Customer Reviews

Philips Norelco 8260 CC Men's Shaving System

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this shaver to replace my old Norelco shaver that I'd been using for many years, and that finally broke. This one was about double the price of that one, but I'm very disappointed to have to deal with the large "cleaning system" that came with the new shaver. The picture on Amazon shows the shaver in a cute little stand; the reality is that it comes with a huge cleaning stand that I have no room for. It seems the electric shaving folk want to get into the razor/razor blades game, by selling cleaning solution for the shavers. I'm not sure how important this is; my old one lasted very well with just a weekly "dry clean". It also seems environmentally unfriendly to be wasting some water every day, and throwing out a plastic bottle every month or so.

In addition to the cleaning stand being bulky, a terrible design decision is that you can't leave the shaver plugged into it, because it will harm battery life. Having something this big is bad enough, but having to unplug it all the time is ridiculous.

The packaging is the old horrible packaging, with unopenable plastic over everything, not the new Amazon environmentally friendly packaging.

On the other hand, the shaver works as well as the old one, and you can just ignore the cleaning stand if you want, since the recharger can plug directly into the shaver. I'd probably be perfectly happy with the shaver if it had come that way; the extra stuff just seems wasteful.

I just got the 8260 Norelco to replace my other 2 shavers(a Braun 8995 and a Panasonic Nano). This shaver is superior to both of my prior shavers,and here's why:
1.There is the noise issue.The Panasonic was annoyingly loud, the Braun was quite noisy, but the 8260 is very quiet.This may seem trivial,but it is nice to shave in peace.
2.The 8260 shaver truly shaves in one or two passes, and is completely non-irritating from the get-go. The Panasonic gets a little burny on the tough spots,and must be held at a specific angle to perform with it's angled blade technology and that is very annoying. The Braun requires multiple passes everywhere.Neither of the 2 foil razors EVER shaved my neck sufficiently, but the Norelco 8260 does an outstanding job there.I know they say a foil shaver shaves closer, but the Norelco far out-performs these 2 foils.
3.The build quality of of the Norelco and Braun are very solid, but the Panasonic seems cheap and flimsy.Also,replacement blades are cheaper on the Norelco,and you can't even find Panasonic replacements anywhere, so you have to order them from their site.
4.They all come with cleaning stands, which are gimmicky junk,in my opinion,but the Norelco version is the nicest.I wouldn't have bought any of these with the cleaning system,but these were either gifts or the same price with the claning stands. If I could save $40 or $50 bucks,I'd buy a model that didn't come with the cleaner (Braun 8975 or Norelco 8240).
5. The Panasonic allows wet shaving in shower or with foam, but I tried it once with foam and it was a mess. I prefer the simplicity of dry shaving.
6. The charge on the Norelco lasts WAAAYYYYYY longer that the other two shavers. It lasts like 2 weeks , and the other two only stay charged for a week
Ultimately I am very impressed and surprised at the shave I get from the Norelco 8260 Rotary shaver. I have always purchased foils due to hearing they shave closer, but I can state clearly that that is not the case with me. I would buy a Braun again( it is very well-made and reliable),but I would not buy a Panasonic.

I have been using Norelco Shavers for over 20 years. I like the way they shave, I like how quiet they are and they are easy to maintain. The 8260 continues the tradition with an incremental improvement in the shave mainly due to the articulating head. Having said that, Norelco should either stop adding "stuff" as peripherals or pay attention their details like they do the shaver. The cleaning system actually cleans it very well; the problem as pointed out by other reviewers is that you are not supposed to leave the shaver charging. You are supposed to let it run low and then recharge to save the battery. Guess what? The cleaning cycle is long ~ 1 hour or so. In the cleaning cycle it charges and I certainly can't wait around to unplug (or flip a lever that disconnects the power to the shaver) it after the cleaning cycle. It couldn't be hard to design the cleaner to not charge the shaver "automagically" except when the user wishes. It is like the two items, the shaver and the cleaner were designed by two different teams that didn't talk to each other. It is truly an astounding design oversight. I'm not sure if there is a version of the shaver without the cleaner. The cleaner isn't really necessary and it does take up lots of counter space, it consumes expensive cleaning agent, and takes a plug (a rare commodity in my bathroom). I give it four stars because it shaves well and subtract two stars for the stupid cleaner design but add one back for the travel power off system that locks the power button so it won't turn on in your luggage. I hope Philips reads these reviews and takes note of them -- it boggles the mind that the design is so flawed from a company that does so many things so well.

I've been a blade guy all my life til now.
The problem with blades these days is due to my lifestyle change; that is, I work from home now.
So, consequently I don't shave every day. I shave when I need to be presentable, but if I'm going to home
depot or something, I don't bother. But, that has created a big problem for me with the multi-blade
manual shavers. The longer beard stubble clogs up the blades in a few shaves. Even though the blades are not dull,
I have to throw them out because I can't get the stubble from between the multiple blades even by running
both hot and cold water at max pressure.
So without even looking at reviews (which is not like me), I went to Walmart and bought the Norelco 8260XLOCC.
I was really surprised at what a nice shave it is, although it takes a little getting used to. I did not rate it 5 stars though for one of the same reason other reviewers did not; that is that it cannot be stored continuously in the cleaning holder plugged in. If the shave weren't so darn good, I'd give it a 2 star because I don't like the idea of having to plug and unplug this thing all the time.
I like how the cleaning cradle works though, but I agree with others that it's too expensive to purchase that cleaning solution at the rate they require. So, I'm going to do the same as the other reader who rinses in hot water most of the time, but every so often uses the cleaning solution. At least Norelco offers the ability to rinse with hot water. I have not dumped the solution yet, but if it's full of stubble, I might consider straining the stubble with a fine screen and reusing; depending on how it looks. I might also do what the other reviewer did and rinse with hot water before putting in the cleaning solution to reduce the gunk.
I've only owned the shaver for six days, so I can't comment on the battery life or long-term reliability.
Bottom line is that Norelco should have either figured a way to allow me to leave the shaver in the cradle plugged in full time without damaging the batteries, or there should be a charging switch on that cradle. Since I've heard the battery life is very good, the switch idea would have been what Norelco SHOULD have done...particularly for $150. I wish that were so.

In addition to a high quality razor, I bought this model for the recharging stand that is shown in the picture of the product. I was very disappointed that, after tearing through in the insane packaging, there is no charging stand. There is, however, a huge cleaning system--but the cleaning system doesn't do anything for charging and requires juggling the wires around. Not something I want to do on a regular basis. The shave itself is very close--by far the best I've had with any electric and I've tried at least a dozen of them over the years. So I'd recommend this or one of the similar models, but don't buy this for the recharging station that isn't included!

I have owned 2 other Norelco XLs and have been very satisfied. I bought this one because I thought it was time for a change after about 7-8 years. I looked at the reviews for the Brauns and although they mostly looked good, I decided that I would stick with the rotary head razor. I was amazed that it was much better than my current Norelco. The heads have been improved tremendously. The razor is very quiet. I would have liked an LCD for the remaining charge as in my old razor, but not worth the extra money. The cleaning system is not a deal maker. It takes up too much counter-top space to keep out all the time. You can't leave it in the cleaning system to keep it charged. The replacement cleaning fluid is too expensive. My plan is to rinse the unit in the water weekly and use the cleaning system monthly. I also reuse the cleaning fluid because it does not get too dirty since I rinse the clippings out in running water before using the system.
I am impressed with the charging (or relative lack of) of the unit. I get over 2 weeks of daily shaves on a charge!
I can get a close shave in under 7 minutes. I would describe my beard as average.
Overall, I would definitely by again. Forget the foil cutters.....

MY FIRST ELECTRIC SHAVER WAS A NORELCO SC 7960, A TWO HEADED SPEED SHAVER, WHICH I STILL OWN.THAT WAS 47 YEARS AGO AT AGE 17.I THEN USED A MODEL 805, PURCHASED IN 1992, WHICH WAS MY FIRST RECHARGEABLE TRIPLE HEADED NORELCO.BOTH THESE RAZORS GAVE ME AN EXCELLENT SHAVE WITHOUT ANY IRRITATION, SINCE I HAVE VERY SENSITIVE SKIN.I JUST PURCHASED THE NORELCO 8260 AND WOW. WHAT A CLOSE SHAVE.YOUR RAZORS HAVE AGED WELL WITH QUALITY AND THERE ISN'T A BETTER SHAVER ON THE MARKET.I HAVE TRIED FOILED RAZORS IN THE PAST,BUT I ALWAYS COME BACK TO NORELCO. I AM A VERY SATISFIED CUSTOMER.

I bought this shaver to replace another Norelco shaver I'd been using for more than 10 years. The other reviewers who warned that the cleaning stand that comes with this shaver were right - it's useless and takes up space. Do what I did and chuck it in the wastebasket.

The shaver itself is great. It's quiet and it has great battery life. I have had it for 5 months and each charge has lasted at least 30 days and I use it daily. It also has a good led system to keep you advised on what your battery level is.

Overall, this is a great product. I just wish Norelco would get rid of the stupid cleaning base and drop the price accordingly. Then they'd have home run.

I purchased a Phillips Norelco 8260 razor to replace an aging Norelco 6885XL. I was very disappointed with the 8260 in that it ran at what seemed like half to two-thirds the rpm of my old 6885XL, and provided an extremely unsatisfactory shave-even after shaving until the blades were hot on my face. Thinking the 8260 was defective,I returned it and received a replacement. The replacement failed, as well, to provide a satisfactory shave. The ten year old 6885XL, with dull blades provided a quicker and more satisfying shave that the new 8260s.

I consider the cleaning system provided with the 8260 to be a needless feature. The cleaning fixture takes a very long time to complete the process and cannot be left plugged in without potential damage to the razor batteries. A quick rinse under a faucet is sufficient to clean the razor.

The 8260 feels flimsy and poorly constructed, as compared to the solidly built 6885XL.

I have returned the replacement 8260 for a refund and will keep buying blades for the 6885XL for as long as it lasts.

I do appreciate Amazon.com's return and refund policy. Great customer service!

My order was shipped very fast. The shaver works well. The cleaning cycle is great. The battery life between charges is very good. I would recommend this shaver to others.