Philips Norelco Shaver 3800 Shaver

I have been using some variant of this style of Norelco electric shaver for more than 30 years. Every day. And this one is horrible. I bought this when the batteries on my last Norelco wore out, for the second time. I usually take them apart and replace the batteries when they begin to need charging after only a few days. Historically, these Norelco shavers are so well built that I can replace the batteries once before I retire them and buy another new shaver.

On this shaver, the batteries will spin the heads for about 30 seconds before they start slowing. Slow spin means that it won’t cut well, and it irritates your skin. After a 3-minute shave, the battery shows about half-charge — you need to recharge this shaver every day.

After about a week of lousy shaves, I took this shaver apart and replaced the batteries with premium quality rechargeable batteries. Actually, the batteries that came with it were a premium brand (LG) rated only slightly lower capacity than the best available in that size. And, with new premium batteries installed, the shave performance was the same as before: terrible.

I have an old Norelco model that I bought 15 years ago that still shaves well — I keep it for when I am traveling. I was on a trip recently, and noticed how much better it shaves than this newer model. And my 15-year-old Norelco shaver still holds charge for a week of traveling.

I am really disappointed with Norelco.

I have a previous model of this shaver. That one has been working for me since around 2007. The only reason I’m replacing it is that the battery is getting weak. This is a great replacement. The build quality is solid, and I’m getting a great save. It’s not as tight as a blade razor, but it’s good enough for me, and it gets the job done fast.

The only letdowns are that it doesn’t come with a charger, and the bag that holds it feels cheap. My previous model had a formed padded travel case. I get it. Everyone has at least one extra USB-A charger lying around. However, it would have been nice. And, a formed travel case wouldn’t be able to hold the proprietary charging cable. That’s right, it’s proprietary. Don’t lose it, or you’ll have to talk with Norelco for a new one. In their defense, that’s the same connector as my previous razor. It allows it to rest upright in the stand without damage, which is not something you could do with standard USB connectors. It also allows one to use it as a wet/dry razor. Again, don’t lose the cable.

Debería traer una brochita para limpiar los residuos, es algo elemental, difícil de encontrar y que no cuesta.

I’ve seen this style of shaver in movies and such while growing up. You know, the guy shaving in the car while stuck in traffic late to work? What a time saver I thought. But I always went with some form of safety razor for precision and closeness. After 30 years or so of seeing rotary shavers in ads, movies etc, and excellent results with other Philips Norelco products, like the vacuum beard trimmers they used to make. I figured the tech on the rotary razor is super refined by this point and wanted to try one. Even if it sucked, I knew I could use it at least on occasion to get a head’s start if I was in a rush.

I got the 3600 because when I went to the brand website, it was one of this year 2024’s releases. And I knew I wanted the latest engineering greatness. Also this one came with a pouch, which is nice. If you look at all of their shavers that look like this, there’s not a whole lot of difference other than 5D vs 4D heads, the product color, and whether or not it comes with a pouch, stand, or both. Look closely, some of them the only difference from one to another is that for $20 more you get a charging stand.

Anyway, I got this one because it’s a newer release, comes with a pouch, and I figure 5D means slightly more efficient or faster shaving. I haven’t compared but I wouldn’t think twice about any of their other shavers. I would expect a similar experience with any of them.

The shaving experience is very nice, the rotary razors glide over my face like butter. I should note that I use the Lectric Shave splash first, which dries fast and then I dry shave over it. I like this a lot more than shaving in the shower with shaving cream, as I do with safety razors. The problem shaving wet with this is unless there is some lubrication on your face at all times, there is no glide with this electric razor. I imagine this is true for any rotary razor but, my experience is best dry with the splash first – no water.

This works great to quickly and painlessly clean up your scruff, but if you haven’t shaved in a few weeks it’s probably better to start with a beard trimmer, as it seem like it would be quite a chore to weed whack a beard with this.

Compared to the travel foil shavers I have from Bruan and Panasonic, I find that the Philips Norelco rotary does a better first pass, and the foil shavers do a better second pass or refining. With with the rotary/foil combo I can get a shave about the same as I would with a safety razor.

Anyway, very cool and fun to use. Really my favorite part is the sensation itself of massaging my face with the rotary part. It doesn’t feel like I’m shaving at all, more like massaging my face, which is so nice.

Great product