Merkur Futur Review: Is This the Future of Safety Razors?

The Merkur Future is a popular model by an even more popular safety razor company. Merkur are famous for their safety razor range, from the 32C and 34C, through to the Futur that we are reviewing in this article.

Design and Features: Merkur Futur Review

The model itself is very modern, with a sharp chrome finish across the entire product. The main differences between the Futur and the 32C and 34C is the the handle is flat rather than bezelled. This gives it a more solid and sleek look, but it does reduce the grip greatly. In our opinion, that’s the biggest mistake that Merkur has made with this product, there isn’t enough grip and it can make it feel unsafe to use. We would have preferred at least some grip along the handle, even just on a small part, but this has essentially none. It’s an odd decision that has prioritized the aesthetics over the usability of the razor.

Despite this, the quality of the razor is great, just as with all of Merkurs products you can feel in the weight of the razor just how much money goes into developing their products. They don’t pick cheaper, lighter materials, they are producing quality products that will last for years. The Merkur Futur is a little heavier in the hand that most safety razors, possibly because of the shape of the handle adding extra material. This extra craftsmanship and material warrants the higher price, as do some of the features that you won’t find on most safety razors. The Merkur Futur is one of the only adjustable razors that they do, giving you the flexibility to enjoy multiple variations without having to purchase different products. Let’s start this Merkur Futur review.

Weight and Distribution

The razor weighs in at 4.4oz, this is heavy for a safety razor and for some people it will be too heavy. The weight is distributed well throughout the handle, it is maybe a little top heavy but it’s hard to notice. This added weight comes from the adjustable mechanisms, but also from the extra thick handle that was designed to balance out the heavy head. It has worked well and most men won’t notice any imbalance.

Handle and Grip

As we mentioned at the start of this article, Merkur has decided to prioritize aesthetics over usability and comfort. Instead of having a gripped handle they have opted for a sleek and and smooth handle. In our opinion this actually looks worse, it’s too boring and without any grip it becomes a pain to even hold the handle, for most people it’s not a huge issue but it only takes a bit of extra water and you could slip and cut yourself. It seems to be a mistake and we hope that in future models of the Futur they’ll have some grip. Even just a thin strip of grip along two sides would have made a huge difference to the practicality of the handle and improved the product. Unfortunately, in our opinion, Merkur have strayed too far from their winning formula to try and create a new product that is different from their competitors. The problem is that they've taken away a useful feature rather than added one.

The length is also longer than usual at 4inches, this makes it one of the longest razors that Merkur offer. If you have large hands or just prefer a longer handle then this will be great for you, for those of us with smaller hands it can seem overkill. The handle is too long for me personally, although I recognize that I have smaller hands and would be better with the 32C.

Adjustable Mechanism and Aggressiveness

The Mekur Futur has six adjustable settings, allowing you to decide on the aggressiveness of the blade . The aggressiveness is defined by how much of the blade is exposed to the skin, with more exposure meaning that more pressure from the skin is onto the blade rather than the safety bar. This leads to greater cutting strength and can therefore be dangerous for men who are new to safety razors. The great thing about an adjustable razor is that if you decide to try a new level of aggressiveness you don’t need to buy a whole new razor, instead, you can simply twist the knob which is below the shaving head and change the blade exposure. It’s often best to start at the lowest level and work your way up to find which you prefer. The settings start at 1 which is the least exposure and go up to 6 which is the most exposure. In our opinion, this is quite an aggressive blade in general and the highest setting is a 10/10 for aggressiveness, with the lowest setting being a 3/10 for aggressiveness. If you have a thick or coarse beard then you’ll be glad of the higher settings which are as aggressive as even some of the most exposed razors.

Blade Replacement

Replacing the blades is simple, the Merkur Futur has a standard two-piece head that can be opened by pulling the top off. There are two-sides to the head, one is smooth and the other has a notch on. You can push upwards on the notch with you thumb, this will slide the top cover off, you can replace the blade and then press the top cover back on. It’s an easy system that is safe to use, you’d have to slip to injury yourself.

Our one worry is that moving parts often fail quicker than the rest of the device, which makes the adjustable mechanism pointless. We haven’t tested this Futur for this, but it’s likely that any adjustable razor will breakdown before a standard safety razor would.

Conclusion: Merkur Futur Review

In conclusion, we really do like the razor. We’ve been very critical in this review of the lack of grip and the moving parts, but that’s only because Merkurs products are so excellent that we must be harsh with our standards. For an adjustable razor the price is competitive, we don’t think it’s overpriced and the build quality really is excellent. Despite the lack of grip, you can tell that Merkur has put a lot of thought into the design of the product. Everything is where it should be, the notched blade cover is a great system and the aggressiveness knob doesn’t feel out of place.

The wide range of blade exposure levels gives us a nice range of options, from the new shaver through to an extremely aggressive option that will handle any beard. But it’s the beauty of the Futur that has most peoples attention. We said before, we don’t like the look. But what do we know… most men seem to love it. It’s definitely more ‘commercial’ feeling, it doesn’t have the same dentist and doctor feel to it, likely because they removed the bezeled handle. The sleek chrome finish is different to most products and while different isn’t always good, it is great to see that Merkur is still trying to innovate and create new products. Overall, if you’re looking for a high quality adjustable safety razor from a respectable company, the Merkur Futur is a great pick for young and older men alike.