Panasonic ES LA93 K Shaver Review -
No More High Price Tag Equals
Smoother Shaves for Everyone!

Enter the Panasonic ES LA93 K:

I had high expectations for this 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

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Panasonic Cleaning System

Every time this is turned on, the battery life is displayed.

Once you insert it into the base, it will automatically start charging. You can also charge 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, and one hour to fully clean it in the base. You can't over-charge 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, or dry. Remember it 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 you're given one month's supply of the cleaning cartridge. This should last you about 30 cleans.

So if you run 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 use it everyday, YOU DON'T need to run it through the cleaning station if you don't want to. It can easily be cleaned manually.

I found I would typically use the station 2 or 3 times a week and manually clean the other times. This helped me stretch 1 cartridge for 2 months which really makes the cost of replacing them a non issue.

Manually Cleaning the Shaver

This model can easily be cleaned 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 it into turbo mode.

After about 20 seconds rinse 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 after every use, so clean it manually every few times and this will help the cartridges last longer.

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Shaver Design and Specs

Getting an up close look you can see that it fits well in the hand and has a noticeably larger shaving head.

When you turn it 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 it's 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 models on the market have a battery life which is very similar and should not interfere with anyone's routine. A typical shave with this model takes maybe 5 minutes max, so you should never worry about running low on battery life.

Once you're done 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 it turning on in your luggage on your next trip, there's a lock button which when put in place won't allow it 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 models. This might not seem like a big deal, however because this 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 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.

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My Shaving Experience

Overall the performance was great.

If you spend an extra minute going over certain areas a few times you can get super smooth results. 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 because even with a good 2 days worth of growth I was able to shave right through it with no problems at all.

Because it's waterproof, it's super easy to clean manually, and you can also use it as a wet shaver. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of wet shaves, however I must say I was impressed with how this performed.

I would say that the final outcome in between dry and wet shaves is small, meaning that one isn't smoother than the other, but the process with using it wet is a bit more enjoyable. Using shaving cream and rinsing 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. So overall I did like the wet feature with this razor, but I think I'll stick to the efficient dry shaves instead.

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