I can't afford either of the new cars that come to mind when reading the above title, and I don't know how the companies managed to come up with such names. Today brings the comparison of the Gillette M3 Power and Schick Quattro razors. :-P Battery vs none! Three blades vs four! Whose cuisine will reign supreme?? (....wrong show...)
I've been using the M3 Power ever since it went on sale at Costco several months back. I used the Mach3 Turbo before that, and the regular Mach3 before that, so there's a bit of history there. Also note that I'm using Turbo blades rather than Power blades (which I think are a bit different), as I bought the Power well before I ran out of Turbo blades. Past experience with the M3 Power has been good. The vibrating feature does seem to work, as I definitely noticed a difference when switching from the Turbo to the Power. The battery also adds some heft to the razor, which I like.
The Quattro is different in a number of ways. Most obvious is the fourth blade, and the head itself seems noticeably larger. The head also has several thin metal strips running perpendicular to the blades, which I believe to to help prevent nicks. The handle itself is noticeably bigger and heavier than the M3, and it feels pretty good. There's lots of metal in the handle, as opposed to the M3's plastic handle. The angle between head and handle is less than the M3, but it doesn't take long to adjust to the difference.
In use, I'd say the Quattro provides an equivalent, yet different, shave. I think the end result was a bit smoother than with the M3 Power, but it came at the expense of comfort. It felt like it was pulling on hairs frequently (or at least more frequently than the M3), and that wasn't so good. But the nick-resistant blades seemed to work, and as I said, the end result was pretty smooth. I suspect that using actual Power blades might bring the M3 back up to the same level. It should be noted that the Quattro was definitely easier to rinse, something the M3 has never done well.
I'm almost out of blades for my M3, so if I were to switch any time, I think it would be soon. That said, I don't know if I will. I've heard that the Quattro blades are more expensive (which I don't doubt), but worse, I don't know if Costco sells them. If not, that would give a distinct price advantage to the M3. I'll continue to use the Quattro until the blade is done, so perhaps it'll last longer to make up for the higher price.
You can't go wrong with either model. If you're using one of these, I don't see any reason to switch unless you're completely out of blades, and want to try something new. :-P
Posted by Ben at March 22, 2005 6:21 AM