How to choose between rotary and foil shavers—and a peek at my all-time favorite electric razors.
Electric razors are essential for every single man, whether he usually shaves bare or never at all. They can buy you an extra day or three before your next razor shave, or they can prevent ingrown hairs, razor bumps, and shave cuts for those guys who rarely shave for that exact reason (they might need a fresh face once in a blue moon… and thank god they’ve got an electric razor ready to save the day).
Electric razors won’t cut the hair beneath the skin, unlike manual razors, which exfoliate as they go. So, rarely will you experience the side effects of those razor blades, although some electric shavers will give you a little irritation if you have sensitive skin; for that, I’ve got a pretty obvious solution…
Read on, or if you already know your preference, you can jump into our guide to the best foil shavers for men and the best rotary shavers for men. It is important to understand which type of these two electric shaver styles (foil vs. rotary) is best for you before making a purchase. I outline that in this entire article. But, if you wanna jump to my separate articles on foil and rotary picks…
That article includes these picks:
- The Best Foil Shaver Overall: Braun Series 9 Electric Shaver
- The Best Value Foil Shaver: Panasonic Arc5
- The Best Compact Foil Shaver: Panasonic Arc5 Palm
- The Professional Pick / Best for Travel: Wahl Vanish
The Best Rotary Shavers for Men
That article includes these picks (and outlines why Philips Norelco owns this category):
- Best Rotary Shaver for Men: Philips Norelco i9000 Prestige Ultra
- Best Value Rotary Shaver: Philips Norelco 7000 Series
- Best Compact Rotary Shaver / Best Travel Rotary Shaver: Philips Norelco Compact
I’ve also summarized my picks (across foil and rotary options) in this video:
WATCH: The Best Electric Razors for Men (Rotary and Foil Picks)
Foil vs Rotary Razors: What are the Key Differences?
There are two types of heads to choose from with electric razors.
Foil shavers: These have horizontal nickel cross bars, often paired with small metal rods that help “lift” the hairs into the direct path of the foils, which house the fast-sliding blades beneath.
Rotary shavers: These have these little flexible panels (usually 2-3 of them) that look like little honeycombs, with circular blades beneath.
Foil vs. Rotary: What Are the Benefits of Each?
Foil Razors
Foil razors are much more popular; I think most guys prefer these because they’re easy to draw straight lines with, and to track your shave, almost like you would with a manual razor. Guys with sensitive skin are advised to use them, although they are much tougher on skin if you stray from these straight lines; you don’t want to start shimmying them around your face of you’ll risk serious irritation.
In my opinion, they do seem to require fewer spot checks than rotary heads after a single pass. But that doesn’t mean they get my endorsement. Of the big-name brands who dominate the facial hair device market, almost all of them use foil shavers except for Philips Norelco. The foil crowd includes Braun, Panasonic, BaByliss, Wahl, and Remington.
VIEW ALL BEST FOIL SHAVER PICKS
BEST OVERALL: BRAUN SERIES 9 SHAVER
BUY IT ON AMAZON: PRO // PRO+B
Rotary Razors
I find rotary shavers to be a lot easier to work with, for a few reasons. For one, they’re better for guys with thicker and coarser hair, guys who are prone to ingrown hairs, guys who shave their head and/or body, guys who want to shave in the shower without monitoring straight lines, AND guys with strange hair growth patterns (like if different patches of hair grow different directions).
And in reality, most men will fall into at least one of those buckets (especially the hair growth one), so it’s baffling to me that more brands aren’t in the rotary game with Philips. I just don’t understand it. And now I’m going to sound like a true Philips Norelco sellout since I also endorsed FOUR of their beard trimmers over the competition as well. But I promise you, there’s no funny business here.
Even when you consider that foil shavers are technically better for sensitive skin, they’re still the likeliest to irritate sensitive skin if you stray from a clean path so… doesn’t that actually make rotary razors better for sensitive skin?
I’ll give points to foil razors for being slightly easier to clean, but even the Philips Norelco rotary options are easy to manage there…
VIEW ALL BEST ROTARY SHAVER PICKS
BEST OVERALL: PHILIPS NORELCO i9000 PRESTIGE ULTRA SHAVER
BUY IT ON AMAZON
Rotary vs. Foil: Which Type of Electric Shaver is Best for You?
Considering different variables like curl pattern and skin sensitivity, here is a quick guide to who is best served by either type of electric razor.
- Average User: Foil
- Infrequent Shavers: Foil
- Sensitive Skin: Foil
- Thick Stubble: Rotary
- Ingrown-Prone Skin: Rotary
- Nickel Allergy: Rotary
- Body Shaving: Rotary
- Head Shaving: Rotary
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Value Shopping Advice for Razors: The Step-Down Strategy
These big brands are known to release new versions of their primo models every few years, almost like iPhone launches. And while each new model is technically better than the last, the current models are already really fantastic, so you can often cut out the $400+ options and trust that there’s something in the $100-250 range that feels truly top shelf for frequent uses; and, something in the $50-100 range that is equally superb for infrequent but effective shaves.
Take Panasonic, for example. Their Arc5 foil shaver is brilliant, and while the Arc6 clearly outperforms it in terms of stats, there’s no major reason you need need need that sixth crossbar on the shaver’s head; five is really plenty, I promise. So save a couple hundred bucks and stick with the Arc5 for now; eventually some Arc7 or Arc6+ will pop up and plummet the price of the current Arc6; too. (And maybe even consider the Panasonic Arc5 Palm, which takes all the power and performance of the bigger device but packs it into a more portable palm-sized tool.
See Also: The Best Beard Trimmers for Men
