Povos PQ8602, an electric shaver from China.

Like most men, I have a habit of shaving in the morning. Some use a razor, others an electric shaver. I got used to using an electric shaver early on, though I sometimes shave with a razor too, depending on my mood.
This review is about an electric shaver. If you're interested, read on.

I started out with the well-known Kharkiv shaver, then my wife gave me a Philips. It's an excellent shaver, in my opinion, but it has its quirks.
The main drawback of the Philips was that a set of blades (or rather, foils) lasted me a maximum of a year and a half, and cost about $50. At least, that's what I paid for them the last two times.
So I decided to buy a shaver from a less well-known manufacturer; at least its replacement parts are much cheaper. And I could compare shavers in different price ranges at the same time.

I don't want to start another shaver-versus-razor flame war. I sometimes use a razor myself, when I want really smooth skin or just feel like it, but I mostly use an electric shaver. It's not as close a shave, but it's more practical.

As always, I'll start by describing how it arrived.

The package includes:
The shaver, with batteries installed.
Power adapter (or charger, whichever you prefer)
Cleaning brush
Manual.
Unlike the Philips, this shaver doesn't come with a pouch for storage. Too bad.


The power adapter has a somewhat unusual shape. The power cable looks a little rough, but it's quite flexible.
The cable is about 1.8 m long.


The power adapter outputs 4 V and is rated for up to 1.5 A.
Since the adapter only gets slightly warm during use, I think it's comfortably over-specced.


The brush is completely standard; most shavers come with one, and the Philips came with a similar one.


Most of the manual uses the universal language of pictures :)
The rest is in English, but I doubt anyone will need it.


It looks reasonably well made; there's not much to complain about.


The shape is a little different from what I'm used to, but it sits very comfortably in the hand. There's definitely no discomfort.
I don't know whether it's copied from some other, better-known shaver or designed by Povos, but I like it.
I've heard that the company is quite well known in China and has a pretty good reputation.


The shaver has a white body with a few flecks of something shiny, but they don't spoil its appearance.
The voltage listed on the shaver, though, put a bit of a damper on my mood.
I've kind of gotten used to lithium batteries being used practically everywhere these days.
This one is rated at 2.4 V, which clearly means the batteries are either Ni-Cd or Ni-MH. I think it's the latter.
The stated charging time is 1 hour, and when I tested it, that was about right, give or take a few minutes.
I forgot to mention that the shaver arrived with a 5% charge.


Before using it, I charged it fully.
The charge level is shown in 5% increments, and a charging animation runs around the indicator.
The backlight stays on while charging and while the shaver is running.


The Povos is bigger than my Philips, but not by much.
There is one difference, though: the Philips doesn't have a built-in battery and runs from an external power supply.


This is what the Philips shaving heads look like after 1.5 years of use :((((
The first set lasted about a year; I have pretty coarse stubble.


Since I'm the sort who likes to be prepared, I ordered a set of cutters and foils right away, in case I need to replace them.
Naturally, I ordered cutters compatible with the shaver.
Actually, the cutters are sold individually (Philips offers two options: a set of 1 or 3 cutters).


The back has replacement instructions in Chinese and English.


Well, I guess I'll move on to a more detailed description of the shaver.
There's a trimmer on the back for tidying up your sideburns or beard (I guess). I never use it, but it's there. Most shavers have one.


The shaving head is removable, but unlike the ones I'm used to, it isn't spring-loaded.
I wouldn't say that's a dealbreaker; it's just unfamiliar.


The shaving head is covered by a plastic cap.


To get to the cutters, you first have to remove the spring-loaded frame.
It unlocks when you turn the knob in the center.


The frame mechanism has six springs to help the foils sit properly against your face. In my opinion, though, the springs are a little stiff—maybe I just need to get used to them.


The blades and foils have a fairly simple design.


The blades and foils compared.
The Philips design is clearly more complex, both for the blades and the foils.
After testing, I can say that the new shaver gives a slightly rougher shave. The foil metal is thicker and glides less smoothly, apparently because the foils are not polished as well.


And how could I resist taking it apart? :)

I won't post a photo of the shaving results, but not because I'm embarrassed. I just don't see the point, since I judge the quality of a shave by touch, by how smooth the result feels, rather than by how it looks.
But I'll show you a photo of it in my hand after all :)


Summary.
Pros
The shaver works quite well.
In practice, battery power has proved quite convenient.
Fast charging
Good build quality.

Cons
Ni-MH battery; a lithium one would be better.
The battery isn't removable, so replacing it means taking it to someone who knows how to use a soldering iron.
It really needs a case or pouch.

My opinion. I've been shaving for about 25 years, so I have plenty of experience.
In my personal opinion, of course, this shaver isn't perfect and has its drawbacks: it uses a nickel-metal hydride battery and is fairly noisy (I didn't list that as a con because it's all relative). Still, it does its job very well, and I have no complaints about how it works.
Yes, it shaves a little worse than the Philips, a bit more roughly, and doesn't glide as well over the skin, but it doesn't irritate my neck, which sometimes happened with the Philips.

The gearbest store gave me a discount on the shaver and its blades in exchange for writing a review. I needed a shaver anyway, and I was interested in comparing them.

I hope this review is useful. Thanks for reading :)