Electric shavers a cut below.(Buyers guide)

An electric shaver can be convenient when there's no soap and water to be found, and you can avoid nicks, since the blades don't touch your skin. But that's about the limit of the good news we gathered during recent tests.

Most electric shavers, whether rotary or foil type, cost far more than blade razors; they're costly to maintain (you need to replace parts every six months to two years, and heads cost about $25 to $45); batteries in some shavers take 12 hours to recharge; and electrics shaved slightly less close than blades in our tests. Men and women panelists who typically use blades said they wouldn't switch to electric shavers after trying some from our Ratings.

That said, if you're a fan of electric shavers, we found a handful to make you happy.

How we tested. For tests of men's shavers, each of which lasted one week, we asked six foil users to try all the foil shavers and eight rotary users to try the rotary models. Eight blade users tried one foil and one rotary for three weeks. We also enlisted 11 women, all blade users, to test each of four women's shavers and two men's at least twice. (Women's shavers were generally lighter and cheaper, but we didn't notice anything particularly womanly about them, and a woman can certainly use a man's shaver.)

Panelists filled out a questionnaire, and staff members assessed the closeness of the men's shaves (yes, we have experts trained in those things), comparing faces to sandpapers of varying roughness.

What we found. Foil users will get the best mix of performance and price from the Braun FreeControl, a CR Best Buy at $40. It can be used with or without a cord. (The Braun 360[degrees] foil-type shaved closest of all but cost $170.) A low-priced, very good rotary: the Remington Microflex 600, a CR Best Buy at $70.

The women faulted all the shavers, which they said were harder to use than a blade razor and took more passes to do the same job. They also reported bumps, irritation, and scrapes when shaving under their arms.