Rarely do we see a hair clipper that isn’t just a standalone tool – instead, it’s a whole combination of utilities. Without a single speck of doubt, the king in the do-it-yourself hair clipper niche is none else than Philips.
Their Norelco QC5580/40 Pro, an upgrade on previous Philips hair trimmers, collects all you could ever need to cut your own hair at home. Of course, it does suffer from a few drawbacks, too.
Let’s take a closer look at it. I want to elaborate why I would highly recommend this rotating fellow to you – despite not being a huge Philips fan. Let the Philips Norelco QC5580 review commence!
Overview of the Norelco 5580/40 Pro electric clipper
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The Norelco QC5580/40 hair clipper: a real DIY powerhouse
It’s equipped with stainless steel blades – the amazing thing is you don’t even need to care about them. Not only are they self-sharpening (means you won’t deal with oiling them), but they can be easily washed at any time. How? Easy – the set of Philips clippers is manufactured so that you can take the machine apart and simply wash its parts. Extremely convenient and something other brands should think about too.
Convenient durability for any cut-your-own-hair taste
It might feel a bit strange the first few times you do it. However, once you get used to the rotating head, you’ll enjoy fast, flexible and easy haircuts.
Remember how I tore apart the Norelco QC5130 hair clipper’s atrocious battery? It’s exactly the opposite here. The QC5580/40 electric clipper packs a real punch with its Lithium-Ion battery. Its recharging time is up to the highest of industry standards and allows for up to 60 minutes cordless action.
A light indicator will let you know whenever you’re nearing battery depletion. When only around 10-15 minutes of cordless action remain, the QC5580/40 indicator will blink with an orange color to let you know. Very handy and a feature many other cordless hair clippers lack.
Combined with the winning body design, the battery shoots this Philips trimmer to the stars as one of the best cordless hair clippers for busy people.
A spectacular balding clipper, too
As for trimming action, you can use this set of Philips clippers as a trimmer too. The results are more than good if you don’t need anything too complicated. However, if you want to play around with some fine details, you might have to look elsewhere.
Here’s where the Norelco QC5580/40 leaves a bit to be desired
There’s no doubt – this Philips hair clipper is revolutionary in many ways. However, it can’t help but suffer from one very specific shortcoming: its combs.
Unfortunately, the electric hair cutter’s combs are made of not that spectacular plastic. That’s a similar problem to the issue that plagues the QC5130 too.
The plastic not only looks a bit lacking, but it also tends to bend a little. In other words, you need to be very careful with storing this electric clipper’s combs.
Back in the days, I had a medium-budget Philips hair trimmer and it suffered from a similar shortcoming in its accessories.
Maybe the brand has to think about introducing something better across its product lines…
Cuts & prices
While the blades of this Philips electric clipper are great, the rather average motor leads to some complications. The Norelco QC5580/40 will cut with great accuracy – however, sometimes it might “choke” and fail to cut evenly. Especially on lower lengths you might find yourself needing to go through the same place twice to ensure it’s been equally trimmed.
In this Philips Norelco QC5580 review, I have listed the hair cutter’s price as a disadvantage – truth is, it’s not that bad of a price given what this Philips DIY hair clipper offers you. That said, the replacement parts for this model run very expensive too.
Aside from the plastic combs I mentioned, there are no significant issues with the hair cutting machine’s body. It’s also pretty long-lasting. Yet, if something happens with it, you’d need to pay some extra.
Final verdict
All in all, though, based from this Philips Norelco QC5580 review, this hair clipper is a great tool to have around if you want to cut your own hair at home. It’s more than perfect if you:
are new to the whole cutting your hair by yourself business
need something that is compact, requires minimal maintenance and is flexible
are a fan of cordless hair clippers and the freedom they give you
look for a decent balding clipper that’s gentle and great for more sensitive skin types
If it weren’t for the plastic combs, this would be in my top 3 of best cordless hair clippers. Even with this issue present, the Norelco QC5580/40 electric clipper will bring you some quality haircutting experience both at home or on the go, as what this Philips Norelco QC5580 review suggests.
Philips Norelco QC5580/40
50
Good points
- Design & Flexibility
- Compact & Light
- Versatile length adjustment
- Washable parts
- Very easy to maintain
Bad points
- Lower quality plastic combs
- Higher price range
- Even cuts can be tricky
- Expensive replacement parts
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very nice and complete reviews. What do you think of the PHILIPS HC7460/15 ?
Thank you for the kind words, Juan!
We haven’t tried this model, to be honest (and we haven’t seen it in the US either.) At first glance I thought it was a trimmer, instead of a clipper – very trimmerish design indeed.
Looking at the specs, they look great on paper: 120 minutes of cordless use is HUGE. 60 settings too – but again, sounds like a clipper/trimmer hybrid, instead of a dedicated hair clipper.
Wondering whether there’s not a tradeoff somewhere – in other words, it being a compromise between the two different product types.
My main worry in this sense is the blade. It looks very similar to my Philips hair trimmer and I can’t decide whether it can cope with thicker hair types.
Hope that helped!
Alex