QSHAVE Adjustable Double Edge Classic Safety Razor (1 Razor & 5 pcs Titanium Coated Blades)

Qshave ReviewSafety first, this is a razor handle that requires more caution than most other razor handles. Inserting or removing the blade and adjusting the blade position can be tricky. And if you fail it could likely result in sliding a finger over the blade.The instructions show the razor head removal using the thumb and index finger grabbing each side of head and lifting up. I found this requires a good grip with your fingers and if they slip they tend to want to slip over the blade. I believe there is a much better way to do this.It helps to lower the blade number down to the lowest setting first, which is one. Hold the handle in one hand then using your thumb to push up on one side of head. If you look closely at the razor head, one side has a slight edge, see picture. Use that side to push up with the thumb. This way gives more control and less chance of slipping over the blade. I can do this with wet fingers and no slippage. But always be careful doing this. Test out the technique without the blade.I found that adjusting the blade number is even more prone to slipping and moving the finger across the blade. My handle requires a bit of force to turn to adjust the number. The best way I found to adjust this while shaving is to hold the razor by the handle and put the head squarely on the counter top. Then with a little bit of downward pressure, adjust the setting by turning the handle. This can be done one handed and there is no chance of hitting the razor edge. It is also quick to adjust.The review of the shaver:The shaver goes from very mild to aggressive. I have read other reviews indicating the razor was aggressive on the lowest setting. I do not find this the case at all, no matter who’s definition of aggressive that you are using. The only way I can see this is if the handle was not fully screwed in.There is a video on the web on how to take the razor apart for cleaning. Basically you remove the head cap and razor. The turn the adjuster to the max setting, which is 6. Then push on the head, against the spring. when you do this the handle will push out slightly and you can keep turning the adjuster past 6 and remove the handle all the way off. Then you will have the head, spring, and the handle separated.Installing is the reverse. You do need to make sure you fully screw the handle in. You could stop one full revolution short and that still gives you 6 settings but the razor blade starts out more aggressive on 1, actually a 1 would be like a 6 or even slightly more aggressive. In that case the razor is very aggressive on 1. Perhaps this is why some say the razor is very aggressive on a setting of 1. However if you keep turning the handle full in while assembling it will bottom out at 1 and if you look at the head from a side angle, the head will be fully seated in the groove. In this position a setting of 1 is very mild, basically no blade sticks out. I have absolutely no hair cutting on this setting. I tried the various settings while running the razor across the edge of a sheet of paper. At 1 the the blade makes no contact with the paper edge. I compared it to a Feather ASD2 and the Qshave setting of 3 is about the same as the ASD2. Making adjustments is not exactly consistent, the blade moves up while adjusting so that exposes more blade but also changes the angle of the blade. So the blade works different at different settings. The angle to hold the razor changes slightly with the setting.I had a great first shave but it dwindled after that to a terrible shave by the end of the week. When I shaved it seemed like the blade didn't cut at all or cut very little. Repeated shaving the same area didn't cut much and roughed the skin up each time. I could not figure out why that was, so I waited a while before writing the review.But I think I finally figured it out. There was a few things going on that caused the problem. First, the razor blade needs to be sharp. This razor handle does not work well with a blade that is starting to wear down. This is true for all razor handles but it is more noticeable with the Qshave. The Qshave razor does not have as much exposed blade (at lower settings) than other razor handles. So a change in razor blade sharpness is more noticeable but I believe the end result is the same in any razor handle, it is just more noticeable in the Qshave.The other thing I noticed is that one side of the razor cuts different from the other side. When I look closely at the razor it is not even, see picture. The blade gap differs on each side. I tried resetting the blade and moving the head a little but it is difficult to get it exact. With a few tries I can get the blade to sit parallel to the razor edge but the gap differs and I cannot get that to equalize easily, maybe once or twice I had it even. I think it has to do with the torque on the spring that causes the head to push to one side or the other. Adjusting the setting causes the spring tension to change and you can sort of center the head by moving this setting prior to putting the head cap on. I could not get it to work every time but I can get it to center after a little bit of effort. See the side angle pictures of the head. The play where the head connects to the handle differs on both sides and it is just enough to cause the head to be off center. But in the end it didn't really matter, you end up with two different cutting edges. I found this random blade setting to be a big factor in getting an efficient shave.However, having two different blade angles does have some advantages. I use the less aggressive side shave the jaw line and neck area. It is like adjusting the handle setting but easier to do. So it is not all that bad. You just need to remember which side is aggressive. In my case it is always the same side, the side opposite where you read the set number. The play in the head along with the single spring tension causes this.Over time of using the Qshave I have found I can more consistently get the blade in the same position which means a setting of 3 is the same each day, or close to it. When the setting is close each day the shave is great each day. When the razor edge varies each day at the same setting it is more difficult to use because you don’t know what a 3 really is, too aggressive or too mild or is the blade worn out ?The steps I follow to get the blade to sit close to the same position each day is to clean the razor and blade then put the razor head on in the same position while holding the razor handle at an angle so that the blade wants to slide to one side with the play in the razor blade. If you look closely at the razor handle top, where the blade goes, one side is marked. And if you look closely at the razor head, one side is slightly larger than the other, you can see this in the picture and you can easily feel the difference when you pick up the razor head from the ends. Line these two up the same each day and I can get the head to sit close to the same. Sometimes I can push on the head a little one way or the other to get the gap to look the same too. A little extra work but the shave is worth it, much better and consistent shave over my other razor handles.I compared the razor blade play in the razor with other razor handles I have. The Feather ASD2 has a tighter tolerance, not too tight but sits perfectly when assembled. The Feather Popular also has a tighter tolerance. And I have a Weishi and it too has tighter tolerance. Not a lot but apparently just enough. But given the face skin surface is not exactly flat all this does not seem to matter when using the razor.I found I get a very good shave if I use a new razor blade and start with a setting of 3 to 3.5. And spend a little time to get the razor head to sit the same way each time. For all this, it is worth having a Qshave in the collection.

I've been shaving with a double-edge safety razor for years now. I started out shaving with an injector blade (anyone remember those?), had a brief fling with electric until my flight sergeant accused me of not shaving ( I admittedly have a heavy, dark beard), and went to the dual-blade cartridge blades. Trac II, Atra, etc., until the razor companies got greedy and started to charge above $2 per cartridge. I have to say, I routinely nicked myself regularly, even with the expensive multi-blade cartridges, to get a close shave. I finally went to the DE safety blades, got just as close a shave, and continued to put up with the nicks. Given a choice between a close shave with nicks on a $3 cartridge or a close shave with nicks on a ten cent blade, I didn't have a big decision to make. I tried one of the low-end Murkur handles that screw together, but found it to be really aggressive and awkward with the short handle. I used a butterfly close handle for years. I always wondered whether an expensive adjustable handle might make a difference, but I wasn't willing to put up $80 for the adjustable Murkur on the chance that it would be significantly better, and Gillette got out of that business decades ago. The Qshave 700, at less than $20, got my attention, and it lives up to the reviews. Smooth, comfortable, and close without nicks. With my heavy beard I use a setting of 5, but most guys would set it to something a bit less aggressive. Since I always got nicks before, I have always had a hard time telling when a blade was getting dull. It usually got pretty bad (5 shaves or so) before it was obvious that it was the blade causing problems, so that's when I swapped out the blade. With the Qshave, I find that it's really a 3 or maybe 4 shave limit per blade. I think that was true all along, I just didn't realize it. My experiences with cartridge systems haven't been any better, despite the ridiculous claims of their advertisements. Given that I could change the blade every day and still spend a fraction of what it would cost for the 3, 4, or 5-blade cartridges, I have no real complaints there. The QSHAVE 700 has my loyalty now. I still use Atra-compatible blades (I prefer the Persona for that) while travelling because of TSA carry-on requirements, but this Qshave is now my favorite handle.

I have used the razor a few times now, and although the blade gap is just a tiny bit off (slight slant) on my personal copy of this razor, so far it works well enough to handle my shaving needs.I usually start off with a milder setting of 2.5 for the first pass. For the second pass I dial it up to a 3.0.For the few areas that may require just a bit of touch up, I dial it up to a 3.5 which is pretty aggressive for my skin but leaves those spots absolutely smooth. If the blade gap was spot on, I would have given it 5 stars. A very good value for an adjustable razor.