Buying guide
Foil or rotary: which electric shaver should you buy?
Foil for straight stubble and a close neck, rotary for longer, curlier or patchy growth that grows in different directions. Pick the type first; the brand comes second.
A foil shaver runs blades side to side behind a thin perforated sheet, so it cuts close in straight lines. A rotary shaver uses round heads that turn and flex, which helps it follow the jaw and the chin.
In our electric shavers list the Philips Series 5000 S5466 rotary comes first, around £100. Its heads turn 360 degrees, and the listing quotes 50 minutes from a one-hour charge. The foil pick is the Panasonic ES-RF31 at £60 to £70, with four blades and a pivoting head. The listing gives no battery figure for it.
For dense, flat-lying stubble, the Panasonic ES-LV67 has five blades and a beard sensor, at £120 to £130. The Philips i9000 Prestige sits around £200 and adds lights that show how hard you are pressing. The Remington F4 is the budget foil, under £40, but it takes four hours to charge.
Wet or dry: does it matter?
It matters if your skin reacts to a dry shave. Shaving wet with gel or foam lets the head glide, which most men with sensitive skin find kinder. Dry is quicker.
Wet and dry means you can shave with gel in the shower. Waterproof or washable can just mean the head rinses under the tap. Most shavers in our list are sold for wet and dry use, but not every listing says so, so check before you buy one for the shower.
The same split shows up elsewhere. The Panasonic ER-GB42 in beard trimmers is sold for trimming with gel or foam. The Philips Head Shaver Pro 7000 in head shavers never says it can be used wet, so the Pitbull is the one for the shower.
Which tool suits your skin and hair type?
Sensitive skin, coarse growth and thinning hair each point to a different tool, so start from the problem rather than the product.
For sensitive skin, shave wet with gel or foam, press lightly and let the head do the work. A shaver sold for wet and dry use is the one to pick, and a trimmer with a skin guard is kinder on the neck than a blade that sits flush.
For a coarse or dense beard, you want power and more blades rather than more settings. The Panasonic ES-LV67 is the shaver our list picks for thick stubble, and the Remington QuickCut Pro HC4300 has a turbo mode for thick hair on the head.
For thinning hair, many men go short all over or shave it off entirely. Clippers with a full set of guards handle the first; a rotary head shaver handles the second, and the budget Vonktar is a low-cost way to try it.
What guard lengths does a beard need?
Stubble needs fine steps under 1mm. A short full beard needs settings up to about 10mm. Anything longer needs a trimmer that goes past that, or a comb and scissors.
| Your beard | Pick | Length range | Budget band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stubble with sharp edges | Philips OneBlade 360 | combs at 1, 3 and 5mm | around £30 |
| Stubble to short beard | Philips Beard Trimmer 3000 | 0.5 to 10mm, 0.5mm steps | around £40 |
| Exact length, every time | Braun Series 5 BT5525 | 40 settings, 0.5mm steps | around £40 |
| Fuller beard plus hair | Philips Multigroom 3000 | 0.5 to 16mm, 10 settings | around £25 |
| Forgets to charge things | Wahl Groomsman | 0.5 to 13mm, cord or cordless | under £20 |
The Philips Beard Trimmer 3000 leads because a dial with 20 locked lengths covers most beards people actually wear. The Braun has twice the settings and 120 minutes of runtime, but it ships with a 2-pin charger, so it needs a shaver socket or an adapter. The OneBlade is a stubble and edging tool with a 45-minute battery, not a full-beard trimmer.
Which clipper guards do you need for a home haircut?
A full set from grade 1 to grade 8. Clipper grades rise in eighths of an inch, so a 1 leaves about 3mm and an 8 about 25mm. If you want a fade, you also want a taper lever to blend between grades.
The Wahl Cord/Cordless Rechargeable Clipper tops hair clippers for under £20. Its guide combs run from 0.8 to 25mm and it keeps going on the cord when the battery runs out. Wahl says the blades need brushing and oiling, so it is not a rinse-under-the-tap tool.
For fades, the BaByliss Super-X Metal E992U has taper control and up to three hours of cordless use, at £80 to £90. It is cordless only. The Remington QuickCut Pro HC4300, around £50, has a turbo mode for thick hair. The Wahl Colour Pro, around £40, colour-codes its 12 combs, which saves grabbing the wrong guard when one clipper does the whole family.
What is the best way to shave your head?
A rotary head shaver with several floating heads, used wet. It follows the curve of the skull, so you can do the back without a mirror.
The Skull Shaver Pitbull Silver Pro SX5 leads head shavers at £70 to £80, with an IPX6 rating for the shower. Its spec sheet is thin: no battery time and no head count on the listing. The DOAO Head Shaver, around £30, is the best seller of the group and quotes 180 minutes from a USB-C charge. It has no model name in its title, so spare heads may take some finding.
The Vonktar 7D, under £20, is the cheap trial for someone not yet sure about the bald look.
Do you need a separate body groomer?
Yes, if you trim below the neck. A body groomer has a skin guard so it trims without nicking, and it should be waterproof so you can use it in the shower. A beard trimmer is the wrong tool down there.
The Philips Body Groomer 5000 leads body groomers at around £55. It has a skin guard, a foldable back attachment and 100 minutes of runtime, but its combs stop at 5mm. The Manscaped Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra, over £100, is built for the groin with LED lights and no back attachment. For a back with no one to help, the Hatteker extends to 12 inches. The baKblade 2.0 is a manual razor on a long handle, so it takes hair off completely.
Which nose hair trimmer stops the pulling?
One with a rotating, guarded blade and a head you can rinse. Battery type barely matters on a tool used for a minute a week.
The Panasonic ER-GN30 tops nose hair trimmers for under £15. It is fully waterproof and covers ears and brows too. The Wahl Micro Finisher 3in1, under £10, runs on one lithium battery that Wahl says lasts about a year.
What about the smile: toothbrush and water flosser?
Buy the mid-range brush with a two-minute timer and a pressure sensor, then put the savings towards replacement heads. Those heads cost more over the years than the handle.
The Oral-B iO2 leads electric toothbrushes at around £35 for that reason. The Vitality Pro, around £20, is the best seller but has no pressure sensor. The iO9, around £160, adds position tracking in an app; most of the extra money pays for that.
In water flossers, the cordless Hangsun HOC760 comes first at around £25. Its listing says it was named a Which? Best Buy in November 2025. The Waterpik WP-582, around £70, carries an orthodontic tip for braces.
What keeps a shaver or trimmer cutting well?
Cleaning, oil where the maker asks for it, and spare heads you can actually buy. Check those before you pay, because they decide whether the tool lasts two years or ten.
Some blades need nothing. The Philips Multigroom 3000 and the Beard Trimmer 3000 are sold as self-sharpening with no oiling. The Wahl clippers are the opposite: Wahl says to brush and oil the blades regularly. That is a two-minute job, but skip it and the cut starts to drag.
Spares are the hidden catch with lesser-known brands. The DOAO head shaver and the AREYZIN nose trimmer carry no model number in their titles, so replacement heads may take some searching. The Panasonic ER-GN30 listing does not say which battery it takes, so check before buying spares.
What should you know about battery, charging and travel?
Check three things on any listing: how long a charge lasts, how long it takes, and what plug it uses.
A tool that also runs on the cord, like the Wahl clippers, never leaves you with half a haircut. A slow charge matters if you forget to plug things in; the Remington F4 takes four hours. Some kit arrives with a 2-pin charger meant for a bathroom shaver socket, and some charges by USB with no plug in the box, so you may need an adapter.
For travel, USB-C charging means one cable covers your phone and your shaver. A travel lock stops a tool switching on in the bag, and the Maxgroom 7D has one. If you fly, keep anything with a lithium battery in your hand luggage and check your airline’s rules.
How we pick
We rank from retailer listings, maker specs and published review research. We have not shaved, clipped or brushed with these ourselves, so where a claim comes only from the maker we say so. Where a listing leaves out runtime or wet use, we flag it rather than guess. Read the full process on our methodology page, and for women’s shavers and hair removal see beauty tech for women.