Philips Norelco Qt4070/41 Turbo Vacuum Beard Trimmer Review

by Chris Glasner

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Philips Norelco Qt4070 Turbo Vacuum Beard, Stubble and Moustach Trimmer Pro, Black/silver

Retail Price: $59.99

Amazon Price: $50.99

I have reasonably high expectations for this beard trimmer. Being the newest and only beard trimmer released in 2010 by Panasonic Norelco, it’s supposed to be the latest high-tech beard/mustache trimmer that’s a step up from the older beard trimmer models. But as we all know, newer isn’t necessarily better. Does the Philips Norelco Qt4070/41 Turbo Vacuum Beard Trimmer live up to all the hype and is it really a beard trimmer you should use? How does it compare to other beard trimmers? That’s what this review will talk about. I’ve been using the QT4070 for the past few months and I’ve gotten a pretty idea of how it matches up to other trimmers on the market.

So far, I think it’s an excellent beard trimmer with some cool features not seen on other beard trimmers. It’s also extremely well built, it doesn’t feel like something that would break down in 6 months so that’s always a plus factor in my books. Before I get down to the nitty gritty and talk about my experience with this trimmer over the past few months though, let’s take a look at the specs.

The Philips Norelco Qt4070/41 was specifically designed to meet the needs of stubble lovers. It features 18 different secured length settings ranging from 1mm to 18mm (1/32” to 23/32”), which means you can keep as much or as little stubble as you like. It also includes a built in vacuum that delivers a mess free trimming experience. And thanks to the turbo power boost button, you’ll be able to plow through even the thickest, wiriest facial hair with ease.

My Experience with the Philips Norelco Qt4070/41

In the past, the only way I could achieve the perfect stubble look I was after was to shave my entire face clean and wait for it to regrow. After two or three days, it would grow out to the length I wanted, but then I’d have to shave it off again once it got longer than I liked, and I’d have to repeat the process again. If I wanted to look my best at a special event or date, I’d have to plan on shaving a few days before so that I had time to regrow my stubble back to the perfect length. It was a real PITA!

Fortunately, the Philips Norelco Qt4070/41 solves that problem completely. Now I can keep my ideal stubble length day in, day out. No more shaving clean and waiting for my stubble to regrow. I can keep it looking perfect all the time. Best of all, because it has 18 different length settings, I can experiment and go longer or shorter whenever I want, and still get an even look every single time. Try doing that with scissors!

Surprisingly, this beard trimmer isn’t as loud as the other ones I’ve tried. It’s relatively quiet unless you turn on the turbo mode, which makes it noticeably louder. It charges rather quickly and probably takes only an hour to go from an empty charge to a full charge. A full charge can last you for a week if you’re only using it briefly for a quick stubble trim everyday.

The battery level and trim setting is shown on the LCD display, which is useful and there’s also a travel-lock capability that allows you to prevent the trimmer from being turned on accidentally while its in your bag. Cool.

Now let’s talk about the vacuum. Does it work and is it just for show? Well, it works… to a certain extent. It picks up hair but not every hair that’s left behind. Also, if you’re trimming a long beard into a short stubble, expect to empty the vacuum canister multiple times during the trim because it just isn’t built to hold a lot of hair.

On the other hand, if you’re using this purely as a stubble, mustache and short beard trimmer… the vacuum will be sufficient enough to pick up the volume of hair left behind. However, there will be small strands of hair that the vacuum will miss. This is pretty much inevitable in all shavers or trimmers with built-in vacuums so it’s not something to be alarmed about.

Personally I’m not too concerned about the vacuum since it does its job well enough. The Philips Norelco QT4070 is a fine beard trimmer. It’s nice to hold, well designed and it trims brilliantly without hurting your skin. Definitely an upgrade from previous Philips Norelco Trimmer models.

Pros

Vacuum keeps trimmed hair from flying everywhere
Turbo mode for really thick stubble
Smooth, clean trim every time
18 different length settings with LCD readout
No painful pulling or yanking, ouch!

Cons

No travel case, but that’s not really a deal breaker for me because I had several lying around already
Vacuum doesn’t work perfectly all the time – yes, it doesn’t pick up everything.

How is the Philips Norelco QT4070 different from the Philips Norelco QT4021?

I’ve used the Philips Norelco QT4021 Stubble trimmer for years before I upgraded to the Philips Norelco QT4070 Trimmer because there are notable improvements over the older model. Here are the key differences:

More length setting options. The QT4070 has 18 length settings while the QT4021 has only 9 settings.
More precise length setting. The QT4070 has a length setting range of 0.5 to 18mm while the QT4021 is 1 to 18mm.
Vacuum. The QT4070 has a vacuum and the QT4021 has no vacuum.
LED display. QT4070 has a multifunctional LED display and the QT4021 has no LED display.
Better battery power. The QT4070 uses a Li-ion battery while the QT4021 uses a NiMH battery. This means a running time of 50 minutes vs 35 minutes. Big difference.

The Bottom Line

Part of me LOVES shiny new gadgets and I can’t help buying them. The other part of me is wary about shiny new beard trimmers because they may not work as well as my trusty and reliable old trimmers. The part that loves the new won out and I bought this product based on that. It was a gamble but it paid off because I think the Philips Norelco QT4070 is indeed better than the older Philips Norelco trimmers I’ve tried.

Having used it on a daily basis and compared it to other beard trimmers, here’s my conclusion: I fully recommend the QT4070 without any reservation. This may just be the best beard trimmer in the market now. Until something better comes out that is…

Alert: Amazon.com is now offering free shipping for this product so grab it while you can!

Click here to get the Philips Norelco Qt4070/41 Turbo Vacuum Beard Trimmer Pro from Amazon.com