Gillette Fusion Proglide Power Razor, 1-count Package
July 29, 2010 by admin
Filed under personal Care tools
- The razor has been reengineered and redesigned to create Gillette’s Most Comfortable Shave
- Maintain optimal blade spacing for comfort, while allowing the blades to adjust to the contours of the face
- Includes an enhanced blade, a comb guard to better align long hairs and new rinse-through slots
- Delivers soothing micro-pulses for incredible comfort
- On-board microchip that provides consistent power, shave after shave
Product Description
New! Gillette Fusion Proglide. Gillette’s best shave, even if you have every day. Fusion ProGlide’s breakthrough blade technology helps deliver Gillette’s most comfortable shave ever in manual and battery powered. Its thinner, finer blades provide significantly less tug and pull and effortless glide. It is Gillette’s most advanced Shaving System.Amazon.com Product Description
New! Gillette® Fusion® Proglide™. Gillette’s best shave, even if … More >>
To properly evaluate the new Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power razor, I decided to compare it to the new Schick Hydro 5 and my normal razor, a Schick Quattro Power. All started with a new cartridge and a fresh battery as applicable.
I’ll begin by saying that I’ve been using Schick razors for about 40 years and have not been too impressed by most Gillette razors. In particular, they tended to clog up more and were harder to keep clean. I was expecting to be underwhelmed by the ProGlide as well.
ProGlide vs. Hydro 5
Initial impressions: Packaging: Both come in the standard plastic clamshell, but the Gillette is easier to open. The back is perforated for easy opening, where the Schick is more child-proof and requires a sharp object to open it.
What’s included: The Gillette comes with only one cartridge, where the Hydro comes with two.
Holders: the Gillette snaps snugly in to the included plastic holder, while the Schick holder just has a small pin to locate the razor. You could use the Gillette’s as a travel holder with no problem.
Guarantee: The Schick comes with a money back guarantee. The Gillette assumes you will like it.
The razors: While the Gillette looks more substantial, both weigh 1.4 oz fully loaded. The Gillette has a single blade trimmer on the back of the cartridge. Flip the razor 180 deg to use it. The Hydro’s trimmer is under the lube strip that you flip back to use the trimmer.
Cartridge mounting: The ProGlide cartridge slides on easily and snaps in place. The locator pin also acts as “suspension” for the cartridge pivot. The Hydro is a bit more imprecise. You have to line up two small spring loaded fingers on the handle with tabs on the cartridge. Not hard, but not as elegant as the Gillette. The Schick cartridge is smaller than the Gillette…less waste.
On initial “hefting” the Gillette felt better, but in use both were comfortable and easy to maneuver.
The Shave Test
All of the above are secondary to the “Yes, But How Does It Shave” test. I shaved half of my face with the Gillette and half with the Schick, using Proraso Shaving Cream and a badger bristle brush.
Shave No. 1: (3 Day Growth)
The ProGlide felt smooth in all directions, with and against the grain. No pulling on the neck or under the chin. The trimmer was easy to use.
The Hydro was smooth on the cheeks, but pulled noticeably on the neck, especially against the grain. It left a couple of small “razor burn” marks on my neck. To use the trimmer you have to hold the razor with one hand and flip back the cover with the other.
Both razors rinsed clean easily with no clogging.
The Wife Test: Immediately after shaving, Mrs. Boilermate judged the Gillette side marginally smoother, but said that side felt sticky. After my face “dried” she still said the Gillette side was smoother.
Shave No. 2: (2 Day Growth)
The Gillette was smooth while the Hydro pulled noticeably on the neck and under the chin. The Gillette side was again judged smoother in the Wife Test.
ProGlide vs Quattro
Shave Nos. 3 and 4 were done with a two and three day growth respectively using the ProGlide and a Schick Power Quattro (with a new cartridge and a fresh battery).
The first thing I noticed is the ProGlide is noticeably quieter, where the Quattro sounds like an electric razor by comparison.
In both tests, the ProGlide performed as before, with no pulling or burning. The Quattro pulled slightly on the neck, but substantially less than the Hydro did.
As before, the Gillette side was judged smoother by Mrs. B., tho by a similarly small margin.
So what’s not to like? The price of the cartridges. Schick cartridges are cheaper across the board than Gillette. Power ProGlide carts are about $4.00 apiece, where Quattro Power carts are about $2.50 each.
While the ProGlide gives an excellent shave, doesn’t shave enough better to justify switching from the Quattro based on the cost of the cartridges.
Overall, though, the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power rates five stars. As a life-long Schick user, I was pleasantly (and unexpectantly) surprised by this razor. If you can get past the price of the cartridges, I highly recommend this razor.
Rating: 5 / 5
The first thing I tried with this razor was a side-by-side comparision with my Mach 3 razor. So I put a new blade on my old razor and shaved one side of my face and neck, and the other with the Fusion. Without hesitation I can say the Fusion was a much smoother and less iritating shave. However, both razors seemed to give the same shave in terms of closeness. To be sure, I let my hair grow out a few days and there was no appreciable difference.
I can recommend this to anyone who needs a very sensitve shave. The battery power works in the shower, so that’s a nice convenience. Naturally, with a battery, there’s more heft than an unpowered razor like the Mach 3.
The downside, you might expect, is that the blades are about twice as expensive as the Mach 3. Since my old razor never bothered me, I won’t be switching to these more expensive blades. But if money is no object, or if you really need a more comfortable shave, this would be a good razor for you.
Rating: 3 / 5
I just got a sample of this razor from Gillette and I have to say its not much more different than the older Fusion. While it seems to be bit more smoother than older Fusion when I shave with the grain, I don’t see any difference when I shave against the grain. It seems to struggle just as the older fusion against the grain. 3 STARS because the hype that Gillette put behind this product is not justified.
Rating: 3 / 5
The Gillette razors always provide a nice shave but their ever increasing price of blades pushed me away years ago. I now use a simple old fashion safety razor which works great and the blades are dirty cheap. Now I won’t disagree that the Fusion cuts fine and I can shave in record time without fear of removing my Adam’s apple but $4 a blade is just robbery. For the most part I think I’ll stick to safety razor for the bulk of my shaving and then finish up the “scary” areas with the Fusion. This prolongs the life of the Fusion. The safety razor actually works better if you let your whiskers grow longer as since it’s single blade it never clogs.
If you currently use the old Fusion then I fail to see any benefit in this new model. I’m sure they have some lovely marketing but in the end it’s 98% the same and I couldn’t tell the difference. Perhaps the biggest fluff is the “power” feature. It’s completely useless and IMO is just an attempt to add another disposable item to this razor. I’m not sure who asked for their razor to shake in their hands but that’s not what I want while I’m shaving around my lips or throat. I wound up keeping it off while I shave. I’m also still not a fan of the flip back behavior of the Fusion… I prefer the head to stay still but since this isn’t new then maybe you’re fine with it.
Overall it’s a fine razor, but it’s a marketing (not engineering) upgrade with goals to charge you just a bit more per blade but it’s already too much IMO.
Rating: 3 / 5
Since I started shaving a few years ago I’ve been using the bottom-of-the-barrel cheapo razor blades and dealt with irritating tug, ingrown hairs, and skin discoloration. So, it goes without saying when I figured I had enough of my face and chin looking like a rocky road I was bound to notice improvements when I picked up this razor, and I did.
Quality isn’t an issue here: the razor looks great, and gives me a very smooth shave. There is also a vibrating function which I choose to use since it eliminates just about any tug I feel on my skin. My shave feels much more comfortable, looks better, and even with 5 blades it works well against my sensitive skin which I already see improving. The precision trimmer edges up nicely for the clean cut look, but after experimenting I also feel it’s a less risky shave than the main blades around the “danger zone” chin and neck area.
So now, I got my free razor from Gillette, love it and plan on getting more razors/blades…whats the catch? At almost four bucks a blade for refills, this is simply outrageous and it’s a dealbreaker for me. As of right now, using the right coupons/discounts (if you’re man enough) can net you additional Gillette Proglide Razors for less than the price of the blades by itself. I’ll keep using these until the razors I currently have go dull (luckily that will take a while) and downgrade to the original Gillette Fusion Blades unless the price of refills goes down.
Rating: 3 / 5