Philips RQ1085

On one hand, I am very impressed with this shaver. The technology in the shaving unit is outstanding, there are three sets of slots on each head, and each head can pivot freely, which helps it give a really quick and close shave, picking up almost all stubble with a few passes. It does very well on the neck and jawbone as well, I am satisfied with the shaving performance. Also note that the shaving action is very regular and comfortable, it's never ...
...The included accesories were the ubiquitous cleaning brush that hardly ever gets used, power supply, chaging pod, cleaning/charging base, some cleaning solution, and one accessory that made no sense.. a foil guard I don't understand the guard; it's a plastic cover that slips over the top of the shaving head; other shavers have these to protect the foils in transport/storage. Maybe this was a design oversight by Philips, but the shaver will not fit ... more

On one hand, I am very impressed with this shaver. The technology in the shaving unit is outstanding, there are three sets of slots on each head, and each head can pivot freely, which helps it give a really quick and close shave, picking up almost all stubble with a few passes. It does very well on the neck and jawbone as well, I am satisfied with the shaving performance. Also note that the shaving action is very regular and comfortable, it's never pulled a hair or nicked a lip.

The included accesories were the ubiquitous cleaning brush that hardly ever gets used, power supply, chaging pod, cleaning/charging base, some cleaning solution, and one accessory that made no sense.. a foil guard I don't understand the guard; it's a plastic cover that slips over the top of the shaving head; other shavers have these to protect the foils in transport/storage. Maybe this was a design oversight by Philips, but the shaver will not fit into the charging pod (which doubles as a hard travel/storage case) with the guard on, and there's no reason not to store it in the hard case unless it is in the cleaning station.. which will not require or want the guard on it anyway. Probably wouldn't fit, not that I've tried.. So, I can't work out what it's really for.

The cleaning pod is one of the problems with this shaver for me. I like the idea of a unit that can clean, lube and dry a shaver; I've always been quite anal about cleaning out my shavers and drying them off before storing away.. an automated unit just seems like too good an idea to me. A few things to say tho; if you use it, you will have to buy cleaning solution now and again. You get a bottle with the shaver, which I guess will fill up the resevoir about twice. Now, from what I read on the internet before I bought this shaver, some people get varying mileage out of this solution. Some just top it up, others seem to need to change it every few months. I'm guessing that the key difference is this: did they bother to clean out the stubble before puting the shaver into the cleaning stand...? I've been cleaning it out under a tap, shaking off the excess water (don't want to pollute/dilute the solution!), standing it in a dry place while I shower and then putting it in the base. I've used very little solution, and it hasn't been contaminated with visible amounts of hair etc, and therefore I suspect will keep going a lot longer than a few months. Which doesn't make the £6 expense for a bottle of solution too bad if it's an anual or bi-anual thing.

If you are anal about cleaning your shaver, and the cleaning pod is a big selling point for you, bear in mind that it makes the shaver less portable. It will not hold more than a shaves' worth of stubble, and therfore would ideally visit the cleaning pod after every use... and with such an expensive shaver, you'd want to take care of it. For this reason, I think that it's wholly unsuitable as a travel shaver. I have a HQ7380 as a travel shaver; it can hold a weeks' stubble AND charge easily, and also gives a good shave.. it's what I used to use before I had one of these. 

...less