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In this guide
If you remember the Harry's Truman razor, it still exists; it has been renamed. Harry's now calls the handle and its cartridges the Original razor system, and its blades page states plainly that they were previously known as the Truman or Winston. The starter kit is the Original Shave Set: a two-tone handle with a rubber no-slip grip and a weighted core, three cartridges, a 4 oz can of foaming shave gel or a tube of shave cream, and a plastic travel cover for the blade. Harry's lists it at $15 with a $21 regular price crossed out.
That price is only half the story, because a cartridge razor is a subscription with a handle attached. Harry's Original refills are $10 for four, $17 for eight and $31 for sixteen, and the cartridges fit no other handle, including Harry's own Plus line. So the set is worth judging on two questions: is $15 a fair entry fee, and are $1.94 to $2.50 cartridges a price you are willing to keep paying.
Our verdict
At $15 for a handle, three cartridges and a 4 oz gel, the Original Shave Set is a cheap way into a cartridge system whose refills cost $1.94 to $2.50 each; the handle itself is the least important part of the decision.
- A good fit for
- A face shaver who is happy with a five-blade cartridge and wants a starter kit under $20 with refills that stay cheap in 16-packs.
- We would skip it if
- You shave your head, you want a razor whose blades you can buy anywhere, or you already shave with a safety razor and are not going back to cartridges.
Reasons to consider it
- $15 for the full set with the $21 regular price struck out, and every colorway in stock
- Five-blade cartridges with a trimmer and flex hinge, refills from $1.94 each in a 16-pack
- Choice of foaming gel or shave cream in the same box at the same price
The compromises
- Original cartridges only fit Original handles and vice versa, so the system is closed
- Harry's says the blades are for the face and not recommended for head shaving
- The $15 is a markdown; Harry's shows $21 as the regular price and gives no end date
What we have not verified: The razor was not used here. Closeness, cartridge life beyond the maker's 6-to-8-shave estimate, and how the rubber grip wears were not assessed; Harry's publishes no handle weight or blade steel grade beyond calling the steel Swedish.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Original Shave Set (formerly Truman Set) · Ember
A weighted rubber-grip handle, three five-blade cartridges with a trimmer, a 4 oz gel or cream and a travel cover for $15, with 16-pack refills at $1.94 a cartridge.
Before you buy: Closed blade system, a markdown price that may not hold, and a cartridge Harry's says not to use on a scalp.
Price checked September 11, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Same handle, new name, lower price
Harry's has folded the Truman and Winston names into one label, Original, and an old Truman Set address on harrys.com now redirects to the Original Shave Set page. The handle in the $15 tier is the two-tone rubber-grip one that was always the Truman: a body with a weighted core and a no-slip grip, offered in Ember, Ocean, Sage and Charcoal. The chrome handles that were once the Winston sit on the same page as Chrome colorways at $17 for Graphite and Silver and $20 for Obsidian. Each set includes three cartridges, a 4 oz foaming gel or a shave cream, and a travel cover.
The $15 is shown against a struck-out $21 and labeled as 30% savings, which is a markdown with no stated end. Every variant is marked in stock. The set page also carries a Quality Guarantee: contact Harry's no later than 30 days out and the refund is the full price, and free shipping applies to orders over $30, which a $15 set alone does not reach. Harry's does not publish the weight of the handle, so the phrase weighted core has no number behind it.
Five blades, a trimmer, and a six-to-eight-shave estimate
The cartridge is Harry's standard five-blade design: five blades to spread pressure and reduce nicks, a single precision trimmer on the back edge for under the nose and sideburns, a flex hinge so the head follows the jaw, and a lubricating strip. Harry's says the blades are made in its own German factory from Swedish steel, without naming the alloy or the coating. It is a mainstream cartridge layout, which is a point in its favor for anyone switching from a drugstore brand and no draw for anyone who left cartridges for a safety razor.
On life, the page's FAQ estimates that most people replace an Original cartridge every 6 to 8 shaves, with the usual caveat that thick hair and poor rinsing shorten that. At the 16-pack price of $31, or $1.94 a cartridge, a daily shaver changing blades weekly spends about $100 a year on refills; on the 4-pack at $2.50 each the same habit costs about $130. Both numbers dwarf the $15 set, which is why the set is priced the way it is. Harry's is explicit that the blades are designed for the face and not recommended for head shaving.
Original blades fit Original handles, full stop
The compatibility note on the page is short and worth reading twice: Original blades fit only Original handles, and do not fit Harry's Plus handles. The reverse is also true. A buyer who later wants the Plus system, with its metal handle and a pivoting head Harry's says adapts to the face more easily than the Original, buys a new handle and moves to Plus refills at $15 for four, $25 for eight or $45 for sixteen, which Harry's works out to $2.81 to $3.75 a cartridge. The Plus Shave Set is $20, so the entry price gap is small and the refill gap is about 45%.
Closed systems are the norm for cartridge razors, and Harry's is not unusual in this, but a direct-to-consumer brand adds a wrinkle: the refills are easiest to buy from the brand itself, on a subscription that ships every two, three or six months with 5% off. Harry's does not say on either page where else the refills are stocked, so treat harrys.com as the source you can count on. If the idea of a razor tied to one supplier bothers you, a double-edge safety razor that takes any brand's blades solves that at the cost of a learning curve.
Skip it for a scalp, or if you have already left cartridges behind
The clearest case for passing is the one Harry's states itself: these cartridges are for the face, and a head shaver should look for a razor built for that. The next reason is the one Harry's does not state: a five-blade cartridge at $2 to $2.50 apiece is a permanent running cost, and anyone who has already moved to a double-edge razor and blades that cost a fraction of a cartridge will not find a reason to come back here.
For the person the set is aimed at, a face shaver who wants a cheap start and does not mind buying refills from one company, $15 for a handle, three cartridges and a gel is hard to beat, and the two-tone Ember or Ocean handle is the sensible pick over the $17 to $20 chrome versions, since the cartridge is identical. Buy the 16-pack refills if you like the first three, and treat the $21 regular price as the number to expect if the markdown ends.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Harry's: Original Shave Set (opens in a new tab)
- Harry's: Original Blade Refills (opens in a new tab)
- Harry's: Plus Shave Set (opens in a new tab)
