Single blade
Single-Blade Hybrids
These were scattered across two other groups before they were gathered here, half of them filed with trimmers and half with shavers. They are neither. One double-sided blade trims with a comb on, shaves with it off, and draws an edge on its side, and that combination is a category of its own however the shelves are usually arranged.
Stated and not stated
Stated by the listing
- A running time in minutes, on every listing in this group, which happens nowhere else on this site.
- How long the maker expects the blade to last before it is replaced.two of four listings
- Whether the box includes a body kit, a travel case, or a connection to an application on a phone.three of four listings
- That the appliance is described as showerproof, in those words.
Not stated anywhere
- Any single part of a face. These listings say face, and face is not among the areas this site is organized around.
- How the finish compares with a foil or a rotary head, which is the comparison most people are actually making.
- How often the blade has to be replaced at any particular rate of use.
- What the application on the phone contributes to the shave, as opposed to what it displays.
What the group is for
Core job
Do the trimming, the shaving and the edging of a face with one blade, and none of the three all the way.
Subgroups
Face only
two listings
Listings covering the face and nothing further. They differ in stated running time and in whether a phone is involved.
Face and body
two listings
Listings that add a body kit to the same blade. The kit is a set of guards rather than a different cutting arrangement.
In this order
Buying order
- Buy nothing yet. Decide what finish you actually want, because this appliance deliberately leaves hair standing and no amount of pressure will change that.
- Work out how often the blade would need replacing at your rate of use, and settle that before anything else. It is the figure that decides how much attention this appliance asks of you over two years.
- Choose between the two lengths of running time on offer here. It is the one specification every listing in this group states, so it is the one comparison that can honestly be made.
- Treat the body kit and the phone connection as separate questions from the shave, because they are.
- Check which charging arrangement the appliance expects before buying any spare supply for it, since the answer is not the same across this maker’s range.
Leave on the shelf
Skip these
- Any of these bought expecting the finish of a foil shaver, which is a different mechanism with a different result.
- A comb set bought separately when the box already contains one that covers the same range.
- The phone connection as a reason to choose one of these over another, unless you already know what you would do with it.
- A third-party blade that the appliance’s documentation does not name.
- A replacement charger chosen by connector shape, which on this maker’s range is how the wrong voltage gets bought.
Category cautions
These matter more here than elsewhere for the same underlying reason: the blade is a consumable with a stated life, and the charging arrangement across this maker’s range is easy to get wrong. All four below apply to every listing in this group.
- NoteReplacement foils, cutters and heads come from the list printed in the appliance’s own documentation. A part that seats is not the same as a part the maker names.
- StopBefore any third-party power supply, read the voltage and the plug printed on the appliance itself or on the supply that came with it, and match both. A barrel that fits is not a match, and 15V into an appliance expecting 5V is a dead appliance.
- StopTwo things mean stopping rather than taking one more pass. Skin that is broken, raised, sore or already inflamed, which is a doctor’s call and not something to draw a blade across. And a line so far out of true that a shorter setting only chases it, which is a barber’s. Neither of them improves by carrying on.
- StopA shaver or a trimmer belongs to one person. Shaving injures skin at a scale too small to notice, and whatever sits on the blade goes into that injury.
Face only
Shortest stated runtime
Its listing states 45 minutes where the other three in this group each state 60, which is the one figure all four commit to.
Philips OneBlade 360 Face QP2724/90
Open the listingThe listing states
- a 360 blade
- a 5-length comb
- 100% showerproof
- a stainless steel blade lasting up to 4 months
- a 45-minute runtime
Face only, with an app
The only face-only appliance here whose listing adds a connection to an application, and the listing does not say what it contributes.
Philips OneBlade 360 Face with app QP4530/90
Open the listingThe listing states
- a 360 blade
- app connectivity
- 100% showerproof
- a 5-length comb
- a stainless steel blade
- a 60-minute runtime
Face and body
Body kit, no app
The only listing here pairing a body kit with no application connection at all, which is a choice about the box rather than about the blade.
Philips OneBlade 360 Face and Body QP2834/70
Open the listingThe listing states
- a 360 blade
- 100% showerproof
- a blade lasting up to 4 months
- a body kit
- a 60-minute runtime
Most in the box
Its listing names a five-in-one comb, a travel case and a body kit alongside the appliance, which is the fullest version of one blade doing every job.
Philips OneBlade 360 Face and Body QP4631/90
Open the listingThe listing states
- a 360 blade
- app connectivity
- 100% showerproof
- a 5-in-1 comb
- a travel case
- a body kit
- a 60-minute runtime
Last check
Before buying
This is the one group on the site where the replacement interval is stated on the box, and it is worth doing that arithmetic before buying rather than after the second blade. Everything else about these four is a question of what is in the case with them, since the blade doing the work is the same blade in all four.
Where to look next
- Single-blade hybrids
The mechanism, and the reason it stops short of a bare finish on purpose.
- Mustache and lip
The area where cutting in both directions without turning the appliance around actually helps.
- Blade life
Turning a stated blade life into an interval, and what to do when no life is stated at all.
- Power and Refills
Where the two supplies for this maker’s range sit, one of which will not do for these.