The Braun BT5265 beard trimmer belongs to a family of solutions designed exclusively for beard and mustache care. It is not supposed to cut hair on the head with it (although, of course, you can try), so the equipment of the device is not too rich: only 2 or 3 nozzles (depending on which model of the BT52 series we are talking about), a cleaning brush and a machine Gillette with two cassettes.

At the same time, according to the manufacturer, two nozzles are enough to set 39 different settings in 0.5 mm increments for effortless haircuts.

Let’s take a look at our device and evaluate it in action.

Characteristics

Manufacturer	Brown
Model	BT5265
Type	beard trimmer
Country of Origin	China
Warranty	2 years (according to the information on the website – 3 years)
Service life *	2 years
Number and type of knives	all-metal blades
Number of nozzles included	2
Battery	Li-ion, capacity not specified
Indicators	connect power, full charge, low charge
Waterproof	Yes
Battery operation	100 minutes
Power adapter operation	No
Accessories	Gillette razor with two cassettes, charger
Availability of spare knives/heads	in the company store
Service life of knives/heads	blades with unlimited life
The weight	140 g (cutter trimmer without attachments)
Dimensions (W×H×D)	162×40×45mm
Network cable length	1.2 m
Retail offers

^* Contrary to common misconception, this is not the period after which the device will definitely break. However, after this period, the manufacturer ceases to bear any responsibility for its performance and has the right to refuse to repair it, even for a fee.

Equipment

The trimmer comes in a small cardboard box, designed in the corporate style of Braun: a black background, a photo of the device, a description of its main features and characteristics.

Captions for photographs and images are made in English, but at the bottom of the box there is a translation into a number of other languages, including Russian.

After examining the box, we will see photos of the trimmer itself and all accessories – with an explanation of their purpose and a photo of the results of their work. We were a little confused by the fact that on the back of the package we found a description of even those nozzles that are not included in the kit.

Inside the box there is a cardboard backing with holes for fixing accessories. All contents were additionally packed in plastic bags.

Opening the box, inside we found:

• the trimmer itself
• comb 1-10 mm
• comb 11-20 mm
• Gillette machine with two interchangeable cassettes
• plastic cleaning brush
• Charger
• instructions (aka warranty card)

What haven’t we found? A precision shaving head, which, judging by the description on the site, should be present on the BT5265 model. And if it is not there, we have a model 5242 . One way or another, we found a way out of the situation: a suitable attachment was found in a related model BT7240, which also turned out to be in our testing (in which we also consider working with this attachment).

At first sight

The trimmer looks strictly and stylishly: the body is made of black matte plastic. The front panel is also made of plastic, but this time it is painted “under the metal”.

The shape of the device is classic. Almost all modern Braun trimmers are arranged in the same way: there is a removable knife block on top, on which nozzles are put on.

The width of the trimmer type knife is 3 centimeters.

The knife block (as well as other nozzles installed in its place) are easily fixed on the trimmer body and removed with light pressure with your thumb.

Under the knife block, we see an element that transmits torque from the motor block to the nozzle – a metal rod with a displaced center, richly coated with grease. Everything looks very similar to what we saw in the trimmer Braun MGK7221 . Of course, there are minor differences (the internal appearance of the knife block is slightly different), but you will have to look closely to find them. Nozzles are completely compatible.

The body of the trimmer has elongated grooves with spring-loaded latches. They are used to install large attachments and to adjust the length of the shave.

We have two nozzles: one is responsible for the length of 1-10 mm, the second – from 11 to 20 mm.

Length adjustment is carried out using a swivel wheel that moves (pulls out) the nozzle relative to the fixed knives.

On the back of the case, we see a grip zone with small depressions-dots. Above it is the company logo and the name of the device model (they are not visible under the nozzle).

Below we see the inscription Li-ion, indicating that the trimmer uses a lithium-ion battery (its capacity is not indicated in the instructions).

On the front side of the device, we see a small grip area (under the thumb) with a trimmer start button. Below it is an LED indicator, below is the Braun logo.

At the bottom of the trimmer is a charger connector – two metal pins-contacts.

The charger connector is not compatible with the standards we are familiar with. The connection connector, apparently, was developed by Braun specifically for its own products (we have already seen such charging with other Braun shavers and trimmers). The main thing is not to forget to check the number on the device case with the number on the charger (in our case, charging marked 492 is suitable for us).

According to the manufacturer, the device automatically adapts to any voltage of 100-240 V and works in almost every country.

Please note that the trimmer cannot be used with the charger connected (this is indicated in plain text on the box). The device operates on battery power only. We checked – in fact, you can not use the device while recharging.

Let’s take a look at the attachments and accessories included in the kit. We have the following items at our disposal:

• large adjustable nozzle 1-10 mm

• large adjustable long beard attachment (11-20 mm)

as well as:

• Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor with FlexBall technology and two cassettes
• cleaning brush

What is it that attracts our attention? Adjustable nozzles allow you to easily set the desired hair length with one movement of your thumb.

The Gillette Fusion5 ProGlide razor included in the kit is completely standard – the cassettes for it are equipped with five blades, and the design of the razor allows the head to be tilted to the right or left. The cassettes are equipped with additional micro-fins that guide the hairs for a comfortable shave. Closely spaced blades and a precision trimmer on the back allow for a precise shave.

The brush for cleaning the blades is completely standard and of no particular interest.

According to the first impression, we have before us a universal device with which you can put in order the facial hair, and, if necessary, even shorten the hair on your head. Everything looks decent, the build quality is on the level.

Instruction

The instruction manual is a compact black and white booklet. The brochure contains many languages, including Russian (it has six pages).

All the necessary actions and manipulations can be studied from the pictures – this also applies to the rules for caring for the device, and replacing nozzles, and lubricating some elements.

After studying the instructions, you can read the description of the device, get information regarding the rules of operation, maintenance, storage and disposal of the device.

In general, everything is simple, clear and to the point.

Control

The device turns on and off with a single mechanical button.

Above the button is an adjustment wheel with which you can set the length of the haircut – from 1 to 10 mm (in 0.5 mm increments) when using the first attachment, or from 11 to 20 mm (again, in 0.5 increments). mm) when using the second nozzle.

Below the button is an LED indicator that has several states:

• flashing green while charging
• Lights up green for a few seconds when the battery is fully charged
• lights up green during operation
• Lights up red when the battery is low

The device can be locked/unlocked by long (3 seconds) pressing the power button. This action is accompanied by a short and soft beep. A triple beep will let you know that the unlock has failed. A low beep also sounds when the trimmer is connected to the charger. Note that the sound is so quiet that it will be easy to miss even being in the same room at a distance of a couple of meters from the device.

Exploitation

Before the first use, the manufacturer recommends fully charging the device, which should take about one hour. After fully charging the device, it is recommended to use it in normal mode until it is completely discharged, and then charge it again to full battery capacity.

In our case, the trimmer was charged in about 25 minutes after connecting the power adapter.

The rules for operating the device are standard: set the desired nozzle and length, press the trimmer to the desired area of u200bu200bthe face and cut in the direction against hair growth.

When cutting, make sure that the device does not move too fast, and remove the cut hair from the comb in a timely manner.

We did not find any special difficulties or problems during the operation of the device.

Care

The trimmer requires regular cleaning, which should be carried out as needed. The head, combs and knife block can be cleaned with a brush and also rinsed under running water. In this case, all parts must be rinsed until the clipped hair is completely removed, after which they must be allowed to dry completely before installing and using the device again.

It is recommended to lubricate the trimmer and foils regularly with light machine oil (not included, but available from the Braun dealer).

Note that during testing, we only washed the device under running water. This turned out to be more than enough to keep it in proper condition throughout the entire test period.

Our measurements

According to our measurements, the weight of the trimmer with a standard nozzle (knife) is 140 g. The dimensions of the device are 162 × 40 × 45 mm.

When testing trimmers and cordless shavers, we traditionally measure how long the device will run on a full charge, as well as how long it takes to fully charge the battery.

Recall that the manufacturer promises us 100 minutes of battery life, as well as a full charge in 1 hour. At the same time, 5 minutes of charging should be enough for 1 shave.

We measure the battery capacity by repeatedly turning on the device at intervals of 5 minutes. With a green indicator, our trimmer has completed 17 full 5-minute intervals. Then it started flashing red (indicating that there was not much charge left) and worked for two more full 5-minute intervals and turned off on the third. In total we have 95 minutes (with the promised 100).

A full battery charge was completed in 57 minutes. The charger consumed up to 6.2 W of electricity in the process, the total amount of electricity spent to fully charge the battery was considered insignificant by us.

Note that, according to the developers, the trimmer uses Braun’s AutoSense technology, which reads the features of the beard 13 times per second and adjusts the power of the trimmer motor to its density, providing a haircut of any type of beard without effort. In practice, this means that the motor provides additional power where it is needed, and at the moment of “idling” it reduces power and, as a result, energy consumption.

practice tests

During testing, we checked how well the trimmer copes with bristles of various lengths, and also learned the capabilities of various attachments. We started testing, having previously “armed ourselves” with about three weeks of unshaven hair.

This is what our test sample looked like at the start of the test.

Beard (10 mm)

Alas, we were unable to test the attachment for long hair: no such long hair was found on the subject’s face. Therefore, we started testing immediately with a small nozzle, setting it to a maximum length of 10 mm.

In less than a minute, we shortened the bristles to 10mm. The trimmer coped with the task without any problems, although, in truth, we did not expect any problems here: the length of the facial hair was originally a little more than 10 mm, so the appearance of the experimental subject did not change much.

We literally spent 2 minutes, after which the beard began to look much neater.

Result: excellent.

Beard (6 mm)

The next step is the same nozzle and 6 mm mounted on the adjustment ring.

This time we had to try harder: the places where the hair grows in different directions (in the photo below – in the neck area) required several movements at different angles and in different directions.

At the same time, the bulk of the hair was cut off neatly and quickly, from the first pass.

Result: excellent.

Beard (3 mm)

The next step is 3 mm. According to our impressions, the process of cutting hair was no different from cutting hair by 6 mm.

The bulk of the hair turned out to be cut to the desired length the first time, individual “runaway” hairs fell under the knife from the 2-3rd time.

As we can see, at the very bottom, in the neck area, we failed to achieve a uniform short length, but this does not spoil the overall impression: the result looks quite decent.

After trimming the beard, we could not resist and tried the trimmer on the hair on the head (the area above the ears). It turned out that the device can be used without problems as a compact clipper. Of course, this is far from a professional solution, but if there was no more serious device at hand, and you need to shorten your hair right now – why not?

Result: excellent.

Beard (1mm)

The minimum possible length with the use of nozzles is “one”, 1 mm.

As we can see, the trimmer has some problems with the shortest hair. The photo below clearly shows that the uniformity of the haircut leaves much to be desired: many hairs turned out to be longer than 1 mm.

True, we didn’t try very hard on purpose: we cut our hair “as usual”, spending 1-1.5 minutes on each side of the face.

Of course, if you set yourself such a goal, then with the help of our trimmer you can make a beautiful “one”, but this will require not 2-3 minutes, but at least twice as much time.

Well, after such a long haircut, the question of skin irritation may quite predictably arise.

In general, if we compare the result with previous tests, we would characterize it as “average”. And if you don’t look back at them, then “good.”

Result: good.

Work without nozzles

The last step is to figure out what the bristles will look like if you don’t use nozzles at all.

As we can see, the result is not much different from the “one”, but it looks much more accurate.

Thus, we came to an unexpected conclusion: if there is a goal to get short stubble with this trimmer, then it may be worth cutting your hair in the evening without attachments – in order to get the desired degree of unshavenness by morning.

This will be easier and faster than catching hairs with a set length of 1 mm.

Result: excellent.

Razor Gillette Fusion ProGlide

We have already tested the Fusion ProGlide5 razor in previous tests. We remind readers of our impressions of this device.

Before us appeared a razor with 5 blades. On the upper side of the cassette above the blades there is a moisturizing strip, on the bottom there are soft microcombs that pull and smooth the skin.

On the back of the cassette is a compact trimmer for hard-to-reach places and caring for a beard and mustache (we appreciated it in practice – it really helps to cope with “hard-to-find” hairs).

As for FlexBall technology, this name refers to the mechanism that allows the shaving head to tilt up / down, and its holder on the razor to turn right / left, so that the whole system follows the contours of the face during shaving.

The shaving result turned out to be close to ideal: the face was shaved perfectly, roughness could be found on the neck, but we estimate their number as insignificant.

In this case, we did not record skin irritations, although we had to press on the skin with a noticeable effort to achieve a high-quality result.

We did not find any problem areas that require increased attention.

Result: excellent.

findings

Based on the test results, we came to the conclusion that the Braun BeardTrimmer 5 BT5265 trimmer is a high-quality and excellent device that can be safely recommended for purchase to anyone who is only interested in a basic set of functions – trimming hair on the face and head in the range of 1-20 mm).

The only difficulty we encountered was cutting at a minimum length (1 mm), which would require much more time and effort (the trimmer does not “catcher” short hairs that grow in different directions very well).

Note that this model is far from the oldest in the line of trimmers, and therefore, a potential buyer can only count on a limited set of accessories and features – in addition to the device itself, there will be 2 nozzles in the box, as well as a Gillette razor with two cassettes.

If you need more features or want to please a loved one by giving him a device to solve the maximum number of tasks related to beard care (recall, we still have a Beard trimmer) – you can look at the older models of the fifth series or even the “seven”, which comes with four nozzles.

Well, if these opportunities turn out to be not enough, then it makes sense to take a closer look at the Braun MGK7221 universal trimmer.

Pros :

• beard trimming in the range from 1 to 20 mm
• ease of care
• razor included

Cons :

• short bristles (1 mm) require significantly more time and effort than long bristles (from 3 mm)

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Braun BeardTrimmer 5 BT5265 trimmer:

Our video review of the trimmer Braun BeardTrimmer 5 BT5265 can also be viewed on iXBT.video