I have had many Norelcos in my life.So I can testify that when I say this shaver cuts the skin, it cuts the skin.Norelco designed the blades in a way that negates the need for the user to get in close around lips etc...I was bleeding in the first minute.It seems that overall quality seems to have droppedBlade life and battery life has descreased as wellMy 6885xl has broken parts and a bad batteryMaybe I can find an older model with the older blades somewhere