Braun Series 7 Electric Shaver with SmartCare Center Review

Braun Series 7 Electric Shaver with SmartCare Center Review
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This arrived in a nice Braun branded side opening box with the instructions, pamphlets and user guide on the top and the main shaver beneath packed into its travel case, below this was the smartcare center, beard trimmer attachment, cleaning brush, power lead and a cleaning fluid cartridge for the smartcare center, all fairly well packed and secured.
First impressions: the main razor feels very nice and is easy to hold and control with the rubber grip, the smartcare center looked a bit odd at first but once fitted with the cleaning fluid cartridge with the razor in place and plugged in it is actually quite neat. The manuals however are all over the place covering a multitude of different languages some sections separated by language others mixed, a real mishmash making them difficult to find and identify the section you want relying more on pictures rather than written usage instructions I found them disappointing, I did go to the online Braun service to see if there would be a bespoke country/language manual but although the manuals are there they are repeats of the supplied format.
I have over the years at numerous times attempted to use an electric shaver as my main source of shaving and have shaved my head for over 25 years now so an electric razor that can give a good solid clean shave would have been great, unfortunately I have never found one that came close so really wanted this to be the one that changed that.
I found everything easy enough to set up and put the cleaning fluid cartridge into the smartcare center ready for cleaning/charging and once it was fully charged I gave it a try out, the razor is easy to manipulate with a comfortable and easy to grip handle and I found it very simple to manipulate with the swivel head getting into the most awkward of areas quite easily and I am pleased to say I was very impressed with the result, I would say with the Braun Series 7 I can get a shave that is 95% as good as a wet razor shave when the best electric razor I have ever used over the years giving around 70% of the final result I could get with a wet razor shave.
The razor is easy to clean and the smartcare center works really well at charging and cleaning after use, the beard trimmer works well and I have tried the razor both wet and dry giving a very good shave to both my head and face.
Overall I was actually really impressed and pleased with the quality of shave the Braun Series 7 gave and have been using it in place of a wet razor shave since it arrived, I can’t knock the result it is more than acceptable, the shave I get is in my opinion and experience is around 95% of the quality I get with a wet razor shave but I don’t believe any electric razor can give as clean shave as a wet razor so for an electric razor this is a great result. The manuals are in my opinion not good and the only thing that lets this razor down and stops it getting top marks.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer.

[@wry6read]

Chris, I agree the manuals for the "SmartCenter" 5434 are utter crap. Omissions include initial usage, how to mount and unmount the shaver, how to tell when cleaning is done.
Once cleaning station is powered and "dirty" shaver is mounted (no task for the faint of heart!), It runs through several on-off cycles, then once you're sure it's defective and will never stop cycling it finally shuts up.
My 7 Series shaver came fully charged (though noted nowhere in packaging or literature).I figured charge it prior to use, right? So figured out no thanks to Braun how to mount it, slid in the detergent cartridge as shown more or less as an afterthought in the horrible illustrations which got a blue LED flashing, and waited 5 minutes for any indication of activity before figuring out the charge indicator is on the face of the shaver that's not visible when the shaver's charging!
Braun should refund 20 per cent of the cost to anyone who has made the mistake of reading the manual.
Shame on you, "prestigious German electronics manufacturer" Braun.

[@pfritts3111]

Thanks for posting and for the review!

[@Kalbo64]

Hi, you are most welcome :)

[@Ruben_Lorenzo]

Good evening Chris,
Very good video. Thank you for showing us the shaver. I am planning to do a video for CZcams and I wonder if I could take only a few of your video. Only the part which is working the cleaning station. I would link this video in the description of my video.
Thank you very much in advance.
Best regards,

[@Kalbo64]

Hi, sure no problem take whatever you want.

[@Ruben_Lorenzo]

@@Kalbo64 Thank you :-)

[@charleneli9768]

I'm going to buy one but confuse serise 7 or 8
and should i buy one with the smart clean center or without？

[@charleneli9768]

smartcare center

[@Kalbo64]

Hi, hard to answer really, for convenience with a smartcare center but it really saves time more than does anything not possible without it.

[@cheatcodes12]

Is there a way to just charge it using the station or does it have to clean it while charging?

[@Kalbo64]

Hi, yes it goes through a cleaning cycle then charges is place so you leave it in.

[@wry6read]

You need a cartridge refill for the cleaner every 6-8 weeks. Not cheap of course.

[@jfisher8046]

how long does cleaning process take?

[@Kalbo64]

Hi, around 2-3 minutes

[@wry6read]

In my first use, about the same

[@cjminerva3617]

Does the Colour Chance when its done or how u understand its complated sir?