Review on 🪒 Philips Norelco Shaver 9700: SmartClean, Rechargeable Wet/Dry Electric Shaver with Cleansing Brush (S9721/89) by Tanya Smith

After using this shaver for more than a year, I've learned to use it pretty well. Here's my take on it. It is clearly intended for people who shave either every day or every other day. When it first arrived it had been three days since my last shave and this razor tugged and tugged leaving a very patchy shave which I had to salvage with a manual razor. The inability to use it when connected to the network is annoying. In 2005 I had another Norelco for half the price of this one and it could shave and charge at the same time. To recharge I shave every other day and on average I have enough charge for about 2 weeks. An average shave takes about 10 minutes, consumes about 10% of the battery, and the battery loses 1% of its charge per day through idle use. A full charge takes about an hour. They tell you to fully drain the shaver between charges, so I have to assume it should have a nickel based battery and not a lithium based one. I find it gives smoother results when used in the shower and shaving cream. I have very coarse, fast growing facial hair. I can grow a beard in a week. This razor delivers smoother results than a safety razor. However, this requires a lot of work and several passes. Luckily, you can actually push this razor into your skin without irritation, but unfortunately you need it to get tight and smooth. The razor started asking me to replace the blades after pretty much exactly 1 year. The cleaning liquid cartridge lasted about 2 months for me, but can be cleaned in the sink with the same success. The cleaning cycle in the stand takes about 3 hours, but by hand I can clean in 30 seconds. Perhaps most importantly, more expensive doesn't mean better. I learned this the hard way. My previous Norelco was half the price and the razor was better. This one is slower, more sensitive, more uncomfortable and doesn't really offer any tangible benefits over the cheaper models I've used. It still delivers a good shave, but you can get the same shave for less. The stand just takes up a lot of space and doesn't do anything particularly useful. The holdall looks good but the thing fell apart while traveling and I had to figure out how to put the bag back together. In general, it's good, but I would advise you to take a cheaper model.