This is a Rolls Royce of a Shaver, with Bluetooth and an App! – I shaved, sorry saved, this review for when I needed a hefty shave so it’s a live-action first experience review. Probably the most detailed review I have done, so strap in, it’s a long one – after all, you’re considering dishing out 370 (normal price) for this! For reference, the picture containing the standard-sized drinks coaster is to demonstrate the size of this box – because it’s pretty large!

In short though:
It’s a great shaver, but not a huge improvement on cheaper models (although better in my opinion) – just mostly more (impressive) bells and whistles. It has a clear display that feels of quality. It doesn’t have the latest version of the One Blade (which doesn’t come with a case or such like), but it’s still an excellent piece of kit – so at 370, it’s perhaps a bit expensive in my eyes – however, value is perceived individually and contextually, these devices are always expensive. For me, it’s losing a star for cost and a couple of other things I mention below. That said – I haven’t half had fun testing it out, and it’s a great set that feels of great quality overall.

Long Review:
Here’s my experience from unboxing to use:

First; do be aware this only comes with a two-pin shaving plug. Off I go upstairs to recall if the light has one. It does. Thankfully. However – a problem was encountered. The shaving socket is on the light above the mirror, and the lead isn’t long enough to reach down. It comes with a stand, and you can use the power cable separately, it only comes with one charger though so you’re using that for both devices. The power cable fits both devices and the stand.

The One Blade doesn’t sit on the stand very well (probably not meant to) but the shaver does. The stand itself isn’t that big and when you put the quite large shaver on it, it’s a little bit wobbly. It’s probably made this size for convenience, though and it works well enough.

Unboxing this thing, I kept finding more and more items. It’s used more eco-friendly packaging, so it’s full of empty square boxes. The ones stacked in the photo contained nothing. But some of the smaller boxes in the One Blade DID – so make sure you check every box! It felt a bit like Deal or No Deal.

There was a box that had a charger sign on it in the One Blade, I presume for when this is sold separately – but opening that and not finding one was a bit disappointing. It is, however, more environmentally friendly this way of course, and perfectly understandable and responsible. The cardboard packaging held everything very firmly in place and is far preferable to tons of plastic and polystyrene or such like. Kudos for this.

My first impressions are this is quite hilariously complicated until you get used to it. Which I respect. And the app, detailed later, really does help! It is entirely brilliant – never before have I connected my phone to my shaver. First time for everything. Even someone who loves tech! Figuring this out has been great fun, actually.

This shaver is quite an extraordinary contraption – well beyond a shaver I have used before. Firstly, the price. Well at full price it’s mighty expensive and I am unsure of the value proposition. It is mighty questionable at 370 – I’d want someone to shave me for that. It’s recently been on half price at around 170 and at that point – it’s definitely worth it if you want to treat yourself or someone else to a shaver that actually looks and feels worthy of the money you’ve paid. Quite easily compared to others.

It does, however, present with quality.

Coming with a cleaning pod/device, separate beard trimmer/shaper “One Blade” (and it seems, for chest and other “sensitive areas”), and indications on the shaver display panel that encourage you to shave better, as well as Bluetooth – it’s quite a techy bit of kit. If you’re looking for something simple, look elsewhere. I had to settle down to figure this all out.

It feeds back on the display with an orange or green swirl image to demonstrate your shaving prowess. Cool.

Surprisingly, the cleaning cartridges appear to be around a reasonable 20 for a 9 months supply to replace, I guess that depends on how often you use them. The shaver heads themselves are a little more expensive to replace, but still not too bad considering how much the device itself costs. Things to consider if you’re investing in a bit of kit like this. Ensuring some longevity.

As always, the cartoon-style instructions are an exercise requiring the rosetta stone. Nothing new here, if you’ve had an electric razor before you’ll be familiar with the few minutes it takes for your mind to adapt to understanding what on Earth they’re on about. Mercifully though, there’s an app for that… more later.

I think it takes about an hour to charge, which is good enough. However, 1 shave can be charged in 5 minutes. Excellent.

Comes in a hard case, which is of decent quality. Just good enough I would say at this price point.

In terms of the One Blade – it’s a little challenging instructions-wise, and it’s pretty effective IF you want short hair. For me, the One Blade and its attachments are not for longer or medium beards unless you want to go quite short. Unless I am using it wrong (you may want to check this!), I felt non of the attachments worked to keep a slightly longer to medium beard. But it’s just about right for where I like mine when attended to. From stubble to just over short beard and you’ll be fine, though. For those, I feel it works quite exceptionally well. My beard is the best groomed it’s been in years. Mrs. R. was mightily impressed.

Worth 370 then, after all!

The pictures do suggest you can use it on your chest etc, and “sensitive” areas. There’s a particular guarded attachment for this. I went for a beard trim with the normal blade and combing attachment. It worked well. Quite a versatile little device. It certainly isn’t just an add-on, it’s a product in its own right. It’s easy to use (despite the naff instructions) and simple to clean. You can presently pick replacement blades up for around 25 give or take for a pack of three which should last around a year apparently (this I would imagine depends vastly on your frequency of use). Not cheap, but I already love this device.

As I say, smartest I’ve had my beard shaped in quite some time.

And not just my beard – given other areas you can use this on. I used the longer setting comb adapter, rather than the guarded blade, and gave some other areas a spruce up. It took a bit of time. With caution though, it felt fairly safe barring a couple of slight wincing moments from rushing a bit!

Again, Mrs. R was impressed.

As for the THE “Groom Tribe” APP (with guidance on shaving/cultivation/functionality etc) – I love this:

YOU CAN:
Connect your shaver to receive information on how you’re shaving. Wow.
Explore beard styles, and receive instruction on how to grow them.
Test them out on your face with a Snapchat-style filter. Which is amusing!
Choose which devices you have – including “other” which I didn’t try – to best help the instructions for developing your beard.

It contains guides on how to use the shaver in videos – very clear, and much simpler than the paper instructions themselves – though that’s not hard. You can have a “guided shave” and also have a “shave history”. So that’s new.

It gives you LIVE FEEDBACK about your technique. With a dial demonstrating to “watch your movement” or “movement ninja”. Nice. Love that. Loving the shaver the more I get into its functionality.

It gives you encouragement with a good old “KEEP GOING!” on the screen when you’re doing it well with a little phone notification. A personal trainer for shaving. And encourages you to shave a little quicker if you go over 3 minutes to reduce irritation. The app calls this “overtime”, rather amusingly.

Never had someone cheerleading my shaving before – it’s peculiarly satisfying and fun. Don’t ask me why. No idea.

One irritating problem I did encounter, was the app wasn’t letting me register the device with Philips, but that might be due to the Cookie settings I selected. I will look further into this. I recall mention of an extension of warranty, and a discount on products so it’s worth doing.

Talking of irritation… It can take your skin a few weeks to adapt to these shavers. I admit it does consistently put me off. I gave this a right good test though, quite a long beard, going around the edges. It twanged a bit – but they all do. It’s not a miracle tool. You will still want to find a shaving method that works for you. Remember you can use gels/foams etc with these and it might be wise to do so, especially if you’re new to it. It really is worth reading up on doing it properly.

I am pretty happy with how it did though. And I didn’t suffer as much irritation as I have with others. Or you may have had reading this long review.

The app gives you a live readout of your battery charge too. I had 1 bar on the shaver display, 11% on the app, that’s much more accurate than the shaver alone. This app pairs really nicely with the shaver (you will need Bluetooth and location-enabled). You don’t always need your phone with you though, when the phone and shaver connect it will transfer the data apparently. Clever. Novelty? A little, perhaps. But what’s wrong with that? No one said a shaver has to be boring.

It also comes with instructions and a plan to determine what kind of beard or facial hairstyle you would like – and then creates a plan to grow it. Including things like a handlebar. How tempting is that..? When you see yourself on the app “style mirror” with one – much more so! Honestly, just try it if you get this.

The instructions to cultivate your beard aren’t all that detailed, but there are videos again that you can watch. I have never put this much effort into my beard grooming before. Mrs. R has been trying and trying to get me to, but it’s always felt like a hassle, not a pleasure, because I could not get it how I wanted it! Now I have. That is deeply gratifying.

Yes, this is an expensive device – and I do question if it’s worth it (probably not) in purely monetary terms, but it does have a lot of thought that’s gone into and it feels like a package. You cannot help feeling a bit short-changed though at full price to not have the latest One Blade in it and a case to keep it in. I reviewed another shaver not long ago, and I (half-jokingly) recommended leaving the receipt in it for the cost because your giftee may not know just how much you’d spent!

This does feel like a much better package as a whole. And anyone who knows anything about shavers will know it would cost a few quid!

Essentially though, it is a shaver – and a very good one at that – but is it 100s better than others I’ve used? Not for me. But these devices have never been cheap, so it’s all contextual. And as I say, it is a very good shaver.

For the high price, not including the latest model One Blade (though it’s still excellent), lack of a case for the One Blade – it loses a star.

But am I glad I’ve got it?

Too right!
A very pleased four stars from me for this item with a real touch of class about it.

And if you found this review helpful, which I hope in this case you did as it took me many, many hours and feels more like a long-form blog, then I’d appreciate you letting me know below!

Happy Shaving!