What are the best electric shavers of 2017

Our judgment was that the Braun Series 7 (version 760cc) would be the best electric razor 2017 for most
people, just as it had been when we first looked in the group two decades ago. If it's unavailable,
the 790cc provides the exact same quality shave with a few minor extra capabilities.

A few weeks prior to our review was completed, that possible usurper arrived. Knowing we needed to
test the brand new Braun--which was expected by shaver lovers for at least a year--we convinced a
friend to see Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district and buy one, hand-carrying it back to the US for
us. (We're in a hurry, because, because of the vagaries of electric shaving, carrying a genuinely
useful multi-person evaluation takes time. More on that in a little)

We found Braun was as fantastic as its own marketing, with a significant asterisk. The Series 9 sets
a benchmark for speed and performance that most of our testers agreed exceeded every other shaver we
tried. But we can't recommend it as our top choice because of its price. At around $280 (though
sometimes much more, or a little less), the expense of entry is just too high. Most of us who shave
their facial hair--if they are five-o’clock-shadow-by-noon types or light-and-wispy citrus--don't
want the performance boost. Nearly everyone is able to get just as velvety a shave from the Series 7,
and save $100 at the deal.

The 790cc offers the same quality shave because our choice, with a couple of additional but
insignificant capabilities. The fanciest among those is a pair of additional digital indicators that
let you know when foil replacement is needed and whether the shaver is dirty. Since foil replacement
is subjective--you are going to want to do that every 18 months or so, and you'll know when your
shave quality declines--and since the cleanliness index is rendered moot if you store the shaver in
the charging/cleaning cradle, we don't consider these features to be worth the extra dollars they
generally cost. But since both Series 7 models are now similar in cost, if you can not locate the
760cc, go together with the 790cc.