Panasonic Multishape is a smart solution for saving equipment and space in the bathroom and when travelling. A battery handle drives various attachments that can be used to cut and trim beard or hair, but also to brush your teeth. ntv.de tried out how well it works.
Over time, a number of devices accumulate in the bathroom, and it is not uncommon for them to lie forgotten and unused in drawers. This makes neither economic nor ecological sense. Panasonic wants to remedy this with the Multishape system. It consists of a handle with a battery motor that cuts and trims any body hair with various attachments, but can also be transformed into an electric toothbrush.
There are currently five different multi-shape attachments that can be easily changed: a narrower and a wider trimming head, a 3-blade shaving head, an attachment for the nose, ears and eyebrows, and a sonic toothbrush attachment. But you don’t have to buy them all together, you can adapt the set to your own needs.
To get started, there are two starter kits with beard and hair trimmers and a transport bag for 70 or 80 euros. You have the choice between two handles. One has a nickel-metal hydride battery that lasts about 50 minutes, the other handle comes with a lithium-ion battery for 90 minutes. Both variants are loaded in about an hour, during which time you cannot use them. Without attachments, the handles cost 50 or 60 euros. The cheaper model was used in the test.
Both variants can be used and cleaned both dry and wet, as they are waterproof according to IPX7. According to Panasonic, they are also suitable for use in the shower. The same applies to all essays.
The trimmer (25 euros) with a 25 millimeter wide shaving head is there to shape beards, trim sideburns or clip ears. Using a rotary wheel and two attachments, it cuts hair lengths from 1 to 20 millimeters and can be adjusted in a total of 39 steps of 0.5 millimeters.
In the test, the attachment proved to be very precise on the contours and shortened the beard and hair quickly and exactly to the desired length without tugging or pinching. Even transitions were no problem due to the fine gradation.
If you don’t work on contours as much, but want to quickly trim beard and hair, the trimmer, which costs 30 euros, is better suited because it has a 39 millimeter wide shaving head. Although the prongs are further apart, in the test it cut just as accurately and comfortably as the smaller version. The larger trimmer cuts hair lengths from 0.5 to 30 millimeters with four attachments in 58 stages.
The 3-blade attachment costs 30 euros. He shaves quite well, even in more complicated places. The head with individually movable blades under the shaving foil glides comfortably over the skin, which was not irritated after the test shave. The attachment works particularly thoroughly and gently when wet. It is also easy to clean with soap and water.
The fourth hairy attachment works against hair in the nose and ears and can be used to trim eyebrows. With a price of 15 euros, it is relatively expensive, but it works particularly cleanly with an air flow that sucks in clipped hairs. It also gets down to business quickly and painlessly and can be thoroughly cleaned under the tap. However, the trimmer is very loud in the ear.
Even if you say it occasionally, nobody has hair on their teeth, so the sonic toothbrush attachment (30 euros) is an outlier in Panasonic’s multishape range. With limitations, however, it can keep up in terms of quality. Since the handle cannot offer different programs, as is usual with electric toothbrushes, the only option is to choose between a normal and a particularly fine brush head. Both are included.
There is nothing wrong with the result. The teeth feel nice and smooth after brushing and the spaces in between seem to have been cleaned well. Anyone who doesn’t expect more from a toothbrush anyway is well served, especially when traveling with small luggage.
This actually applies to the entire Multishape system: it is ideal for on the go. There are always devices that are better in detail, but as an all-rounder it is unbeatably good. This is especially true for the trimmers, which can easily keep up with specialists. For example, it makes sense to use a starter pack in everyday life and take additional attachments with you when travelling.
