Best Electric Shaver NZ: Which to Buy

Foil or rotary is the first fork in the road with electric shavers, and the right answer depends almost entirely on your skin and the direction your hair grows — not which one is "better."

Foil vs rotary: it's about your face, not the tech

Foil shavers (Braun, Panasonic's straight-blade models) use oscillating blades under a thin perforated foil, moving in a straight line. They're best suited to straight, fine-to-medium hair growing in a consistent direction — they give the closest shave for most people but need to be moved in straight strokes against the grain.

Rotary shavers (most Philips models) use three circular heads that pivot and follow the contours of your face, moving in circular motions. They handle coarse, curly, or multi-directional hair growth better, and are more forgiving on angular jawlines and necks, but they don't typically shave quite as close as a good foil shaver on straight hair.

• Straight, fine-to-medium beard growth, want the closest possible shave: foil.
• Coarse or curly hair, sensitive or irritation-prone skin, angular face shape: rotary tends to be gentler and more forgiving.
• If you're not sure, rotary is generally the safer starting point for sensitive skin — it's harder to irritate skin with a rotary's circular motion than with a foil shaver pressed too hard against the grain.

Is wet-and-dry actually useful, or just a spec sheet line?

Wet-and-dry shavers are fully sealed and can be used in the shower with shaving gel/foam, or dry without any product. This is a genuine, meaningful convenience if you actually prefer shaving in the shower — many people find wet shaving with an electric shaver more comfortable on sensitive skin than dry, similar to why manual razors use shaving cream. If you only ever shave dry at the sink, it's a feature you're paying for and not using; a dry-only shaver of the same underlying shaving technology is usually cheaper for equivalent performance.

The real cost: replacement heads

The purchase price is only part of the total cost of an electric shaver. Foil and blade sets typically need replacing every 12-18 months with regular use, and rotary heads similarly every 12 months or so — and replacement parts for premium brands can cost a genuinely significant fraction of the original shaver price. Before buying, it's worth checking the price of replacement heads for the specific model, not just the brand, since this varies a lot even within one manufacturer's range.

• Check replacement head cost before buying, not after — a cheaper shaver with expensive heads can cost more over 3 years than a pricier one with cheap heads.
• Cleaning stations (self-cleaning docks) extend blade life somewhat and are convenient but not essential — manual rinsing under a tap plus occasional oiling does the job for most people.