Panasonic ES-RT47 Review: a straightforward foil shaver that punches above its price

I’ve been using the Panasonic ES-RT47 for a few weeks now, mostly as my main daily shaver and occasionally as a travel option. I bought it because my old rotary shaver was starting to feel rough and I didn’t want to spend £200+ on a high-end Braun or Philips. This Panasonic was in the £25–£45 range depending on the promo, so I went in with fairly modest expectations: if it shaved cleaner than cheap disposables and didn’t chew my neck, I’d call that a win.

Out of the box, it feels like a mid-range product, not bargain-bin. The specs sound decent on paper: 3-blade foil head, wet/dry use, pop-up trimmer with adjustable comb, about 50+ minutes of battery. Nothing fancy like auto-clean stations or smart displays, but honestly I don’t care about that for a bathroom shaver. I care about three things: how close it shaves, how my skin feels after, and how often I have to charge it.

In day-to-day use, the ES-RT47 sits in that sweet spot of “good enough for most people” without pretending to be some luxury gadget. It gives a close shave if you give it a bit of time and work with it, and it’s especially decent on softer to medium beards. If your beard is very coarse and you’re used to top-end Braun Series 7/9 performance, this will feel like a step down. But compared to cheap or older shavers, it’s a real upgrade.

Overall, I’d describe it as a solid, no-nonsense foil shaver with a better-than-expected trimmer. It’s not perfect: it’s a bit noisy, the head doesn’t flex as much as pricier models, and replacement foils are almost as expensive as buying a new unit. But for the money, it’s a sensible choice if you just want something that gets the job done without wrecking your skin or your wallet.

Value is where the ES-RT47 starts to look pretty attractive. At around £25–£45 depending on deals, you’re getting a wet/dry foil shaver with a decent motor, 3-blade head, and a genuinely useful adjustable trimmer. In pure performance terms, it gets close enough to much pricier shavers that, for a lot of people, paying £200+ for a flagship model just won’t make sense. You’re not getting fancy displays, auto-cleaning stations, or ultra-flex heads, but in terms of actually removing hair from your face, it holds up surprisingly well.

Compared to buying replacement foils and blades for an older Panasonic or Braun, the ES-RT47 can actually be the cheaper option. I’ve seen spare parts that cost almost as much as this whole shaver. That’s why some people, myself included, just buy a new unit when the old one gets tired. From a budget point of view, this shaver is a pretty solid deal if you’re not hung up on owning the “top model”. It’s also a good step up from very cheap supermarket shavers, which often feel rough and underpowered.

Where the value drops a bit is long-term ownership. If you plan to keep a shaver for many years and replace the foils/blades regularly, this isn’t the best ecosystem. The parts are too expensive relative to the cost of the whole unit, so you’re effectively pushed into a replace-rather-than-repair cycle. Also, if you have a very tough beard and super sensitive skin, you might actually save money in the long run by buying a higher-end shaver once, rather than cycling through mid-range ones that never fully satisfy you.

For most average users, though—especially if you shave daily or every couple of days and don’t want to spend a fortune—the ES-RT47 offers good value. It gives a decent, comfortable shave, has a handy trimmer built in, and doesn’t feel cheap in the hand. If you see it closer to £25 than £45, it’s an easy buy. At the top end of its price range, it’s still fair, just not a bargain.

Design-wise, the ES-RT47 sits somewhere between “cheap plastic” and “premium gadget”. The body is mostly plastic with a silver and dark grey finish. It doesn’t scream luxury, but it doesn’t look like a toy either. In the hand, it’s slightly bulkier than some slimline travel shavers, but that actually makes it easier to grip, especially in the shower or with foam. The weight (around 339 g) is light enough that your arm doesn’t get tired, but not so light that it feels hollow or flimsy.

The front has a simple on/off button and a small indicator light. No display, no fancy icons, just a basic LED. The head is a 3-foil setup in a rectangular shape, with two outer foils and a middle cutter bar. The head has a bit of flex, but not as much as the top-end models. In practice, that means you’ll need to adjust your angle a bit under the jawline and around the chin, but it’s still manageable. The foils are slightly rounded, which does help them glide over the skin without digging in.

One design feature I actually like a lot is the slide-up trimmer with an adjustable comb. It’s not just a bare trimmer blade; you can set different lengths (around 1–7 mm), so you can maintain stubble or tidy a short beard without a separate trimmer. The slider mechanism feels reasonably solid. It’s not buttery smooth, but it doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap off in a month either. For travel, it’s handy to have this built in instead of packing an extra gadget.

The main downside in design is that it’s a bit noisy and the head movement is limited compared to pricier shavers. If you’re used to something like a Braun with a very flexible head, this will feel more rigid, and you’ll do more of the work with your wrist. Still, for the price bracket, the overall design is practical and user-friendly, even if it’s not winning any beauty contests.

The battery situation on the ES-RT47 is pretty straightforward. Panasonic claims around 54 minutes of runtime from a full charge, and in real use that’s roughly what I’m seeing. I shave for about 5 minutes a day, and I comfortably get a week and a half to almost two weeks before it starts to slow down. It’s not the longest battery life on the market, but it’s more than enough for normal home use or a short trip without taking the charger.

Charging takes about an hour from empty to full, which is quite reasonable. There’s no quick-charge feature advertised, but in practice, if I plug it in for 10–15 minutes, I can usually squeeze out at least one full shave. The charging indicator, however, is pretty basic. It doesn’t show you a proper battery percentage or multiple levels like some older Panasonics; it just lets you know that it’s charging and then when it’s done. The annoying part is that you don’t get a gradual warning that it’s running low – it more or less goes from “seems fine” to “about to die” quite quickly.

The charger itself is light and uses a 2-pin bathroom plug, which is good if you have a shaver socket in your bathroom. If you don’t, you’ll need a 2-pin to 3-pin adapter or charge it in a different room. The cable is long enough for most setups, and the connection into the shaver feels secure. There’s no charging stand, but honestly I don’t miss it; less clutter on the sink is a plus for me.

Long-term, like most sealed-battery shavers, you’re not realistically going to replace the internal battery yourself. Once it stops holding charge well after a few years, it’s usually cheaper and easier to replace the whole unit. That’s not unique to this model; it’s just how most modern shavers are built. For now, though, the battery life is perfectly adequate and fits the overall “practical and no-nonsense” vibe of the ES-RT47.

Comfort was my main concern because my neck reacts badly to a lot of shavers, especially rotary ones. With the ES-RT47, the first thing I noticed is that the foils feel smooth on the skin. On a dry shave, it glides fairly well, and I don’t get that burning sensation I’ve had with some Braun and Philips models. The rounded outer foils and the 30° blades do seem to help cut hair close without digging into the skin too much, at least on my softer-to-medium beard.

On my neck, where my hairs grow in random directions and lie quite flat, I do need a few extra passes, especially if I haven’t shaved for two or three days. The good news is that even with those extra passes, irritation stays low. I might get a tiny bit of redness if I rush or press too hard, but nothing like the razor burn I’ve had from cheaper foil shavers. Using it with foam or gel makes it even smoother: the head slides better, and my skin feels calmer afterwards. If you have sensitive skin, I’d definitely recommend trying it wet first.

Compared to my old rotary shaver, the ES-RT47 is much kinder around the Adam’s apple and jawline. I used to get little bumps there; with this Panasonic, that’s mostly gone unless I really overdo it. It’s not magic: if your beard is very coarse or curly, you might still get some tugging on longer hairs, especially if you let your stubble grow beyond 3–4 days. In those cases, trimming down first with the built-in trimmer helps a lot.

In daily use, I’d rate the comfort as above average for the price. It’s not as silky as the really expensive high-end models, but for a £25–£45 shaver, it handles sensitive skin surprisingly well. If your priority is a completely irritation-free experience on a thick beard, you’ll probably need to spend more. But if you’re coming from cheap electrics or disposables, this is a noticeable step up in comfort.

In the hand, the ES-RT47 feels reasonably sturdy for a mid-range shaver. The plastic body doesn’t creak when you squeeze it, the on/off button has a firm click, and the slide-up trimmer mechanism feels more solid than I expected at this price. I’ve dropped it once from about sink height onto bathroom tiles (not on purpose), and it survived without any cracks or obvious damage, which is reassuring. The waterproofing also seems legit: I’ve used it in the shower and rinsed it under the tap regularly without any issues so far.

That said, Panasonic shavers in this range do have a bit of a reputation for dying after a few years, usually because the rechargeable battery gives up. You can technically open them up and swap the battery if you’re handy and don’t mind voiding any remaining warranty, but for most people it’s easier to just buy a new shaver. So I’m going into this expecting maybe 3–5 years of decent use, not a decade-long investment. For the price I paid, I’m okay with that, but it’s something to keep in mind if you prefer to buy once and keep it forever.

The other durability annoyance is the cost of replacement foils and blades. They work well, but when you look them up, the price is almost as high as buying a new ES-RT47 on sale. That makes it hard to justify maintaining it “properly” in the long term. Realistically, most people will run it until the foils feel dull or start irritating the skin more, and then replace the whole unit instead of buying parts. Not ideal from a waste point of view, but that’s how the pricing is set up.

So in daily use, build quality is perfectly acceptable and I’m not worried about it falling apart anytime soon. But long-term durability is limited more by the battery and parts pricing than by the physical toughness of the shaver itself. If you’re okay with the idea of replacing it every few years, it’s fine. If you want something you’ll keep for ages and maintain with cheap spare parts, this isn’t that.

In terms of raw shaving performance, the ES-RT47 sits in the “good but not jaw-dropping” category. On a daily or every-other-day shave, it gets very close, to the point where on my cheeks and upper lip it feels similar to a decent cartridge razor a couple of hours after shaving. The 3-blade system and the high-speed motor (around 10,000 RPM) do a solid job of cutting through soft to medium beard hair without much pulling. I usually need two or three passes in different directions to get fully smooth, which is pretty normal for a foil shaver.

Where it struggles a bit is on longer, flat-lying hairs, especially on the neck and under the jaw. If I let my beard grow for four or five days, it definitely needs more time and patience. It doesn’t completely choke, but you’ll feel it working harder, and you might have to pre-trim with the slide-up trimmer to avoid tugging. Once the hair is down to a couple of millimetres, the main foil head handles it fine. If you’re someone who shaves once a week and expects a fast, perfect result, this is probably not the right tool.

I also noticed that it throws off a fine “hair dust” if you don’t clean it regularly. That’s not really a performance issue, more a maintenance thing, but it does mean you want to pop the head off and brush it out often, especially if you shave dry. Rinsing under the tap after each shave helps a lot and keeps performance consistent. The waterproof design is handy here: just run it under warm water, maybe with a bit of soap, and it’s good.

Overall, I’d say the ES-RT47’s performance is solid for everyday use, especially if you keep your beard fairly short. It’s not on the same level as the top-tier Braun or Panasonic models that cost five or six times as much, but for the price bracket, it delivers a close, reliable shave. If you manage your expectations and don’t let your beard get too long before shaving, it does a decent job without too much hassle.

When you open the box of the Panasonic ES-RT47, there’s no fancy unboxing experience, which is fine. Inside you get the shaver itself, a basic charger with a UK 2-pin bathroom plug, a small cleaning brush, a tiny bottle of oil, and the usual thick multi-language leaflet. No travel pouch is included, which is a bit stingy, but the shaver isn’t fragile, so it’s not a deal-breaker. I ended up grabbing a cheap hard case separately because I do throw it in a bag quite often.

The charger is simple: plug into your bathroom shaver socket and it charges in around an hour. There’s no charging stand, just a cord that plugs into the bottom of the shaver. It’s not pretty sitting on the sink, but it’s practical and takes up very little space. One thing to note: it’s a 2-pin shaver plug, not a full 3-pin UK plug, so if your bathroom doesn’t have the shaver socket, you’ll need an adapter or charge it elsewhere.

The instructions are a bit confusing because they cover more than one model. The section about the indicator lights in particular is annoying: it took me a minute to realise that this model doesn’t show battery level in stages like some older Panasonics; it just basically tells you when it’s charging and when it’s about to die. Not a disaster, but it feels like a step backwards if you’ve owned previous models with clearer indicators.

Overall, the presentation matches the price bracket: functional and minimal. You get what you need to start shaving right away, nothing more. If you’re expecting lots of accessories or a premium feel in the packaging, you’ll be underwhelmed. If you just want a shaver, charger, and cleaning bits, it’s absolutely fine and keeps the cost down.