Before I report on the razor shortly to me: I'm early 20s, have normal strong beard after shaving and often a red skin.
After I received the Philips and had unpacked I noticed the first touch that the shaver compared to the Series 5 is easier and better is a lot in hand. However, I was skeptical at first, like shaving will work, because I've used yet no razor until that date, in which you should make a circular motion while shaving.
When I anschaltete the Philips is the first time I immediately noticed how quiet is the razor, because my Braun Series 5 is very noisy.
After a short loading phase I wanted to try the razor course immediately. So I tried it, implement shown on the Philips website for shaving tips to achieve a good result.
The first time I used the razor shaving without shaving cream, so I shaved once dry. I noted that the shaver in cheek, chin and jaw area provided good work and almost every hair caught and removed. In the neck area but remained more hair back that were not cut at the first time. After long drive over, I caught the last hairs. The result could be seen right the first time, although the razor on the skin not easy unescorted and shaving took a little longer.
About a week later I once wanted to test the wet shave with longer hair. So I shaved after showering with shaving cream. I have to say that shaving with foam works better than without, the Philips better slides and dorm hair was caught. One only has to consider when wet shaving that one the razor often flushes, otherwise too much foam in the cutting head gets stuck.
After the wet and dry shaving, I had no redness and no annoying skin irritations.
A direct comparison of this Philips and Braun Series 5 I found that the Philips is quieter, lighter and mainly thanks to wet shaving Thorough lot. But the Braun Series 5 was effective for me in the dry shaving the neck, as he quickly achieved a good result there. Comparing the final results but the Philips was clearly ahead, because after a shave with this razor had the skin smoother and less irritation.
In conclusion, I can say that the Philips S9031 / 12 a class is razor, but with a dry shave the neck showed slight weaknesses. Otherwise, I am full of the razor and very excited.