Having kept my old philips shaver for a number of years which has served me well the time had come to upgrade as it no longer holds charge and can only be used while plugged directly into the mains which isn’t convenient, so I decided the best upgrade option would be another Philips shaver so I purchased a new series 3000 shaver for myself expecting it to work as well as my previous shaver or better.
Having ordered this via amazon I couldn’t guarantee to be in while the delivery would occur especially as it was ordered while I was working my last job where I literally lived in the building only returning home to sleep and recover before leaving for work again the entire day the next day. So while I was out my amazon delivery was “left in a safe place” by the delivery driver, not remotely the safest possible location just left behind the wheely bins and fairly visible by anyone rather than even being hidden inside the top of one of the bins, or placed over the back fence or even put through the letterbox as this would have fit. This wasn’t the worst part however, as I would rather have been able to arrange redelivery on a rare day off but the worst part of this was the disgusting thing I found inside my amazon package and could only have come from someone either the deliverer or at the factory themselves.
Upon opening my package I initially thought it was some form of white tac holding the item in place however upon closer inspection I noticed actually my item was stuck to the delivery packaging with chewed fruity chewing gum that smelt of tropical flavour, considering I only had mint chewing gum it definitely could not have came from me, and it was disgusting to have my item stuck onto the box with someone else’s chewed gum and whatever diseases they probably have and definitely has their mouth bacteria all inside my box.
How Does The Shaver Compare To My Old One?
Having used the shaver for a while I can definitely say I get rather frustrated by the new shaver often feeling like it hasn’t done as good a job at cutting all the hairs I have growing on my face, often leaving several very long hairs just missed that my old shaver would have trimmed, and that if I want to get rid of them effectively I have to go over the whole area again with my old shaver just to get rid of these hairs that stand out.
My old shaver was easier to clean and came with a brush to do so, whereas the series 3000 doesn’t come with a cleaning brush and the internals are much harder to clean and disassemble, and often the top will detach itself from the base while you are trying to clean it or tip out he hair follicle remnants which is ultra annoying because once detached this part is the hardest to get to clip back in.
It is worth noting that the shaver states it is designed to be for wet and dry, whereas my old shaver was only for dry shaving, and this may operate better with shaving foam, however since I dry shave this isn’t something I plan on testing. The shave heads on this are also flexible in 4 directions compared to my old shaver having more fixed heads, this is supposed to achieve a better shave but I find this doesn’t seem to make any difference and instead results in sometimes the shave head getting stuck under the casing and potentially damaging the shaver if pushed in the wrong way.
Overall Impressions of the Series 3000?
While I can see that the packaging suggests it is designed to be more protective and comfortable than regular shaving I would prefer it to be more effective so you don’t have to constantly go over the missed hairs over and over again until finally you get the smooth shave you’re looking for, this isn’t something that would work for me personally and if I had come across this as my shaving option as a kid I would probably have resorted to disposable razers just to get an effective shave, thankfully my original Philips shaver was very effective and served me well for years so I know they can do better, after having tried foil electric razers unsuccessfully.
Cleaning and maintenance of the shaver seems to be a last minute consideration as my previous shaver was designed to effectively be dismantled and restored with ease to keep it clean, this one collects the hairs in an uneven surface where you couldn’t effectively clean, the blades are much harder to take off and restore, and in doing so you can often find yourself resetting the heads wrong or catapulting the top of the shaver across the room as the flimsy clip releases itself.
All in all though the main thing you’re buying the shaver for is to remove facial hair and leave yourself feeling clean and hairless, and this shaver just doesn’t do this effectively, and I know Philips can do better as my previous shaver is from them, and I would give up comfort for an effective and clean shave that just works straight away removing all hairs from stubble to weeklong growth with ease. As this razer does not do this effectively unfortunately I cannot recommend this as an electric shaver, I would suggest finding a working version of my old shaver if you really wanted an effective electric shaver, or suggest disposable blades as they will work far more effectively than this product, that being said there are easy ways they could fix the problem, have the shave heads cut more effectively and not miss all these hairs, redesign the cleaning system so it’s flat inside easier to remove the follicle remnants, and make the top stay attached and the heads easier to remove for maintenance and cleaning.
It’s sad to say that I can’t recommend this product and I would replace it with any working electric shaver that actually removes hairs as well as my previous shaver did.