Panasonic MultiShape
Panasonic MultiShape review: a heady system
9.11.2022
Translation: Julia Graham
The Panasonic MultiShape isn’t content with just being a hair trimmer. It wants to double as a toothbrush and razor as well. In this review, blades meet bristles across half my bathroom cabinet. What follows is a pro-con essay on attachments – do they make sense or not?
According to my calculations, there are 18. That’s right, eighteen. The Philips Multigroom Series 7000 that I bought four years ago had the same number of attachments. At most, I’ve only used half. Having said that, I did everything I could think of with them. I cut my hair and other people’s hair, I shaved, trimmed and tamed my nasal hair. But I needed to crack open the user manual in order to identify the subtle differences in this sea of plastic parts. In contrast, Panasonic opts for a modular system, which is designed so you have fewer unused parts and more enhancement options. If you want, you can upgrade any element, from the razor to the toothbrush. That being said, the basic set only contains the essentials.
But why am I even putting this to the test? Well, my Philips hair clippers are blunt, the battery on my electric toothbrush is giving up the ghost and my electric razor takes too much space in my cupboard for it not to be charged when I need it. The big question is, assuming I didn’t have all this stuff in the first place, would MultiShape be able to replace it?
Things that promise (too) many features are often eyed with scepticism. And often, rightly so. Even before this test, MultiShape already had a hard time of it in our editorial group chat. For general amusement, we rummaged around for products that had the most all-in-one options. Ramon Schneider dug up an 18-in-1 shower gel, while Jan Johannsen put forward this 96-hour deodorant and Ramon delivered his first thoughts on the MultiShape concept: «It’s kinda weird to go and shave off your ear and nose hair with your toothbrush. But that’s the article title already made: «how I trim my nasal hair with my toothbrush.» Yeah, thanks for that. It seems I’m the only one who thinks the replaceable head concept could be a good idea.
The base unit
The basic package is designed on the not unjustified assumption that someone who needs a set of hair clippers will first want to cut their hair. On their head, face or body. That’s why it’s a beard, hair and body trimmer kit. In other words, there’s a broad, shear-surfaced head and four attachments that come with the round grip and power button that’s reminiscent of an electric toothbrush.
MultiShape is designed in such a way that you can completely remove the head part by turning it and replacing it with one of the other attachments for shaving or cleaning your teeth. These are available to buy separately. If you just want to shorten or trim hair, you can ignore the head and instead choose from one of the four plastic parts. When combined with the rotating head, these provide 58 different length settings in 0.5-mm increments. For instance, if you don’t like your number 3 haircut any more, you can always switch to 2.5 mm. Thanks to the fine-tuning dial, you won’t be drowning in plastic parts, despite the huge selection on hand.
You can use MultiShape when it’s wet or dry, and it should be able to last 70 minutes with this attachment. That may well be. Exact times vary depending on the configuration. But for everyday use, it’s not likely to be an issue. For a long time, I didn’t bother charging it up. And when the first warning light showed up indicating low battery, I was pleased with the quick-charge feature. It provides five minutes of operating time for every three minutes plugged in. Within an hour, MultiShape is fully charged. Then it’s ready for whatever you can throw at it. Which is as it should be. Because if we look realistically at my barber options, I end up cutting my hair myself.
In short, it goes smoothly, as you’d expect for a brand-new device. The three attachments for trim length – from 1 to 30 mm – offer an array of options. Without them, MultiShape cuts your hair at 0.5 mm, while the body attachment is set to 1.5 mm. I can work with that. The blades are sharp and in one aspect, they’re easier to use than my Philips, which tends to get clogged quicker. If there’s a lot of fine hair coming away, it also collects between the blade and the attachment. That then lessens cutting performance. You need to blow into it, rinse it and put it back together again before you can give it another go. MultiShape has a small recess on the back and front that you can flush water through to remove some of the problem. Even basic cleaning seems easier because the troublesome areas are more straightforward to access once the blade is removed. The best way is to use a bit of pressurised air. Afterwards, you’re meant to oil the blade so it runs without a hitch for as long as possible.
The blades
Ads for razor blades and related products have been entertaining me for over 30 years. It’s usually just PR cinema and neither my old Philips nor the new Panasonic MutiShape are an exception. «Thanks to dual cut technology, the blades sharpen themselves for long-lasting use» vs. «Japanese blade tech – 45° Nano-polished blades for a precision cut.» Between you and me, that all sounds like waffle. They’re expendable parts. I can deal with the shaver head eventually getting blunt if there’s a replacement for it.
According to the instructions, you’re meant to replace this part on MultiShape every three years. But I’m sure that’s highly dependent on how much you use it. With my old model, for instance, it lasted two years before cutting my hair eventually became painful and started to tug. Compared with the overall device, replacement blades are often borderline expensive. But what’s important to me is that they’re available at all. You’ll be able to get them for MultiShape – and since I’ve seen what professional hair stylist scissors cost, I’m sure the price tag won’t shock me.
The toothbrush
MultiShape only starts to enter really interesting territory with additional accessories. I’m especially excited to try the toothbrush attachment. If it works really well, that’d mean one less device in the bathroom. And if it’s only a partial success, at least it’ll save space while I’m travelling. When it comes to changing attachments, you’ll first need to affix a connecting piece to MultiShape, which all brush heads attach to. Then you’ve got a choice between a «multi-fit» brush, which is meant to be good at getting into interdental spaces with its triangular bristles, and a brush with extra-fine bristles, which was created to give gums a good clean.
The device itself works using sonic vibration technology. Initially, I found the sound irritating. Compared to the high-pitched surround sound of my normal electric toothbrush, the MultiShape one has a bass-heavy rattle. Combined with the much thicker attachment, the whole thing feels a bit coarse at first.
Switching over to the toothbrush is always strange, but over time I get used to it and no longer feel like hair clippers have somehow strayed into my mouth. But how well it cleans is something I can’t speak to. I still prefer my old, low-battery happybrush, but at least for travel, this attachment is an option.
The razor
My old Philips hair clippers include a razor attachment I’ve only used once in four years. It’s too small, delicate and there’s too big a trade-off – basically a typical all-in-one product. But it does come with the device. The MultiShape razor attachment, on the other hand, is sold separately. However, that also makes it feel like a fully fledged product, which could fit inconspicuously onto the razor shelf.
It goes without saying that it doesn’t disappoint on a promotional level either. Japanese stainless steel blade, 30˚ nano-polished blades, multi-fit scalloped blades, three independent heads… wow, wow, wow. With all that under its belt, the device doesn’t even look like a makeshift solution when placed next to my Braun Series 7. In practice, the MultiShape razor isn’t an ordeal. Instead, the device glides pain-free and quickly. It’s so good that I don’t have the impression I’m holding a trade-off product. All in all, the attachment has won me over.
The nose hair trimmer
From bitter experience, I can say that a nose and ear hair trimmer are even more important with every year that goes by. Nature plays its dirty trick by ensuring rampant growth of little hairs in those very places where you don’t want them. Nevertheless, the nasal hair attachment is the one I’d be most likely to give a miss.
I mean sure, it does its job and proves innovative with its «vacuum feature» (sucks in clipped hairs) and «smart-wash system» (flushes out hairs under running water). But with all those hairs flying about from shaving and trimming, you’ll still need to clean the sink anyway. What’s more, this nasal hair trimmer doesn’t take up any less space than my manual clipette. Having said that, I didn’t have to buy it. And I have a choice.
Overall impression
Only buying what you really need is a good idea. What’s the point in cluttering up cupboards with all kinds of attachments that are no use to you on an average day? With MultiShape, you can buy extras as and when you need them. However, it’s not cheap. You’ll pay a fair amount for each part, but by the same token, you won’t be getting junk. I like the idea of only having to charge one base part. Until now, I’ve had an electric toothbrush, electric razor, body groomer and hair clippers all vying for two sockets. I don’t use most of those devices that often, and when I do, I can guarantee it will have run out of battery.
In future, I hope Panasonic also offer replacement base units without attachments. Or even the option to replace the battery. In terms of attachments, all of those I tested did a great job. They’re more than a stop-gap. In fact, they cut down chaos in the bathroom cabinet and in your travel luggage. But if we’re talking about attachments and base stations combined, less is definitely more. In any case, MultiShape is certainly not one of these trillion-in-one products that deserve all the ridicule they get.
Sports scientist, high-performance dad and remote worker in the service of Her Majesty the Turtle.