I don't own a OneBlade and have not handled one. However, it has been the subject of considerable discussion (some heated) on other forums. To summarize:
Pro:
- By nearly all accounts it is a superbly crafted instrument, justifying the price.
- As RM mentioned, it is nice to see a new high quality SE being brought to market.
- Again by nearly all accounts, it is an excellent shaver.
- As befits a razor at this price point, it comes in an elegant leather presentation case, and a nifty stand is included.
- You can actually go to their website and buy one - no waiting lists, no months of uncertainty, no frantic scramble to get your order placed before they sell out.
Con:
- The price, of course. While not totally out of line with other high end razors (Feather, ATT), $300 will buy a boatload of vintage SE's.
- There have been some reports that the blade stops are on the smallish side.
- The founder, one Porter Stansberry, is a publisher of investment newsletters with a bit of a checkered past. Google him for more info.
- The website also lists a Thater badger brush for $400. Gimme a break.
YMMV:
- The blade: It uses the Feather SE blade made for the Valet Auto-Stops. Owning several Auto-Strops, I am quite familiar with this blade and find it inferior to the Gem stainless steel SE blades in sharpness. Also, it is only good for about two good shaves. However, some people like it.
- More blade: The only reason Feather makes these blades is because they once made a copy of the Auto-Strop. That razor has been discontinued for many years, and there is no guarantee that these blades will continue to be marketed.
- Pivoting head: I consider this a con (I want to control the blade angle myself), but I'm sure that there are people who will like not having to worry about blade angle.
Of course, we (meaning the members of TOST) are not the target demographic. That would be affluent Millennials, the guys buying the $200 cartridge razor handles at Art of Shaving.
There is much discussion of "their" Feather blade on the product website, with no mention of the fact that the blade has been around for half a century or so.
The website also included some magnified images of what was purported to be the Feather blade edge compared to a "competitor" blade. I fired up my digital microscope and was unable to duplicate their results - the Feather edge didn't look any better than a Gem or injector blade. I can post the images here if anyone is interested.
There was a recent podcast in which the founder discussed the razor and its development at length, and concluded with a code for a 35% discount (sorry, it expired yesterday).
This suggests to me that initial sales might not be up to expectations and also that the razor has a sizeable profit margin.
Some of the owners of the OneBlade are quite zealous in their devotion to the product, and tend to take any criticism personally.
Wow, I didn't mean to write a book.
--Bob