Customer Reviews

Philips Norelco Qc5530/40 Do-It-Yourself Hair Clipper

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been cutting my own hair for probably over a year now using the Philips Norelco QC5170 180-Degree Hair Clipper so naturally I was excited to try this do-it-yourself hair clipper. After a few haircuts, though, I must say that I can't really tell that much of a difference. When comparing the two, the only significant difference I could find was that this model is washable.

So, if you've seen the two models and aren't sure what to get, well then I guess this one is better for the washability because both seem to work well. Here's my list of pros and cons, which (with few exceptions) applies to both.

Pros:
- Cuts very well. I have thick hair so I was nervous that a wireless clipper wasn't going to be able to actually cut like a professional. It does. Sometimes you gotta go over the same spot a few times to make sure everything is even, but otherwise, this beast could shave you bald in a matter of seconds. Also, I'm quite impressed that the blades have stayed strong and sharp even after a year of use.

- 180 degree angle. I wouldn't necessarily call this feature THE selling point, but occasionally I find adjusting the angle to be beneficial in getting odd areas of hair. 90% of the time I just keep it upright, though.

- "Adjustable zoom ring" - I really like that there are so many length possibilities. Personally I prefer the 1 - 5 numbers on the QC5170, but the same concept is featured here and it lets you play around with how close or unclose you want the clipper to shave.

- Good charge life. Not GREAT charge life, but the good news is that it will function as fully charged until it goes out so even if the battery is half dead it won't be running on half power. Considering that haircuts are a fairly sporadic event, I couldn't imagine anyone having a really severe problem with the battery life unless they just forgot to charge it after a month or something.

Cons

- Limited hair styles. You get a lot of different length options, but in the case of my unprofessional knowledge of hair cutting, it would be hard for me to imagine anyone giving themselves a truly awesome hair-do that wasn't a buzz. I mean, you can do a lot of touching up and such, but for an all over cut - I wouldn't necessarily invest in this unless you know someone who can help you with it or unless you like a simple short cut like I do.

Overall - I must say, if you're in any way interested in cutting back on unnecessary spending, this personal hair clipper may be a great way to save a lot of money. As long as you aren't especially picky about a certain style, you can easily give yourself a decent variety of simple looks that will in no way scream unprofessional. I've had great experiences with Philips Norelco products, including the other model of hair clipper and their bodygrooms so I would definitely stand by the brand.

Very satisfied with this unit. The swivel head is very useful, especially for cutting the left side of the head using the right hand. You swivel it 45, then 90 degrees one way to cut from the back of the head, and 45 then 90 degrees the other way to cut from the front of the head. Nice height adjustments with a wide range. It is difficult to get hair to stand up enough for larger guard lengths so clippers can trim the tips off, but that is the art of hair cutting. I suspect that is why at salons they do it by hand with comb and scissors. I use a brush to help it stand up on top just prior to the clippers coming in. I use #6 on top, #3 on the sides and back, and #2 on the lower sides and back, in that order. I do it once a week just prior to a shower, and have a small canister vacuum cleaner to clean up the small amount of hair in the bathroom. Bathroom has great light and mirrors. Just prior to showering, I plug unit in to recharge then put the vacuum away. It is recharged soon after showering and dressing and I put it away for next week's use.

First, I like to review based primarily on the value of a product. This hair clipper is more expensive than another hair cut clip Vine sent for my review: Remington Products HC5350AM Professional Cord/cordless Rechargeable Haircut Kit. That one has top notch construction, and I note even that one is much more expensive than the hair cut kit I actually purchased with my own money some time ago Remington HC-8017B Precision 22 Piece Corded Haircut Kit.

So, I'm trying to get real here about spending $60 for a product I suspect most people spend $20 on. Why would you?

Well, this one's a LOT better. First of all, the construction quality of excellent. The handle and the operation are much simpler. The way the clipper mechanism is not at the end of a 'stick', but rather a protrusion below, does make it a bit easier to see what the heck you're doing.

The ability to simply adjust the clipping length without changing the filter combs (you do have two of them, one for the short lengths and one for the long) is a huge benefit over the cheaper clipper.

And it's cordless, which makes life so easy. I have a mirror in my garage, and I'll just run out there to clip the majority of my hair, and then go into my bathroom for the high detail work. Because it's cordless, this is very easy, and it really reduces the cleanup chore.

In fact, with the cheapest clipper, the one I paid money for, I had gotten so frustrated I simply put it up and cut my hair with scissors alone. This clipper is simply much easier than traditional clippers. The cool design makes accurate cutting very easy, producing great results.

But... is it worth the price? If you pay it, you'll be satisfied, but if you're happy with the older clipper style, I think you could also happily choose a cheaper cordless option. So I'm deducting a star for value, even though I think this is an excellent product.

The rotating head is a great idea, and it makes reaching all sides of your head a lot easier. Unfortunately, the plastic guides are very soft and flex if you push the clippers to your head. This means that you end up with closer to a #1 shave in the middle of the clipped area, and the actual setting near the edges.

The first time I used the product, I ended up clipping my entire head with a #1 to make it consistent. The second time, it was better, but you could still see some differences in the length of the hair on my head. The third time I tried extremely hard to use the clippers without applying any pressure. It was hard, and took a lot longer to cut my hair than normal. At least that time it looked OK.

If Philips would use a stonger plastic that didn't flex, the device would rank 4-5 stars

I use to go to the barber and trendy cutting hair places until one day I looked in the mirror and decided right then and there to find a method to do it myself. One consideration was the considerable amount of money you would have to pay plus tipping and the whole social expectation, only to find out at the end of the session that my haircut was nothing special and even more pressing news: I would have to repeat this process within two months or else. Figuring that there were products to help a person cut their own hair or the hair of family members I started searching and buying. One of the first ones I purchased was the "Flow Bee". This product you would have to attach to a vacuum cleaner and it guaranteed an even haircut with no room for errors. One of its advertisements was that it was used in outer space by astronauts and at the time I thought I was in the cutting edge technology and happily purchased this item. Used it for several months but in the end the attachment to a hose and a vacuum wore out the novelty. I did get a reliable haircut and so did the people around me until one by one deserted me and I was left holding the Nasa tested Flow Bee and no more enthusiasm from the rest. I then bought a Remington Hair Cutting system at Costco for a very economical price and it worked as expected and paid itself many times over, but it required a willing person to complete the task. Enter Philips Norelco Qc5530/40 Do-it-yoursel Hair Clipper for 2011. As opposed to the Remington it said I could do a haircut by myself and this intrigued me for what is better than a complete power of choice as to when and where. I received this new Hair Clipper today and I immediately read the instructions and familiarize myself with the parts and instructions. I found it very light and liked the fact that it swivels with an 180 degrees rotating head. Easy to charge and washable on a faucet now the most important thing to find out is wether I could cut my hair easily and painlessly. Yes to both accounts even though the hairline on the back of the head is something that requires accuracy of a more delicate nature and I am sure that with practice and right set of mirrors to see the precise place it can be done. It cut my hair fast and I must admit that I am gladly surprised and happy with the product. One more person tried it and the results were equally satisfying for both of us. It is an ingenious product and in its simplicity does not seem to be lacking any key aspect to accomplish a very decent haircut. Now I am heading for the shower, for one thing I do despise is those little particles of hair that end up in the clothes or worst still, on the sheets when night night is at hand. I must also add that amazon.com continues to dazzle the consumer in me and I am convinced that they are top dogs in the internet. That said and with an open heart I give this one 4.5 Stars, not quite 5 for I only enjoy it for one day but it looks well built and I am certain that many good people will find it to be an asset. Wish amazon would consider the half points for there is a big difference from one number to the next up or down and sometimes a 3.5 is more like it than a 3. And a 4.5 is much better than a 4 Star rating. There I said it! Time to hit the shower and look like a champ with my brand new haircut even though I might end up being my only audience.

I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this hair clipper because my son desperately needed a hair cut.

First off, my very favorite thing about this is that you can charge it and don't need to cut hair near an outlet. That is a huge bonus. In good weather you can head to the back porch without an extension cord. Really, this is worth the price of these clippers.

The other fantastic thing is the rotating adjustable blade length. This allows you to use one blade and simply dial it up or down for different cutting lengths. So for example, on my son's hair, I could cut all over at a longer length, then simply dial the blade down a bit for cutting the sides which makes for a much more professional looking hair cut.

Also, if you need to give yourself a haircut you can turn the whole clipper blade to say, a 45º angle making it really easy to get the hair at the back of your head cut.

I really like this clipper for ease of use. After months of use this set of clippers gets top marks still!

I have used a number of clippers, with most being corded and heavy. Comparatively, these don't make a lot of noise, which is nice. It may follow that they would be too weak, but I haven't had an issue with that. The cuts have been nice and clean and battery life is good, though it lacks the power of a heavy-duty corded unit.

The comb style is nice, and a rotating ring gives the ability to adjust length. Hair flows through smoothly and doesn't snag. They also have a degree of flexibility, letting them contour to the head at the awkward angles you might use while cutting your own hair. Additionally, the shaving head spins to make cutting the back of the head less of a contortionist routine.

Cleaning is really easy, since you can run it under water.

The primary complaint I have is that the futuristic teardrop shape is not very natural to hold. I think this was designed for hairy homedwelling aliens. Also, don't expect instructions on how to cut your hair. They leave that up to you.

This is a unique product that does its job well. If you want a clipper for cutting your own hair or it's just on sale, you'll likely be happy with this one.

After spending money on haircut for about a year, I decided to give the clippers a try.
I found this one highly reviewed. It also had oil-free usage and cleaning - something I was particular about.
I went to the Philips website, compared similar products and found this one to be a balance of price and features that I was looking for.

The product arrived fast, and I found it to be of very sturdy built and easy to modify setting and use.
The combs moved easily through my hair and the cut went smooth and thorough.

I tried the precision trimmer, works awesome. I almost love it already, after using only once.
Tell you what, the best part is that you don't have to maintain a whole BIG bundle of combs, clippers and oil in those highly advertised 20+ piece kits.

And for you, the globe-trotter, it's easy to pack and put in a bag and specs allow it to be charged anywhere across the globe. Both corded and cordless operation only add to the nice-to-have feature list. I wish it came with a travel pouch though.

Overall excellent product, don't look elsewhere. Do place your order now.

This is so far the best clipper on the market, it only has 3 sets of combs that go up to about 3 centimetres (30 millimetres). In the box there will be: 1-Hair clipper device; 2-Charger; 3-Three(3)combs; 4- A precision cutting attachment; and 5- A cleaning brush. The whole clipper in general has an excellent, solid build to it and the idea of it was very well thought, probably the most practical clipper on the market. The clipper is manufactured in Hungary (and hope it stays that way), which was also an important selling point for me (I'm sick of all the nasty Chinese crap on the market). Overall it's a great clipper, I would definately recommend it, it will pay for itself probably within the first 2 or 3 haircuts. This clipper would be great even for barbers themselves to buy, it's just much more practical than traditional hair clippers.

Bought this hair clipper before Christmas and just tried it out. My wife cut my hair and it worked great. It will take a few times to perfect the cut but with the ease of use, that will certainly be easy to attain. Definately would recommend this product. It paid for itself using it one time.