REVIEW: Remington "S" (aka Azor)

Seen here: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Remington-S-Women-s-Razor/20681462
 
The "S" is marketed for ladies but the carts and the "S-Flex" attachment mechanism are apparently identical to those used in the men's verison, the Azor. Only real difference is color and shape of the lower part of the handle, but the "S" is a bit cheaper.

PROS: As with the disaster I reviewed yesterday, if it shaved well the price and availability would be an advantage. The color is nice; I actually prefer the look of the woman's version over the cheaper chrome-looking man's Azor. Good grippiness to it. Aaaaaaaad...that's about it.

CONS: The shave is markedly improved over the disaster I reviewed yesterday - meaning only that it was far less uncomfortable and drew no blood. Surprisingly, though, it did not shave quite as well, either. Whereas the DG cheapie got me BBS on the face but tore up my neck, the "S" gave me more or less a disappointing SAS on both face and neck (my neck had healed enough to try it out). I could have taken the "S" for another pass but saw no point of going past 2.

The reason the DG razor performed better, at least in terms of removing skin, is because its cart pivots pretty much exactly like the Proglide does and so does a good job following the contours of the face. Too bad the cart sucks so bad.

These Remington razors, on the other hand, have an entirely unique design: the cart is mounted on two flexible arms called the "S-Flex," which are quite stiff...at least at first, perhaps they loosen up with use.

Anyway, the handle's stiffness means the cartridge is largely unresponsive to the curves and contours of the face and so does not shave well using typical technique. This in turn makes the large cart - large when compared with, say, the immobile Trac II - that much harder to maneuver. One immediately feels the need to press harder to force it to hug the curves but this, obviously, would be counterproductive. No doubt this stiffness might be preferable for some women to leg-shave, but it is just too stiff to use on the face, and the apparent quality of the blades do not make up for that weakness.

As stated, the men's version appears to have this same incongruously stiff "flexible" head design. If that makes you think this could be a really cool 5-blade version of the venerable Trac II...sorry, but so did I. It isn't. The smaller Trac II is far more maneuverable and efficient.

Verdict: A so-so face shaver, safe enough to use but appropriate only for when you don't need to look your best. It could be frustrating to use because the design is so different, you quickly realize you have to put in a headache-inducing combination of close attention and physical effort to MAKE it shave what needs shaved without pressing too hard. But even if you're up to that task, the quality of the cart will likely leave you with a SAS at most. I predict you'd probably see that coming mid-shave, get mad and grab another razor before you're halfway through. The innate stiffness probably makes it a dandy leg shaver for some ladies, though.

The ONLY way I can see this razor improving is if those S-Flex arms loosen up some over time...if they do, without getting too sloppy-floppy or breaking outright (no idea if there's a wire core in them), then it's possible these Remington's carts have potential that you just cannot tap with a brand new, too stiff handle. We'll see, as I'm not trashing this one (yet).

Since the purpose of these reviews are to have fun comparing the multi-blade monstrosities so popular today, I use the Proglide as the standard. By that measure, the "S," and its brother the Azor, no doubt, are nice tries but just don't measure up (at least not right outta the box).

[Later that week...]

After several dozen bends, the head now flexes so far back that it can be doubled over backwards. Not that anyone would need it to do that to shave but it apparently did improve this one. The overall experience was better because the razor was more responsive...less effort, thus less headache. The shave of 2 days growth was better as well.

Hand feel-wise, the half of my face I did first is 100% BBS with no irritation (all ATG), which inspired me to go grab the wife's Proglide to use on the others side. As expected, the PG side is about 97% BBS after 1.5 passes (also all ATG) but only because it's an old cart...brand new it's 100%. Still, no irritation. Overall, an excellent shave, both sides.

Visibly, there's no difference between the sides. No whiskers visible and the neck is as clean as the face.

The sole drawbacks are the slightly lesser quality blades on the Remington. They will get essentially the same result as the PG but, even now, still takes more work. Second drawback: the ladies' handle is less hand-friendly than the men's, but that's not really Remington's fault.

VERDICT: If Remington's blades were just a hair better, this would be a top-level contender of any cart shaver out there. You can get a guaranteed DFS and very nearly BBS in two passes, and that with - it bears repeating - no irritation whatsoever.

While I would not use this as a daily shaver unless I had to (only because the price is still higher than I'd want to regularly pay, and would switch to the Azor if I did), I would not hesitate recommending the "S" or the Azor for travel, for four reasons:

1. You WILL get a smooth DFS+, minimum

2. It's near impossible to cut or even irritate yourself before important business functions

3. With the cutting load being shared by five edges rather than one or two, a single cart - properly maintained - could last for many months of travel (I've found surprisingly good longevity to be an unexpected advantage of multiblade carts...the better quality ones, anyway...whether Remington's is one of those, no idea...I tend to doubt it)

4. If you lose it, you're out $4.97