Gillette Fusion ProShield Review
I know, I seem to have a hangup with razors. The truth is that I have a really hard time finding much information about them online, at all. So, here comes another in-depth look at the latest, greatest razor. This time around I’ll be doing a Gillette Fusion ProShield review.
First Impressions
The first thing I want to note is that for all of it’s bells and whistles as bragged about, when I picked up the Gillette Fusion ProShield for the first time I was not in a state of awe. It just felt right. Not exciting or mind-blowing. Just great weight and balance. It has such a smooth flex on the head, both on the X and Y axes (more on that later) that I didn’t even really feel the need to ‘test’ it for it’s abilities, though I did anyway.
The Handle
As already mentioned, the handle is ‘hefty’. It is made of metal with rubber added for grips. The grip is great. The Gillette characteristic bulbous end on the handle make for a nice grip stop, keeping the handle properly positioned in my hand. I have been using this for three weeks and haven’t come close to dropping it at all. It stays on a shelf nicely, too. The button to release the head is also easy to get to and takes a moderately firm press to make the head pop off.
The handle/head interplay provides the flexing of the head itself, so here is a comparison view between the Gillette Fusion ProShield and the Dollar Shave Club 4X.
The Gillette Fusion ProShield flexes quite a bit more than the DSC 4X.
Front: Gillette Fusion ProShield. Rear: Dollar Shave Club 4X.
The Ball Head
The Flex Ball head of the Fusion ProShield is pretty nice, so nice that I don’t even notice it is there. It rotates side to side just enough, and with enough gentle resistance, to keep you from shaving at on odd angle to the blades.
The Gillette Fusion ProShield Shave Head
This is what you all wanted to know about anyway, so here it is. The Gillette Fusion ProShield shave head is very nice and provides a great, close shave. Like so many multi-blade razors it really does get the job done quickly. What makes the difference is the pre-lubricating strip. I’ve always wondered what the reasoning for putting that strip of slippery stuff after the blades was. I still don’t really know. What I do know is that putting it before the blades makes everything slide and glide and feels so wonderful. If you watch the video review above you’ll see my honest reaction to using this for the first time.
My preferred razor for the last year has been the Dollar Shave Club 4X, which I upgraded to from Harry’s, so I used that as a comparison razor when testing this one. What I found was that same great shave with the 4X, and then a much more smooth and gentle experience with the Fusion ProShield.
Left to right: Gillette Fusion ProShield, Defender, Dollar Shave Club 4X.
Left to right: Harry’s, Gillette Fusion ProShield, Dollar Shave Club Executive, Dollar Shave Club 4X.
One final benefit is the addition of a trimmer blade. It really fits well under the nose.
Durabilty
Gillette claims that the Fusion ProShield will last for one month of shaving 3 to 4 times per week. I personally shave 6 times per week and my results probably do reflect what they claim. (Disclaimer: In my video review I had forgotten their “3 to four times per week” concept, so I stated that the 1 month durability was not likely.)
Right: Brand New. Left: After three weeks of use.
Cost Analysis
The Gillette Shave Club will ship you 4 blades every 4 months for $22.49, which is approximately $5.62 per month. That really isn’t outrageously expensive. To put it into perspective, Dollar Shave Club will ship 4 blades, once per month for $6. It is slightly more expensive, per month, for 4 times as many blades. That means I can have 1 blade per month with Fusion ProShield, or 4 blades per month with DSC 4X.
Here is a handy table to lay it out for you:
| Gillette Fusion ProShield | Dollar Shave Club 4X | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | New Blade | $5.62 | 4 Blades | New Blade | $6 | 4 Blades |
| Week 2 | OLD 🙁 | – | – | NEW! | $6 | – |
| Week 3 | OLD 🙁 | – | – | NEW! | $6 | – |
| Week 4 | OLD 🙁 | – | – | NEW! | $6 | – |
| MONTH 4 | – | $22.49 | – | – | $24 | 16 Blades |
| YEAR 1 | – | $67.47 | 16 Blades | – | $72 | 48 Blades |
| DIFFERENCE | 1 per month | $4.53 less | 32 fewer blades | 1 per week | $4.53 more | 32 more blades |
So really the cost difference is very, very minimal between Fusion ProShield and Dollar Shave Club 4x. While this is not necessarily a full comparison review, I would like to point out that with Gillette you’ll get 5 blades, plus the very handy trimmer blade and the really nice pre-blade lubrication strip.
Conclusion
When it comes to spending money on senseless trivia necessities such as shaving supplies, I like to find that cost to benefit balance. Here it seems that the Gillette Fusion ProShield is a great choice and won’t break the bank. But if you’ll dull a blade more quickly than the once-per-month replacement suggestion, the cost could easily double or triple. For those of us who shave 5 or 6 times per week, the Dollar Shave Club once-per-week replacement schedule seems much more affordable.
- Very smooth experience, when new
- Trimmer blade
- Extra lubrication strip is actually beneficial
- High quality construction
- Movement of head and blade are smooth and clean
- Only 1 blade per month
- Cost per blade is much higher
- Lubrication strips do NOT last more than two weeks
- Gillette states the blades last 1 month if you shave 3-4 times per week. If you shave more, the blades will not last 1 month.
