Braun Series 3 Razor With Precision Trimmer

brilliant just the job

I bought a lower cost Braun electric razor to see if I could shave left handed without cutting myself as I likely would with a safety razor since my right arm is in a sling.
I was amazed at how well this model Braun shaves. Though it’s not as close as a razor, it’s still plenty good enough and super quick. I’ll continue to use this model Braun at least 3-4 times a week even when out of the sling. I’m super impressed with Braun.

I purchased this shaver for my husband. His review follows.

The Braun 3040s is a competent shaver and gets the job done. Although at first I found it inferior to nearly 30-yr old Braun technology, i.e., the Braun system 1-2-3 cl3525 shaver, also designated as 5567U, which I purchased in 1995. (Braun’s use of multiple product numbers and designations is very confusing!), I have learned to use it and am enjoying it more.  I purchased the 3040 since my 5567 will not last forever. I’ve had the 5567 repaired a number of times over the years: new batteries, multiple repairs of the pop-up trimmer, replacement of a cracked gasket, and even a new case since the rubber nibs had worn off. Unfortunately, the locally owned shaver repair shop that serviced it over the years has now gone out of business. Through it all, the 5567 has been an excellent shaver, small, lightweight, reasonably quick, fairly quiet, cleanly shaves my beard in the areas on my face where the hairs lay flat against my skin (i.e., use of the pop-up trimmer), and the battery keeps its charge for at least a week’s worth of shaves. I routinely charge it weekly, when I also scrupulously clean it with a brush, compressed air, and then lubricate it.

I purchased the new Braun 3040s because of my history with Braun, my preference for foil shavers, and since their shavers get good ratings. Also, I needed a new shaver since, as I said, mine is not going to last forever. 

I selected the 3040s since I didn’t need all the bells and whistles of the more expensive Brauns, and with respect to the pivoting shaver head on the more expensive models, I can see no value in it. As a customer with an engineering background the pivoting shaver head looks like it ups the cost and complexity of the shaver and does little or nothing to improve the shave.  It seems to me that a good shave is all about the foil and conforming to my face.  The swivel head seems like a problem and would potentially limit the force and control I have with a fixed head; in fact, one reviewer on Amazon said as much.

Another feature I at first did not like on the current Brauns, except for the M90 (see below), is that they now have a double foil with a blade arrangement between. However, I must admit it does seem to cut my beard more quickly, now that I have learned to move the shaver across my skin much more slowly than with my older Braun.

The new 3040 is larger and heavier, the head is too big to easily fit between my mustache and nose, it runs at a higher speed and so is buzzier.  Apparently, there is a version that comes with a locking foil-retraction feature for one of the foils, that would make it easier to position under my nose, but according to Braun that is not available in the U.S. Even though the battery is newer technology I barely get a week out of a full charge, less than I get with my 5567. On the plus side, even though larger, it feels good in the hand.

A minor disadvantage of the 3040 is that I cannot hear my whiskers being cut. With the 5567 I can clearly hear the difference between the foil cutting beard, vs. cutting on shaved skin. It makes it easy, without always having to run my fingers over my beard, to know when an area has been cut adequately clean.

The 3040 does have some pluses over their 30-year old technology but still in ways I prefer the simple 5567 with the only needed improvement being a more durable mechanism for the pop-up trimmer. That would be fabulous.  Perhaps Braun’s one major shaver “advancement” has been reducing costs. I paid $60 for the 3040 on Amazon, which is exactly what I paid for the 5567 back in 1995. But the inflation-adjusted price of the 5567 would be about $114 in 2022. So, Braun has succeeded in keeping costs down.

As a side note, I did also purchase a Braun M90 just to give it a try, since it is a single-foil design like the 5567.  It is less expensive than the 3040, but unfortunately does not have a rechargeable battery. It is nice and small, does not shave as quickly as the 3040, and it not quite up to the venerable 5567.

To qualify the beard that is being used to assess the shavers, see the attached photos. I have to shave daily, not because my growth is that thick, but because many of my hairs grow parallel to my skin’s surface and I am prone to in-grown hairs if I do tend to them on a daily basis.

Ótimo barbeador.