I tested the Manscaped Chairman Pro razer on my own face — and it's a game changer

The matte black Manscaped Chairman Pro razer swept into my bathroom cabinet like Darth Vader storming the Tantive IV shuttle at the start of A New Hope.

It's a sleek foil head shaver that comes with two interchangeable heads. As someone that predominantly uses a manual razer with lather, I was looking forward to the convenience of the Chairman Pro, even if it meant yet another item to keep charged.

Any man under the age of forty with access to social media is probably aware of Manscaped at this point. The brand upended the male grooming space by targeting lower body grooming requirements with aggressive styling and some sly humor.

It didn't hurt that Manscaped was able to partner up with host of beauty influencers across Instagram. But while it's left the traditional players in the dust when it comes to the "cool factor", it begs the question of whether these products are more about style over substance.

I've been using the Chairman Pro for a couple of months now, at different intervals depending on whether I want a full shave or just a quick trim. While the pricing puts it typically higher than rivals in the space, the results have been pretty impressive.

Manscaped Chairman Pro: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A waterproof electric four-blade foil shaver with an interchangeable flexible head, USB-C charging and a stylish all-black design
• What does it cost? $159 / £182 / AU$264
• Who is it for? Anyone wanting a stylish and convenient shaver for day-to-day grooming
• What do we wish it did better? A closer shave around the jawline

Manscaped Chairman Pro: Price & availability

There's no getting away from the fact a Manscaped product is going to cost you more than your garden variety store-bought electric razer.

The Chairman Pro is available to buy directly from Manscaped in the U.S. for $159 or, if you're in the U.K., you can pick it up for £150 from Manscaped. Australian readers can also pick it up at Amazon for AU$264 but at time of writing it looks to be out of stock.

That being said, it's certainly not the most expensive blade out there. The Braun Series 9 Pro — regularly cited as one of the best electric razers you can buy (but not one we've tested ourselves) — will set you back around $399/£460. So it could be worse.

What's more, retailers are often happy to discount the price of the Chairman Pro. Currently, U.S. customers can find it with an impressive 25% reduction down to $119 at Amazon. If you're willing to spend a little more ($169 on Amazon), you can get a few extra goodies bundled in as part of Manscaped's Chairman Pro Package.

Alongside the razer, you also get a tube of Power Shave Gel, a small canister of Face Shave Soother Aftershave Serum, a black rubberised storage case and a USB-C charging cable. It's probably worth it for the case alone, which has snug cut-outs inside for the razer and a zippered pocket for the cable.

Something to remember, though, is that blades aren't cheap and when it comes time to replace the Chairman Pro's Skinsafe Foil blade, you're looking at $44/£45/$AU69 each time. Manscaped recommends changing the blades every four months, so this is an ongoing cost you need to be aware of.

Manscaped Chairman Pro: Design & features

I mentioned the design of the Chairman Pro in the introduction for good reason; it's easily one of the strongest aspects of the entire product.

If we're talking aesthetics, then the striking black-and-gray styling eschews color — or really any kind of subtlety — and I'm all for it. To me, this razer feels chunky and heavy in the hand (it weighs in at 25 ounces/71g) and thanks to the textured plastic grip on the sides, it's easy to keep hold of even when you're rinsing it under the tap.

That weight takes a bit of getting used to if you're used to a manual razer, but I found I adjusted to the extra heft pretty quickly.

Above the blade head on the back of the handle is a small strip LED flashlight that helps illuminate the shaving area, which is super useful and not something I've ever seen on a trimmer before.

The light can't be adjusted for brightness and it's a colder white than I'd have liked, but the extra visibility you get when shaving in low light is a great feature that helps you avoid missing stray hairs.

The Chairman Pro comes with two interchangeable heads that clip on and off easily with the help of magnets. Both heads can be kept in place through a precision lock that holds its one of three predefined positions.

What's really nice to see is that the Chairman Pro charges via USB-C, meaning you can use your phone or laptop charger to juice it up. This is perfect for when you're travelling and don't want to carry any extra wires than are strictly necessary.

Better yet, it even features Qi wireless charging so you can place it down on a compatible charging pad and expect it to go from empty to full in around four hours.

When fully charged, the Chairman Pro will give you 75 minutes of use. It usually doesn't take me longer than about fifteen minutes to shave, but I'm glad I can go through four or five sessions before having to plug it in.

Plus, the LED display built into the handle lets you know your current battery level.

That same LED display will also let you know when it's time to give the razer a clean. As you'd expect, the Chairman Pro is waterproof, so you can rinse it off in the sink no problem.

Or, alternatively, just take it into the shower with you if that's your thing. It's very easy to clean — all you need to do is pop off the heads, run everything under the tap and leave it to air dry.

Manscaped Chairman Pro: Performance

The best endorsement I can give for the Chairman Pro is that I didn't experience any irritation, especially around the neck area which is usually where I'm worst affected. Also, after four shaves with the Chairman Pro at different lengths, I only experienced the very occasional hair pull.

The SkinSafe technology on the foil head uses a variety of different blade designs to guide the hairs into the blade and cut them efficiently without snagging. If I have one criticism, it's that it usually took four or five sweeps around the underside of the jawline to really get to a smooth finish.

This is something I'm used to accomplishing with only one or two passes with a really sharp manual razer. If you are prone to irritation, then this is where you could experience some problems.

Thanks to the changeable heads, the Chairman Pro really gives you a lot of choice over how much hair you want to remove. It's really designed to shave up to five days of beard growth and the four-blade foil head will take you right down to clean cheeks.

If you want to keep a bit of stubble, however, you can use the trimmer attachment with two separate plastic guards (Manscaped calls them combs) for your desired length. Comb 1 sits at 0.6mm length, giving you that 1-2 day growth. Comb 2 has a 1.3mm length. so you can keep your stubble at the 3-5 day stage.

The Chairman Pro also has a precision lock feature that allows the shaving head to remain at the perfect angle for you, but I tended to leave it free to swivel along the contours of my face.

I had no problems reaching tricky areas like underneath my nose and it was able to easily trim sideburns right back.

Throughout the entire shave, the ergonomically designed handle remained comfortable and easy to grip. So even when I was pivoting my hand round to really cut back those aforementioned sideburns, I never once dropped the razer or had it slip out of position.

Before you ask, I only tested the Chairman Pro on my face. If you're planning to get a device to tackle those more sensitive areas, you may want to check out our review of the Manscaped Performance Package 5.0 Ultra.

The package also contained Manscaped's Power Shave Gel and a tube of Face Shave Soother Aftershave Serum. While both are nice-to-haves, I don't rate them as better or worse than any regular brand of shaving gel or post-shave balm you probably already use.

Manscaped Chairman Pro: Verdict

Before I started on this review, I was hoping the Chairman Pro would offer up the substance to go with Manscaped's obvious style. To me, that meant providing a versatile and comfortable shave with minimum irritation. After several sessions with the razer, I can say that it easily accomplishes that.

Even though it took me a few more passes than I would have liked to really get the closest shave possible, I never experienced any real irritation and the Chairman Pro always felt comfortable in the hand.

There's an argument to be made that features like wireless charging aren't really necessary and could be traded off against a lower price. But I like to have added functionality in my devices and will usually consider paying more for extras like that to be included if they improve the convenience factor. I also really like that the rubberised carry case comes bundled in as standard.

Naturally, the cost of replacement blades will be a turn-off for some, but if you're committed to achieving the best grooming experience possible, it's a worthwhile investment.

Overall, though, I feel like the Chairman Pro is a bit of a game-changer in the male personal grooming space. It's comfortable, innovative, and practical—and it walks the walk just as much as it talks the talk.