Panasonic ES-LV65-S Reviews: Finally Worth Buying?

I’ve used manual shavers and cheaper versions of electronic ones for some time, and I found that electronic shavers are often times overpriced. I tried the Panasonic ES-LV65-S due to its specs and advertised capabilities and quickly found that it was well worth the price.

It certainly does what some of the more expensive competitors do, so I felt like I got a bargain for how excellent of a shaver it ended up being. Panasonic Arc 5 is the best electric shaver in my opinion.

Panasonic ES-LV65-S ARC 5

Performance Summary:

Labs launched the next generation in shaving with a Panasonic Shaver. Their warming bar technology gives us the pleasure of a hot towel shave every morning.

They’re innovating to improve your everyday shave.

You can see from the list above that the Panasonic ES-LV65 Arc 5 is going for a deep, smooth, fast shave above all else. There are other high-end shavers, like some of Braun’s offerings, that put more of an emphasis on premium finish and a fancier feeling to the experience than sheer practicality.

While I’m not one to knock some of the more tactile pleasures in life, in my mind having a shaver that excels at getting its job done without so much pomp is a plus.

Panasonic ES-LV65-S Arc 5

See the price on Amazon

Quiet Motor

The actual motor runs as quiet as advertised. The hum is still there, of course; it’s not totally silent. But like some shavers run like trucks in a garage, the Panasonic was actually somewhat pleasing and relaxing. It was a nice change of pace from the obnoxious buzz some other models make when doing a full-face shave.

The shaver’s various kinds of blades equipped in the head are designed to snag different hairs, ensuring that everything you want is removed as you drag the head across your skin.

The pivoting head is really maneuverable, so much so that I worried it lost the first time I used it.

But it’s just really good at molding to the contours of the jawline. The Active Shaving Sensor must do its work well, because the shaver easily detected the variances in my bears and adjusted the head as required to catch them all, no matter how large or small.

The biggest drawback I noticed was that, since I have experienced worse shavers than this, I sometimes pressed too hard and got a closer shave than I desired.

Learning just how well the shaver cuts without extra effort on my part was definitely a bit of a curve. If the sensor could detect skin, maybe it would be perfect.

Altogether it was a great shaving experience the first time, and the others were just as smooth, no pun intended.

You can get a cleaning system with a similar shaver by upgrading its companion product, the Panasonic ES-LV95-S Arc 5.

Panasonic ES-LV65 Shaver: Beautiful design, masculine

The Panasonic ES-LV65-S Arc 5 looks sleek and masculine; the black finish and matte grip give it a practical, heavy-duty look that is nonetheless contrasted by how advanced the actual head appears.

The shaver manages to get a full-face shave done in quicker time than some other models I’ve used, even some of the earlier ones also from Panasonic.

Five Precision Blades

Perhaps most importantly, I found that the shave was extremely smooth despite hurrying through the job to test its thoroughness.

This is due in part to the five blades and in part to the pivoting head.

Precision Pop-Up Trimmer

Finally, I really liked the experience with the pop-up trimmer, which is great for snagging those rough patches around the throat or at the back of my jawbone.

Curves and angles are hard for a lot of shavers so I appreciate the design that went into making a solution for that, specifically.

• Read more: What’s the best beard trimmer for long beards?

Performance

Let’s get into the details of the shave. The five ultra-sharp blades are hypoallergenic, which means that they’re designed to prevent the allergic reaction some folks’ faces have to close shaves.

This didn’t have much of an effect on me, but I appreciate the thought there just the same. The blades are very sharp, however; it only took a once-over once I’d trimmed the rougher parts of the bears to ensure a baby-skin-smooth feeling all the way around.

User Friendliness

I touched on this a bit with the previous section, but I’ll go into a little more depth here.

The Panasonic ES-LV65-S shaver is designed to do most of the thinking work for you. It has sensors to adjust the blade position and to teach you to glide it across your face, instead of pushing so hard as you might with a cheaper shaver.

While this is user-friendly in the strictest sense, it’s different from how many folks, such as me, learned to shave.

This makes it a little less accessible than it otherwise would have been.

However, despite this “drawback”, the Panasonic Arc 5 ES-LV65-S offers a really easy shave.

The motor is even programmed to adjust itself during the shave if it detects more or less hair to cut.

The entire shaver is designed to take care of your beard or stubble without you having to worry, and that’s as user-friendly as it gets.

It can be very relaxing, especially if you’re doing this in the morning and still waking up.

Accessories

The Panasonic Arc5 ES-LV65-S shaver comes with a travel kit and travel safety lock, although that might be overdoing it a bit.

In the rare instance when someone might try to steal your electric shaver, I suppose it would be good to have, and considering the Panasonic’s price, it’s definitely not a bad thing. The travel kit is simple and nothing special, but that fits well with the shaver’s entire, understated theme.

The charging cord is of moderate length and I didn’t have a problem plugging it in when it needed a charge.

This electric shaver doesn’t come with a mounted station like some of the fancier models do. Here’s one place where a little more pizzazz might have helped since mounting stations are nice for keeping the bathroom counter clean.

This isn’t a huge minus overall, but just leaving your shaver sitting there without a station sort of lessens the look of the device.

Accessories Pros and Cons

Waterproofing

I already went into how easy Panasonic makes the shaving experience, so I won’t repeat myself about those aspects.

The shaver is designed for use in water or when dry, so you can take this into the shower and take care of your beard while your pores are open from the heat.

This is my preferred way to shave, so I’m glad Panasonic works with me on this point.

There’s only one button but it’s a very sensitive, finicky one.

This is a mixed bag; on the one hand, the lack of complicated buttons is a plus, since shavers are simple machines and don’t need as many switches as a phone.

But there were a few times I switched a setting without meaning to, so I had to learn to keep my hand away from the button when I wasn’t going to use it.

A little annoying, but not a dealbreaker.

The display screen beneath the button is sleek and simple, without any complicating icons or images.

Rechargeable vs. Battery-Powered Travel Shaver: Another, final point I like is that the power cable for charging is adopted universally, so you can use it in America or elsewhere without needing to worry about an adapter.

Ease of Use Pros and Cons

Pansonic ES-LV65-S shaver – The Best Price

The price for this quality of shaver is, I think, quite reasonable. This piece holds up to some of the heavy-hitters like Braun’s offerings and does it at quite a lower cost.

Panasonic ES-LV65-S Replacement Blades (ARC5)

However, I found that the replacement blades for the shaver are not very cheap, which makes the lifetime price of the shaver more than displayed.

Overall, though I think that the quality of the original device is well worth the upfront cost, and if it lasts long enough to warrant my buying multiple blades, again and again, I figure it’s been worth it all along, right?

Panasonic ES-LV65-S Arc 5

My Final Thoughts

Panasonic Arc5 ES-LV65-S is a shaver that I feared would be some middle-of-the-road option without the style of an expensive Braun or the cheap dependability of a manual shaver, but instead, the Panasonic Arc5 is a solid, high-quality shaver that overcame my expectations.

I’ve had a great time with this shaver, and I think I’ll keep it around for some time.

It definitely deserves a place in my bathroom for as long as it lasts, which I reckon will be quite a while.

Final Verdict

The Panasonic Arc 5 ES-LV65-S is a fantastic piece of equipment I would recommend to anyone who shaves regularly.

It’s much more affordable than more expensive shavers, so there’s a much better reason to spring for it and get something dependable for the next few years. With the kind of shave it brings, I think it will be hard to ever go back to something less satisfying.