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? Braun or Philips? Today we’ll take a look at the test Philips S9985/35 and thus the top model from the Philips 9000 series. Delivers the app-equipped electric razors a close shave?
- Philips S9985/35 electric wet and dry shaver;
Phillips? Netherlands, not China!?
Before you ask yourself: What? what has Philips, a Dutch corporation to do here with China? Then let me tell you: actually quite a lot. Because in 2021 the traditional manufacturer of products from the consumer goods industry will have its entire household divisions as vacuum cleaners, deep fryers, or coffee machines, sold 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 the main competitor Braun, which specializes in foil razors, Philips is a traditional Rotary shaver with three rounded, triangularly arranged shaving heads are equipped. Because she with that 360° rotatable according to Philips, they should be able to adapt perfectly to the respective facial contours. 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 extremely high-quality processed and comes in one Mix of black, chrome, and matte aluminum look, which Philips itself dubs “Chrome”. The handle is for better grip and is rubberized. An OLED-Display on the handle, pressing the button underneath shows either the battery level indicator incl. pressure regulation-die child lock, or the activation/deactivation of the LED light ring. The top model measures 245 x 162 x 92 mm at a weight of 470 g. As high-quality as the device may appear overall: the black Plastic charging cradle works on the other hand too cheap.
Included in delivery: the essentials plus bag
The Philips S9985/35 comes in one Pet crate there’s a charger, a small Paintbrush for cleaning, a Warranty and service card, a 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”.
Features: Hair sharp with an app?
Philips promises a hair-sharp dry and wet shave using the Dual SteelPrecision Blades for the 9000 series shavers. It refers to 72 self-sharpening blades, which 150000 cutting operations per minute should deliver. So that the whole thing runs as thoroughly and efficiently as possible, Philips uses the so-called for its top model SkinIQ Technology – allegedly one picks up on it TO return. If this is the case, it is most likely the integration of data from previous (beta) testers.
Thanks to one pressure sensor, which Philips christens “Pressure Guard Sensor”, the perfect shave should be possible while being kind to the skin: 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 green in terms of color. It should also be gentle on the skin Nano SkinGlide coating of the shaving head, which according to the manufacturer should enable 30% better gliding over the skin.
The Philips S9985/35 shaver also has Bluetooth and lets the “Philips GroomTribe“-App connect. Thanks to integrated motion sensors the app should give feedback on your own shaving technique, for example, whether you shave sufficiently well in certain round circular movements. You should also get tips on shaving.
5 minutes of charging time should be enough for a shave, after one hour if the one not-described-in-detail Li-ion battery is fully charged. If you want to clean the Philips S9985/35, you can use it together with your unfolded precision trimmer Hold it under running water – done.
Practical test:
In the firm belief that his mum gave him hair growth products instead of shampoo when he was a small child, he made himself available to the editors as the person with the most beard growth as a test candidate. One is planned dry shave as well as the inspection of the one connected via Bluetooth App. He has one extra for this purpose 5-Take-Bart to let something grow. He actually, only trims his beard every 3-day with an older Philips beard trimmer from the 5000 series. So now it is completely shaved. So he charged the Philips S9985/35 shaver for almost exactly an hour before the battery is full and we can start.
Shaving & Cleaning
To be fair, he has to say that this 5-day beard is often more like a 10-day beard on others. The Philips razor has a correspondingly difficult time in the beginning, but fortunately, it doesn’t pull his hair out, but rather his Employ uncomplaining and is with it pleasantly quiet – unless he switches on the precision trimmer. So first impression: one flawless shaving performance?
Mainly due to a (too) big shaving head, he cannot reach all beard areas easily. So he has problems at the main hairline on both sides of his cheeks, but especially directly below the nose. In these two places, the precision trimmer hardly helps, which he turns on. So here it remains a hairy affair.
I think the shave is okay, but not as very good and appropriate for the price of the device. What I really like is the easy cleaning under running water after the shave. A corresponding symbol in the OLED display reminds you of this after each shave.
When putting the razor back in, put it politely. It also comes with a fairly cheap charging cradle, I realize that you have to be careful here: The charging cradle is so light that the razor tips over very quickly if you don’t put it in its station with some care.
App: Gimmick?
When pairing the shaver with the “Philips GroomTribe” app, I find that the pairing only works when the shaver is switched on – also breaks the Bluetooth connection after successful pairing several times. On the 4th attempt, one appears an update message. Thereafter is the Bluetooth connection stable and the shaver is always connected – even when it is switched off and on at 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. The nice thing about it: There are many explanatory videos.
More interesting is that the second tab which is in “Shave” and “Style” is divided. In the “Shave” tab I see information about shaving time and device usage, can I get a “shaving schedule“ create or one “guided” shave start behind the three graphics to the shaving time, pressure strength and Quality of the circular movements condition.
If I switch to the “Style” tab, beard styles are projected onto my face using the front camera (“Style Mirror”), I can get articles on different Bart types to read through or – and that is often the case in the app, my recommendations von einer Art Chat-Bot let give.
The Settings tab eventually should self-explanatory be – here I mostly choose on/off options in terms of the LED ring or the sound (yes, the 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 in itself is excellent and the one showing the contact pressure LED light ring is a sensible Feature. The App however is more appearance than reality – unless you value styling tips and shaving stats. 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 use Philips or Braun?
