Philips BT9000 Prestige
What’s the story?
Philips used to sell a Series 9000 beard trimmer with a laser attached to it. Sounds like real Bond villain stuff, right? Yeah, that’s what we thought, but it turned out to be rubbish. The new model dispenses with gimmicks and puts all its eggs in the ‘premium’ basket – and at £120 it’s easily the most expensive option here.
Is it any good?
This thing is built like a proper tank: all stainless steel and sturdy rubber, capped with a flat plastic bottom so you can stand it up on a bathroom shelf. Handy. It’d probably double as a pretty effective cosh if anyone ever broke in too – also handy.
The dial allows you to adjust it in sub-millimetre increments and the built-in metal comb is as solid as they come, but without an attachment it maxes out at 5mm. The single included guard doubles that, but with its plastic build and basic feel, this ‘long beard comb’ does spoil the high-end vibe.
In action, though, the fully waterproof BT9000 is very impressive. Apparently its Poweradapt Sensor checks the hair density 125 times per second and adjusts the motor to maintain constant power, but all we noticed was the authoritative, consistent trim it gave. Its cutting head is quite narrow and it scatters a lot of hairy shrapnel, but you’ll be too busy admiring your neat face-fuzz to care. We also like the locking function that stops it being activated accidentally.
Price £120/ stuff.tv/bt9000 ● Max 10mm ● 1 attachment ● 120min ● Waterproof
Stuff says ★★★★★
Looks the part and makes sure you do too… at a price