Braun Series 9 Electric Shaver Review and Comparison: Is the Braun Series 9 Worth Buying Now, and Which Model Is the Best?

Braun Series 9 is Braun’s most advanced and highest-end shaver production yet. After releasing the series, it has become overwhelming on the market and became very curious to all levels of men. After getting this reaction, Braun decided to elaborate the series with more models and newer upgrades. Till now, Braun released 3 generations of series 9 shavers with major upgrades with 90xx, 92xx, and 93xx models. In this review, I will cover all the features and specifications, differences with older versions, pros, and cons for your better understanding.

Features and Specifications Analysis

Braun claims the Series 9 is the world’s most efficient shaver series for its premium features and built quality.

The brand is very confident with their series 9 for the following features:

5 Synchronized Shaving Elements:

Braun series 9 is especially known for its unique 5 synchronized shaving elements.

Braun implemented 5 shaving elements together for the best efficiency of the shave with the maximum level of shaving comfort.

All the shaving elements work together to cut hairs efficiently from a very close level for a smooth shave.

The shaving elements are one of the main reasons for Braun’s highest confidence level.

The manufacturer claims the shavers can capture and cut more hairs in one stroke than any other shaver in the world for their special synchronized shaving elements.

After observing the shaver head, you may become confused seeing its 4 cutting elements while Braun is claiming 5 elements there.

Well, it’s very common because there are 4 cutting elements actually and 1 stainless steel skin guard that is considered a shaving element but not a cutting element.

After that experience, it’s also common to ask why it’s thought to be the best while the rival Panasonic Arc5 features actual 5 cutting elements.

However, Braun used 3 different technologies in the cutting elements for better adaption and flexibility than the rivals and these are the following.

2x OptiFoils

Braun used 2 OptiFoils on the shaving head of the Series 9. These 2 elements are situated on the edge side of the shaver head (front and back). The OptiFoils are the regular foil shaving elements by Braun. Braun used hexagonal-shaped holes on the blocks that are more efficient to feed more hairs to the blades. Thus the Optifoils cuts more range of beards per stroke. To sum up, the Optifoils are the main responsible for the closest result of the full operation.

Direct and Cut trimmer

The direct and cut trimmer is a different cutting element from any other Brand’s electric razors. This cutting element works like a comb to align the hairs that are grown in different directions and cut them. While all of our beards do not grow in the same direction, there is no cutting element that is more efficient than the Direct and Cut trimmer to cut the messy hairs.

HyperLift and Cut trimmer

This is a unique cutting element on the Braun Series 9 shaver head. The responsibility of the cutting element is to lift and cut the flat-laying hairs on the face. You obviously have some stubborn lied hairs on your face that are pretty tough to capture with electric shavers. But the special Hyperlift & cut trimmer is also stubborn to capture them and lift to the cutting blade for flawless operation.

In short, the two special cutting elements, “direct and cut trimmer” and “Hyperlift and cut trimmer,” are adorable for ensuring no spare hairs for flawless and smooth shaves.

Skin-guard

The Skin-guard is the last shaving element but not a cutting element on the shaver. The responsibility of the skin guard is to protect the skin from shaving pressure and minimize skin irritation. In other words, the skin-guard technology reduces the harshness of the sharp blades by minimizing the cutting pressure while passing over the skin. Thus the shaver becomes skin-friendly while cutting with efficiency.

The 5 shaving elements are different from Arc5 to make the shaver special, where it looks smarter than the Panasonic’s bulky head. On the other hand, the shaver produces 40,000 cross-cutting actions per minute to make the shaving process faster.

See Price New Braun Series 9 on Amazon.com

Automatic Cleaning Center:

There are two types of shaver models in the Braun series 9 9xxxcc and 9xxxs.

The 9xxxcc model refers to are model that comes with an automatic cleaning and charging station.

The cleaning and charging center cleans, dries, lubricates, and charges the shaver automatically after putting the shaver into it and making a single press to the power button of the center.

The cleaning center hygienically cleans the shaver with an alcohol-based cleaning lubricator.

The lubricator kills all kinds of germs from the shaving head and makes the shaver maximum hygiene and keeps the blades and foils new-like healthy. 

On the other hand, the (9xxxs) solo models do not come with any cleaning center and you need to clean them manually with a cleaning brush or rinse it.

i.e. 9390cc, 9385cc, 9370cc, 9296cc, and 9291cc are the models with cleaning and charging station and 9330s, 9293s are the solo models.

100% Waterproof:

All the Braun Series 9 models are 100% waterproof that are allowed to rinse with direct water and moreover shave under the shower.

So, If you have a solo model, you do not need to worry about cleaning it without the cleaning center.

Wet/dry Shaver:

The Braun Series 9 shavers are famous for their wet shaving efficiency.

All these shavers are very efficient for wet shaving and certainly good for fast dry shaving.

So, you can have efficient wet shaving with your favorite shaving cream, foam, or gel for refreshing wet shaving.

Power Source:

Since the Braun Series 9 shavers are 100% waterproof and wet/dry, they are not allowed to use while charging/corded.

The manufacturer engineered the shaver with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that takes 1 hour for a full charge and provides 50 and 60 minutes of cordless runtime.

What does it mean 50 and 60 minutes?

Okay, there are three generations of the Series where the first two generations provide 50 minutes of runtime.

On the other hand, the new generation Series 9 shavers come with 20% extra power that provides 60 minutes of runtime.

i.e. The models starting with 93xx are the new generation models like Braun 9390cc, 9385cc, 9370cc, and 9330s.

Inner Power:

The Series 9 is the most powerful creation by Braun which comes with a very powerful motor that creates 40,000 cross-cutting actions per minute for faster shaving results.

The older models come with an 8-bit processor whereas the new generation Series 9 shavers come with a 4x powerful 32-bit processor for more accurate control.

Precision Trimming:

A shave is incomplete without precision shaving of sideburns and more.

All the high-end electric shavers come with a precision trimming facility along with close shaving.

But the Braun Series 9 shaver’s precision trimmers are a bit more powerful and premium.

You will find the precision trimmer on the rare side of the shaver which is very easy to handle and use.

Flexibility:

All the cutting elements of Braun Series 9 shavers can independently move alongside and moreover, the head is extremely flexible.

The floating elements and the head can pivot in 10 directions for maximum flexible shaving with super comfort.

LED Digital Display:

One of the most attractive features of Braun Series 9 is the smart LED display of the shaver.

The display feels like a smartphone provides real data for easier maintenance and handling of the shaver.

You will find, battery indication, charging indication, power level, travel lock indication, hygiene indication, and more in the display.

The new generation Braun Series 9 upgraded the display with a more HD look.

I like the new white HD LED of the upgraded display rather than the older blue symbols.

Head-lock:

A flexible head is good for comfortable shaving but sometimes you need a fixed head while shaving tricky areas like the neck, chin, etc.

The manufacturer is very experienced and they also thought about this fact while designing the Series 9 shavers.

All the Braun Series 9 shavers have 5 predetermined lock positions to shave from different angles as you need.

I found there is no electric shaver on the market that has 5 position headlock system except Braun Series 9.

If you compare Series 9 with its main rival Panasonic arc5, the Arc5 comes with a 1-position locking system.

Travel Lock:

The travel lock is also a useful feature to keep the shaver safe from accidentally turning on by any unintentional press of the power button while traveling or carrying.

The Braun Series 9 shavers come with the travel lock system and there is a lock witch into the LED display of the shaver.

See Price New Braun Series 9 on Amazon.com

Ergonomic and Built Quality

The design of Braun series 9 shavers looks pretty good with a digital interface.

But if compare to the built quality of the downgrade Series 7’s built quality, the Series 9 looks flimsier.

The whole body of Series 9 is made of plastic and the manufacturer did not do any further upgrades to the new generation Series 9 shavers as well.

They only changed the colors and effects of the design but everything in the built quality looks underwhelming like before.

The older Series 9 shavers were silver glossy chrome finished whereas the new generation shavers come with a matte finish.

However, I can say the design sense especially the user experience is really appreciable of Series 9 designers.

If we first look at the head of the shaver, the foil block has been separated with a surrounding edge and there are two release buttons on the left and right sides.

The release buttons are to detach the foil block to clean the inner side of the head and blades or replace the foil chamber.

After the pivoting head at the front side, there is the big headlock switch that is designed with user-friendly dimples.

You need to slide up and down to deactivate and activate the headlock in 5 pre-determined positions.

Just blow the switch, there is the Series 9 sticker with the wet/dry symbol next to the power button.

The power button is to turn on and turn off the shaver and also activate and deactivate the travel lock.

To activate the travel lock, press the power button and hold it for 3-4 seconds and repeat the process similarly to deactivate the lock.

Below the power button, there is Braun’s branding logo for identifying the original Braun product.

While looking at the rare side of the shaver, it looks pretty impressive with textured soft rubber grip finishing that keeps the shaver very secured comfortably in the grasp.

There is the Braun Series 9’s precision trimmer that you need to press and slide up to open the trimmer and you will find two metal studs along the sides that are used to configure with cleaning and charging dock.

If you put the shaver head into the dock, the studs automatically adjust with the dock and start transferring data.

At the bottom of the shaver, there is a charging port to charge the shaver with the provided charging cord.

According to built quality and design, I’ll rate the Series 9 (8 out of 10).

See Price New Braun Series 9 on Amazon.com

Shaving Performance

Now let’s talk about the main thing to decide does the Braun Series 9 worth it or not? Undoubtedly the Braun Series 9 is the most expensive electric shaver on the market and everyone is very enthusiastic about the shaving efficiency of the shaver along with shaving quality. Okay, I think this experimental feedback may help you understand the actual fact of the shaving performance of the most waved Braun Series 9.

While talking about the shaving quality, I have to break down the different aspects separately for better understanding.

Closeness of the Shave:-

The main duty of an electric shaver is to give close shaves where some are fruitful and some are not.

When I tried on my rough beard and thought the result might disappoint me since coarse beard.

But surprisingly the result was very close.

I didn’t need to make more passes for a complete shave and the result was comparable with traditional blades.

While operating in the wet atmosphere with gel, the result was exactly similar.

Braun’s 4 cutting element combination and a very powerful processor work together to ensure fast and super close shaving performance in every stroke.

According to shaving closeness, I’ll rate Braun Series 9 (9 out of 10).

Shaving Comfort:-

Most of the experts think Braun charges a big amount for the Braun Series 9 shaver and this is because of their shaving comfort.

Braun designed the series 9 to provide the most comfortable operation and I think they are successful.

I’m not taking Braun’s side but it’s real that there is no electric shaver on the market that can beat Series 9’s shaving comfort.

While checking the skin specialist’s advice, almost all the specialists suggest Braun Series 9 for their clients whether they have sensitive skin or not.

In terms of shaving comfort, I’ll rate Braun Series 9 (9.8 out of 10).

Noise Level at the Operation:-

This is to say, foil shavers are pretty much louder than rotary shavers.

But Braun’s designers kept this thought in mind while engineering the most expensive series and tried to keep the noise level quieter.

Since it comes with a powerful motor and creates much vibration, it may create some sounds but it’s not unbearable and really comparable with rotary types.

Certainly, the Braun Series 9 is the quietest shaver on the market in foil type. In terms of noise level, I’ll rate Braun Series 9 (9 out of 10).

Precision Trimming:-

The Braun Series 9 shavers come with an identical slide-up trimmer to Braun Series 5.

But the trimming result is not too bad since a small unit.

The trimmer is enough for shaping sideburns, mustaches, eyebrows, and more.

But it will take a very long time for trimming off the full beard and I think it’s not good enough in this aspect.

So you should go on with a regular beard trimmer for trimming off a full beard or hair.

However, the slide-up trimmer is pretty good in its duty since Braun did not make it for trimming or shaping regular beards.

In terms of precision trimming, I’ll rate Braun Series 9 (8 out of 10).

See Price New Braun Series 9 on Amazon.com

Old Versions vs New Version

You can differentiate the new generation series 9 shavers from older models at first look. Because, the older models were finished with a glossy chrome look, on the other hand, the newer models are matte finished. There are some more differences between them. For a better instance, I’m making a chart of the similarities and differences.

Pros

• Good for comfort lovers.
• Powerful enough.
• Efficient and smooth shave.
• Premium built quality.
• Efficient wet/dry performance.
• 100% waterproof.
• Great solution for sensitive skin.
• Good battery life.

Cons

• Mostly built in plastic.
• Very expensive.

Verdict

There are lots of negative feedbacks about every electric shaver on the market and the Braun Series 9 has as well.

But trust me, the negative feedbacks come from the people who accidentally buy such an expensive shaver where his target was an affordable shaver.

Braun did not produce Series 9 for everybody but only for some people who have a crying need for comfortable close shaves and do not need to think about the price range.

The Braun Series 9 is undoubtedly an expensive shaver but it will give you the premium feel of shave and moreover, the comfort level is out of the box.

See Price New Braun Series 9 on Amazon.com

Braun Series 9 vs Panasonic Arc5 vs Philips s9000

There are two alternative shaver series on the market that are competing with the Braun series 9 for a long time (Panasonic arc5 and Philips Norelco Series 9000).

The Panasonic Arc 5 has a Japan-grade built Quality and the Philips Norelco 9000 is the most advanced rotary shaver produced by the Dutch brand Philips.

Panasonic arc5 also has older generations whereas Philips Norelco 9000 changed the full series with a prestigious upgrade.

In the following chart, I’ll cover all the differences between rivals.

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