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Review: Braun Beard Trimmer

DavidM — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 19:32:54 +0000

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.

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Bad Equipment or just Bad Luck?

DavidM — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 02:43:25 +0000

My experience with beard trimmers…

Every year or so I end up at TJ Maxx or Marshalls buying another beard trimmer.

And they are a disappointment every single time.

They all seem to cost about $20 and last around 12 months. It either simply breaks or my frustration grows until I ditch it. If you do the math the monthly cost is pretty low. But I am reminded every time I pick it up that I don’t like using it. My mother would certainly tell me to suck it up and use it until it stopped working. But life is too short to use bad grooming tools. You can quote me on that.

“Life is too short to use bad grooming tools”

SavingShaving.com

I should really know better. Buying ‘junk’ and expecting it to be ‘not junk’ is foolish. When possible, I try to live by simple rules. Buy quality things. Don’t get fooled by bling and useless features I don’t need. Strive to fill my life with simple, elegant designs that are both efficient and effective (that is why I am so drawn to safety razors, of course).

But a drawer in house is currently hosting these disappointing items:

The top one is the Norelco Series 3100 trimmer. Decent weight and feel but the trimmer head feels bulky and I could never get it under my nose well to trim my mustache. It eventually stopped holding a charge. I thought I tossed it so I was a little surprised when I found it. It is not sold anymore but Norelco still had a link to product details.

My current trimmer is the ugly yellow one in the photo. A Wahl Model 9953. Summary: frustrating and disappointing. I call it frustrating because it doesn’t cut in 1-2 passes. More like 4 but for some reason it is as loud as a F1 car. Its claim to fame is the ability to spin the head 360 degrees in a circle to make it easier to use. I never once needed to do that. The whole thing feels cheap and this is especially true for the plastic guards. I also find it strange that the rubber surface actually grabs and holds much of the hair you are trimming off. It still holds a charge quite well but it was underwhelming right out of the box. It seems Amazon still sells it so you can see some details and reviews, if interested.

Not really recommended.

Do I just have bad luck or am I buying bad equipment? I have thought about this question quite a lot. It is more accurate to say that I am consistently making a bad decision. Buying a cheap trimmer over and over again breaks all my rules. So you are here witnessing my current moment of clarity. No more.

I should have really learned this lesson much earlier. I need a new trimmer and it will be significantly better than the ones I have been using.

But I also have another motive. I have one more electric trimmer in the house – but it belongs in a slightly different category. I use a big corded Wahl clipper (Model MC3) to buzz my head. I slap on the size #2 guard and buzz my hair down every week. I am pretty happy with it. But it is way too big for normal beard trimming. It is a corded unit but that is only a slight annoyance. It has all the power I need to complete the task quickly and I can do it without a mirror since everything gets the same length.

And now I am wondering if the new unit can also buzz my head? Is it possible to get rid of all the handheld trimmers and just use one? I usually use my beard trimmer with a mirror in the shower before the water gets turned on. Easy clean up. It would be fabulous to be able to change the length setting and give my head a quick buzz at the same time.

So what’s next?

The truth is…I don’t know. I have been reading reviews and scouring Amazon to find a better and (understandably) more expensive beard trimmer. I get tied up reading all the reviews so I haven’t found the one I want to buy yet. I am currently looking at a newer model Panasonic or a Phillips Norelco.

I know it takes several months to get blog readership going and we are just at the beginning here. But if anyone reads this and has a suggestion – please let me know. I will keep looking then I’ll pull the trigger on a new one. And, of course, I will post on what I chose when I give you an in-depth review!

Update:

For a review of the trimer I finally purchased – click Braun Trimmer Review!

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