Philips Norelco Series 9000 Prestige Beard Trimmer Review
Philips Norelco Series 9000 Prestige Beard Trimmer
The Norelco Series 9000 Prestige is a great addition or upgrade to your beard care routine, an advanced beard trimmer that brings great precision and ease of use. That is if you can afford the price.
Pros
The trimmer fits well in the hand
High-quality craftsmanship feels very solid
Clear battery charge indicator
Lockable to keep it from accidentally activating and draining the battery
Leather carrying case for ease of transport. Fits everything but the charger.
30 different length settings, including the attachment
Cons
The circular grip design makes it hard to index the cutting-edge
The trimmer is on the expensive side
The settings wheel is very sensitive and might change midshave if pushed
Rounding my trip with the Philips Norelco beard trimmers (9000 Series Prestige), we have one of the company’s top-tier trimmers on the chopping block for this review.
The lower series of Philips trimmers I have covered in reviews include the 3000 Series and 5000 Series.
I won’t lie to you, my friends. When I first unboxed the Series 9000, my first thought was that it had more than a few similarities to a Lightsaber from Star Wars. Though that may be just my nerdy side showing.
I mean, look at it! That whole rounded shape with shiny metal? How could it not be?
All that being said, I was very impressed with this futuristic-looking trimmer. One could say that like a few products I have reviewed in recent weeks, it has become my new go-to beard maintenance tool.
But don’t just take my word for it. Let’s go into some details below.
Description and Features
- Stainless Steel Blades cut easily with very few passes
- Completely waterproof to make it easy to clean
- Comes with a carrying case, cleaning brush, guard attachment, and a bottle of oil for keeping the blades sharp and precise
- 30 length settings in 0.2 mm increments
- 2-hour battery life after charging for 1 hour
- Clearly readable charge indicator
- Made in China
- 1.3 lbs, 3 inches/9 inches/7 inches
As noted above, the trimmer itself is circular with an oblong-shaped head where the blades are held.
Just below that, there is a scroll wheel that allows you to dial in the length of beard you want to trim. Each setting is labeled in Metric units and increases by 0.2 mm at each setting. It starts at 0.4mm and goes up to 5 mm, and then when you add the guard attachment it starts again with 5.4 mm and goes all the way up to 10 mm. Anything beyond that if you are probably better served with hair clippers, honestly.
There is one button for power on and off, and if the button is held for a full three seconds it will lock the trimmer in an off position until it is held for another three seconds. This works really well if you are traveling with it, which seems to be the goal of this product. Philips Norelco wants this to be both your home and travel trimmer.
A Note About Model Numbers
Model Numbers can differ depending on where you are in the world. Each model number starts with a BT (presumably standing for Beard Trimmer) and then a 9XXX number.
For me in the United States, the model number is BT9810/40.
In other regions, the model number may change, such as in the UK it is known as the model BT9810/13. It doesn’t come with the oil for the blades on Amazon UK, and it is just called the Philips Series 9000 rather than the Philips Norelco Series 9000.
How well does the Series 9000 Prestige Perform?
For the purposes of this review, I have been using the Series 9000 trimmer for a little over a month, making sure to trim my beard every 2 to 3 days.
I typically do this right after a shower and after running a good stiff beard brush through my bristles.
Obviously, my face is nice and dry after the shower. Having wet beard hair is only going to slow down the trim and wear out the motor over time. However, I do make sure to use a beard wash in the shower beforehand to make sure the hair is nice and clean before the trim.
If you are looking for a good recommendation for beard washes, I just reviewed the Scotch Porter Moisturizing Beard Wash, which was a great product.
Overall Trimming Experience
Overall, I quite liked this trimmer. Of the two other Philips Norelco trimmers I have reviewed for Shaving Advisor, the Series 3000 and the Series 5000, I have found the experience of trimming with the Series 9000 to be the most enjoyable.
It cuts well and doesn’t require me to go over an area more than once or twice.
While this is a good tool for my beard, which curls and tangles like crazy –how the trimmer is engineered also speaks volumes.
Quality and Design
The design of this trimmer is really solid and almost heavy-duty feeling. The weight (almost 2 pounds), is light enough that it doesn’t feel exhausting to hold, but also heavy enough that you can really know it is there.
The balance point is just below the scroll wheel, making it neither top nor bottom-heavy. This makes it easy to take turns with it and keep to precision movements.
The only real issue I have with this is the rounded design of the handle. In blacksmithing, when you make a handle for a bladed tool (axe, knife, sword) you want the handle to be something of an oval rather than a perfect circle. This makes it easy it index the edge, or in more layman’s terms, know without looking where the cutting edge is.
Because the trimmer is circular in design sometimes I have to readjust when I bring it up to my face to make sure the cutting edge of the blades is exactly where I want it. Otherwise, I might cut at the wrong angle and trim more than I want to.
It is a small grip, but it is one small grip that keeps coming up again and again.
The other trimmers were square in design, making them more awkward to hold, but always letting me know exactly where that cutting edge was.
Cutting Power
This little trimmer has some serious power behind it. When you turn it on you can feel the motor vibrating all the way up to your elbow. It oscillates fast and furious, giving it some extra kick if you have some really thick whiskers to get through.
The blades themselves are very sharp and get through cutting extremely quickly. With the other models, I often had issues where I had to go back for a second, third, or even fourth pass to make sure to get all of the stubborn hairs they left behind. In this case, only two passes were really needed to trim 99 percent of the hair in my beard.
The remaining 1 percent are bristles that are just a little hard to reach or are particularly long because they have been missed in the past.
Ease of Use
Overall, this is a very easy-to-use trimmer that would be easy for anyone to pick up and use on their face. You don’t need to be used to using electric razors or beard trimmers to figure out how to work it out of the starting gate, and even without any instructions you would be able to give yourself a pretty nice trim without any issues.
The only thing I would say is an issue in this category is the beard length settings are not really intuitive.
With most trimmers, you can see the obvious change in the guard and the blades as you increase or decrease the length settings. This trimmer is not so easy to gauge. The precision blades are packed in there very tightly, and it is hard to see just how much you are leaving behind without just getting to the trim itself.
Battery and Charging
It seems like not a great deal of time when you look at it. 2 hours of battery life for 1 hour of charge time is not a great proportion when you look at it on paper.
Then you have to think about it though. Who is taking 2 hours to shave their beard? I mean…do you have straight steel wool growing from your face? If so, I would suggest seeing your doctor about that.
Typically it takes me 10 minutes to do a thorough trim; maybe 15 if I have a date that night. That is just a drop in the bucket really. And if you are sticking this thing back on the charger after every shave, then you should have plenty of power.
Though I wouldn’t recommend that overall, because that will shorten the battery life.
Luckily the power indicator on the unit itself is really intuitive and it is easy to see when you are running low on juice.
Cleaning and Maintenance
For the purposes of cleaning and upkeep on this unit, it is just a simple process of rinsing it after use and adding blade oil when you really think about it.
The top of the trimmer pops open on a hinge to let you get into the cutting parts to clean out any bristles that may have gotten stuck there. I like that it is on a hinge because that just makes it easier to put back together afterward. The unit is waterproof so you don’t have to worry about making sure water doesn’t get into the motor works and short something out. Just hold it under the sink and brush out any stray hair.
Afterward, you can apply oil to the underside of the blades to make sure it stays sharp and precise over time.
Not too much of a hassle really, and doesn’t take that long at all.
Value for Money
This is where we will take some of the overwhelmingly positive wind out of our sales.
Even for a beard trimmer, this unit is expensive.
As of the time of writing, the Series 9000 on Amazon is currently $80 USD. That is a significant investment in a beard trimmer, no matter how solid and precise it is.
For example, the Series 3000 (which I liked more than the Series 5000) was only $35 USD on Amazon, and it had more options for beard lengths. However, it was nowhere near as nice to use and precise. I often found myself having to go back over places I had already trimmed.
Even then, the $80 USD price tag is only because it is on sale. Amazon lists its usual price for around $100 USD. At that point, I would just go to a professional barber.
If you are really considering grabbing this unit, definitely wait for a sale. It’s good, but not anywhere near $100 USD good.
Common Consumer Complaints, Issues, and Positive Reviews
Like many other products I have looked at on this site, consumers have mostly positive statements when it comes to the Series 9000 trimmer. That may be because only those with truly strong opinions really want to voice them, but that is for philosophers to debate.
On the positive side, many consumers rave about the same things I do when talking about the Series 9000.
Many bring up just how solid the product feels. There is no feeling of fragility or like it is going to wear out any time soon. The solid metal honestly makes it feel like I could drop this in a bathtub and feel more like I should worry about the bathtub.
Others point out its professional-grade level of precision. You can honestly feel the difference and cleanliness of the cuts on your beard when you use this trimmer.
The negatives are more of a mix of several different complaints.
I see many complaints about the heft and size of the model. I did not have any issues, but multiple people commented they felt it was too heavy. One consumer said that it felt like shaving with a Pringles can.
Others also note the hefty price tag, and I am forced to agree with them on that point. Honestly, who needs a trimmer for 100 bucks?
Finally, one reviewer noted that the whole unit needs something like a bag to catch all the shavings so they don’t just sprinkle all over the sink when shaving. To that I say….yeah that would be nice. However, that is a problem with me and all beard trimmers really. Always leave mounts of brown and black whiskers everywhere when I shave.
Final Thoughts – Who is the Norelco Series 9000 Prestige Beard Trimmer really for?
This is really a hard question for me to answer. While I honestly love this trimmer and feel it gives a professional-grade trim, that price tag is like a giant millstone that pulls the entire thing to the ground. Honestly, if you can get it on sale, then it is definitely worth giving a try if you have 80 clams to drop on it. Otherwise, I would recommend spending your hard-earned money on something really helpful. You know like rent…or food.
If you do decide to pick it up though, I can say that it is a great product that blows the other trimmers in the Philips Norelco line completely out of the water.
