Gillette reinvents hot towel shaving

Razors come in many forms and Gillette has produced many shaving systems ending up with 5 blades and the various systems (Fusion, Proglide, Proshield etc). The handle system has been pretty static with a symbol type mount that holds the various blades.

In recent times it's even been possible to get a 3D printed handle in collaboration with Formlabs.

Now Gillette have brought back the concept of a hot shave but using modern technology with the Heated Razor. The handle has a battery and electronics in and the blades are Fusion 5, with a heating element. Turn the razor on and the element heats up and there's almost that hot towel shaving experience.

Coming out of Gillette Labs, the razor was initially launched on Indiegogo (and with the limitation of only US customers - it's useful to have friends in the US who will accept packages and forward them on, though this does mean added expense and delays especially when the prototype had to be returned and the release product shipped).

It uses the same ball/swivel mechanism as other Fusion 5 razors so the blades follow the contours of your face, but it's hot.

It does work and it feels quite pleasant. Surprisingly the razor feels a lot lighter than its size would convey, personally maybe too light.

The base is fairly heavy and the razor sits in the depression and is magnetically held there (and wirelessly charged). The power adapter fits a standard bathroom shaver outlet, but be warned, if using an electric toothbrush or other mains powered device, even if shaver outlet has two sockets it's generally only possible to plug one device in at a time (using one socket, shutters the other).

The power adapter has a long cable that terminates in a proprietary plug that fits firmly into the base (presumably designed to stop water getting in). If used outside the bathroom, a UK to US adapter will be needed to charge the razor.

Once powered on by "pressing" the power symbol, the power symbol and strip glow a warm red. Pressing thew power symbol again turns the temperature up (43 or 50 degrees C), another press turns it off.

It will function as a normal Fusion 5 razor if there's no power, but it's an expensive piece of tech to not use the heating function.

The razor is available direct from Gillette for £170 (subscription options are available for blades and will give a discount on the base too). A standard 4 pack of blades is £19.50 while an 8 pack is over double (?????) at £45.00