I’ve been a safety blade shaver for 15 years, but for the first time in nearly two decades, I’ve decided to change my shave. I love safety razor shaving because it’s the best shave you can get and because the blades are so cheap you can replace them every single time if you want to get the best experience possible. I’ve found blades last in my razors for about 10-15 shaves without really any noticeable changes and since I shave so infrequently one lasts me 3 or 4 months.

I love the ritual of shaving, lathering up, taking my time to do it right – except to do it daily is a time consuming hassle. I love how I look after a fresh shave, taking off that old and tired looking beard.

Ever since I’ve worked at an office that doesn’t have public contact, I’ve shaved about once a week. This necessitates using a clipper to cut down the growth before I can shave. Shaving before I shave? It makes the entire process about 30 minutes.

Recently, I changed jobs, and I’m now in meetings several times a day and on camera. I want to shave every day, but I don’t want to do a full wet shave every single day. A normal wet shave is probably going to run 10-15, and there’s a lot of cleanup. Water splashed on the counter, shaving cream and stubble to rinse down the drain, rinsing and drying my face. I think an electric razor will get the job done well enough in 3-5 minutes. I personally don’t need a baby bottom smooth shave, I just need to be camera ready.

I do have thicker hair and I also have some weird growth directions on my neck, which makes it difficult for electric razors to contour to the area and pick up all of the hairs.

Most people recommend using a rotary shaver in this situation. There is one company that dominates the rotary shaver business, and it’s Philips Norelco. I’ve used a Philips Norelco about 10 years ago and absolutely hated it. It irritated my skin, and left me feeling razor burned. Reading the reviews, many people seem to feel like the newest designs sacrifice quality for price and provide a worse shave than razors of the last generation. The exception being the Norelco i9000 Prestige Ultra, which gets great reviews but comes in at a respectable $329. I decided not to dance with Philips a second time. I also own a One Blade, which is a nifty personal groomer but I wasn’t overly impressed with it. For sideburns, the little patch under the nose, clippering a stray hair — it works fine, but for a daily shave, it leaves a lot to be desired.

That leaves me with the option of a foil shaver. The two primary contenders are Panasonic and Braun.

Right away I knew I wanted to go with the Panasonic Arc 5. I love the cleaning station which washes, lubricates and dries the blades. Hygiene is important but it’s especially important for a tool that is going to potentially draw blood. Most people say you don’t need the cleaning station, just rinse it under the faucet. I’m old enough to know a little maintenance goes a long way and is worth the additional cost. I’m not going to manually oil my razor, and these metal blades need lubrication and sanitization to avoid cuts and potentially infection. I actually sanitize my safety razor before every shave already using isopropyl alcohol, so this station will make it an easy and effective way to keep my razor running optimally for it’s service life. Additionally it gives the razor a nice little home on the countertop where it can live. As I get older I’ve learned to appreciate things like that.

The Panasonic Arc series has a quiet Japanese motor which sounds powerful and overbuilt. It looks sophisticated, and has amazing reviews. The battery can be replaced but it’s a chore and requires some tech tools which I do have, but Panasonic can always just discontinue the blade replacement and the thing is toast.

The Arc5 (the last generation) has been reduced in price to a much more reasonable $130 due to the release of the Arc6. I won’t cover the Arc6, it’s a $400 or $500 dollar razor with 6 cutting surfaces. Most people think it’s overkill, maybe even people at Panasonic.

The Arc5 is a steal at $130, but if you want the cleaning station, it’s an additional hundred bucks, for something I’ve not had good experiences with in the past, and that I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy, I decided to look elsewhere.

I kept looking and discovered the Braun Series 7. Fewer cutting surfaces, but that’s fine by me. Users complained that the large shave head on the Panasonic models are difficult to navigate when doing detail work like the upper lip. People already found the 5 to be verging on too much, the 6 is even thicker. Since I plan to shave every day anyway, and still give myself a proper full shave every Sunday, this razor will just need to keep me maintained during the week.

For $139 it comes with the cleaning station, numerous clipper attachments – which I don’t desire and one pod of blade detergent and lubricant. The motor sounds high pitched and somewhat annoying, but at a $100 cheaper than the Arc5, I’m willing to give it a try. This shaver has tons of reviews and fairly good ratings. Many people say it’s probably the best razor you can get at the price point. If I really enjoy electric shaving, maybe I’ll get a second one and try out the Arc5 or the Norelco I10000 Super Plush Ultra or whatever it’s called but for now I want a basic reliable tool for a quick shave.

The selling point for me was the cleaning pod, the lower priced blade replacements due to the simpler design, the lower cost to replace the cleaning solution, and of course world renowned German engineering. It doesn’t feel like a budget item like the mid range Norelcos, it feels like good old fashioned German efficiency. The right tool, for the right job. Sure it doesn’t have 4 inches of whirring steel like the Panasonics, but it has some thoughtful features like intelligent sensing and the ability to use a gentle mode for sensitive parts of my neck and jaw line. It also features a TURBO mode if I really want to get crazy.

So what we have here is a Goldilocks situation. The right tool, the right job, the right accessories, the right features at the right price. Not the best, not the most expensive or most advanced, nor the most luxurious, but that’s just perfect for a guy like me.