One flat blade with a row of fine steel teeth along both of its long edges, on a cordless grey handle that weighs about the same as a phone. It tidies a beard, cleans up a neck, takes an edge off the sideburns and goes on down over the chest. All of it dry.
No cream. No basin of water. No swapping heads halfway through.
Both edges cut, so direction stops mattering
An ordinary trimmer only cuts one way. The teeth face forward, you sweep it down the cheek, and on the way back up it combs the hair instead of cutting it, so you lift off, reposition and come down again. This blade carries teeth along the top edge and another full row along the bottom edge, which means it cuts on the way down and again on the way back.
You stop lifting off between passes. That is most of what makes edging slow.
Where the beard stops and the neck starts
That line is the part nobody enjoys, because you are working by feel, upside down in a mirror, on skin you cannot see properly. The head here is a straight bar, about a third wider than the base of the handle, and the edge you lay against your neck runs dead straight for its whole length. So you can set a line going one way and then follow it straight back.
The same bar handles sideburns, the strip under your nose, and the awkward corner where a moustache meets your lip. Bare, it takes everything off.
Clip on one of the three guide combs and it leaves a length behind instead, so the same handle that squares off your neck on Sunday will hold a beard at an even length on Wednesday. Each comb cuts to a different length. Swapping one for another takes a second, and there is nothing to unscrew.
It replaces the zip case in the bottom of the drawer
You probably own the alternative already. A black zip case with eight plastic combs in it, two heads, a little bottle of oil and a brush. You have used maybe three of those things, ever, and it still takes up half a shelf.
This is one blade, one handle and three combs. It stands upright on its own base next to the tap, and the only decision left in front of you is which length you are cutting to, or whether you are cutting to a length at all.
An hour of running time and a cable that goes anywhere
A full charge takes eight hours and gives you sixty minutes of running time, which is a lot of mornings. It charges through the socket in its base from the cable in the box, so it draws from a laptop, a plug adapter or a power bank without carrying anything else.
At around four and a half ounces it disappears into a washbag. It needs nothing wet to work, so it is the one grooming thing you can genuinely use in a hotel room ten minutes before you leave.
Specifications
Blade: Double-sided stainless steel, with a row of fine teeth along each long edge
Cutting action: Cuts in both directions, so it trims and shaves on the pull and on the push
Body: ABS, grey, with a satin metallic finish and a recessed textured grip panel
Weight: 4.6 oz (130 g)
Power: Rechargeable battery, charged with the supplied USB cable
Run time: 60 minutes from a full charge
Charging time: 8 hours
Charging socket: In the base of the handle
Controls: One button, on the front of the handle
Use: Dry, with no cream, foam or water needed
Suits: Beard, sideburns and body hair, shaved bare or trimmed to a length
Handedness: Left or right handed
Attachments: Three snap-on guide combs, each cutting to a different length
Package Includes
1x Body Groomer
1x USB Charging Cable
1x Cleaning Brush
3x Attachment