I finally got the chance to review the one and only Panasonic ES LA93 K.
Why did it take so long you ask?
Well, I just wasn't prepared to spend $399 on an electric shaver.
Considering all the other choices out there, this shaver was not worth the full retail price tag!
Fortunately for us, the price has been reduced a lot, and it's now in line with other similar shavers. This
tends to happen to many electric shavers when they first hit the market, so some advice for the future, always
wait a few months until the sales price kicks in.
Now that the Panasonic ES LA93 K is much more affordable, I consider it to be a recommended shaver, especially
if you're looking for a shaver you can use wet with shaving cream.
Table of Contents:
What's in the box
Shaver design and specs
Charging and cleaning
Manually cleaning
My shaving experience
Final thoughts
Video review
What's in the Box
Enter the Panasonic ES LA93 K:
I had high expectations for this shaver as soon as hit the market, and can say that I haven't been more excited
to review an electric razor.
Usually when I have high hopes for a product I tend to get a bit disappointed because I'm expecting so much, but
fortunately that didn't happen here.
When I opened the box, this is what I found:
Electric razor
Safety cap
Traveling case
Electrical cord
Charging and cleaning station
1 Panasonic cleaning cartridge
Set of instructions
Shaver Design and Specs
Getting an up close look at the Pansonic ES LA93 K you can see that it fits well in the hand and has a
noticeably larger shaving head.
When you turn the shaver on you won't be waking up the whole house. The noise level is not loud at all and
certainly a little quieter than some other models.
Every time you turn the razor on the display screen will indicate how long it was in use, and how much battery
life is remaining.
Side Bar...
Some people like to know how the batter life is with these shavers but that's not something that I feel is
important.
Most of the shavers on the market have a battery life which is very similar and should not interfere with
anyone's shaving routine. A typical shave with this model takes maybe 5 minutes so you should never worry about
running low on battery life.
Once you're done shaving you probably don't need to use it again for 24 hours, which is plenty of time to charge
the battery back up. Again, maybe it's just me but this just doesn't seem to be something to worry about.
End Side Bar...
In case you were worried about the shaver turning on in your luggage on your next trip, there's a lock button
which when put in place won't allow the shaver to get accidentally turned on.
One improvement from previous models is that the motor is more powerful. It has been upgraded from 13 thousand
revolutions per minute to 14 thousands. Not really a major improvement but I guess you can't have these things
too too powerful.
The other improvement is within the shaving head. It now pivots 360 degrees which can help shave the different
contours of your face.
Lastly, I noticed that the foil cap can be removed and put back on very easily. It's a much smoother process
than with previous Panasonic shavers. This might not seem like a big deal, however because this shaver can be
cleaned manually, you will probably be removing and putting the foil cap back on quite regularly.
As always, it comes with a standard pop up trimmer (good for your side burns, not a full beard), and has a lock
in button which keeps the shaving head from moving around, which can help you shave your upper lip and neck
area.
Overall it has a nice slick design, with some improvements from previous models.
Charging and Cleaning the Shaver
Every time the shaver is turned off, the battery life is displayed.
Once you insert the shaver into the base, it will automatically start charging. You can also charge the shaver
directly from the electrical cord. This is ideal if you're traveling and you don't want to lug the cleaning base
with you.
It takes about one hour to fully charge the shaver, and one hour to fully clean the shaver in the base. You
can't over-charge the shaver so don't worry about leaving it in the base.
Cleaning Station Set Up
Setting up the cleaning station is really simple.
First you will want to fill up the water container and slide it in the back of the cleaning base. Once that's
done, insert the cleaning cartridge in the lower back of the base. When you install new cleaning cartridges you
need to change the water.
The cleaning base has a status light on the left, and a select button on the right with two options: clean and
dry.
When the status light is blinking it means there's no cleaning cartridge installed. When it is glowing, it means
the cleaning cartridge needs to be replaced.
When you press the select button, you cycle through the 2 options. You can clean the shaver, or dry the shaver.
Remember the shaver automatically charges when it's in the base.
If you need to cancel and option, perhaps you accidentally started the cleaning process, simply pull the plug
and start over again.
How long do the cartridges last?
With the initial purchase of the Panasonic ES LA93 K you're given one month's supply of the Panasonic cleaning
cartridge. This should last you about 30 cleans.
So if you run the shaver through the cleaning station everyday, you will need to replace the cartridge. You can
buy a pack of 3 for around $15. So AT MOST it will cost you $5 per month.
I say at most, because I've found the cartridges to last much longer than a month. Firstly, some people don't
shave everyday, therefore if you shave say every other day, that's down to a replacement cost of $2.5 per month.
Even if you do shave everyday, YOU DON'T need to run it through the cleaning station if you don't want to.
Panasonic shavers can easily be cleaned manually.
I found I would typically use the cleaning station 2 or 3 times a week and manually clean the shaver the other
times. This helped me stretch 1 cleaning cartridge for 2 months which really makes the cost of replacing the
cartridges a non issue.
Manually Cleaning the Shaver
The Panasonic ES LA93 K can easily be cleaning manually because it is fully waterproof.
You can either rinse it off with just water, or add some liquid soap and give it a nice thorough clean.
Simply pour some liquid soap on the shaving head and press and hold the on button for 2 seconds. This kicks the
shaver into turbo mode.
After about 20 seconds rinse the shaver under running warm water. Remove the foil cap and turn it to turbo mode
again and fully rinse of the blades and then fully rinse of the foil cap. Set it on a towel and let it fully dry
and you're done.
Remember it's important to clean your shaver after every use, so clean it manually every few times and this will
help the cartridges last longer.
My Shaving Experience
Overall the shaving performance of the Panasonic ES LA93 K is great.
If you spend an extra minute going over certain areas a few times you can get a super smooth shave. Even running
your fingers AGAINST the grain is smooth. Like with all shavers, if you're not used to this it may cause a
little bit of irritation, but within a few tries you should be fine.
I can really feel the power of the motor in the Panasonic ES LA93 K because even with a good 2 days worth of
growth I was able to shave right through it with no problems at all.
Because this shaver is waterproof, not only is the super easy to clean manually, but you can also use it as a
wet shaver.
To be honest, I've never been a big fan of wet shavers, however I must say I was impressed with how this shaver
performed.
I would say that the final outcome in between dry shaves and wet shaves is the small, meaning that one isn't
smoother than the other, but the process with the wet shaves are a bit more enjoyable. Using shaving cream and
rinsing the shaver off with nice warm water really improves the experience.
But of course there's a trade-off because it does take longer, and it's a bit messy shaving wet. So overall I
did like the wet shaves with this razor, but I think I'll stick to the efficient dry shaves instead.
First let's recap the cleaning station which comes with the Panasonic ES LA93 K.
The cleaning station isn't a huge improvement from previous models, nor is it the best cleaning station on the
market. Therefore, you might want to consider just getting the Panasonic ES LA63 S which is JUST the razor and
comes in a silver or gray color. It's the exact same shaver which was reviewed here, but it comes without the
cleaning station.
This would have been a recommendation that I would strongly suggest IF these shavers were still sold at their
retail prices because the price difference would be quite large, but now that both the ES LA93 K and the ES LA63
S are sold at sales prices, the difference is only about $40.
So for a $40 dollar difference I would just stick with the Panasonic ES LA93 K and have the bonus of the
cleaning station. So that's up to you, remember these shavers can easily be cleaned manually.
Apart from the cleaning station, there have been some improvements from previous models. The motor is a bit more
powerful and the shaving head pivots 360 degrees and most importantly this leads to really good shaves.
Bottom line, a shaver which produces really good shaves is always going to be recommended, especially if you're
interested in wet shaving.
If you don't want the cleaning station and are looking to save a little bit of money, then you will want to get
the Panasonic ES LA63 S.
It's the same razor as the Panasonic ES LA93 K, just without the cleaning base.
Order the Panasonic ES LA63 S here.
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