If there’s one part of consumer technology that’s seen pretty understated leaps in the last few decades, it’s personal grooming.
Whether it’s trimming your beard and trying not to remove a layer of your skin in doing so, or somewhere even more personal, the time of the manual razor is over. Here’s why you need to ditch it, and why the Philips OneBlade is a great alternative.
While a good, old-fashioned razor might seem like an obvious way to trim away your five-o’clock shadow or touch up your facial hair, it’s not exactly something I’ve ever looked forward to.
In fact, growing up, I used to dread having to shave because the razors back in my day (yes, I’m going full Grandpa Simpson) would leave me cut up and peppered with bits of tissue to stem the bleeding.
Even shaving creams, foams, and lotions did little to make the experience feel anything other than torturous, and that’s just the face – drift to your pits, or–heaven forbid–below the belt, and you’ll be feeling itchy, sore, or worse for days.
So what of the OneBlade? For one thing, as the name suggests, it’s delightfully simple. You can use it on your boat race, you can use it on your body, and yes, you can use it on your more delicate areas, too.
While you can use shaving foam or cream with it, I find it to be just as comfortable without it, and while new heads are hardly cheap, at least that’s another expense you can get by without.
The newer OneBlade 360 version actually follows the contours of your face, too, letting you more easily mop up any bits you may have missed. OneBlade is also waterproof, making it ideal for use in the shower (don’t forget to unclog your drain, you animals), and the blades are easy to clean. Each blade lasts around four months, too, and once it does get blunt, you can swiftly swap it over with a quick release mechanism.
Battery life is great, and while I'd have liked a USB-C charging port, as long as you remember where you put the charging cable then you're all set – plus replacements are cheap to pick up if you do lose it (speaking from experience).
Better yet, it’s discounted by 27% at the time of writing. That means you can get the OneBlade 360, with an additional blade, three stubble combs, a storage pouch and a charging cable for just £32.97. The whole set would usually cost £44.99, so you’re getting everything you need at a great price.
Trust me when I say I wish I had this when I was younger – don’t make the same mistake I did! Your face (and everywhere else) will thank you for it.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
