Philips Norelco 5700 Electric Shaver Review

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The 5000 Series is the newest electric shaver release from Philips Norelco. The 5000 Series aims to bridge the gap between Philips Norelco’s aging lower model shavers and the much more expensive modes sitting at the high end.

Has Philips managed to hit the sweet spot in terms of price and a good shave? Find out in our detailed review of the 5700 Electric shaver.

5700 vs 5500 vs 5100 – Whats the difference?

Four different models of Philips Norelco make up the 5000 Series. The 5100 being the cheapest, the 5500 being the middle model and the 5700 offering the most but at a price.

Let’s take a closer look at the differences between the 5000 Series electric shavers.

Philips Norelco 5700 (Model: S5370/84)

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 electric shaver

The top of the line model from the Series 5000 and the subject of our review. The electric shaver features a “Turbo Mode” for a 10% more powerful shave, 50 minutes of shaving time and a three bar battery indicator. Turbo Mode is not found on the 5100 Model.

For accessories, the 5700 with a dedicated cleaning system for automatic cleaning and lubricating of shaver head and a protective travel case. A interchangeable precision beard trimmer rounds out contents of the box.</p.

As you would expect, being the top model, the 5700 is the most expensive of the three 5000 Series shaver models.

Philips Norelco 5500 (Model: S5370/81)

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5500 electric shaver

The 5500 is near identical to the 5700 as an electric shaver with the exception that the maximum shaving time has been reduced to 45 minutes.

The major difference is found in the included accessories. While the 5500 still includes the beard trimmer attachment, it is does not include a cleaning station or protective travel case. To protect the head of the shaver, a clip on plastic cap is used instead.

Philips Norelco 5600 (Model: S5390/81)

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5600 electric shaver

Identical to the 5500 except for the color. Silver highlights have been replaced with red.

Philips Norelco 5100 (Model: S5210/81)

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5100 electric shaver

The Philips Norelco 5100 is the lowest if the Series 5000 models. While it comes in at under the $100 mark, it is also missing a couple of features.

Not only have Philips Norelco stripped the 5100 of it’s silver highlights; it does not feature the Turbo Mode and the battery indicator only has a single light.

The accessories include with the 5100 are identical to that of the 5500. A beard trimmer attachment and a plastic shaving head protector.

We DO NOT recommend this model. Read our review to find out why.

So where does the Series 5000 fit in with the other Philips Shavers? Well, Philips now has a 9000 Series, a 7000 Series, and a 5000 Series. Sound familiar? It should. Braun uses similar branding in the Series 9, Series 7 and Series 5. We can’t help but feel Philips Norelco is trying to imitate Braun a little.

Philips Norelco 5700

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Unboxing the Philips Norelco 5700

If you were to tear open the box of your brand new Philips Norelco 5700, this is what you would find inside:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 Electric shaver and accessories included in the box

Let’s break it down.

  • Philips Norelco 5700 electric shaver
  • Click and Connect Beard Trimmer attachment
  • Cleaning System
  • Cleaning cartridge
  • Travel Case
  • Charging Cord
  • Instruction Manual

Examining the Philips Norelco 5700

Below I will closely examine the Philips Norelco shaver and the features it contains. As I touched on before, the 5500 model is identical to the 5700 so you can treat this review as covering both.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver

As you would expect from a newly released electric shaver, the 5000 Series have a sleek modern look. At a glance it is a better looking version of the 7000 Series Reviewed here), only without the ugly color choice.

Let’s take a closer look at the front of the electric shaver.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver power and turbo mode buttons

Once again Philips Norelco has seamlessly incorporated the buttons into the handle of the 5000 Series. If you were to close your eyes and slide your fingers across the buttons you wouldn’t even know they were there.

The 5700 has two different buttons.

1. Power button. – The top black button, marked by a power symbol turns the electric shaver on and off.

2. Turbo Mode – Pressing down on the silver button will activate Turbo Mode. It’s not as fancy as it sounds, with Turbo Mode activated the you will receive a shave with 10% more power.

The power button has a hidden second function. Pressing and holding the power button for three seconds will activate travel lock.

With travel lock activated the electric shaver will be unable to turn on by mistake. A handy feature if you take your shaver travelling – it wont turn on and start buzzing at the bottom of your luggage.

Moving down front of the handle you will come to a seemingly empty section of glossy black plastic.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver indicator panel

This is actually the indicator panel. With the shaver off it certainly isn’t much to look at. But when you turn the shaver on, indicator lights will shine through.

The indicator lights include battery level, whether or not travel lock is activated and an indicator to remind you to clean your electric shaver.

Think of it as a display screen here you can view a limited amount of information about your electric shaver.

If you flip the electric shaver over, this is what you will find on the rear:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver

Not a whole lot. I guess this is why you commonly pictures of the front of the electric shaver, the rear is little more than a large piece of black rubber.

Printed on the rear are some basic specifications including the model number and country of origin. Like most of the higher models of Philips Norelco Electric shavers, the 5000 Series is made in the Netherlands.

Hidden away at the base of the electric shaver is the charging socket:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver charging socket

You will use this to charge your electric shaver. Simply slide the chrger cable into the socket and your electric shaver will immediately begin to charge.

Those of you who have purchased the 5700 can also charge your electric shaver via the cleaning system.

Thanks to the entire electric shaver being sealed, it won’t matter if you get water or shaving foam in the charger. Just make sure it is dry before you connect it to the power outlet.<¬/p>

At the neck of the shaver you will notice a pattern of diamond shapes have been engraved into the rubber. This is the non-slip grip.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5100 Electric Shaver textured rubber grip

When you hold the 5700 or 5500 in your hand, your fingers will naturally rest along the grip. The added texture has been designed to prevent your fingers from slipping when wet or coated in shaving foam.

As a non-slip grip, it doesn’t too well. The grip is only slightly less slippery than the non-textured rubber and with foamy hands might as well not exist.

With the shaver handle covered it’s time to take a closer look at the star of the shaver, the shaving unit:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver close up on shaving head

Like most Philips Norelco electric shavers, the shaving head is made up of three shaving heads.

If you look closely you will notice that each shaving head contains a plastic outer, a metal track and a silver disc in the center.

The outer plastic has a pattern of notches cut into it to help catch and lift hair that lies flat against your skin. The Metal track has a series of holes (called combs) cut into it designed to capture both longer hairs and shorter stubble. The razorblades hiding behind the track cut away at any hairs that poke through the combs.

The silver disc in the middle is supposed to help the shaver head glide smoothly across the skin. On all the other Philips Norelco shavers this disc is perfectly smooth to allow for reduced friction as you move the shaving unit across your skin.

Oddly, the discs of the 5000 Series have an circle scored into the surface. While this may help prevent hair from being pushed back, I noticed that it prevents the shaving unit from gliding a smoothly as it could.

The three shaving heads can move individually from one another.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver shaving head movement

Where you will really notice the movement in the shaving heads come into play is shaving contoured areas such as your jawline and chin. The shavers will flex and adapt to your face, keeping the shaving heads in contact with your skin at all times, resulting in fewer missed hairs.

But it’s not just the shaving heads that move. The entire shaving unit can pivot not only forward and back but also side to side. If you press down too hard during shaving (which often leads to razor burn) then the extra movement the shaving unit provides helps absorb some of this downward pressure.

Pressing a button on the front of the shaving unit will see it pop open, revealing the insides:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver inside the shaving unit

The 5000 Series is the first electric shaver where the top half of the unit can remain attached to the bottom half while open. This made rinsing out loose hairs from inside the shaving unit a much simpler task. I honestly wish this feature was found on the higher models of Philips Norelco shavers.

My only concern with this hinge is that it will not hold up to continual use. However, during testing with many users (and being treated quite roughly none the less) the hinge and release held up just fine to repeated use.

We also liked that we still had the option to completely remove the top half of the shaving unit if we so wanted.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver with top half of shaving unit removed

Removing the top half of the unit made taking the individual shaving heads apart a simple process.

With the shaving unit open you are able to see how each of the shaving heads is made up:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver razor blades, retaining ring and guard

As you can see in the picture above, each of the three shaving heads is made up of three different parts. The metal cup is actually the track and
silver disc. The razor blades sit inside this cup and swipe away any hairs that stick through.

The blue ring locks the cup and razor blades into place, preventing them from rattling around.

We were impressed that Philips Norelco has dramatically improved just how easy it is to take the three pieces apart and put them together. On the higher models it was quite a fiddly process. So fiddly that Philips Norelco even included a special removal tool with the 9000 Series electric shavers.

But the biggest improvement so far has been the retaining rings:

Philips-Norelco-5000-Series-retaining-rings-compared-to-the-7000-Philips Norelco 5000 Series retaining rings compared to the 7000 and 9000 Series

On the left you have the retaining ring from the 5000 Series and on the right the retaining rings found in the 7000 and 9000 Series shavers.

The small tag sticking out on the blue retaining ring is almost triple the size of that on the orange ring. This tag is what helps keep the razorblades and cup locked down.

We roasted both the 9000 Series (reviewed here), and 7000 series shavers for the fact that unless you were careful you could easily sheer this tag right off, with little effort whatsoever. Without the tag the retaining ring will not lock into place and essentially renders the entire shaver useless until you buy a replacement.

We are thrilled that Philips Norelco are taking on customer feedback and continually improving their systems.

While the 5000 Series electric shavers may resemble the higher models of Philips Norelco shavers, the razor blades they use are in line with the lower models:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 and 5100 electric shaver razor blades

On the left you have the razor blades found in the 5000 Series electric shavers and on the right you have the razor blades found in the 7000 and 9000 Series.

Compared to the higher models, the razor blades of the 5000 Series looks like a balding hedgehog. Lets razor blades means less cuts per rotation and less cuts per rotation means that more passes are required to shave the same area.

Each razor blade not only cuts but also lifts. If you look closely at the razor blade you will notice a thin piece of metal sits on top of each blade. This piece of metal lifts each individual hair while the razor blade cuts further down. The end result is a shave that is much closer than rotary electric shavers that don’t lift the hair.

There are two different times you will need to take each of the shaving heads a part. The first is when you want to give your electric shaver all over clean. The second is when you need to replace your shaving heads.

Over time the razor blades and tracks will begin to wear, affecting the quality of the overall shave. Philips Norelco recommends you replace the shaving heads once a year. Based on our testing is merely a suggestion and those of you who shave less frequently will see the shaving heads last much longer before needing to be replaced.

At the time of writing this, replacement shaving heads (Part Number: SH50 ) were not readily stocked at major retailers. This is common trend when new electric shavers are released. Since the shaving heads are designed to last a year, retailers see little point in stocking the replacement shaving heads this early in the products life.

As is a common trend with the higher models of Philips Norelco shavers, Philips includes a long hair trimmer as a separate attachment.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver long hair trimmer

The beard trimmer attachment is found on all models of the 5000 electric shaver. I’ll be straight up. I do not like separate trimmer attachments. They are a loose item you have to worry about losing and swapping them out adds an extra step to your grooming routine.

Swapping out the shaving unit with the beard trimmer attachment is simple enough. You upwards on the shaving unit and it will completely detach from the handle:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver with shaving unit removed

Philips calls refers to this swapping process as the “SmartClick System”. This is likely due to the loud clicking sound that accompanies both attaching and removing the different heads.

Philips also manufactures a cleansing brush attachment for this electric shaver, sold separately (Part Number: RQ585). It is essentially a soft bristled brush that spins at a high speed. While I found the brush to be useless, those of you with a more structured grooming routine may appreciate it’s availability.

Interesting note: while the instruction manual lists the cleansing brush as a suitable accessory, it also states that “The affixing of any attachment not provided with the product” can void the warranty.

The electric shaver just looks plain weird with the beard trimmer attachment connected:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver with beard trimmer attachment

With the shaving unit completely removed from the handle there is nothing to obstruct your view of the beard trimmer ( a common problem on electric shavers with built in trimmers).

If you have ever experienced a high end model of Philips Norelco electric shaver you will know that calling this a beard trimmer is very generous. When it comes to cutting thick forests of beard hairs, the trimmer performs average at best.

While it won’t replace your everyday beard trimmer, it works just fine for detailing areas like your mustache, goatee or sideburns. If you find that these areas are starting to loose their shape, the trimmer attachment is just the thing you need to get them back under control.

Charging the 5700 Electric Shaver

As I touched on before, there are two different methods you can use to charge your 5700 electric shaver.

  1. With the charging cord.
  2. With the cleaning station.

Since I will be focusing on the cleaning station further down the review, this section will focus on the charging cord.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 and 5100 electric shaver charging cord and adapter

Like most electric shaver chargers, the one bundled with the 5000S Series electric shavers is multi-voltage (100-240V). What this essentially means is that you can charge your electric shaver in any country in the world.

From America to Australia and everywhere in between. The only thing you will need is a travel adapter so that the charger can plug into the odd shaped power outlets you come across in your travels. If you travel for work or just vacation internationally, this is a very handy feature.

The charging cord is just over 5 foot long and will be more than long to reach from most power outlets to the bathroom counter top. Hang on to the twist tie that keeps the cord in a neat little bundle in the box, you can use it to shorten the cable to keep your bathroom looking neat.

The electric shaver will begin to charge the moment you plug the cord in:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver charging battery

When you first plug the 5700 in, every indicator on the screen will flash once to alert you that charging has begun. After this, the battery indicator will continue to flash until the shaver is fully charged.

Fully charging the Lithium-ion battery takes an hour and will reward you with 50 minutes of shaving time for the 5700 model. The 5500 takes the same hour to charge but offers a shorter 45 minutes of shaving time.

If the batteries die on you mid-shave then you will be able to get just enough use for a single shave (around three minutes) from a 5-minute charge.

Philips Norelco 5700 SmartClean Cleaning Station

Unique to the 5700 model is the inclusion of an automatic cleaning station. This station, called the SmartClean system, cleans and chargers your electric shaver without any effort on your part.

While you can clean your 5700 shaver without the SmartClean system, using it definitely simplifies the process.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver SmartClean cleaning station

Decked out in gloss black, the SmartClean system has been designed to take up full time residence on your bathroom counter top. Those of you with limited space in your bathroom may be cringing at the thought of this.

The SmartClean dock is powered by the very same charger that can plug directly into your shaver.

As you may have guessed, the SmartClean system is not exactly travel friendly. If you shave both at home and abroad, you may with to invest in a second charging cord. This way you won’t have to unplug the SmartClean system each time you take your shaver travelling.

On the side of the cleaning station you will notice a square shaped button. Pressing it will cause the bottom of the station to pop up, revealing a compartment for you to place the cleaning cartridge:

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver SmartClean system and cleaning cartridge

The SmartClean System uses disposable cartridges that both clean and lubricate the blades of the 5700. The cleaning cartridge contains the detergent that the SmartClean system uses to flush out the hair clippings from your electric shaver.

If you want to continue using the cleaning station you are locked into buying replacement cartridges every two months from Philips. We found ourselves getting 6-7 weeks out of each cartridge with daily shaving, cleaning after each use.

Now I know a lot of you may be gritting your teeth at the ongoing cost of cleaning cartridges but this is by far the easiest way to clean your electric shaver. Philips Norelco is one of the most difficult electric shavers to clean manually and our testers found that the cost justified the convenience.

Unlike Braun and Panasonic Cleaning stations, you will have to press the cap down on the SmartClean in order to lock your shaver into the station.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5700 and 5500 electric shaver charging in cleaning station

Your electric shaver will begin to charge the moment it is placed into the Smart Clean System.

The whole cleaning process takes around 4 hours.

You read that right. 4 hours..

Part of the reason for the extended time is that the SmartClean uses induction to generate heat that dries the shaver. While this is a more time consuming process, the added advantage is that the drying process is whisper quiet.

A common complaint with the Braun and Panasonic cleaning docks is that the fan in the cleaning station is annoyingly loud. Not so with the SmartClean system.

Removing the shaver from the cleaning station before four hours has passed will reward you with wet shaving heads. Not exactly what you want if you shave dry.

Overall The SmartClean unit did it’s job, however the 4 hour cleaning time will require patience on your part.

The only other gripe I had with the dock is the gloss black surface. Gloss black and bathrooms just don’t mix. Watermarks, dust and figerprints are quick to show on the surface of the cleaning unit.

While these marks will in no way affect the cleaning stations performance, due to the size of the dock you are forced to keep it on display in your bathroom. And unless you constantly wipe the unit down, will have a smudged piece of black plastic on display for the world to see.

Testing the Philips Norelco 5700 Electric Shaver

So now for the million dollar question:

How well does the 5000 Series shave?

The short and sweet answer is: Averagely.

To find out why, read on.

Philips Norelco 5000 Series 5710 and 5500 electric shaver held in right hand

The whole shaving experience starts with picking up the shaver. It was interesting to note that while the 5000 Series is identical to the 7000 series in size and shape, it is not weighted the same.

While the 7000 series feels like the weight is evenly distributed across the shaver, the 5700 felt a little top heavy.

Before I begin to discuss the overall shave we will stress this: There is a break in period. You will have to spend at least two weeks using the shaver before your skin will adjust to your new shaver.

Philips Norelco is fully aware of this break in period and offers a 45 Day money back guarantee if you find the shaver is not to your liking after giving it a decent workout.

And then there is the learning curve of using a rotary shaver. If you have swapped over from foil shaver or from traditional shaving then the circular shaving motions will immediately feel foreign.

So admittedly your first few shaves with any electric shaver will not be great. But once you push past this hurdle you will know whether or not this shaver is right for you.

When you push the Power button of the 5700 the motor bursts into life. The shaver starts in the standard mode and you have the option of activating turbo mode for a more powerful shave if you see fit.

And you will see fit. The standard mode is awful. Why Philips did not just include the “Turbo Mode” as the standard shave is beyond me. Everyone who tested the 5700 repeated the same complaint. Without Turbo Mode, the shave is downright awful.

This was interesting since Philips claims that the boost in power is only 10% yet it was more than noticeable improving the quality of the shave from awful to average.

Annoyingly, the electric shaver does not remain in Turbo Mode when you turn the power off. You will have to press the Turbo Mode button each time you turn the shaver on.

During our research we repeatedly came across the following statement written on retailers websites about the Series 5000 shaver.

A close, fast shave. 75% of men beat their shaving time S5000 (no turbo) compared to Philips Click and Style.

I would like to stress that this is not a good selling point.

The Philips Click and Style shaver only has two shaving heads to the three that you find on the Series 5000. The fact that 25% of men can shave quicker with a two head shaver that is a fraction of the price is actually sums up our entire thoughts on this shaver. For the record we have also tested the Click and Style and found it to offer an exceptionally poor shaving experience.

When using the electric shaver; the trick is overlapping circular motions, both clockwise and counterclockwise (in areas where direction of hair growth varies). Pulling the skin tight in trouble spots also helped.

Philips normally excels at creating a low friction shave. However, the shaving heads on the 5700 are anything but that. Even the Philips Norelco 6100 and it’s much more dated design managed to beat it out. The new “low-friction” discs just do not do their job.

The individually flexing shave heads are a lovely feature. A feature that has not made it’s way south of the $100 mark on Philips Noreleco shavers prior to the release of the 5000 Series.

The heads bent and flex perfectly allowing the shaver to adapt to your jawline. The movement in the shaving unit also helped prevent being heavy handed. Like any shaver, if you push too hard with the 5700 then your skin can be forced through the combs of the shaving head resulting in micro-cuts that lead to irritation.

While the flexibility of the shaving unit helped keep the shaving heads in close contact with the skin, the shaving heads themselves required many passes to adequately cut through hairs. Whether it’s the weak motor or the fact that these razor blades just don’t work as well with the flexible shaving head of higher priced electric shavers, we couldn’t say. But the result just wasn’t there.

We even had a few instances of pulling hairs, most noticeably in our black tester who has thick, wiry beard hairs. Despite being barely larger than a stubble, the 5700 had difficulty cutting through denser sections of beard.

While it is common knowledge that rotary shavers just don’t get as close to the skin as foil, the 5700 still managed to leave us disappointed. Maybe this is because we have had the privalige of testing the most expensive shavers that Philips Norelco has to offer, but the shaver just left too much length. If you are looking for that extra close shave, you just won’t find it here.

But it’s not all bad news for the 5000 Series. The 5700 performed much better on testers with light to medium thick hairs. Teenage testers in particular who had little more than peach fuzz. While these testers were happy with the shave they also commented that it wasn’t they best they had experienced from Philips Norelco.

Which leads me to my next point. The 5700 has a MSRP of $149.95. At this price point you can pick up the 7300. While not perfect, the 7300 leaves the 5000 Series in the dust.

And then there is the issue of the 5100 model. It does not include the Turbo Mode, a feature which we feel is vital to the usability of this shaver. Our recommendation here would be to avoid the 5100 at all costs.

We are not happy to make this recommendation since the 5100 was shaping up to be a new contender for the best rotary electric shaver under $100. But Philips Norelco has decided that this is a market they do not wish to keep happy, and would prefer users jump up to their much pricier (albeit admittedly superior) shaver models.

Final Thoughts

The 5000 Series is Philips attempt to bridge the gap between it’s lower priced electric shavers and high end models. Unfortunately, we found the shaver to be more of a miss than a hit.

Attempting to offer up the “Turbo Mode” as bonus feature is downright laughable seeing as the shaver struggles without it to the point where we recommend you DO NOT BUY the 5100 model.

While the shaver certainly looks better than any other rotary model under $100, the performance left us wanting more amongst those with thick beard hairs. While it may be suitable for teenagers and those of you with light hair growth, it is not a shaver we can universally recommend.

If you do wish to buy the 5000 Series, be sure to hang on to your receipt so that you can make use of the 45-day satisfaction guarantee return policy. It’s a lovely safety net.