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Strengths: Shaves well, light weight, can rinse under tap, lithium-ion battery, convenient charging/cleaning base
Weaknesses: Expensive (both initially and consumables), crappy travel case, still not quite as close a shave as a blade
Summary: Previously I had the Braun Syncro razor, which is two generations removed from this one. I don't know how many of the Pulsonic improvements made it into the previous generation--but I can tell you that the Syncro to Pulsonic transition shows a lot of improvement in just about every aspect of the razor.
For one, the Syncro--even with a full battery (or plugged in) was a terrible performer if I had more than a day of beard growth. I would actually dread having to shave a couple of days worth because it would take forever and leave my face a painful red mess. This was even with a head/foil < 1 year old. In comparison, the Pulsonic blazes right through even a three day-old beard with little trouble. That factor alone makes the Pulsonic worth the money.
Fortunately there are several other improvements that sweeten the deal... like the fact that the Pulsonic weighs a lot less than the syncro, and that when you don't have the base available you can rinse it under the tap to clean it. It also uses a lithium ion battery (as opposed to a Nickel Metal Hydride on the Syncro). This means no rechargeable battery memory effect. In fact, the shaver charges automatically every time you set it down in the base--so it's always topped off and at peak power every time you use it.
The base itself is much improved over the syncro as well. With the syncro you had to push down a connector every time you set the razor in the base in order to clean or charge it. With the pulsonic, the electrical contacts are on the side that you place inside the base so it saves you a step. The base (and actually the display on the foot of the razor itself) gives you more information on the battery level and cleanliness of the razor. I have no idea how the cleanliness is determined but it does seem somewhat accurate based on my usage. I don't clean the razor every day--I've found every other day is plenty. The base chooses the length of the cleaning cycle based on how dirty the razor is--a nifty feature not present in the syncro.
As the other reviewer noted, the travel case is the only downside I see (other than the cost of the razor & consumables) is that the travel case is rigid plastic. It holds the razor itself, and a small brush for manual cleaning. In contrast the syncro used a pleather bag that could accommodate the charger as well as the razor, brush, etc. I do like to bring the charger with me when I travel when possible so I will just use the syncro's case so that I can keep the charger with the razor.
I know that razor manufacturers hype up their latest products a lot and there's usually very little difference in performance from the previous generation. And not having used the Activator (the generation between the Syncro and Pulsonic) that could be true here as well. But what I can say unequivocally is that there is no comparison between the Syncro and Pulsonic--it is improved in just about every way and is the best performing electric razor I have ever used.
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