Braun CoolTec Men's Electric Foil Shaver - Rechargeable Cordless Razor with Cooling Technology for Smooth Shaving | Perfect for Travel, Home & Office Use

Ever since this shaver first came out I've used nothing else! The ONLY dislike I have is that it's impossible to find in the stores now and sometimes even Braun's website doesn't have it! As long as I can find it I WILL be using this model!This is my second model of this razor. It took me years but I wore out my first one. I loved the coolness of shaving with this razor. I loved it so much I bought a second one. For me, this is a great product that delivers a reasonably close very good shave.my mistake. the shaver is now charge. THANK YOU. A CHEAP CARGER. NO CHARGING STATION OR CLEANING STATION. I HAVE TO PURCHASE SEPERATELY.MORE MONEY.The bestAmazon has the best price around for this shaver. I really didn't need or want the clean/charge station - manual cleaning with tap water is fine. I was concerned after reading in the manual that the Cooltec shaver cannot be used with any pre-shave products i.e. no shave lotion when used dry and no foams or gels when used in the shower. I planned on using it in the shower. I couldn't imagine that there would be enough glide. My previous Philips and Panasonic wet/dry shavers had no problem with foam or gel. Braun customer service is not yet up to speed on the Cooltec. One agent stated that lotion, foam or gel would damage the shaver and that it would void my warranty! A supervisor corrected that...she said that pre-shaves might damage the shaver but that my warranty would still apply. Another Braun CS agent wrote to me that the Cooltec could NOT be used in the shower at all (she later apologized and said that it could).The bottom line is that the Cooltec gives me a comfortable and very close shave in the shower without foam or gel! That's a significant savings - not having to purchase foam or gel ever again! I am amazed. The cooling technology is very pleasant and soothing as well. I did make sure to follow the recommended tips - short strokes holding the shaver at a right angle to the skin. My only reason for deducting one star is that the shave-time per charge drops from 45 to 15 minutes if you use the cooling feature.I had been waiting for the newest technology to come out and was excited when Braun finally came out with something new. I have tried everything over the years, from Panasonic to Phillips to manual to Braun (including their Series 7) but struggled to find something that was great. I have been using an older Braun in recent years (8000 series with Series 3 Combi 30b replacement foil), and it's been ok, but I get a lot of irritation/redness.In short, after 3 weeks, while the cooling sensation is a good idea, the performance of the shave is noticeably worse than what I had before. I have to go over the same area multiple times in order to get it reasonably close, but even then I had to pull out my old shaver often. The cooling effect had a subtle, if any, effect on my irritation, although it probably could have been better if I didn't have to repeatedly shave the same area.Pros:- Decent price (I was able to get it $80-90 on Amazon)- Cool Tec sensation can get as cold as ice, which feels nice and may have (minor) benefit for irritation/redness- Can rinse with waterCons:- Unacceptable shave (not close enough) -- both missed hairs and not short enough- Wide two-part foil is awkward for challenging places, like neck and above lip, and it does not pivot like my other shaver- Cooling button is big and placed poorly so that can mistakenly turn off this feature- Cooling can take more than 10 seconds to kick in after turning on- Charging station is awkward -- short cord and has to be done at an angle. Also, shaver can easily not be touching charging prongs. I preferred system with my other shaver where I can connect directly with (long) cord.- No protection case like my other Braun shaver.Overall, I wish they added the cooling feature to one of their other shavers that works better rather than this disappointing new product. Fortunately, Braun has a 60 day money-back guarantee, although it will cost me $10 in return shipping.First off, don't waste your money on the model that comes with the cleaning kit. The cartridges need to be refilled and the cleaning base isn't worth the $30 increase in price.Now to talk about the shaver. I've been purposely shaving my face to have scruff for the past 8 years because my skin is too sensitive to try to get a close shave with an electric razor. Every time I've tried out a new razor I've seen the same results -- breakouts and irritation on my skin.The Braun Cool Tec is a total game changer. From the very first shave it managed to yield smooth, close shaves while preventing irritation. The cooling feature is noticeable and effective, and shaving with this in the morning feels refreshing and easy. Since the Technology is paired with a series 3 razor you still have to make multiple passes, but doing so isn't too difficult. This shaver made my face smoother than it has ever been since puberty -- that's worth much more than the $100 price tag.I can't wait for Braun to release this feature on a series 5 (or even 7) razor, it would be even better!I've been pleased withy this razor overall. The cooling feature works very well and really does stop irritation. That's been a good thing because in the problem areas I do have to spend a little more time shaving. Around my jaw line and neck area I end up doing the normal vertical strokes but then also some horizontal which does the trick. I switched to this razor from a lotion-dispensing rotary one so the technique is slightly different anyhow. I do really like the fact that my sensitive skin is taken care of without having to purchase the expensive lotion as well. It does also give a pretty close shave. I'd say it's about as good as shaving with a blade - with the grain. My beard is light to medium.I mainly bought this shaver for the cool tech feature, And it is working GREAT!But The shaver itself is NOT working as good.This is the thing, The shaver only gets the ( easy hair ) but if the hair is 3 mm or longer, and is not standing strait out off the skin, then the shaver WILL NOT CATCH IT ! Meaning : If the hair is a little bit few days long, and in a sharp angle with the skin surface, then save your time, it'll not be shaved at all with this shaver.I ended up using my old Philips shaver to complete my shave, So I ended up with a hot shave again ! :(The bottom line is : If you plan to use this shaver to shave EVERYDAY, then it should be OK, But waiting for a few days to shave, Then better use another shaver.. It seems the holes on the foil is SO SMALL to let hair in different angles to get inside easily, Rotary disk shaver is working great for me so far..So I most likely will buy a new Philishave to replace my old one.The other thing you need to know about for this cool tech is : Once the battery reaches 30% charge, The cool tech is turned off! And no way of turn it on until recharge the battery , So basically you get average of 3 shaves per charge and 1 of them with no cool tech on!Sorry Braun , Your shaver needs more work.Never have used an electric razor before so I can't compare to other razors. But having super sensitive skin this cooling tech is INCREDIBLE! The blades get real hot on these type of razors and the cooling strip counters that. Nope it's not the closest shave in the world and you can miss a spot or too but the convenience of this razor out weighs this. It don't really matter what electric razor you buy it will never be as close as a straight razor and like all you basically need to shave every day. Electric razors aren't made for long facial hair. Also Don't buy an electric razor and use it once. Give it a couple weeks your skin needs to get used to it.Its OK.....Bought because of reviews and wanted to try something that is faster and easier shave; turns out that it takes just as long ( or even longer) using this cordless shaver as it does with a normal blade and cream. You must repeatedly go over all areas ( chin, cheeks, etc) 2x, 3x, 4x to make sure, because after each time you notice there is still some hair that was missed. Plus, cannot compare closeness to a good quality Gillette blade......no contest, imo.I'm starting to love this electric shaver as I was always a fan of Gillette, especially the Proglide series. Works wonderfully because of the cool tec technology because it doesn't leave too much redness or skin irritation. The shave doesn't get close enough compared to a manual razer but it's the best electric shaver I've ever used. I won't be going to back to using manual shaving blades again.Fantastic shaver. Honestly, I don't use the Cool Tec function much. It's winter in Canada, and my washroom is freezing as is in the morning. Battery seem to last forever, I can't even remember when I charged it. It's a bit loud I find, but this is the only Braun I own so I can't compare.