Review: Braun Beard Trimmer BT7240
In a previous post (Bad Equipment or just Bad Luck?), I grumbled and complained about the beard trimmers that I have thrown away over the years. I finally realized, of course, that it was all my fault. I bought cheap junk. So why should I be surprised when it turns out to be cheap junk? So I committed to spending time researching and spending more money this time around.
Let’s talk about my choice. The Braun Beard Trimmer BT7240.
Over the years, I have learned what I want in a beard trimmer and what I don’t want.
I want the trimmer head should be small enough to get under my nose and around my chin easily. I want the trimmer to be cordless, lightweight and washable in water. I want some control over beard length, but it has to be quick and easy. A twist or a ratchet of some sort to adjust length from maybe a #1 to maybe #6 (up to 3/4 of an inch) and I don’t want to change out the guard or the trimmer head to do it. In fact, I do not need or want my beard trimmer to have 30 attachments.
By the way, if you need a reminder of what those trimmer numbers mean, here you go:
- Number 1 – one-eighth of an inch or about 3 mm
- Number 2 – one-quarter of an inch or 6 mm
- Number 3 – three-eighths of an inch or 10 mm
- Number 4 – one-half of an inch or 13 mm
- Number 5 – five-eighths of an inch or 16 mm
- Number 6 – three-quarters of an inch or 19 mm
- Number 7 – seven-eighths of an inch or 22 mm
- Number 8 – one inch or about 25 mm
My previous post mentioned that I was looking at a model from Panasonic and one from Phillips Norelco. But some reviews worried me and I had my doubts. Then I finally hit on the Braun BT7240.
The product info said that with just one plastic trimmer guard I could go from 0.5 mm to 10 mm in 0.5 mm increments. Nice. It seemed to hit on all the other needs and wants so I finally clicked from Amazon. Price was about $69 which was right between the two earlier models I was considering. Like most Amazon orders, it showed up quickly and I was excited to try it out. My immediate thought was that the performance was very acceptable, but I waited about 6 weeks to post this review.
I buzz my beard about twice a week, so I have about a dozen uses under my belt now. My initial thought was well founded and I find the performance to be excellent. Powerful, comfortable and easily adjustable. The dial is super easy to adjust and fine-tune to the exact length you want. It comes with 2 trimmer guards. One allows 1 mm to 10 mm and the other can go from 11-20mm. I shouldn’t need the larger one but I will keep it. It also came with only 2 other trimmer heads (detail trimmer and shaver). Might be interesting…but I put them in the travel bag and put them away for now.
Just two complaints. One doesn’t matter at all. The other one is more important.
The stand that comes with the trimmer unit allows the unit to stand up and stay charged. But it is pretty lightweight and it could fall over easily. This might bother me more if I actually planned to use it. I don’t. I am a minimalist sort of guy and I choose what I have out on the bathroom vanity carefully (on my side anyway). The good news is that the trimmer battery lasts a really long time. I charge the trimmer up then put the charger in the top drawer. I have charged it a couple times out of habit – not that I felt it needed it.
The more important complaint is that it has a definite preference to go in one direction, against the grain. Wet shavers shorten this to ATG. If you are unfamiliar with the terminology, with a little care you can feel the direction your hair is growing (easy when you are feeling stubble). It is rarely growing straight out at 90 degrees from your skin. Feel the hair from different directions and you will find that it is smooth in one direction (with the grain, WTG) and rough in one direction (ATG). So other trimmers I have used didn’t really care what direction it was used. The Braun seems to really work efficiently when going against the grain and a bit less effective WTG or across the grain (XTG). Not a huge issue but I noticed it more than once. And it really became more apparent when I shaved my head with it.
Remember, I had a dream of using my new trimmer to buzz my head as well. I usually use a big corded Wahl clipper (Model MC3).
I slap on the size #2 guard and buzz my head down every week. I am happy with it but setting up to use it is a little troublesome. I really wanted this new Braun to be able to handle double duty here. So I kept the same small plastic trimmer guard on it and set the dial for about a #2 shave. The Braun was powerful enough to do the job but anyone who has buzzed their head knows that changing your angle across your head many times is the key to avoiding those missed long patches of hair. I could easily tell that the Braun trimmer worked better ATG. So it took some adjustment on my part to change my shaving method a bit. I consider this very acceptable and I will continue to use it. This allows me to trim my beard and head before a shower – clean and easy. This is a huge win in my book.
Summary:
It is easy to trim my goatee and my head at the same time and all I need to do is turn the dial. I expect good things from this beard trimmer. I will update this review if I feel differently. But right now I am very pleased with the purchase and I do recommend it.
7 thoughts on “Review: Braun Beard Trimmer”
TyomtZAHcDOIk
Well. I am not going to lie. I expected a bit more from my first guest comment.
“TyomtZAHcDOIk”? Ha!
Personally, I think it stands for:
Thank you. Other marvelous trimmers!
Zany and hysterical comments.
Disagree? Oh, I know.
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