Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Philips Shaver Series 9000, Wet and Dry Shaver with SmartClean S9031/26 by Philips (English Manual)

There are 0 reviews and 0 ratings from the United States

Nejad

Better than others but with few flaws

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2015

I found it rather difficult for dry shave as it doesn't easily glide on my face, yet it's excellent for wet shave

For:
- The electric motor is fairly powerful, compared to Remington that has a very weak motor
- It shaves closer than dry shave with Brown 5 and 7 series
- it’s incredibly quiet
- Battery life is fairly good and battery indicator is quiet adequate in the context of long battery life.

Against
- It is rather unsuitable for dry shave as it does not glide easily on dry skin.
- Cleaning is a concern
- The trimming head is supplied separately which makes it rather inconvenient to use.

Cleaning system
- The shaver incorporates internal drain channels both in the unit and the head. The internal draining system is not accessible for cleaning (rodding etc.) and it can be clogged up with built up of shaving gel / foam if you are not careful. Dried shaving gel around moving parts will impend their movement and might put extra stress on the motor leading to breakdown.
The shaver is placed upside down on the cleaning station which means it only works on the blade end of the head and not the shaft in the rest of the body.
- Cleaning station is poorly designed and cannot prevent the cleaning spirit from escaping to the thin air. Cleaning operation stops working as soon as the spirit level drops by 10 to 15% requiring replacement of the cleaning tank, making it expensive waste. You may consider topping it up with rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit but implication of using either is unknown to me.

Conclusion:

Despite all the shortcomings it is a great shaver for WET shave.
Philips offers an excelllent warranty that I had to use on my first shaver braking down after a year use. Should you decide to purchase this shaver make sure you register it on the day one in order to be covered..

5 people found this helpful

PurpleGary

The shaver you want to shave with.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

Never been a big shaver until i got this. That means normally i shave for about 2 minutes every morning at best. Now i have this shaver, i shave for about 20 minutes each day, albeit whilst i am reading my kindle. i really love feeling the smoothness after my shave. I love how the head really does flex around the contours of my face and can get to every bit of stubble that's grown in the last 24 hours. Love the charging and cleaning station. After just 1 months of use i am still using the cleaning cartridge that came with the razor and i can tell that I've barely used a quarter of the fluid, by this reckoning it should last at least 4 months if not a little bit more. I've noticed others say it doesn't last so long, maybe they use it twice a day or maybe they don't flush it clean under the tap with warm water first like the information video i saw. whatever the answer this is well worth the money. I am very pleased with it.

***Update***
Now finally have more knowledge of how it seems to work when cleaning. Basically it sucks up some liquid to clean the heads and of course powers the heads to help clean it, then the liquid goes back in to mix with the fresh liquid, is it doesn't keep it separate. However over time any 'silt' settles on the bottom. If you clean it under the tap after every shave and dry the shaver as much as you can,yojcan ward off having too much 'silt' build up in the bottom. Mine is barely a quarter of the fluid level. Today approximately 100 cleaning cycles later it's decided I need a new cleaning bottle. So maybe it's all based on how often you clean it or where the level of liquid drops to because obviously in cleaning it, it spreads a little liquid into the shaver heads. Nevertheless still very happy all round. Worth getting the multipath of cleaning liquid too.

5 people found this helpful

Amazon customer

A step backwards - worse than previous models, fiddly, and no accessories for travel. Think again Philips!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Bought this to upgrade from a Sensotouch 3D. The shave is good, but the design is a step backwards from the former model for a number of reasons:

- It's too fiddly: Sensotouch connected to the charging/cleaning station via the sides. This connects via the bottom of the shaver requiring you to click it in and out of place. Annoying.

- it uses cartridges. Small, expensive cartridges. The previous model used cheaper refill bottles.

- there is no fold out stand like the Sensotouch had meaning you can't rest it nicely when going away

- there is no cleaning brush or head cover for travel - again unlike the previous model.

- there is no integrated long hair trimmer. This is the worse feature of all. 2 or 3 long hairs on neck mean fiddling to remove and replace head with beard trimmer head instead of just sliding the trimmer on - then doing the same process again to clean the shaver. Stupid.

- Aesthetically it's boring compared to Sensotouch.

Update: November 30th. Occasionally the cleaning system just leaves the shaver all day in the fluid as it doesn't drain properly, so the shaver can be too wet to use if you leave it in. Yet another problem, alas.

12 people found this helpful

rogerredhat

Not as good as a conventional blade wet shave, but still impressive overall

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

Overall
It's nowhere near the closeness you get with a conventional wet shave - but actually I quite like the 'finish' you get.
If you persisted long enough you would probably get a truely shawn shave, but your skin might not thank you for it.
If you prefer a very close smooth shave, this might not be for you. Especially if you shave with a few days growth.
I think if you shave daily then you probably can get a closer shave.
If you like some stubble, that is barely visible but detectable by touch - and you have light hair that doesn't show - then the 'finish' you get may be for you. It suits me.

Pros
- It's amazing being able to shave using this in the shower, and when used with the Philips SensoTouch RQ111/50 Click-On Beard Trimmer - that I use to shave my head, and yes: in the shower too - it's a revelation for me as a baldie!
- Charge lasts a long time.
- Nice carry-case.
- Tells you when you need to rinse it.
- Easy to remove the rotary blades for rinsing.
- Easy to change the head for the beard trimmer.

Cons
- Not as close as a conventional wet shave.

Suggestions to Philips!
- I am no engineer and certainly not an expert, but using the Philips 9000 I can't help but feel that if the blade rotated faster it would give a better shave.
- Why Philips chose to put the on/off button in the current location is a mystery - it prevents you holding the shaver naturally for fear of accidentally turning it off. It needs to be moved somewhere else where it doesn't interfere with holding it.

2 people found this helpful

PJMJ

Good shaver but some better instructions would have been nice!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

A nice shaver which does a reasonable job on my very tough, strong beard. However some poor instructions really don't help. First the instructions don't say that the cutting blades are located behind a plastic box which needs to be removed using a fingernail. [Obvious once you ignore the numbered instructions in the Philips manual and think, but confusing while you're still assuming the instructions will explain what to do]! Second the cleaner system starts cleaning only if you touch the power 'light'; for hours I was wondering when the cleaning cycle would start only to realise that it's some futuristic -- minimalistic construction! What's wrong with a button?

My previous shaver was a Braun, it didn't shave as well as this Philips and was probably a little harsher with my beard too. But the cleaning system that came with the Braun had buttons (!) and used a methylated spirit type cleaning solution which dried very quickly. This philips unit uses a water based solution and it drys SLOWLY... Very slowly. I usually leave my blades open overnight to dry them. Philips do sell a cleaner unit with a heater, but I don't think this is available in the UK.

I am now on my second shaver. The first one worked fine until one day, about three months after purchase, when one of the three cutting blades that would decide to detached itself from the body! But Amazon just sent out a replacement unit! Six months on and this unit is working fine!

One person found this helpful

Mr. R. J. Cox

A very close shave with none of the bother

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

Without a doubt this is the best electric shaver I have ever purchased. Prior to this and over the years I've owned a number of shavers, the last two being Philips. Indeed the last to the current one I thought was pretty good, say if I was travelling and needed to have access to a dry shave. But, unlike this model it did not compare to a traditional wet shave. After a few days I would need to use a ordinal razor.

This latest model comes very close and does indeed shave me close enough so that I don't need to use it again at say around six o'clock in the evening as I'ver had to do with other models. I have tried it both 'we't and 'dry'. Both seem to give similar results for me. Other reviewers have said best results are obtained using it 'wet' with a 'gel' I have tried this method and it is good. However, not sure I see the point of an electric razor that merely mimics a traditional wet shave, takes the same length of time and fuss, but is still not quite as good?

So that leaves the 'dry' shave option for me. So far and so good. And using it 'dry' saves me time and bother. And so far I've not had to resort to a traditional wet shave as I've had to do in the past. But it is still early days.

Silky Sean

Takes some getting used to but it's ok especially as a wet shave.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

I'm still unsure whether this is better than my old RQ1280 shaver or not. I used to be able to shave with that dry with no stubble or irritation at all. However with this one, I can't use it dry as it doesn't glide as smoothly due to the larger surface and really irritates my face. With that said though, as a wet shaver, it's really quite good. Especially after a couple of weeks when your skin adjusts to the change. I was angry at first, thinking that it didn't work and was very close to sending it back. However, 3 weeks later and it's working fine. Your skin really does need time to adjust. I think the display is quite basic compared to the minute countdown of my previous philips rq and I miss the built in trimmer, but on the plus side, these new heads are much easier to clean and it comes with all the necessary bits you need (you can send off for a free beard trimmer too)

One person found this helpful

mojo

Still the best shaver out there

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

I have tried Braun and Panasonic razors over the last few years in a bid to find a replacement for the Philips shaver that wore out on me (the rubber grip perished which was disconcerting on a shaver that cost around £200). The Braun shaver was hard work on my skin, and needed a lot of passes in lots of different directions to get a close shave, especially on difficult areas like my chin and neck. The Panasonic was a disaster, the blades cut my skin and I gave up after a month. Philips shavers are expensive, but for me at least, they are the best out there and give me a smooth shave with little effort. I would have preferred having the trimmer built-in rather than as a separate part, and although the washing system seems to be effective and less expensive for refills than the Braun equivalent, the U.K. version does not include a drying cycle so the shaver is often still wet the following day. (Hence only four stars)

Rob

Top notch electric shaver

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

i wanted to write this review to give my view of this brilliant shaver.

I had a Philips rotary when I was younger but didn't get on with it, as I think my beard was still maturing. So I changed to Gillette which gave such a close shave at the expense of the cost. I stuck with them until I decided to go back to electric shaving so I bought a Braun but found this always missed hairs on my neck, so went back to wet shaving. I then saw a three foil Remington and decided to give that a go. This was slightly better on the neck, but I always found that I needed to go back over my neck with the blade to get a closer shave.

Anyway this has solved all my problems. It's light, charges in half time of the Remington and cuts much closer toy neck that I don't need to go over with the blade.

On the downside it is expensive but will pay back over the years.
It's hard to get under the nose top lip area but a couple of strokes clears it.
The cleaner works well but you have to be careful not to knock it otherwise the fluid leaks, this didn't happen on the Braun.

Overall it's a great buy.

T. Trinder

Fantastic shave, best I've ever had

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

This shaver gives me the best shave I've ever had from a Philips shaver (and I'm on at least my third one). I'd left buying a replacement set of heads for my previous shaver for so long (3 years) that they had stopped making them (why??) and I didn't fancy any of the third party replacements on offer.
I was lucky to get this at it's lowest ever price on Amazon, so it is one hell of a bargain. Can't say I'd pay list price for any shaver, even if it is top of the range.
It is very quiet in use and is so easy to clean (just pop the shaver head off after every shave, wash under the tap and leave to dry). The shave is very close indeed (I only dry shave). The cleaning unit is quite large, so you will need to have a fairly wide bathroom shelf, but it is also quiet in action and seems to work OK (only used once so far).
The shaver's battery life seems exceptionally long and I don't miss the digital read-out of the number of minutes left as much as I thought I would. My only criticism is the lack of a separate shaver stand, but I still have the one from my previous Philips shaver and it fits on that quite neatly.
Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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