Foil and rotary shavers are designed for close facial shaving. OneBlade combines shaving and edging with comb attachments for trimming hair to a chosen length. These differences are useful when deciding between a clean shave, stubble and a shaped beard.
The cutting system also determines which parts you replace and how you clean them. A foil cassette, a pack of rotary heads and a OneBlade cutting head contain different components, which matters when comparing replacement costs.
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Foil shavers
Hair passes through a thin, perforated metal foil to moving cutters underneath. Braun and Panasonic both use this arrangement. The Panasonic photograph shows the elongated foil surfaces across the head.
Some models use a cassette containing both foil and cutters. Others have a separate outer foil and inner blades. When buying replacements, read the pack contents: an outer foil sold on its own does not necessarily include the cutters.
Rotary shavers
Rotary shavers use spinning cutters beneath circular guards, as shown on the three-headed Philips S7370/12. Philips describes using circular movements with its rotary shavers; the instructions for your model explain the technique in more detail.
The cutters and guards sit in a holder. A replacement pack may contain the cutting heads without that holder, its hinge or its retaining parts. During cleaning, keep each cutter with its original guard.
OneBlade
OneBlade uses a replaceable cutting head for shaving and edging. Adding a comb leaves hair at the comb’s stated length. Philips says it does not shave as close as a traditional blade, which is relevant if you want a completely smooth finish.
The 360 blade flexes to follow contours. Blade and attachment compatibility varies, so check the listed handle models and exceptions when buying spares. The QP2520/20 pictured here is an older Original OneBlade supplied with three separate combs.
Choosing a system
For a close face shave, compare foil and rotary models alongside their cleaning and charging requirements. For stubble or beard shaping, compare the comb lengths and available edging attachments. Body grooming requires equipment and guards intended for the areas you plan to use them on.
If you already own a shaver and like the result, check whether a replacement cutting set would address the wear. Switching systems makes more sense when you want to change the finish or the way you shave.
Photo source and reuse
Original photographResized to a maximum width of 1280 pixels and converted to WebP; no crop. This version retains the stated image license.
Photo source and reuse
Original photographMetadata stripped; resized to a maximum 1800 px bounding box; converted to WebP without cropping.Sources
- Braun: how foil electric shavers work
- Philips: removing rotary shaving heads
- Philips: shaver motion guidance
- Philips: OneBlade trimming, edging and shaving
- Philips: OneBlade attachment compatibility
About these sources
Manufacturer information checked on 2026-09-11.