Good, but avoid dry shaving and stick to wet

My husband has never had the chance to use or own an electric shaver like this one from Philips, so we were very interested to see what the experience would be like. This shaver works well in general, but isn't quite as impressive as I'd hoped. While it does work great in some situations, in others it's pretty subpar. If I had to recommend this based on dry shave alone, I couldn't. But wet shaving does a good job. Make sure to look at a guide on how to use a rotary shaver if you've never used one before as the technique is quite different from a regular shaver.

When we first received this shaver, my husband has a few days of growth on his face, so we decided to try this out right away. The first shave was not easy, as it seems this shaver really only works well on a daily shave schedule, as anything longer than that becomes painful and frustrating to try to shave off. This shaver also works with a wet or a dry shave, which is great, except the dry shave was very rough on the skin and I honestly would not recommend it unless you really have no other option.

The wet shave, on the other hand, was a total breeze. My husband found it worked very well, was extremely smooth, and didn't irritate his skin at all. He found it very easy to manoeuvre, and says that the shaver matched the contours of his face and jaw with great flexibility. For a wet shave think this shaver does a great job, but for a dry shave it really isn't a pleasant experience. If you need to trim, rather than shave all over, the trimmer that is included with this shaver does a great job and is very easy to just clip on and start using, though it's annoying having to switch attachments rather than having an attached trimmer.Though it doesn't note it on the product listing, the Phillips website confirms that this is waterproof, so you can use it under the shower.

One thing that was very disappointing given the price point is that the shaver arrived with a lot of scratches on the upper panel. While the lower panel (showing speed and battery) comes covered with a plastic protector, the section right above it doesn't and arrived with tons of tiny scratches. That should be protected so your shaver arrives in perfect condition!

The charging station that is included has given me some mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's super easy to store your shaver in it and it charges it at the same time. It also has a cleaning mode, which saves you time cleaning your shaver and should keep it in good shape for much longer. But at the same time, this charging station is quite large, and counterspace in my bathroom is very limited. As well, the fluid that you need for the cleaning cycle does not last very long, and isn't cheap to replace. I'm not sure if we'll continue to buy refills, or just start cleaning it by hand instead. It's a bit of a money racket, as I'm sure at this price point Phillips could have created a refillable area at a cheaper price, or had it clean with just water.

You do have the choice to wash it by hand and avoid the 'cartridges' all together, but then your fancy 'smartclean' system becomes a brickish charging station with no alternate use for the large size of it.

Overall, this shaver seems to work very well in specific situations. For a daily wet shave, my husband loves it. But for anything else it seems subpar, such as a dry shave or to shave only a few times a week. It's easy to keep charged and ready to go in the charging station, but keeping it in my bathroom is bulky and annoying. So while we did really enjoy this shaver for what it did well, any recommendation I would give definitely comes with a few reservations.

Protip: Make sure to pat your razor dry with a cloth (gently) after every use to extend blade life.

SUMMARY
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Pros
+ Can be used for wet or dry shave.
+ Comes with a charging station that also cleans the shaver.
+ Shaver is very manoeuvrable and comfortable to use.
+ Comes with precision trimmer.
+ Wet shave was quick, comfortable and very easy.
+ Waterproof.

Cons
- Gives a good but not great shave.
- Dry shave is very rough on the skin, would not recommend it.
- Charging station is quite large and takes up valuable counter space in the bathroom.
- The three settings seem mostly pointless, as anything but the highest setting was ineffectual.
- Smartclean system feels designed to keep you buying cartridges and spending more money.