By Jeffrey the Barak.

This is an independent customer/user review. No compensation, discount, reward or free-items were received by the writer.

This inexpensive device can replace all razors, shavers, and trimmers and leave you comfortable. and non-irritated. It is so good that I was driven to share my impressions in this magazine review.

This OneBlade coincidentally has the same product name as a pivoting single edge shaving razor also called OneBlade. The two companies seem to have agreed to leave each other alone, which is very refreshing in this lawsuit-obsessed modern business world.

The OneBlade does not shave, it instead trims to zero length. Unlike all razors and shavers, it does not remove any skin cells, so it does not cause irritation. The extremely short hair it leaves behind has a soft end, not sharp and scratchy like a shaved hair. The flat pivoting head does not scratch the skin so it is comfortable in use, whether pulled along towards the handle or pushed along the other way.

The blades last up to four months and are inexpensive. I will be very happy if I get two months, but I remove a lot of course hair so I half my expectations. The new product set is inexpensive. I paid $34 for the Face and Body variation. (update: I did get over two months from my first blade, but I will need to change blades after 4-5 weeks for optimal results).

It works well dry and can be also used wet with cream/gel/foam/soap. The handle is long enough for even the least flexible people to use it to safely reach every part of their own backs. The above-skin trimming length will prevent ingrown hairs when used by people with very tight curly growth. The regrowth is soft and not scratchy, even on the chest and chin.

The “skin protector”, which is the shorter of the two green body attachments is high enough to prevent nicking of the thinnest and stretchiest skin (i.e. on the male privates) and to prevent irritation on the most sensitive skin (such as around the armpits). It is this attachment that makes the Face and Body version the one to choose. But you can buy the two green parts if you already have the regular OneBlade. The longer body attachment and the four beard trimming combs are not being reviewed here.

Various third-party travel cases are available at low prices. All combs, guides and cords are available as replacements.

It “shaves” the face almost as close as the best men’s electric shaver with a new head. The difference is perhaps about one hour of regrowth, but it performs this without actually shaving the skin because it is a hair trimmer, not a shaver.

It cuts the hair almost as short as the first pass with a single blade safety razor, except it leaves soft hair ends, not sharp stubble. This makes a crucial difference in the feel of the regrowth.

While a modern multi-blade cartridge such as, for example, a Gillette Fusion, will shave much closer by tugging on the hairs and cutting them with up to 5 blades before letting them sink back down below the skin, that process also takes away a layer of skin cells, and it only gets you at most another couple of hours length advantage, because our hair is always growing. And because the razor is a shave, the regrowth is sharp.

That is why trimming the facial hair with the Philips Norelco OneBlade is in many ways better than shaving. It is not shaving at all. Using it wet with shave cream is one way to contain the hair that is removed, as using it dry flings hair all around, but it works so well dry it is hardly worth using water. Easier to just sweep up the hair.

Update December 30th: The initial charge lasted for 26 days of heavy head-to-toe use including once or twice daily facial “shaves” I think you could safely travel for a few days without taking the charger, but even with that charger, which is smaller than any other shaver/trimmer charger, it takes up very little room in a kit compared to razor and cream, or a shaver.

Update February 25th: I waited until the blade wear indicator turned into a complete green rectangle framed by two triangles and this took over two months. I will not do this again as the new replacement blade worked so much better than the old one, but I add this note just to show how long you can stretch one blade with heavy facial hair and copious body hair.

I am still waiting to find anything negative about this little gem. It really is a very impressive tool, and is actually a lot of fun to use.

Jeffrey the Barak is a hairy freak with deadly steel-like wires growing from his face and chest.