The 4 Best Electric Razors of 2025

Top pick

The Braun Series 8 electric razor offers a cleaner, closer, more comfortable shave than similar shavers in its price range, and it’s nearly as good as many razors that cost much more. It has a built-in trimmer and comes with a travel case, a cleaning station, and a cleaning brush. It performs well wet or dry, isn’t overly loud — around 40 decibels, according to our sound meter testing — and offers good ergonomics and grip. It’s a great razor.

It cuts hair cleanly and closely. Our testers said they found this razor “easily the best” they tested. It had “no shaving irritation” and delivered “a nice, smooth shave.” You can quickly move the shaver over your face and get close results, without needing to do several passes. Testers found that the Series 8 also did well at cleaning up the flat-lying hairs on their necks, often a trouble spot for electric shavers. Another upgrade that the Series 8 features over Braun’s lower-series models is the addition of four thin metal rods at the corners of the trimmers that help stretch and smooth the skin prior to the razor cutting the hairs.

The Braun Series 7, 8 and 9 all share a similar body chassis and cutting block. And in our tests, all the Braun models stood above the pack in closeness and comfort.

Its head can stay fixed at an angle for shaving certain parts of the face. In the Series 8 and higher models, Braun introduced a head-locking feature that fixes the head angle in one of five positions. This is intended to help you shave hard-to-reach areas, such as under the nose. We found that locking the head delivered a closer shave under the chin and on the neck, a key area where many electric shavers especially fall short in comparison with a manual razor. The lock makes it easier to maintain constant and full contact between the foils and your skin when you’re navigating these angled terrains — more contact, more cutting, closer shave. Simply push up on the large oval button above the power button to go between ratcheting lock mode and “freestyle.”

The included cleaning station is effective, if somewhat wasteful. All of the high-end Braun shavers are available with a SmartCare Center cleaning station. The station is pretty neat: You insert the razor, and it cleans, lubricates, dries, and recharges. It does so with an alcohol-based solution that comes in a replaceable cartridge that slots in the bottom. These cartridges sell for about $6 each and can last up to a couple of months. Their cost can add up, but you have a few ways to extend their life or reduce their cost, such as removing and resealing the cartridge after each use, or third-party or DIY (rather than manufacturer-recommended) solution refills.

The cleaning station is a bit bulky overall and can take up a lot of counter space, especially in small or shared bathrooms. It also makes a lot of noise and goes on for a while. If you typically get up before a partner or housemate and always try to keep the noise down in the morning, this cleaning station may not be the way to go if you’re in the habit of cleaning your razor right after you shave. (You could instead just set the razor to clean itself at night when you brush your teeth.)

It’s the best value in a beloved shaver lineup. We compared the Series 7 and 8 in our most recent round of testing. The two were very similar, but overall our testers said that the Series 8 ranked far ahead in closeness. And the “ride” of the pivoting head over our testers’ faces was one of the smoothest among all the razors we tried. Our first sensation on using it was that it was like shaving with a stick of butter mounted on a flashlight! (This after favoring a manual razor for pretty much our entire adult lives.)

You should replace the foils on this model every 18 months. A new replacement head runs about $60.

Braun’s models sport grippy rubber on the back that helps you get a firm grasp on the razor. It tends to pick up a bit of facial-hair dust, but you can easily rinse it.

Braun backs all of its shavers with a two-year warranty covering everything except the foil and cutting block.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The built-in trimmer doesn’t get as close in comparison with a standalone trimmer. And it’s definitely no match for a blade-based razor in that regard. If you have a difficult beard line to maintain, this device may not be sufficient as your all-in-one.

The Series 8 is 0.7 ounce heavier than the Series 7 and has a wider body. Some testers were more sensitive to a shaver’s grip feel and heft. Whether heavier or lighter is better comes down to personal preference.

The Series 8 uses a head that pivots vertically, versus the side-to-side flexibility of the Series 7. However, the blades themselves have lateral movement. People with more contoured faces or those who often have to go back over spots may find this design to be a drawback.

You may not want the cleaning station. Part of the premium aspect of some electric-razor packages is their inclusion of cleaning stations and travel cases. But some of our testers found that the cleaning stations took up too much bathroom counter space — in a shared, single-sink bathroom, forget it. For the environmentally conscious, all the extra plastic and material can be a turnoff, too. Braun’s charging case is large: nearly 10 inches long, more than 5 inches wide, and about 3 inches deep. It protects the razor well, but the tradeoff of not packing a charging cord is needing space to stow a bulky case. You can simply opt to get a version of the razor without the cleaning contraption and charging case (such as the Braun Series 8 8417s or 8517s), saving about $100.

The Series 8’s battery life on a full charge is around 60 minutes. All of the Braun models have some kind of “sleep mode” where if you haven’t used yours for a while it will register as out of battery when you grab it — but once you plug it into a charger for a few seconds, it’s suddenly powered up.