No, not the users. 
Had the opportunity to trial one of Philips Norelco's newest (relatively) 7000 Series “smart" rotary shavers, the s7940. The shaver is Bluetooth-enabled, with an accompanying app, Philips' GroomTribe, which appears to be in its fourth iteration since January 2020. Why would I need a Bluetooth shaver, you might ask? An excellent question. Everything seems to be Bluetooth capable these days, from thermostats to cars. Because, well, we can. Some are useful, some not so much. In the case of a shaver, it does have potential. Just like any learned skillset, shaving benefits from experienced instruction. You may have learned on your own, or on Grandpa’s knee, but it probably took awhile, and you are probably still learning.
Enter a shaving app. It connects with your shaver, and tracks both your shaving time and technique (I would guess some sort of accelerometer in the body of the shaver), and gives you an analysis of both. In the case of the Philips, the settings of the shaver are also controlled by the app, so over time, it adjusts the speed of the shaver to fit your style, and unlike any other rotary Philips of which I’m aware, the blades are also capable of adjusting for beard density. In the app, you can provide feedback on your most recent shave (irritation, ingrown hairs, etc.) and the app will adjust the shaver accordingly and provide ongoing recommendations and adjustments.
An outstanding idea and plan. However, no plan, as they say, survives contact with the enemy. In this case, the first enemy is the Bluetooth connectivity with the app. Similar to Philips' “smart” Sonicare toothbrushes, connectivity is spotty and not very stable across multiple phones and platforms (it works with both iOS and Android), and the newest version barely works at all (witness the 1-star ratings on Google), so I ended up using the previous version (6.3.0), which - mostly - seems to work, at least with an Android phone. You would think that behemoth companies like P&G and Philips Norelco could hire decent software developers, but apparently not. The other down side of this arrangement is that the shaver’s controls - as in speed adjustment - can only be done through the app. No connection, no controls. The second enemy is the app’s ability to actually track what you’re doing - in my case, I shave wet (a wet/dry shaver), with “passes" similar to my DE shaving, and my normal shave takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes. The app doesn’t completely recognize that, and advises “I have exceeded the recommended 4 minutes.” I'm not sure what sort of future recommendation I'll receive from that. It does seem to have accurately captured my rotary skills (71% efficient movement), and I agree with that. It provides helpful articles and keeps track of each shave so you can measure your progress, and you don’t actually need your phone beside you shaving - it stores your shave and transfers the next time you connect. The shaver itself is excellent, and the heads (SH70/72) resemble in feel and performance the heads of Philips' top-of-the-line 9000 Prestige models (SH98/72), providing a close and comfortable shave with or without Bluetooth.
So overall, great potential, and an interesting and potentially useful concept, not yet completely realized. It is technically possible to have a shaving app that controls the speed and sensitivity of your shaver on the fly, and instructs you in improving your shaving technique to give you a better shave - this one is almost there. Witness Braun's latest version of their ‘smart" toothbrushes (the iO), which uses the phone's camera and AI to track where you are brushing and how successfully, and provides real time feedback on whether you actually successfully brushed. But the brushes cost anywhere from $200 to $300, with replacement heads on the order of $15, needing replacement every 2-3 months. Cheaper than a trip to the dentist, but orders of magnitude more than a Walgreen's 50‐cent brush. Fortunately, this shaver is around $150-170, which is ballpark for a nice high-end rotary that provides a nice shave.
Still working with it, and I can see value in it, particularly with novice users new to rotary shavers, but once your shaving technique is down and you are comfortable with your daily shave, probably redundant. But cool. Pics and screenshots follow.
Had the opportunity to trial one of Philips Norelco's newest (relatively) 7000 Series “smart" rotary shavers, the s7940. The shaver is Bluetooth-enabled, with an accompanying app, Philips' GroomTribe, which appears to be in its fourth iteration since January 2020. Why would I need a Bluetooth shaver, you might ask? An excellent question. Everything seems to be Bluetooth capable these days, from thermostats to cars. Because, well, we can. Some are useful, some not so much. In the case of a shaver, it does have potential. Just like any learned skillset, shaving benefits from experienced instruction. You may have learned on your own, or on Grandpa’s knee, but it probably took awhile, and you are probably still learning.Enter a shaving app. It connects with your shaver, and tracks both your shaving time and technique (I would guess some sort of accelerometer in the body of the shaver), and gives you an analysis of both. In the case of the Philips, the settings of the shaver are also controlled by the app, so over time, it adjusts the speed of the shaver to fit your style, and unlike any other rotary Philips of which I’m aware, the blades are also capable of adjusting for beard density. In the app, you can provide feedback on your most recent shave (irritation, ingrown hairs, etc.) and the app will adjust the shaver accordingly and provide ongoing recommendations and adjustments.
An outstanding idea and plan. However, no plan, as they say, survives contact with the enemy. In this case, the first enemy is the Bluetooth connectivity with the app. Similar to Philips' “smart” Sonicare toothbrushes, connectivity is spotty and not very stable across multiple phones and platforms (it works with both iOS and Android), and the newest version barely works at all (witness the 1-star ratings on Google), so I ended up using the previous version (6.3.0), which - mostly - seems to work, at least with an Android phone. You would think that behemoth companies like P&G and Philips Norelco could hire decent software developers, but apparently not. The other down side of this arrangement is that the shaver’s controls - as in speed adjustment - can only be done through the app. No connection, no controls. The second enemy is the app’s ability to actually track what you’re doing - in my case, I shave wet (a wet/dry shaver), with “passes" similar to my DE shaving, and my normal shave takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes. The app doesn’t completely recognize that, and advises “I have exceeded the recommended 4 minutes.” I'm not sure what sort of future recommendation I'll receive from that. It does seem to have accurately captured my rotary skills (71% efficient movement), and I agree with that. It provides helpful articles and keeps track of each shave so you can measure your progress, and you don’t actually need your phone beside you shaving - it stores your shave and transfers the next time you connect. The shaver itself is excellent, and the heads (SH70/72) resemble in feel and performance the heads of Philips' top-of-the-line 9000 Prestige models (SH98/72), providing a close and comfortable shave with or without Bluetooth.
So overall, great potential, and an interesting and potentially useful concept, not yet completely realized. It is technically possible to have a shaving app that controls the speed and sensitivity of your shaver on the fly, and instructs you in improving your shaving technique to give you a better shave - this one is almost there. Witness Braun's latest version of their ‘smart" toothbrushes (the iO), which uses the phone's camera and AI to track where you are brushing and how successfully, and provides real time feedback on whether you actually successfully brushed. But the brushes cost anywhere from $200 to $300, with replacement heads on the order of $15, needing replacement every 2-3 months. Cheaper than a trip to the dentist, but orders of magnitude more than a Walgreen's 50‐cent brush. Fortunately, this shaver is around $150-170, which is ballpark for a nice high-end rotary that provides a nice shave.
Still working with it, and I can see value in it, particularly with novice users new to rotary shavers, but once your shaving technique is down and you are comfortable with your daily shave, probably redundant. But cool. Pics and screenshots follow.
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I usually have the shaver beside me while shaving. Close beside me....
