Pros: Low price, solid construction, good shave, battery
Cons: No worldwide charger, charger not induction-based
The Bottom Line: I am very happy with both of my new shavers. They both are improvements over the previous shaver I had in virtually all respects, aside from having...
dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic Pro-Curve™ ES7037CMB Electric Shaver
In addition to the ES8101S that I bought recently, I also bought this Panasonic ES7037cmb shaver, which comes together with a nose/ear hair trimmer. I have used the ES7017S shaver for over 5 years. The battery was still strong, but the blades and the screen were getting dull and needed replacement. Unfortunately, replacement blades and screen cost almost as much as the new shaver. And who knows how long after the replacement the Ni-Cd battery would last. So it was a time to shop for a new shaver. I got the Panasonic ES8101S, which proved to be mostly better than the old model and is a subject to another review. But once I got it I saw a deal I could not refuse - a Panasonic ES7037cmb combo, which consists from the ES7037 shaver and a nose/ear hair trimmer for about $25 after rebates. I got it too.
The ES7037 pleasantly surprised me with its plain, but easy to open packaging (or, to put it another way, white cardboard box).
What’s In the Box
Included were the cord/charger and travel cloth shaver case as well as manuals. Also included was a hair and nose hair trimmer, which is also deserving some mention as it works really well.
Features
The ES7037 is a wet/dry shaver. Unlike my previous shaver, it has electric contacts and does not use induction charger. Also, it is only compatible with US-type voltage of 110 V, 60 Hz, so I don’t expect to be able to charge it while traveling in Europe. It probably cuts down on power use since it is not constantly plugged in, unlike the induction charger of my previous shaver. The shaver can be charger completely in one hour and uses memory-free NiMH battery.
The shaver has a triple-blade design with blades that move in opposite directions to minimize vibration. It also has a trimmer for beards/moustaches. The blades are claimed to be among the sharpest in the industry. I noticed that the shaver is quieter than the old one (which in turn was quieter than the one before) and vibrates less. The ES8101 shaver is even less vibrating.
The blades seem to move faster than my old shaver’s. The full charge time is about 1 hour, which is the same as the previous shaver I had and the same as the ES8101. The shaver looks attractive and has chrome accents with silver and gray. There battery status indicator is less precise than the old shaver’s readout in 20% increments from fully charged to empty, but better than that of the more expensive S8101.
The blades are very sharp and the noise level/vibration is lower than with the old shaver. The trimmer is also sharper, comparing to the old model, which is a very significant plus for me. But this is probably due to the fact that my old shaver’s trimmer just got duller with use.
Performance and Cleaning
The shaver impressed me with its shaving performance. The separate shaving heads allow the shaver to reach pretty much everywhere and the trimmer is great for neck hairs and sideburns. But the question is does it shave better than the old model when it was new? Not sure, but at any case, it shaves very well and is the only option for me since razors irritate my skin and are no match for strong facial hair.
The shaver can be washed and the manual provides some useful info on how to clean the shaver using liquid soap, which works extremely well and is more economical than some other models’ cleaning stations and cartridges. The shaver has removable/replaceable parts: the foil and the blades. The replacement is simple, but the price of replacement parts is steep and since the shaver itself is rather inexpensive, the temptation is high to forgo part replacement and just get a new shaver. Bad for environment.
Although the manual says that it is recommended to replace the foil cartridge every year and the blade cartridge every 2 years, based on previous experience I know it will work for longer than that, but the sharpness of the blades will decrease gradually and at some point it is replacement time.
Charger
The wired charger supplied with the shaver can only work with up to 120 V, which is worse than the worldwide charger that ships with ES8101 and my previous shaver. The full charge takes one hour and you can recharge the shaver at any time. The shave time on one charge seem to be very long. I can use the shaver several times between recharges and longer than the newer ES8101.
Build Quality
The shaver appears to be solidly built and, based on previous experience with Panasonic shavers should work well for many years. The sharpness of the blades and the foil when old is the limiting factor.
Bottom Line
I am very happy with both of my new shavers. They both are improvements over the previous shaver I had in virtually all respects, aside from having to plug in the charger. And for significantly less than the old one, the ES7037 is a bargain. I highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 45 Noise Level: More quiet than most
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.