I am sorry for taking so long to write the review for the Philips Norelco G480 All-In-One Grooming Kit, but it takes time to grow hair with which to evaluate it.

First, about me and my intended use. I am an adult male with male pattern baldness. I do not wear facial hair (intentionally). Some years ago, I realized that I was paying a barber $9 plus tip to run clippers over what remains of my hair, not to mention that the trip to the barbershop ruined an otherwise free day. I went in search of clippers and bought a Remington model. Recently, my wife has commented that the aging Remington was not cutting so well, so when Amazon Vine offered me this grooming kit, I jumped on it.

My first impression taking it out of the box was, “This is small.” The width of the widest clipper blade is 1-1/4 in (22 mm) while that of my Remington is 1-3/4 in (45 mm), so I’m going to need more passes to cut my hair with the Norelco. One that was hard to tell from the description was that the G480 comes not only with several attachments, but with interchangeable heads. There are three clipper heads, a razor head and a nose/ear trimmer head. In a similar vein, the razor head on the G480 is only 11/16 in (17 mm) while a “regular” electric razor that I have is 1-3/4 in (45 mm) wide. So it is probably not the best thing for regular shaving. Although the manual mentions using the G480 for cutting hair, I quickly formed the impression that this outfit was intended primarily for maintenance of facial hair. I’d given up electric razors years ago for straight blades, so I won’t use the razor (not that it’s very usable anyway). One item that I may find useful is the nose/ear hair clipper, although it takes some practice guiding the tool around in an effective manner, and I found that it kind of yanks the hairs when it finds one. Not always pleasant.

In addition to the multiple heads, the G480 comes with three adjustable-length clipper combs. My first impression was that they seemed somewhat flimsy. They shouldn’t see a lot of force, however (unless you drop them). They also do not have the hair length marked in familiar units – just arbitrary numbers. Not too bad once you figure out that “6″ gives you a similar cut as a ½ in guide on other clippers. One behavior that may be viewed as either a feature or an annoyance is that most of the cut hair collects in the comb. The hair doesn’t fall on the floor, but you may have to stop frequently to empty it out.

The main feature of the Norelco that sets this apart from my previous clippers is that it is cordless. The G480 was light and had plenty of power for any job that I threw at it. I have cut my hair with it three or four times and used it a few times for other trimming before it died and required recharging. On the downside, the instructions tell you to completely drain the battery before recharging to avoid memory problems with the battery. I thought modern batteries had all gotten past this need. This could be somewhat annoying when the battery dies halfway through shaving off your beard. The charger is a “wall wart” transformer, cord and small plug that plugs into the base of the clippers. The plug fits into the storage base in such a way that placing the clippers in the base automatically plugs in the charger. Of course, since you’re not supposed to leave it on the charger except when it is completely dead, this feature is somewhat dubious. It might be better to just leave the charger in a drawer until needed.

The Philips Norelco G480 thoughtfully comes with a plastic storage base that holds the clippers, as mentioned, as well as all of the heads and combs. If your bathroom sink is anything like mine (and my current bathroom has a large his and hers double sink), it quickly clutters up with things, and this base takes quite some space. Also, the heads are not secured into their shallow recesses at all, so the lightest jarring of the base knocks them out of the base. The user might find it better to dump all of the parts in a drawer.

I will summarize in the fashion of a Bicycle magazine review: Buy it if: You maintain a beard and moustache. Forget it if: You’re looking for clippers to cut your hair.

I’m hairy. I don’t deny that whatsoever. With that in mind, I decided that my body would be an excellent testing ground for the Philips Norelco G480 All-In-One Grooming Kit. I personally tested each and every accessory that came in this kit. After allowing for the ten hour charge period (I actually gave it about fifteen hours), I entered my bathroom and started my hair removal process with the nose, ear and eyebrow trimmer. Although it does an excellent job of removing the hair, it did pull a tad bit at my nose hairs. My second victim was the mini shaver, which is exactly that: a mini version of a real electric shaver. As with the big version of these blades, it gave a “close enough to last till five o’clock” shave but still can’t beat an actual razor. Next was the precision trimmer, which worked excellently. It gave me some wonderful looking sideburns. I used all three of the combs next, with the hair clipper comb working the best. The beard and moustache comb did a decent job, but had more curves to deal with than the hair comb. The eyebrow comb, much like its beard/moustache compadre, didn’t fare quite as well as the others. The fine detailing blade works well, especially around the ears, which is an oft-neglected area on my body. The final test was reserved for the full-sized trimmer blade without any type of guard on it. I used it to shave my head, neck, back and chest. While it gets exceptionally close, I didn’t look anything like Captain Picard or Charles Barkley when I was finished. That job is still reserved for my old razor and shaving cream, which I did utilize to finish the job.

While I’m still ugly, I am a lot cleaner looking than before using the Philips Norelco grooming kit. The best performers in the lot were the detailing blade, precision trimmer and the full-sized trimmer blade without the guard on it. The mini shaver garnered the poorest results, but is a good tool to use between real shaves. As for the battery life, I did all of the above clipping and trimming in one sitting without having to recharge.

If you’re a guy (or girl) who likes a very neat and clean look (and not necessarily bald), this grooming kit is well worth it’s price. It’s one of the best electric kits I’ve used and I’ve gone through quite a few in my lifetime. Give this kit a try. You’re skull (and back, and nose, and chest, and better half) will thank you for it.