Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer
08/07/2008
Men's Grooming / Fitness Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Behold the beard: a facial follicular statement that screams, “Although this may look pretty damned sweet, the reality is that it’s only here because I hate to shave.”
Sure, beards are awesome, but if you’ve ever grown one, you already know that they can very easily become unkempt; if you go a few days too many without giving them a trim, people stop you on the street and say things like, “I really enjoyed your manifesto, Mr. Kaczynski,” and that’s just not good for anyone’s self-esteem. As someone who’s been sporting a beard off and on for several years now, I feel your pain. As such, I’m sure you were as psyched as I was to hear that Schick had come up with a product that catered specifically to our demographic: the Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer.
The description of the Quattro Titanium Trimmer paints it as the most awesome thing ever for a beard boy, since it’s equipped with both a standard razor blade as well as an edging blade on one end and a battery-powered trimmer on the other. Indeed, according to Schick, this baby provides “unparalleled control in creating the perfect facial-hair style for any man,” further clarifying that “the addition of a precision Titanium edging blade located on the back of the main razor allows for cleaner edges on all facial-hair styles, as well as a simple tool for addressing harder to reach spaces, like under the nose.”
But is it truly the ultimate experience in personal grooming that such a description would lead us to believe? Not entirely.
Having taken this razor for a test run, I can testify that the trimmer itself is as awesome as you could hope to expect for a price tag of $9.99. Despite the fact that it had been almost a month since I’d gone anywhere near my beard with a trimmer, it made it through the thick brush without hesitation and never faltered for a moment. The trimmer also provides a four-level adjustable comb, and it’s easy to clean.
The same, however, cannot be said for the other end of the Quattro Titanium Trimmer. It’s hard to say if the fault lies with the rubber guard bar or the edging razor, but the end result of the design is such that, after one usage, the razor was clogged with whiskers that could not be readily washed out. I’ve held it under a strong tap, I’ve run it through a sink full of hot, soapy water, and it’s still chock full of hair. Given the cost of replacement blades, my enthusiasm for having to put in a new blade after every shave is not terribly high.
As it stands right now, the Quattro Titanium Trimmer is a fantastic concept, but it still needs a bit more tweaking before it’s a must-own. The resulting shave is undeniably smooth, but given that it’s catering to an audience that has a lot of facial hair to remove, the blades really need to be easier to clean.
Sorry, Schick. We beard enthusiasts are a picky lot, you know.
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