusion could end up costing you more than the Pulsonic, so it’s no bargain: just a better shaver. Advantage: Gillette. * Nicole Dyer is a senior editor at Popular Science. Photography by Mark Weiss |
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