I was excited about this one. Eight hundred dollars, three months. The reviews for faces are extraordinary: fast, close, the best rotary shave money buys. I thought it would be the quickest, cleanest way to do my head. It isn’t.
The shave
On a head, a full shave took me ten to fifteen minutes. That’s with prep. I’d take the growth down with clippers first, and even on stubble it struggled. Three rotating heads are enough for a jaw. They are not enough for a skull. I’d go over the same patch four or five times, get out of the shower, check the back with the detail mirror, and still find spots it had missed.
Wet was slightly better than dry. Not enough to change the verdict.
The result was that most mornings I’d finish with the Philips and then go over the whole head with a razor anyway. That’s an extra pass over skin that has already been worked, for no reason other than the first tool didn’t do the job. It aggravates the scalp, and it doubles the time.
Living with it
The battery is good. The UV Power Charger case holds its charge for a long time, which is the one thing I’d keep. But the case is massive, and if you store the shaver in it after a proper rinse and clean, it comes out with a smell. Something about a damp head sealed in a closed box. I didn’t enjoy opening it.
For travel it’s impractical. The case takes up most of a wash bag on its own.
It comes with a clip-on attachment with a trimmer and a small foil. The foil is near useless. The nose trimmer is handy, but it doesn’t fit in the case, so it floats around loose in the bag.
What I did with it
It’s going to my brother, or one of his mates. It will probably be a brilliant face shaver for whoever ends up with it. That’s what it’s for.
Not enough heads for a head. A hard no for a bald man.
