This approach has served me well the past decade. I can also go longer between “shaves” as compared with trying to stay clean shaven. One less thing to do in the morning is fine by me.
Not if you want to look good, which is what shaving is about. I can grow a goatee and mustache, so what now I gotta shave everywhere else AND trim that stuff too? I don't think that it saves me time.
Okay, I think we just have different ideas of "looking good" (which is of course subjective!). I don't really see a problem with thinner areas in one's beard.
Not all jobs allow you to have a beard, and some allow you to have a beard only if it's nearly trimmed. Keeping a beard neatly trimmed is just as time consuming as shaving it all off.
Not all of them unfortunately. I've owned two of these [1], and both had the on/off switch fail within a year of use. I now have a corded Wahl trimmer that has a more old-fashioned switch that I expect will last quite a lot longer.
You're probably drying out your skin with hot water and soap. Not cleaning it well enough can do that too. I used to get that problem until I realized two important things.
1. Regular hot water on your hair and beard dries out your skin terribly. Especially during winter. You need to use luke warm showers and probably avoid washing your head every time you shower. Use cold water on your face afterwards and gently dry it off. Which leads into the other point.
2. Stop touching your face so much. Routinely or obsessively touching your face or beard irritates it a lot. That can inflame the skin, causing it to over produce skin, oil, etc.
Also using too much beard oil as well can cause irritation. Your skin doesn't need too much oil. Only what it produces naturally (when you don't wash it away with soap or hot water).