Philips Beardtrimmer BT7204/85

Did the job, but flawed design – So close but so far. - vacuum feature really is just a gimmick, it only catches half the clippings so it just ends up increasing the surface area that needs to be cleaned - the retention clips on the cutter head are flimsy plastic and super fragile - under no circumstances should you accidentally drop the head while cleaning it, otherwise the head will pop out as soon as you turn it on. - the separate precision trimmer seems more robust, though it has seen only limited use (but that may change now that the main trimmer has been rendered unusable...)

Better than expected trimmer performance, easy to use, good value and satisfactory customer service – Bought this from the Shavershop about 2 years ago to keep my occasional beard tidy. It compared very well value-wise to other options, not wanting to spend a fortune for my purposes. Also, a bonus detail body trimmer was bundled in. I didn't need this but it seems to work well. The clippings vacuum appeared to be a good feature although I suspected it might be a gimmick. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised at its effectiveness. The grade adjustments are simple to use and accurately deliver different lengths as required.

Unfortunately, I did manage to break one of the plastic tabs holding the blade head in place which seems to be a commonly reported issue. At first, I thought I was just heavy handed and the operation of shaver was not affected so I put up with it. However, sometime later the second tab broke and the head would not stay in place Although some sticky tape proved to be a quick temporary fix, I contacted Philips customer care. I am happy to report Philips sent me new cutting head and comparing this to the original it has more robust tabs. So very pleased this issue was solved and I can happily continue using the trimmer and not junk it replacing it with another brand.

Could be a lot better – The vacuum captures some of the clippings, but leaves so much that you need to clean up in the same way as you otherwise would anyway. It has flimsy clips to change the cutter head which could easily break if you weren't being careful, it also can't trim in close under the nose. It's also not easy to clean out. The positives are that it is very quiet, and the battery life is good.