Super Max SMX3 Razor Review

Super Max's SMX3
Location: Mustafa's
Price: S$3.90
Date: 22 June 2014
Manufacturing plant: India
1 handle, 11 razors

Rating:
Closeness: 4
Quality:  6
Look:  3
Value:  8

Right out of the box, the SMX3 blades and handle look and feel cheap. It is light and is no-frills. There are no silicon grips or any other bells or whistles. This looks like it cheapo disposable razor you get in a hotel. 

The design and manufacturing is not well done. When I tried to clip a razor in, the manufacturing tolerances were off so that the buttons that you pinched to move the brackets inward were slightly blocked by the handle casing. When I popped those free, I noted that one of the brackets to hold a razor on was slightly misshaped because of bad manufacturing tolerances. So I tried to pinch the buttons on the side of the razor in and out to see if something was caught. The buttons kind of mushed in and the brackets moved a little. Again, bad manufacturing. And the blades are mounted at a slight angle in the packaging, which makes the bottom one quite difficult to remove. 

The cartridges were plain with no lubricating strips, no silicon fins, no anything. And the blades seemed alarmingly far apart. The head pivot was not smooth, which I will attribute to the poor tolerances in manufacturing. 

So now it came time to shave with it.  I foresaw blood everywhere. And I was scared. I shaved and, frankly, it surprised me. SMX3 did not give a great shave; it was not close and left a noticeable shadow of my stubble behind. But the blades cut aggressively without much tug or drag. I suffered no cuts/nicks, no missed spots, and no burn. I really expected to hate this razor, but I don't. 

I have used this razor numerous times.  I even used it dry just to see how it would perform. It performed fine, if only because its blades are not that close to the skin. I shaved against the grain of my hair and I did suffer some nicks and burns, which is not surprising - but is something that I do as part of my testing.   

The post of the handle mounts in the back, so it doesn't wash up incredibly easy; however, the blades are so far apart that hair does not easily clog up the blades. 

I later read up on this brand, which I hadn't heard about before. It is an Indian company that caters to the mass-market in emerging markets. And everything on their website tried to hide the fact that they were Indian (Japanese steel! UK registered company! We are worldwide!). At S$3.90+GST at Mustafa's and a whopping 11 razors, SMX3 has a very low unit-cost of S$0.38/each. Only double-edged safety razors are cheaper. 

The razors do not last that long and, thus far, are the only razors that I have used that have shown rust after a month of ownership. This indicates that the razors' steel is almost not as high quality as those of other leading brands. Thus, these should be used promptly, kept in a dry box, the fridge, or a room that is air conditioned for part of the day (eg, master bedroom) to keep them fresh. 

So while this is not a great razor, it will suit those that prefer a shave that is NOT close. And the wide-set razors means that this razor cuts aggressively, which means hair removal is fast and quick, but at the expense of a smooth shave. I myself do not like baby smooth cheeks as they come with skin problems that I'd rather not have. It will suit those that do not need to impress anyone at the office and do not feeling like spending a lot. And I imagine that this blade would be good for those who want to back-shave or manscape the tall grass around the postbox, but I wouldn't trust it to shave on the postbox.