Electric shavers: How we test
Battery testing
Charging test
We time how long the batteries last
We fully charge the shavers and then run them for 5 minute cycles until they fully discharge.
We then measure their battery life against the manufacturer’s claims to see if they match.
Quick shave test
We follow the quick shave instructions to charge the shavers for 1 shave and then measure how long the shaver runs for before running flat.
User trial
Each electric shaver had to pass a series of stringent tests
Trialists
32 men aged between 21 and 71 tested electric shavers for us. They were given 4 electric shavers each and shaved 5 times with each shaver.
Each shaver was tested by 8 men. They also shaved 5 times each with 1 wet razor to provide a comparison. Our trial group included committed wet and electric users.
Random sample
Each of the trialists was given a randomised sample of shavers to test, and tested the shavers in a prescribed order – this meant no trialist tested the same shavers in the same order.
Performance
Trialists completed questionnaires on each of the shavers tested, and told us how closely the shaver shaved, how comfortable it felt on the skin, how well the beard trimmer cut and how easy it was to use.
In all we recorded the results from 32 men, 160 questionnaires and 800 shaves.