The Gillette Fusion razor was recently released (to great hype, of course), and early reviews are popping up in various places. I picked mine up a couple of days ago, and thought I'd share some quick initial impressions, based on 2 shaves.

As I tend to expect from Gillette products, I've gotten really good, close shaves. There's an area around my adam's apple which is very difficult to get smooth, but the Fusion has managed to get it smooth without too much hassle, and that impresses me. It's an area that other razors haven't been able to do much with, so I'm very happy with that result.

Irritation is similar to the Mach 3, with no noticeable improvements. That's very good, but I was hoping for some improvement. The commercials talk about the Fusion applying less pressure (since it's spreading out the pressure over more blades) and that this would result in less irritation, but I'm not feeling it so far.

The handle feels heavier than the Mach 3, and I like it. The pivot point of the blade head seems better positioned, moving closer to center than the Mach 3.

Overall, excellent initial results. I'll keep using it for a while and see if I continue to like it.

Is it worth the price, though? Replacement blade cartridges are very expensive. As I write, Drugstore.com has a pack of 8 going for $22, and that's with $5 off. That'll get you 12 Mach 3 cartridges and some change. I don't think the Fusion is 50% better than the Mach 3, not from what I've seen so far.