Over the years I have jumped back and forth between razor and electric for shaving. I like safety and convenience of electric shavers, but I also like the closeness of a razor. Oh, the dilemma. Until I got ahold of the Norelco S9000 Prestige electric shaver. Out of all the electrics I have tried in the past, this is the first one to give me the closest feel to a razor shave. With other electrics, to get a close shave, I would have to add extra pressure which would produce a bit of a razor burn. (Close, but, Home Alone type of face on fire when applying aftershave.) With the S9000 and its three floating heads, no extra pressure is needed. The feel of the three rotating heads is quite comfortable and they seem to almost wrap around the contours of my chin and face. With this being said, let’s dive into what I like and dislike: Likes - Device Feel: The unit is light in weight but not too light. The contoured shape feels good in my hand and the placement of the speed and power buttons do not get in the way when shaving. The side and back rubber provides a firm grip, even when wet, and blends well with the metal. - Digital Display: The display is a nice touch. As soon as the device feels your touch or movement, it displays the remaining battery percentage. Other information displayed includes a charging indicator, battery low, personal comfort speed setting, a cleaning reminder, travel lock indicator, head replacement reminder, blocked shaving head indicator, and the “hey dummy, unplug me before shaving” indicator. - Shaving Heads: The three rotating shaving heads are the most comfortable I’ve ever felt. The pivoting platforms for each head provides for a close shave around the contours of your face. Even my sensitive skin loves the floating feel of the heads. The design of the shaving heads are supposed to sense the beard density and automatically adjust for handling up to a weeks worth of growth. (Which has happened only once in my entire life, so I’ll not be testing this feature.) The shape and design of the shaving heads provided me with a very close shave, even in the tight under the nose curve and over the point of the chin spots, which are my danger spots with a razor. (I won’t get into the gory details.) - Battery Life: I’ve been using this shaver for three weeks and I’m only at 50% battery after a single overnight charge. I’m impressed. - Cleaning: I love that I can rinse the heads under a running faucet without worrying about getting the rest of the device wet. In fact, for a wet shave, you can use the device in the shower. Any water suspended within the heads actually flows through the middle of the device and out the bottom. - Comfort Setting: The speed of the rotation of the heads is adjustable with three different speed settings. I like using the lowest setting for those times when I’m trying to be quiet, but I personally prefer the medium setting for a close shave. Dislikes - Precision Trimmer: While the trimmer works fine and is very precise, I personally don’t like the idea of having to pull off the shaving heads and then snap in the trimmer. I always feel like it’s wrong to yank the heads off of the device and that I might break it. - The Travel Case: The case is just way too snug for the shaver, the cord, and the trimmer. I was able to do it, but I really had to work hard at it. Overall, I’m very happy and satisfied with this shaver. It is, by far, the best electric shaver I have ever owned and provides the closest thing to a razor shave. Being able to use it in the shower is a huge plus for me and it has always performed well. Worth the price? Indeed.

==== Summary ==== The Philips Norelco S9000 Prestige is an excellent rotary shaver that is light, easy to operate, and offers a close shave that rivals a foil shaver. The fit-and-finish is excellent and both the shaver and its carrying case feel premium and durable. Smart features such as Travel Lock and Cleaning Reminder are thoughtful and helpful additions. It is a great product from Philips. *Pros: -Premium feel, nice fit-and-finish, & great build quality. -Easy to operate. -IPX7 water-resistant. -Quiet operation. -Nice, big LED screen. -Easy maintenance. -Helpful smart features (Travel Lock, Cleaning Reminder, Replacement Reminder). *Cons: -None ==== Design ==== I was impressed from the get-go when I started unboxing the S9000 Prestige. The box is attractive and has a nice, soft texture to it. The parts are neatly organized inside and easy to unpack everything. It kind of felt like I was unpacking a premium smartphone from Samsung. The carrying case for the S9000 is the nicest of its kind I've seen and touched so far. It is a hard case with soft textures front and back and it exudes quality and durability. The soft texture offers solid grip and reminded me of high-end eye glassware cases. Just by looking at the carrying case, you know there is something nice and expensive inside. As for the shaver itself, the S9000 Prestige is constructed very well with its attractive matte black and brushed stainless steel design. Despite the appearance of lots of metal components, the unit is surprisingly light and comfortable to use for an extended period of time. All the seams and lines are perfect and the fit-and-finish is excellent. Operating and maintaining the S9000 couldn't be any easier. To start shaving, just press the big Power Button, use the + and - buttons to set your shaving comfort level (Low, Medium, and Fast), then put the three rotary heads on your skin to start shaving while making small circular motions. Here is a nice tutorial video from Philips on how to shave with the S9000 Prestige for those not familiar with rotary shavers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GjUCQBVKf4 After shaving is finished, I cleaned the shaver by turning it on and running the head under some warm tap water as instructed. For a more thorough cleaning, you can just pull off the top part of the rotary shaver head to rinse off the hair chamber inside and/or twist off the three individual shaver rings. Once done, you just snap the top back on to the base. Super simple and easy. The smart features of the S9000 are conveyed through the big and bright LED screen & offers useful information at a glance - the battery level, the shaving comfort level, and notifications if any are available (e.g., Battery Low, Cleaning Reminder, Travel Lock, Overheating, and Replacement Reminder). I find Travel Lock to be an especially thoughtful and helpful addition as it can prevent accidental power-on and drainage of battery. The S9000 came with a single extra attachment - the Sideburn/Mustache precision trimmer. It was a simple affair to pull off the rotary shaving head and snap on the attachment. And it performed very well neatly trimming my sideburns. For design and build quality, I give the Norelco S9000 Elite (SP9820) a 10 out of 10~! ==== Performance ==== Having used a Philips Norelco rotary shaver in the past before switching to a Braun foil shaver, I was pleasantly surprised by how close the shave was. The older Norelco model I used from about 6 years ago was not able to shave as close as my Braun foil shaver and it was too time-consuming to use due to the many passes I had to make on the same spot. With the S9000, not only is the shave as close as my Braun Series 7 foil shaver - if not better according to my wifey - it doesn't require so many passes that I get impatient and frustrated. As a result, I'm quite pleased with it and I can put aside the Braun as a backup now. Other aspects of the S9000 that compares more favorably to my foil shaver is that it is much quieter in operation and it does a much, much better job at shaving the angled areas of my face (i.e., jaw area) and my neck area. This is just an inherent advantage of a rotary shaver compared to a foil shaver. It is not a complete win for the S9000, however. Although it offers a closer shave than my foil shaver, the S9000 does require more shaving passes than the foil. Approximately, I would say that my shaving time increased by about 1 minute overall. With that said, I rate shaving closeness a 10 out of 10, time consumed a 8.5 out of 10, and overall performance & satisfaction a 9.5. ==== Closing Thoughts ==== Philips has created a fantastic rotary shaver that is premium in build with great fit-and-finish that is lightweight, performant, and simple in operation and maintenance. The built-in smart features such as Travel Lock and Cleaning Reminder are great additions. I would highly recommend the S9000 Prestige for those looking for a close shave with a quiet operation and easy maintenance.

This Norelco S9000 Prestige rotary shaver does have an improved build quality compared to Norelco’s earlier models of rotary shavers. This Norelco is built about as good as an electric rotary shaver could be made. The Norelco S9000 Prestige rotary shaver is built mostly of stainless steel. It is not immediately obvious that this shaver is built of stainless steel, as many products nowadays are made of plastic that is coated in such a way that it looks metallic. I stuck a magnet to the outside of the Norelco shaver, and the magnet does stick to it, so this is how I knew it was made of real stainless steel, and not metallic looking plastic. See the pictures that I included with my review, as the images show the magnet stuck to the stainless steel on the Norelco shaver. Most of my experience with electric shavers has been using the foil type of shaver, and before now, I have never owned a rotary shaver. Now that I have a Norelco rotary shaver, I am now able to compare the two types of electric shavers: here is my assessment: This Norelco rotary shaver is noticeably quieter than a foil type of electric shaver. This Norelco rotary shaver does shave differently than a foil shaver, but the shave is about as close. It did take awhile to get used to the rotary style of shaver after having used a foil type of shaver for many years. In my opinion, the functioning of a foil type of electric shaver is simpler and the foil design has less moving parts. The foil type of shaver is also a bit easier to shave with, and the foil type of shaver is easier to clean after a shaving session. Both types of electric shavers have advantages and disadvantages. This Norelco S9000 rotary shaver is advertised to “cut exceptionally close - even on a 7 day beard.” I did find that this Norelco rotary shaver does cut a longer beard a bit better than a foil type of shaver can. With that said, optimally, a long beard should be cut with a beard trimmer first, then the electric shaver can finish off the beard, if you were to use an electric shaver to cut a long beard on a regular basis, this would only wear out the shaver blades quicker than normal. The way that the rotary shaving blades assembly is removed from the swiveling gearbox is a bit awkward at first, but after practicing disassembling it several times, the process is fairly easy. I like to clean an electric shaver almost every time after is is used, to keep it functioning as good as possible. The process of cleaning the blades on this Norelco rotary shaver, took almost as long as the process of shaving my beard. It is best to apply a bit of soap to the blade areas, then snap the cutting blades assembly back onto the swiveling gearbox, and then power on the shaver for like 20 seconds to let the soap dissolve any oil and grease. Finally it is necessary to dip the rotating blades into a bowl of warm or hot water for 20 seconds, to rinse off the soap. If this process is not done fairly regularly, the rotary cutting blades will get to be a bit bogged down by the oil and grease residue. The precision trimmer attachment which is included, is nice to have, but it is really only good for accurate trimming of small areas such as the sideburns The precision trimmer attachment is not very capable at cutting the main beard if ever it needs it. I often do not shave for like 5 days in a row, and then my beard is too long to be easily cut with an electric shaver, at which point it is necessary for me to trim my beard down as much as possible with a beard trimmer, then shaving with an electric shaver is easier and quicker. If Norelco would have made the precision trimmer into a high quality whole beard trimming attachment, then this would have been a substantial improvement in the overall quality of this Norelco beard shaving kit. After all, what is a customer going to be more satisfied with? The barely capable precision trimmer that is good only for accurate trimming of certain parts of the beard, or a versatile high quality beard trimming attachment which could easily cut a thick beard if necessary. The power supply that is included is decent, and I describe it as only decent, because I also own a $50 Norelco beard trimmer which has an almost identical power supply. The way I look at is the following: This Norelco rotary shaver has an original selling price of $300, this is 6 times more than my Norelco beard trimmer, it would seem like this Norelco S9000 Prestige rotary shaver should have a substantially better power supply. This situation is only going to cause the customer to wonder why a $50 beard trimmer would have virtually the same power supply that a $300 rotary shaver has. With that being said, when I first received my $50 Norelco beard trimmer several years ago, I felt like it was a pretty decent power supply, and it is a pretty good power supply for a $50 beard trimmer, but the included power supply just does not match the quality of the Norelco S9000 rotary shaver itself. In my opinion a newly designed and improved rotary shaver, should have a newly designed and improved power supply to go along with it. This Norelco S9000 Prestige rotary shaver does have a few nice features that are unique. The first unique feature is that it has a proximity sensor which displays the battery percentage when the shaver senses motion, so there is no need to turn it on to see how much battery power remains. The second unique feature is that this Norelco rotary shaver has 3 motor speeds. Overall this is one of the best looking and well built electric shavers I have ever seen. I am rating this Norelco S9000 Prestige rotary shaver kit at 3.5 out of 5 stars,. I would have rated this Norelco rotary shaver at closer to 5 stars, if it had an impressive beard trimming attachment and a better power supply.

This is the best electric shaver that I have ever used. I should probably elaborate some more on that, but honestly that statement rings true for me. The design of this shaver is incredible, I have never had one that felt so good in the hand as this one and the chrome/black really is sharp looking. I have been using electric razors for all of my life and all but one of them was a Norelco one. Norelco as a company stands behind their products and they have always been helpful when I did have an issue with a razor…even past the warranty. Speaking of which, you get two years with this one and if you register online, they give you an additional 6 months. The razor’s blades will last you about a year and it has an indicator that will let you know when it’s time to replace them. The head comes off and you are also give a trimmer attachment to put on. That is probably my only gripe…I do find myself using the trimmer a lot and my previous razors all had that built into the body, but this one you have to remove the head and swap it out. A minor inconvenience, but it does allow for additional attachments such as the skin cleansing brush (not included with this model). I plan to check that feature out. The buttons are easy to use as well. There is a power button and a toggle button where you can increase the power level by 3 settings. Also, the battery percentage is easy to see and will light up when you move the razor. There is also a clean head reminder. Of course this is a wet/dry shaver and sturdy carrying case and power adapter is included as well. My previous Norelco chargers are the same so it’s nice to see that they have not changed that.

I've used Norelco shavers for many years. My favorite was an 8150XL. I think the heads were HQ8. When I dropped it and it broke after many years of service, I tried an S8950 with the newer design. It was awful. I found another cheaper version of the old style but they don't make the same HQ8 heads any longer so it just didn't cut. Ugh. After reading lots of independent reviews, I splurged on the S9000 Prestige and crossed my fingers. I've used it for about a month now and it has lived up to the hype and exceeded my expectations. I don't much care for bells and whistles. I just need a close shave. Although it is pricey, it does what my old Speed XL did. It's comfortable to hold, quiet and shaves close. Even with several days growth of my heavy beard, it doesn't pinch or pull hairs. I still am not fond of the new design with the heads separate from the body. And I really don't like the lack of a pop-up trimer. I also miss having a stand. I don't care about a cleaning station, but a stand is needed. I'll never use the trimmer attachment. It's much easier to just grab a separate trimming device. I do like the travel case though. It takes up a lot of room but you can fit everything inside, including the cord. So if anyone feels burned by the garbage Philips Norelco has been putting out lately, this might just meet your needs. Of course, I reserve the right to complain about the cost of the replacement heads when the time comes. They are around $70!