Philips HQ 5812 Micro+ ACT.

...tried most brands, Remington, Braun, Philips etc.

Strangely enough, it's almost as if my face gets used to the way in which a particular make cuts, and then starts to resist attempts to give a clean shave.

Remingtons, if I remember rightly, have blades sliding laterally under a flat stainless comb. Braun is not dissimilar but under a curved foil, but Philips Philishaves are almost unique in having three articulated ...
...manual refers to getting a Philips agent to dispose of them for you, when they need replacing.

CLEANING

This seems easy enough, falling into two categories. One; Every day cleaning can be achieved just by pulling the top off, and emptying the shavings. Secondly, you can remove each set of cutters for a periodic 'flush out' using the brush supplied.

Heads need changing every two years.

SUMMING ... more

I'm sure there's some correlation between hair loss, on the head that it, and the need to shave more often elsewhere - well on the face at least.

Ever since I started work, I've used an electric razor (yes, they did have electricity back then!).

Over the years, I've tried most brands, Remington, Braun, Philips etc.

Strangely enough, it's almost as if my face gets used to the way in which a particular make cuts, and then starts to resist attempts to give a clean shave.

Remingtons, if I remember rightly, have blades sliding laterally under a flat stainless comb. Braun is not dissimilar but under a curved foil, but Philips Philishaves are almost unique in having three articulated circular heads, under each of which revolves the cutter.

So what as long as they cut hairs off for you, you might think?

Well, that's where the problem lies. Under my chin I have a couple of tufts of what I'd term 'rogue hair', which somehow manage to grow in a different direction, like a crop sown from different seed, and these days also manage to be a different shade of grey.

Neither the Remington nor the Braun which are designed to be passed over the face in one direction seemed to be capable of razing these to the ground without some contortion on my part to pass them over the spot in several directions.

Once they got too long, I'd use a throw-away razor, courtesy of her indoors to get rid of these, but two to three days later, the whole process started all over again.

I'd even taking to sneaking the use of the same razor whilst in the shower, but the inability to find a mirror that isn't totally steamed up under these conditions is remote to say the least.

Then whilst in The Lake District recently, I have occasion to buy a new electric razor, and thought I'd give Philishave a try, as I hadn't had one for years.

What a revelation! The tufty bits disappeared in seconds along with all the other stubble. I suppose the Philishave's ability to come at all hairs and at all angles, thanks to its triple rotating heads was the answer. I assume that this is partly down to the Philishave's ability to be swirled around in any direction you like, and whilst it's making a business-like 'grinding' noise, you know it's cutting something.

I was immediately impressed with this razor, the Philishave HQ 5812 Micro+, which I'd bought from Boots in Keswick for £39.

Not only that, but it fulfilled my other criterion, to be cordless, since we have no electrical supply in the bathroom, except for the light pull.

There's nothing fancy about this shaver - it isn't waterproof and it doesn't have any indication of how much charge remains. It looks every inch a typical electric razor, and it isn't until you unplug it and discover that it still works that you'd know it's rechargeable.

It has a curious colour scheme of metallic blue with a lime green switch panel, and just one on/off switch.

The sideboard/sideburn attachment is at the rear, and deploys by flicking a thumb-grip. Once out, it looks a little like a pair of miniature hair clippers, but then, it is.

Of course, it's always easy to compare a new razor to a worn-out one, and indeed it's not much of a fight, even if you buy the same model twice, so it's therefore difficult to assess just how much of the recent improvement in the closeness of my shaves is down to it being a new razor, and how much of that is down to it being a better razor.

Going from memory, the Philishave possibly represents the best 'dry' shave I've ever had, as it's the first razor to leave me not feeling that I need to borrow a blade razor too for those aforementioned tufty bits.

Curiously, it achieves all this whilst sounding the most limp-wristed razor I've ever had. In fact, when I first tried it, I checked to make sure I'd read the instructions correctly vis-à-vis initial charging, but I had - it's just quite quiet and slow sounding, like a hover mower a hundred yards away.

Anyway, faint of not, it's excellent at what it does. The triple heads are cushioned so that between them they can follow facial contours, and even those tricky bits, like bristles immediately below the nose are seen off by running the edge of one or two of the heads along the 'join' between nostrils and upper lip.

TECHNICAL STUFF

The mains lead can be used anywhere there's an AC voltage, ranging from 100 to 250, so that's most of the world taken care of. For any other bits you happen to be passing through, a full charge is good for 30 minutes shaving, so maybe a week, before returning to somewhere with a suitable power supply.

Normally, charging takes a full 8 hours, but initially, and if you've let the battery lie flat for a while, a 12 hour charge is needed.

Your are advised not to leave the thing charging continuously, 12 hours being the suggested maximum, so you can't keep on returning it to the mains after shaving. I suspect that the Ni-Cad batteries don't like being 'trickle-charged'. I assume they are Ni-Cads because the manual refers to getting a Philips agent to dispose of them for you, when they need replacing.

CLEANING

This seems easy enough, falling into two categories. One; Every day cleaning can be achieved just by pulling the top off, and emptying the shavings. Secondly, you can remove each set of cutters for a periodic 'flush out' using the brush supplied.

Heads need changing every two years.

SUMMING UP

Don't be put off by the fact that it doesn't sound very powerful, it is.

If you want a cordless razor with the minimum of fuss, that seems to do what's required of it, and to a high standard, then at £39 seems a reasonable price to pay for at least two years shaving, compared to all those throw away Bic razors and the foam to go with them.
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