Panasonic doesn’t shave for free yet, but more sustainable for the planet

Men attentive to their look are familiar with so-called “multigrooming” kits. These sets, made up of a razor and a range of accessories, are intended to meet many needs in terms of beauty: shaving, haircutting, even hair removal and even maintenance of what manufacturers call “sensitive areas”. »!

With its Multishape, Panasonic wants to renew the genre with a scalable and durable device, for which you only buy the accessories you need.

A pragmatic beauty idea

If we know Panasonic well for its televisions or cameras, the manufacturer is struggling to settle in the shaving market in France, a universe where the brand has officiated since its origins. With its Multishape, “Pana” wants to try to compete with Philips, Braun, or Babyliss who occupy the field of multigrooming.

This generic name evokes devices dedicated to shaving, haircutting, hair maintenance… Until now, the big brands offered fairly complete kits in this field… but often a little too complete! It’s not uncommon for you to end up with accessories in the box (shaving head, combs, etc.) that you don’t necessarily need.

The Multishape takes the concept the wrong way, with an ultimately simple and pragmatic idea: Panasonic sells a base (the handle of the device, which runs on battery power) and its accessories separately. On the program: beard and hair trimmer head; beard-hair-body trimmer head; three-blade razor head; nose-ear-face trimmer, and even a toothbrush! The idea here is to respond to the specific needs of consumers, by offering them to buy only what they need, without imposing anything on them, but also to make a small gesture for the environment. Farewell to kits overflowing with plastic accessories, not all of which will be used!

Two batteries, two autonomy

Attractive in its approach, the Multishape is also attractive in use. The sober but elegant design of its base meets an obvious quality of manufacture with a coating in an adherent plastic which will allow the device to be used in the shower but also to be perfectly washed.

Surprisingly, Panasonic has provided two different bases, with two types of battery. The first, which incorporates a Ni-MH battery, gives it an autonomy of 50 minutes (49 euros). The second, with a Li-ion battery, is given with an autonomy of 90 minutes (59 euros). The first is rather to be recommended for parsimonious users, or travelers. For their part, the accessories are sold online from 15 to 30 euros. The entry price unfortunately remains a little higher than that of many kits multigrooming sold complete, sometimes offered at half price.

Good overall impression

The Multishape test confirms the good impression given off by the product. Pleasant to use, the device offers good ergonomics with its accessories that simply fit and uncouple, but also a real quality of cut. We were a little worried about the toothbrush (sonic type) and a slightly wide handle, but nothing came up against our test.

On arrival, Panasonic succeeds in its bet. It will be up to the manufacturer to make his concept last over time and to respect the environmental commitments that he wants to display today. The Multishape may lack a real charging base, or even more, a USB charging system, which could have freed the manufacturer, however proactive, from housing a power supply with a “proprietary” cable in its box…