Philips electric wet and dry shaver: What do many men always or often have to do in the morning? Precisely: the shave. And that’s quickly a type – but even more quickly a question of faith: wet or dry shaving? Manual or electric? Brown or Philips? Today we’re going to take a look at the Philips S9985/35 , which is the top model from the Philips 9000 series. Does the app equipped electric shaver deliver a hair close shave?
Philips Electric Wet And Dry Shaver
- Philips S9985/35 electric wet and dry shaver;
- at Amazon for €199 (incl. cleaning station)
- at MediaMarkt for €249.99
- Philips Lumea IPL S9000 BRI957/00 hair removal:
- at MediaMarkt for €569.99
Phillips? Netherlands, not China!?
Philips electric wet and dry shaver: Before you ask yourself: What? What does Philips, a Dutch group, have to do with China here? Then let me tell you: actually quite a lot. Because in 2021, the traditional manufacturer of products from the consumer goods industry sold its entire household division, such as vacuum cleaners, deep fryers and coffee machines, to a Chinese investment company. Thanks to the license agreement, the latter can use the name “Philips” for another 15 years. Although Philips is keeping razors and toothbrushes for the time being, we don’t want to split hairs here.
Design: clear line?
Unlike its main competitor, Braun, which specializes in foil razors, Philips traditionally relies on rotary razors that are equipped with three rounded, triangular shaving heads . Because they can be rotated 360° , according to Philips, they should be able to adapt perfectly to the contours of the face. clunky? Absolutely at the top, but all the slimmer at the bottom. In this regard, nothing has fundamentally changed at Philips for years.
The Philips S9985/35 razor is of extremely high quality and comes in a mix of black, chrome and a matt aluminum look , which Philips itself calls “Chrome”. The handle is rubberized for a better grip. An OLED display on the handle shows either the battery level indicator including pressure regulation , the child safety lock or the activation or deactivation of the LED light ring by pressing the button below . The top model measures 245 x 162 x 92 mmwith a weight of 470 g . As high-quality as the device may appear overall: the black plastic charging cradle, on the other hand, looks all too cheap.
Included in delivery: the essentials plus bag
The scope of delivery is quite spartan for the price range: The Philips Philips S9985/35 comes in a transport box, plus there is a charger, a small cleaning brush, guarantee and service card, quick start guide and instructions for use. If you want more comfort, you can use the S9985/55 version. Then a wirelessly connected cleaning station is also included in the scope of delivery. By the way: If you want to replace the shaving head, then look for the designation “SH91/50”. A replacement shaving head is available from around €38.
Features: Hair sharp with app?
Philips electric wet and dry shaver: Philips promises a hair-sharp dry and wet shave with the Dual SteelPrecision blades for the 9000 series razors . These are 72 self-sharpening blades, which should deliver 150,000 cutting operations per minute. To ensure that the whole thing runs as thoroughly and efficiently as possible, Philips uses the so-called SkinIQ technology for its top model – allegedly it uses AI. If this is the case, it is most likely the integration of data from previous (beta) testers.
Thanks to a pressure sensor , which Philips calls “Pressure Guard Sensor”, a perfect shave that is kind to the skin should be possible: If you press too little, an LED light ring below the warping head lights up blue, if you press too hard, the LED ring turns orange . If you apply exactly the right pressure, everything is also in the green in terms of color. The Nano SkinGlide coating of the shaving head should also be gentle on the skin, which according to the manufacturer should enable 30% better gliding over the skin.
The Philips S9985/35 shaver also has Bluetooth and can be paired with the “Philips GroomTribe” app . Thanks to integrated motion sensors , the app should give feedback on your own shaving technique, for example whether you shave sufficiently well in certain circular movements. You should also get tips on shaving.
5 minutes charging time should be enough for a shave, after one hour the Li-Ion battery, which is not described in detail, is fully charged. If you want to clean the Philips S9985/35, you can hold it under running water together with its opened precision trimmer – done.
Practical Test:
Philips electric wet and dry shaver: In the firm belief that my mother gave me hair growth products instead of shampoo when I was a small child, I made myself available as a test candidate within the editorial team as the one with the strongest beard growth. A dry shave and an inspection of the app connected via Bluetooth are planned . For this purpose I grew a 5-day beard. I actually only trim my beard to a 3-day beard with an older Philips beard trimmer from the 5000 series. So now it is completely shaved. So I charge the Philips S9985/35 shaver for almost exactly an hour before the battery is full and I can start.
Shaving & Cleaning
To be fair, I have to say that my 5-day beard is often more like a 10-day beard on others. The Philips shaver has a correspondingly difficult time at the beginning, but fortunately it doesn’t pull my hair out, but does its job without complaint and is therefore pleasantly quiet – as long as I don’t switch on the precision trimmer. So first impression: a flawless shaving performance?
I find the display of the LED ring really successful and helpful when shaving , as it makes it clear to me at a glance how often I’m exerting too much pressure. But I have to shave for a whopping 12 minutes (and thus 9 minutes longer than recommended) before I’m reasonably satisfied with the shave.
This is mainly due to the (too) large shaving head, with which I cannot reach all areas of my beard easily . So I have problems at the main hairline on both sides of my cheeks, but especially directly below the nose. At these two points, the precision trimmer that I switch on hardly helps . So here it remains a hairy affair.
At the end there are clearly longer stubbles on both sides of the cheeks , and the chin and neck area could be cleaner. I therefore find the shave to be okay, not very good and appropriate for the price of the device. What I really like is the easy cleaning under running water after shaving. A corresponding symbol in the OLED display reminds you of this after each shave.
When putting the shaver back into the – to put it politely – cheap charging cradle, I realize that you have to be careful here: the charging cradle is so light that the shaver tips over very quickly if you don’t put it in its station with some care.
App: Gimmick?
Philips electric wet and dry shaver: When pairing the shaver with the “Philips GroomTribe” app, I find that the pairing only works when the shaver is switched on – also the Bluetooth connection drops several times after the successful pairing . An update message appears on the fourth attempt . After that, the Bluetooth connection is stable and the shaver is permanently connected – even if it is switched off and in the charging station.
The app itself is divided into three main areas. The ” Home” tab contains shaving, beard and skin care tips, as well as information on how to use and clean the Philips S9985/35 shaver. Nice thing about it: There are many explanatory videos. Less beautiful: You can not play.
The second tab, which is divided into “Shave” and “Style”, is more interesting. In the “Shave” tab, I can see information about shaving time and device use, can create a “ shaving plan ” or start a “guided” shave , behind which there are three graphics for shaving time , pressure and quality of the circular movements.
If I switch to the “Style” tab, beard styles are projected onto my face with the help of the front camera ( “style mirror” ), I can read through articles on different beard types or – and this is often the case in the app – I get recommendations by some kind of chat bot.
Finally, the settings tab should be self-explanatory – this is where I mostly choose on/off options for the LED ring or the sound (yes, this thing has a speaker built in). Is this app a gimmick? In my opinion: definitely yes. If I want to adjust the pressure, I can see this on the shaver’s LED ring. After a little practice, I should be able to do circular movements. And I can get tips and tricks from anywhere else.
Conclusion:
If you choose the Philips S9985/35 shaver, you will certainly get a high-quality device – but with a poor-quality charging cradle. The shaving performance itself is excellent and the LED light ring that shows the contact pressure is a useful feature. The app, on the other hand, is more appearance than reality – unless you place great value on styling tips and shaving statistics.
The Achilles heel is and remains the bulky shaving head, which makes it impossible for me to reach certain areas of the beard. Other beard types may have fewer problems. Personally, I will continue to stick with trimming and, if necessary, with the classic wet shave. And you? how do you shave Do you swear by Philips or Braun? Philips electric wet and dry shaver video below.
Number One Boats from USA. Boat Marketplace Group Network. All Boats & Yachts for Sale, Reviews, Specs, Prices, Craigslists. 