In times of Covid-19 restrictions, there are more people who are worried about transmissions and prefer to cut their own hair at home. As such, there was a sudden boom in videos in recent months, teaching audiences how to use hair clippers to cut own hair, such as the videos by the One Minute Barber. There were several other videos but we stopped looking further after watching his videos for 2 reasons:
- He has a method to trim the top hair without using scissors.
- His system or method for cutting the hair seems most logical and easiest to follow. We don’t need perfection or complicated steps.
After reviewing the videos and testing ourselves, we find that the preferred design for a hair clipper for amateur home users cutting own hair, should have an easy hair length adjustment system such as those found on the Philips HC5630/15. We find that this could potentially be the best hair clipper in the market for the following reasons:
- It has the widest range of hair cut length from 0.5mm to 28mm with a total of 28 settings that can be switched easily via thumbscrew.
- Unlike many hair clippers in the market, we only need to switch between the 3 hair guide/combs to cover all of the above 28 settings. In fact, 2 of the combs cover up to 26 settings, so you do not need to keep switching combs like most models in the market.
- One hour of charging gives 90 mins of usage time, which is more than adequate for personal hair cut.
- For thicker hair, there is a Turbo mode via a button marked with a “T”, located below the Power button. (Note in Model HC5690, this button is replaced by kids mode with lower noise level.)
- Ergonomic slightly bent L-shaped handle design is more comfortable than straight handle as the wrist can be straighten.
In terms of disadvantage, we find the following:
- There is no 1mm setting.
- 16 – 28mm comb with 1mm increment which makes 13 settings. This is mostly used for the top of the head.
- 3 – 15mm comb with 1mm increment, which is another 13 settings. This is mostly used for the side and rear of the head, but can also be used for the top if desired.
- 2mm comb, just 1 setting.
- 0.5mm is the shortest hair length and is achieved by removing all the combs for the shortest setting.
Philips HC5630 Components
2. The form factor (i.e. size) of the Clipper is quite big for travelling, however, the designers would probably not expect anyone to bring along a hair clipper for a trip – unless its a really long trip. Most guys might bring shavers instead to trim beards. Nevertheless, we would prefer if the clipper is slightly shorter like the 7000 series (multi-groom).
The two issues mentioned above do not affect our decision to select this model at this time, but they are room for future improvements.
There are other strong points such as 100% washable with water, easy maintenance and self-sharpening blade. I believe this innovative product will outlast me. Another brilliant product from Philips!
Summary
Overall, we find that the Philips HC5630/15 hair clipper is one of the best (if not the best) choice in the market for novices like myself who prefer to cut my own hair. The easy switching and wide range of hair length settings are the main advantages for us to select this model.
