Philips PowerTouch PT720 Rechargeable Electric Shaver

This Powertouch PT720 is one ugly razor to behold, with it's yawning black chasm of rubber incorporating the click on/off button [cynics might say it's to entice you further up the Philishave price ladder]. However the actual click button is better than previous efforts on Philishaves I have owned, probably due to the use of that black rubber. I much preferred the original slide on/off switch of earlier Philishaves, but at least this button doesn't accidently click off in use [Speed XL] or feel a bit hard to push [RQ-1180]. It may still be a problem if you have very limited movement in your hands though. In use this Philishave razor shaves my face very well, better in fact than my 4 year old Speed XL Philishave razor that cost well over £100 - this is simply due to the fact that this razor has new heads and a new battery [Philishave recommend you replace the heads every two years, but they are quite expensive so few bother that often]. All Philishaves have versions of the lift&cut rotary razor heads, and all seem to dry shave similarly well.

So you get a classic cordless dry Philishave quality shave for a budget price, and the battery lasts a decent 40 minutes - so why pay more? Well the Li-ion battery recharge time is 8 hours, not just 1 hour with the more expensive sibling PT860, and worse still there's no flip-out beard trimmer as with the PT860. The latter is a problem for me, I use the flip-out trimmers a lot for sideburns and the odd long hair. The 8h recharge is less of a problem about the house as you can simply plug the recharge cable in and use the razor off the mains [or you can recharge for '3 minutes' and get enough to finish your cordless shave]. There's no charge cradle required. The razor has a single LED that flashes red or green to inform you of battery life/charge status. Despite the raft of cool LEDs on more expensive Philishaves these don't actually help any better, the bank of LEDs just plummet to zero at the last minute - so the PT720's single one is just as informative. The razor head pops up easily via a release and hinge, and cleaning is the usual quick daily brush out [brush & plastic head protector supplied], with an occasional head dismantle serious brush out every week or so.

The secret of the standard dry Philishave is always shave before you wash in morning, as the oiliness of the skin is essential for a smooth shave - in fact if you try using a normal Philishave directly after washing and drying the razor head tends to 'stick' on the face. Plus you have to shave daily, the rotary blades don't like long hairs. If you are new to Philishavers it does take a month or two for you and your skin to adapt to any new shaving system [I love the Philishaves system, but some never get on with it, preferring wetshaves or Braun/Remington type foils]. The razor isn't water proof so it's dry shaving only - no problem for me I've used the dry Philishave system for 40 years since 14 years old as I want to avoid all the wet shaving palaver [my thick black stubbly beard and skin really doesn't take to wet shaving with a blade]. Plus the water proof Philishave razors can't run off the mains when the batteries flat like this model. In use the razor works like any Philishave - the Philishave pamphlet recommends circular shaving motions only, but sometimes pushing the razor head straight against the lie of the stubble also works well and hold the skin taught as with wet shaving [for some reason only the Philips website mentions this].

This PT720 is light but very bulky, larger than any other Philishave I have owned, and I actually quite liked that - I found I could grip it in different ways to push it against the skin and found this less aching on the arms/wrist. So the 'easy-grip' claims are correct for my medium sized hands. I also like to push the Philishave quite hard against the skin and this razor allows that with its classic solid fixed head [the waterproof versions have a lighter detachable head that prevent this]. Although not waterproof the head can be washed under the tap to remove bristles, but this is a lot messier than the dry brush method I always use.

The only thing I would add is that the language free pamphlet is pretty awful, as it covers every razor in the range and decrypting the charge cycle info and symbols is quite challenging, but as there's not many features on the razor there's not much else to learn. There isn't any travel case supplied, so search out a cheap zip case for storage in the bathroom - before you locate one you might want to keep a brown paper bag over the shaver head [did I mention the razor was ugly].

So a perfectly functional dry Philishave electric razor and more than adequate for any Philishave fans. The lack of a trimmer counts heavily against it for me [which forces me towards the PT860 which includes one]. And those that travel a lot will find the 8h charge cycle unacceptable [again the PT860 offers a preferable 1 hour charge cycle as well]. But for a dry Philishave razor about the home, this PT720 does the business of shaving as well as far more expensive Philishave models and comes with a two year guarentee, so for that reason it is very good value, 4*. However also check out last years discontinued upmarket Philishave models, as these are often on offer heavily discounted on Amazon and may offer identical features and shave quality to the PT860 for the lower price of this PT720.

I can't criticise the effectiveness of this shaver, because it is actually very good. It's comfortable, quick, and easy to maintain. However, it's a good deal bulkier than most Philips rotary head shavers, and does not have any advanced functions e.g charge remaining, self clean etc). Consequently, it's a lot cheaper. The biggest downside is the recharge time - 8 hours, and that only gives you approx 30 minutes of shaving time (Philips claim 40, but I haven't managed to get that). So, this is a good entry level model, and you can clean it under the tap. However, I would advise caution here, because having used Philips so-called waterproof shavers for many years,they have been known to leak and short out the battery and/or motors. I have had 3 replaced under warranty. Not bad for the price, or for a first shaver, but I'll stick with my Philips self clean system model.

My son has had this shaver for a few weeks now and he is very pleased with it.
He is 16 years old and it is his first shaver. It doesn't seem to irritate his
skin which was something I was worried about.