Stiftung Warentest: It doesn't matter how many blades the razor has
21/11/2024
Translation: machine translated
Stiftung Warentest has tested wet shavers. The conclusion is clear: the differences in quality are small, but the differences in price are large. The safety razors provide a surprise.
For the last "Test" issue of 2024, the German Stiftung Warentest went to great lengths. 160 men tested and assessed 20 wet shavers. In addition to system razors with one to six blades, classic safety razors were also used.
The number of blades is totally irrelevant
This is good news for consumers - but less so for manufacturers. There were hardly any differences between the models tested. All 20 razors received the quality rating "good". So you can buy whatever suits you best.
It also doesn't matter whether one or more blades are used in parallel. For example, the four-blade razor from Aldi performed better in the test than the version with six blades.
More blades do not necessarily mean longer durability either: with four blades, the testers were able to shave the face thoroughly twelve times on average, with six blades it was only eight passes before the blades became blunt. A maximum of fifteen shaves were possible with system razors, while the results for the planes varied from seven to eleven passes.
Quad battle for the test victory
The Fusion 5 and Labs models from Gillette and the Sword Hydro 5 Skin Protection Advanced and Sword Hydro 5 Skin Protection Regular models from Wilkinson competed for the test victory. All of them achieved a German school grade of 1.8.
In the end, the Fusion 5 came out on top because it is slightly gentler on the skin than the other models and also received good marks everywhere else. The Wilkinson Advanced managed the most shaves with one blade. But as mentioned, the overall differences are very small.
For the comparison, Stiftung Warentest also drew up a full cost calculation: What does daily shaving cost per year? The Gillette Labs comes out on top here at 157 euros. The test winner Fusion 5 is also expensive at 114 euros. The two Wilkinson models are already significantly cheaper at 81 euros (Advanced) and 59 euros (Regular).
Good, but cheap
But there are even cheaper models that have received a "good" rating. With a score of 1.9, the Balea Men Precision5 Flex-Pro is very close to the best four models, and the costs are even lower at €45 per year.
Many other own brands from German discounters are in a similar price range, but we do not have them in our range. Only one model from Aldi is significantly cheaper at just under 20 euros.
The real price winners are the safety razors
The testers tried out four traditional safety razors at the same time. They also all received the quality rating "good". Despite less blade protection and supposedly more complicated handling, the testers only needed an average of one minute longer to shave than with a safety razor.
There are two big advantages to safety razors: The blades are standardised, so you can combine any safety razor with blades from any brand. The blades are also significantly cheaper, which means that the relatively expensive razors quickly pay for themselves. For example, if you shave daily with Mühle blades, you only pay just over €10 per year - again significantly less than with the Aldi razor.
If you want to know more about the topic of safety razors, you can find my test and other tips here:
Header image: Shutterstock
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.