Philips Norelco 5700 Electric Shaver Review (S5370/84)

Welcome to our Philips Norelco 5700 review. Please read this review thoroughly to make an informed buying decision if this is the best electric shaver for your needs.

The  Philips Norelco 5700 is the next shaver in our review of the best electric shavers on the market today.

The Philips Norelco 5700 was only just released in 2016 and is the newest model in their line of series shavers. It is meant to give consumers who cannot afford the higher end shavers, but still want an electric shaver that can deliver similar performances.

There are three models released under the 5000 series. These are the Norelco 5700, 5500 and the 5100. The differences among the shavers are summed up in the table below:

	Philips Norelco 5100 Electric Shaver	Philips Norelco 5500 Electric Shaver	Philips Norelco 5700 Electric Shaver
Price	$90	$100	$130
MultiPrecision Blades	Yes	Yes	Yes
Head Movement	5 directions	5 directions	5 directions
Rotating Blades	1 Speed Setting 62,100 Cuts Per Minute	2 Speed Setting	2 Speed Setting 56,700 Cuts Per Minute
Battery	40 Minutes Run-time	45 Minutes Run-time	45 Minutes Run-time
Cleaning Dock	No	No	Yes
Travel Pouch	No	No	Yes
Turbo Mode	No	Yes	Yes
Wet & Dry Capable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery Status Display	1 Bar	3 Bars	3 Bars

For the purpose of this review, we are going to focus our attention on the Norelco 5700 model, which is the high-end model of the three.

We have broken the review down into four main sections. You can click on a link below to be taken directly to that section of the review.

Box Contents: In this section, we reveal what comes in the box of the 5700, and briefly take a look at each item.

Shaver: We give the Norelco 5700 a thorough examination here. We discuss all of its features in this section.

Shaving Test: In this section, we test the shaver to find out just how well or bad it performs the task of shaving.

Cleaning: This section takes a closer look at the cleaning dock that comes with the shaver and how to use it. We also tell you how you can manually clean the shaver.

Box Contents of Philips Norelco 5700

The picture below shows what comes in the box of the Philips Norelco 5700 electric shaver. At least it is what came with our box.

Let’s take a brief look at each item in the box.

Cleaning Dock

Philips calls their cleaning dock the “SmartClean System.” But we will just refer to it as the cleaning dock throughout this Philips Norelco 5700 review. Just like all their other cleaning docks, this one cleans, dries and charges the shaver. We take a closer look at the cleaning dock and how to use it in our cleaning sections.

The Shaver

The next item out of the box is the shaver itself. The Norelco 5700 is a rotary head shaver and looks very similar to the high-end Philips Norelco 9300 that we review here. It looks premium and beautiful out of the box. We take a more detailed look at the shaver in the next section.

Power Adapter

The next item is the power adapter. This is a multi-voltage adapter (100V – 240V ) which can be used in almost any country. We especially like that it has a long cord, unlike that of the Braun Series 7 790cc-4, which makes it easier to use. It can be used to charge the shaver directly or to power the cleaning dock.

Cleaning Solution Cartridge

Just like Braun, Philip’s cleaning solution comes pre-mixed in a cartridge. But unlike Braun, their’s is not alcohol based. All the cleaning docks for the various models use the same cleaning solution cartridge.

Travel Pouch

Also included in the box is a travel pouch. We like that this is a hard shell pouch. This offers excellent protection to the shaver when you travel with it.

Precision Trimmer

Like most modern electric shavers, the Philips Norelco 5700 also comes with a trimmer attachment. However, their’s is not permanently attached to the shaver. You have to remove the shaver’s cutting head and then manually attach the trimmer when you want to use it. This method has its advantages and disadvantages. We will discuss the trimmer when we take a closer look at the shaver in the next section.

Instruction Manual

Also included in the box is the user instruction manual. It is very well laid out and has easy to follow instructions, complemented by excellent illustrations. Thankfully the instructions and accompanying illustrations are placed on the same page in this manual. You can download the user instruction manual for the Norelco 5700 here.

That covers everything that comes in the box. Now let’s examine the shaver itself a little bit further.

The Shaver – A Closer Look at The Philips Norelco 5700 (5000 series)

We will soon get to the actual Philips Norelco 5700 review, but we want to talk a little bit more about the shaver itself. We examine it from head to toe.

The first thing you notice is just how beautiful this shaver looks out of the box. It has a premium, sleek and modern look and feels. We have to say we were very impressed with its appearance.

Front of Norelco 5700 Electric Shaver

There are two buttons located on the front of the shaver. There’s the black, clearly labeled, power button right beneath the shaver head. Then there’s the silver “Turbo” button, marked with a “T,” located below the power button. The turbo button is used to activate the turbo mode of the shaver. When this mode is activated, the shaver’s motor delivers 10% extra power to help shave thicker hair like those found under the chin.

The power button is also used to activate the travel lock mode. To do this, you’ll press and hold the button for about two seconds. This mode prevents the shaver from being accidentally turned on. This is useful when traveling with the shaver. You don’t want to get to your destination and find that all of the power has been drained from the battery. You press and hold the power button for two seconds again to take it out of travel mode and turn the shaver on again.

Beneath the turbo button is what appears to be an empty black panel on the handle. You’ll think there’s nothing there with the shaver turned off. But turn the shaver on and on comes the LED display.

The LED display has five indicators. The screen shows the following information.

• Battery level indicator
• Cleaning indicator
• Battery low indicator
• Replace head indicator
• Travel lock indicator

This is how the screen looks when you turn on the shaver.

You will find detailed information about all the various indicators in the user manual. That covers all the features of the front of the Norelco 5700 electric shaver.

Back of Shaver – Philips Norelco 5700 Review

Now let’s see what’s on the back of the shaver.

As we’ve done throughout our reviews, we take a look at what is on the back of the shaver. There really isn’t much on the back as is the case with all of the shavers we’ve reviewed. The rear of the shaver is made of grip-friendly rubber.  This ensures that you get a firm and secure grip on the shaver even when your hands are wet or covered in shaving foam.

Located at the base of the shaver is the charging socket. You plug the power adapter into this socket to charge the shaver.

The shaver itself is very comfortable to hold and maneuver when shaving. Whether you are left or right handed, you will not have any problems with regards to the handling of this shaver. The size of the handle is good for both small or fat fingers alike.

That covers all there is on the handle so let’s now take a look at the shaving head.

The shaving head

The shaving head of the Philips Norelco 5700 in this review has 3 cutting elements mounted on it. Each individual cutting element spins independently when in use.

Each cutting element is composed of an outer plastic ring with grooves cut into it, a middle metal ring with grooves and holes cut into it, and an inner metal disc.

The outer rings are designed to lift flat-lying hair while it spins. Individual hair follicles then pass through the holes in the middle ring to be cut by the blades underneath.

The inner metal disc is there to provide comfort when shaving. It helps the shaving head to glide over the skin smoothly and therefore reduce the chances of skin irritation.

The cutting head is designed to be flexible, and can pivot up and down in all directions.

This ensures the heads follow the contours of your face and maintain contact with your skin at all times during shaving. Each individual cutting element can also pivot in different directions to achieve the same results.

This makes it very easy to shave areas such as under the chin and around the jawline area.

On the front of the shaver head block, is the head release button. When you press this button, it pops open the shaving head as shown below

This separates the cutting elements from the rest of the shaver’s body. You’ll notice that the Norelco 5700 electric shaver has a small hinge that keeps the cutting elements attached to the head block even when opened. You will not find this on other Norelco models. But you can completely separate the top half of the cutting head from the rest of the shaving head unit.

We should let you know at this stage of the 5700 review that the shaver is 100% waterproof. You should, therefore, have no issues rinsing it under running water to clean it.

The image below shows the individual components of each cutting element.

These are the blue retaining rings that lock the blade in place, the cutting blade, and the metal cap (which is actually the middle metal ring and the inner disc we talked about earlier).

The process of opening the shaving head, removing the individual components and putting them back together, is very easy. You shouldn’t have any problems doing this yourself.

Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly since this is a newer model), the retaining ring of the 5700 appears to be an improvement on that of the Norelco 9300 we review here. In that review, we mentioned how easy it will be to break the retaining ring of the 9300. To locking tag (which is the tiny bit of plastic sticking out the sides of the retaining rings in the picture below) is a little bit larger in the 5700. This makes it less likely to break when handled. In the image below, blue is that of the 5700, and the orange is for the 9300. 

The cutting blades of the Philips Norelco 5000 series has fewer teeth than the 9000 series. So the 5700 loses a little bit of cutting performance when compared to the 9300. It won’t shave as fast as the 9300 because it won’t cut the same amount of hair in one pass. In the image below, the left image is the blade for the 5700, and the right image is that of the 9300.

Philips recommends that the cutting blades be replaced once every 12 months. But this is only a guidance and in reality, you will be able to use the shaver for several years without needing to replace the blades. We have found many users who used their Norelco’s to shave for more than 2 – 3 years without replacing the cutting element. And we expect the 5700 to deliver similar performance.

When it comes time to replace the cutting elements, you’ll need to replace all three at once. You can pick up a set of 3 for about $40 (at the time of writing) here. Each includes the cutting blades and metal cap.

Trimmer

The shaver also comes with a click-on trimmer, for styling and trimming sideburns and mustaches. All Norelco 5000 series models have the same trimmer.

We have to say this is not our favorite trimmer because it is separated from the shaver. You will have to attach the trimmer to the shaver manually to use it.

To attach it, you first have to remove the shaving head block from the handle. To do this, you hold the handle in one hand and gently pull upwards on the head with your other hand.

You then snap the trimmer onto the handle as shown below.

This is why we are not huge fans of the trimmer. We don’t like that fact that you have to remove the head each time you want to use the trimmer, and then reattach it afterward. This is because the more you keep removing it, the more chance there is that you might end up breaking something.

Once again, the attached trimmer is not going to serve as a replacement for your stand alone trimmer. It is good for styling mustaches and sideburns, but that is all there is to it. If you intend to use it to trim your beard, you’ll find yourself spending a bit of time doing that.

That covers all you need to know about the shaver itself. Now let’s focus our attention on how the shaver performs when used to shave.

The Test – Philips Norelco 5700 Shaver Review Test

In this section of our Philips Norelco 5700 review, we put the shaver through its paces and see how well or badly it performs the task of shaving.

There is very little juice in the battery out of the box. So you’ll need to charge it fully before using it for the first time. You can use the supplied power adapter to charge the battery directly or use the cleaning dock. It took the same amount of time to charge either way.

The battery was fully charged in 60 minutes. A full charge gives you about 45 minutes of shaving time. We achieved surprisingly similar results during testing. That translates to about 14 shaves per charge if you shave for 3 minutes each day. So you should be able to get 2 weeks of shaving time on a single charge. A full charge will last longer if you don’t shave every day. The power adapter supplied with the shaver is multi-voltage (100 – 240 volts). This means you will be able to use it in almost any country you travel to.

The Philips Norelco 5700 electric shaver also has a quick charge feature. This lets you charge the shaver for 5 minutes to get a quick 3 minutes shave. This is very useful if you run completely out of battery juice but really need a shave.

We charged the battery fully and put the shaver through its paces over the next few months. It’s now time to reveal how good or bad the shaver is at shaving.

To give you a very quick verdict on this shaver, It is a good shaver but not a great one. It gives you a smooth, comfortable shave, but just doesn’t feel as good as the high-end shavers we’ve reviewed.

If you are new to electric shavers, or even just migrating from a foil shaver to this shaver, you will need a period of adjustment. You might need about 2 weeks minimum, for your skin to get used to the shaving style of this shaver. So if you buy this shaver, you should give yourself at least 3 weeks before deciding if this is the right shaver for you or not.

As for the shave itself, it was comfortable and close enough. The performance is not on par with the Norelco 9300. We needed a couple more passes to remove all the hair. It struggled a little bit with thicker beard and hair that grew in different directions. 

If you have really sensitive skin, this is not the best shaver for you. The chance of getting skin irritation is increased by having to make multiple passes with the shaver to achieve a close shave. We will recommend a foil shaver like the Braun Series 7 790cc-4 we reviewed here. It is a great shaver, in the same price range, for sensitive skin.

The turbo mode on the Norelco 5700 did provide a bit more power during shaving. However, this did not provide any significant improvements in shaving.

Ono thing we did like a lot about this shaver is the pivoting head. It made it very easy to shave hard to reach areas such as around the jawline and under the neck. When locked, it was firm enough to provide a sturdy shave.

The design of the handle is very user-friendly. It fitted very comfortably in our palms and was very easy to maneuver when shaving.

When shaving with this shaver, it is recommended not to apply a lot of pressure. This is because your skin might get sucked through the holes in the head. This can lead to redness of the skin and micro cuts on your face.

As we mentioned early, the shaver does not perform very well with a thick curly beard, as found in African American men. We needed a couple more passes to achieve a clean shave. So if you are looking for a quick shave, this might not be the best shaver for a thick curly beard that grows in different directions. Our black testers reported skin irritation and razor burns after use. They also reported some instances of hair when shaving with the Norelco 5700.

At only $130, this is an excellent shaver for the price. It looks premium and produces a shave that is good enough. It is not the best shaver on the market but certainly one of the best it’s price range.

However, for an extra $30, we will recommend you buy the Braun Series 7 790cc-4 shaver or even the Philips Norelco 9300. They offer vastly superior performances to the 5700.

Cleaning

We focus on the SmartClean (cleaning dock) system in this section and show you how it works.

The cleaning dock cleans and charges the shaver, as is now the case with most modern electric shavers. This dock is a bit bulky and will take up a large space on your bathroom counter.

It uses the same power adapter the come with the shaver. Thankfully, this system also uses a cleaning solutions cartridge rather than one that you have to mix yourself. You’ll find a button on the side of the dock. Push this button to release the hidden compartment located at the base of the cleaning dock. This is where you insert the supplied cleaning solutions cartridge.

The cartridge is disposable and is to be replaced after a number of uses. During our test, we were able to get 2 months of daily usage before we needed to replace the solution. A pack of three replacement cartridge costs about $14.37 at the time of writing. You can get it here.

The shaver is placed into the cleaning dock as shown below.

The shaver starts charging the instant you place it inside the cleaning dock. It takes about 4 hours to clean and dry the shaver. This is a really long time when compared to the 1 hour the Braun system takes. The system is almost silent when in operation. This is an advantage over the Braun and Panasonic systems, which are a bit louder than this.

You can take out the shaver before the 4 hours cleaning cycle is over. However, you’ll be left with a very wet shaving head. This should not be a problem if you don’t mind shaving wet.

There isn’t a lot more to say about the cleaning dock. During our test, it performed very well, leaving the shaving head looking like brand new each time. Maybe the only negative about it is that the body is made of glossy plastic. This made it attract dust very easily. So if you live in a dusty area, then you’ll need to clean the dock itself frequently to keep it looking beautiful.

Our Verdict

What we take away from this Philips Norelco 5700 review is that the shaver is a good shaver with acceptable performance. It, however, does not offer the same level of performance as the high-end models or even some of the mid-priced models. The price makes it a very attractive shaver to buy for teenagers or for those with a short beard. But if you are looking for a high-performance shaver that offers a really close shave, this is not the best shaver for you. A better alternative will be the Braun series 7790cc-4 electric shaver.

We hope this Philips Norelco 5700 review has helped you to make a decision whether to buy this shaver or not.