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Philips Norelco 3100 S3310/81 Electric Shaver Review: The Predecessor or Philips Norelco 3800 Shaver!
There is a newer version of Philips Norelco 3100. The manufacturer revamped the 3100 model and released the Philips Norelco 3800 model. I recommend leaving this page and read the newer version of the shaver.
Philips Series 3000 is an affordable line of affordable electric shavers, and the Philips Norelco 3100 is thought to be the flagship model in the line. The Philips Norelco 3100 S3310/81 Electric Shaver is an affordable and one of the most popular Norelco rotary shavers on the market. For its sleek and user-friendly design, it has a very good reputation on the market. In this article, I will share my experience and product analysis report about the Philips 3100 shaver. I think you should read the full article before making the decision to have your next electric razor.
Overview
The Philips Norelco 3100, s3310/81, is a rotary shaver. As you know, a rotary shaver comes with three circled blades that rotate around in a circular way to cut the hair.
Although a basic quality shaver, it has a slick design with premium quality plastic in a shiny black interface.
It might be one of the most affordable rotary shavers in the Philips Norelco series 3000, and as described before, this is the most popular electric shaver in its category on Amazon.
Philips Norelco redesigned this shaver for more user-friendliness from the Philips Norelco series 3000.
What’s in the Box?
When you unwrap the shaver package after getting in your hand, you will find-
- The Philips Norelco 3100, s3310/81 Shaver
- Power Cord
- A Protective Head Cap
- User Manual
Features and Specifications Analysis
Corded and Cordless Use:
Wet & Dry electric shavers are not recommended for corded use.
When you have a wet shave, it may occur accidentally occurrence if you plug your shaver into direct electricity.
And some low-quality electric shavers do not provide cordless use facilities.
But the Philips Norelco 3100 3310/81 electric shaver offers both corded and cordless use.
If you need an urgent shave and there is no charge for your shaver, you can have a corded shave with your Norelco 3100 3310/81 razor by plugging it into the direct electricity.
For the cordless use facility, it can be your great travel companion.
Battery:
The electric razor Philips Norelco 3100 runs with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which offers consistent maximum power year after year.
It takes 6 to 8 hours to be fully charged and gives 45 minutes of continuous cordless performance.
The charging time is really much, but it would not be a big problem as you can use the shaver in charging time when it is plugged in.
LED Indicator:
The handle has an LED display to show the battery life alert, charging alert, and quantity.
The LED will continuously blink orange when the battery is fully drained and green when you plug the shaver into the charger.
And the green light will intermittently bling until the battery is fully charged, and it will be automatically off after fully charged.
Cleaning and Maintenance:
The shaver head and blades are fully washable. That is why it is very easy to clean with running tap water.
There is a button below the head to open the shaver head with one simple click and clean after every shave[see the image above].
Is Philips Norelco 3100 Wet/Dry?
Philips does not recommend using the shaver for wet shaving. The Philips Norelco 3100 electric shaver has been developed for dry shaving only.
As the shaving head is waterproof, I tried the shaver for the wet shave with shaving gel several times and got no problem.
But the shaving result is not satisfactory in wet use.
So, You can have wet shaves also with the shaver if the shaving result in the first shave is not important to you.
But it is strictly prohibited for shower shaving.
ComfortCut Blade System:
Philips Focused on comfortability when developing and redesigning this product.
The Philips Norelco 3100 electric shaver comes with a ComfortCut blade system to minimize irritation when cutting hairs.
The system promises to provide maximum comfort for any beard.
As a rotary shaver, the blades round flawlessly and cut hairs without any irritation.
Some electric shaver causes razor burn when to shave hard to touch areas.
But Philips Norelco 3100 will not cause any razor burn or such kind of problems when shaving any area of your face and neck because of the ComfortCut blade system.
The system protects the blade from touching the skin and helps to capture actual hairs.
When we tried Philips Norelco 3100 razor in practical use, we realized the ultimate comforts while shaving and did not find any irritation or razor burn after shaving.
For the advanced technology of the ComfortCut blade system of this shaver, we can say this would be a great choice if you are interested in ultimate comfort shaving on a decent budget.
4-Direction Flex Heads:
The Shaver Heads flex in 4 directions to easily shave every curve of your face and neck.
Philips says the shaving head of Norelco 3100 will pivot in 4 directions to cut all hairs, even in the hard-to-touch areas such as the neck and jawline.
This must be a great facility for a rotary shaver. But we found that the flex heads do not pivot as well as they described.
When seeing advanced quality shaver’s flex heads, it disappoints me with 3100’s heads.
But it is not a big deal when considering the shaver’s budget.
Pop-up Trimmer:
Very few electric shavers have this extra feature of a pop-up trimmer.
The Philips Norelco 3100 electric rotary shaver has a default popup trimmer.
On the backside and right below the shaving head, there is a detailed popup trimmer in this shaver.
Generally, popup trimmers open with a direct press of the button below the trimmer.
But in the Philips Norelco 3100, this is slightly different.
You need to slide down toward the button to open the trimmer in this shaver.
I tried the trimmer personally several times and got practical experience.
The trimmer is not much effective in shaping the goatee and sideburns. It is a bit flat, so it needs much effort to cut and shape the hair.
But this would be a great feature when it comes to basic quality rotary shavers.
Performance of Philips Norelco 3100 Shaver
Philips developed Norelco shavers for great shaving performances.
Some premium quality Norelco shavers give a notable performance for close and comfortable shaving, such as Norelco Series 9000 shavers.
The Philips Norelco 3100 shaver gives a pretty close shave after several strikes.
But it’s not much appealing. When I tried the shaver in 3 days’ beard, it gave a slightly close shave, but I had to make 4-5 passes.
The shaver is pretty good at capturing long beards. When tried in long beards, it shaved well after several tries.
The ComfortCut technology of the shaver gave notable comfort while shaving.
Another good point is that it produced less noise than the premium shaver Norelco 9000.
The overall performance of the shaver is not much notable but not too bad when considering the price.
Pros
- Inexpensive.
- Fully Washable.
- ComfortCut Blade System.
- Pop-up Trimmer.
- Corded and Cordless Use.
Cons
- No Travel Case and Cleaning Brush.
- Takes 6 to 8 Hours to be Fully Charged, Which is a Very Long Time.
Verdict
The Philips Norelco 3100 is a basic quality rotary electric shaver. This is great for its affordable price and comfortable shaving.
Its ComfortCut blade system and 4 directions pivoting head provide a very easy and smooth shave. It can be a great travel kit for being corded and cordless supportive.
The shaver is not too good for close shaving and trimming, but the performance is enough for its price. You should not deal with it if you need a very quick and extremely close shave.
You should try a premium rotary shaver for premium services and products in its category.
But if you have enough time to shave and need an affordable shaver, this can be great for you as it also gives a close shave after several passes.
Philips Norelco Shaver 3100 S3310/81 is very comfortable, inexpensive, waterproof, easy to clean, quiet, very good build quality, performs very well but its charging time is so long.
This is really useful, thanks.
What is the power rating of the motor (in watts) used in Series 3100 S3310/81? How many cuts per minute does it provide
Hi Sam,
The Philips Norelco 3100 shaver comes with a 9 watts motor. Philips Norelco did not provide the exact cutting capability of the device. But in my experience, I guess it can provide 6,000 – 7,000 cuts per minute.