HQ8 Dual Precision Replacement Heads for Philips Norelco Shavers, OEM HQ8/52

I purchased these for my razor, however I can not get the outside heads out of the old razor to even use them. I thought that I was purchasing a complete shaver head with the new razor heads installed as per the description however that is not what I received. I do not want to break the existing plastic head support by attempting to remove the old outer heads. I have gone through the instructions that came with the razor however they do not tell you anything regarding this step in the process. At present I can not even use these heads and my old ones that came with the razor are over a year old and in need of immediate change. I need help and proper instructions.

84 years old, use in my Philips Aquatec shaver that has been working well for many years. Will see how this new blade design works.

This replacement set is far better than the other set I bought two years ago. This set has the lift and cut just like the original set that came with the razor.

I have been using my Norelco shaver for over 5 years so decided it was well past time to replace the blade heads. So, I ordered these HQ8 Dual Precision Replacement Heads for Philips Norelco Shavers, OEM HQ8/52 which I believe to be original manufacturer's replacement parts. First the favorable comment. They were quick and easy to install. Now the rest of the story. The first time I tried to shave with the new heads was a very painful experience. The blades grabbed and pulled more hair than they cut. It seamed to take forever to finish that first shave. I have read other places that new heads needed time to break in. Also the original manual that came with the shaver said that it might take a week or two to get used to the shaver. After a month with little improvement I tried rotating the heads. Again this was recommended in the manual that came with the shaver. Well, It has now been over two months that I have suffered with these new heads. Even though they were 5 years old I wish I had my old heads back. With these new heads it takes three or four times longer to shave than it did with the original blade heads. These new ones still pull almost as many hairs as they cut which is quite painful and when I finally finish, instead of a nice smooth shave my face feels like a piece of course sandpaper and there are quite a few stragglers (whiskers that did not get cut). I don't know if Phillips has outsourced to an incompetent subcontractor or if this particular set of heads just slipped by quality control but whatever the case I can not recommend this item. Looks like it is time to find a new shaver and it won't be Phillips Norelco.

I've experienced this before with replacement blades so I wanted to throw my experience out there for others. There seems to be a one or two-week "break-in" period where the blades don't seem to cut too close and will often painfully pull and tug my beard, particularly if I haven't shaved in more than two or three days. I recommend that you shave more often (every 1 or 2 days) at first and try not to get it to shave too close. After this time period, they seem to work very well.

There's lots of 'asian clones' in this product category, and I'm NOT sure about THIS one. The box looks authenthic, says made in Netherlands. However, these are made differently from my previous Norelco blades....the parts assembly on the blade set is different visually. These are sharp, BUT there is a tendency to grab and pull some hairs each time I use it. It does shave very close...so close, that I sometimes get a 'razor burn' on my face that lasts a couple hours. I really wanted to make these work....but they are different from my old blades, and 'hurt' often enough over my 2 week trial, that i decided to send them back...which I very rarely do. Maybe THIS set was defective, or maybe they are clones in a really good copy of a box... I don't know for sure. Some like these, some don't. I couldn't comfortably use them. Sorry, I hate writing bad reviews.

They arrived on time, was easy to install, and was made in the Netherlands so far should be the same as came with the razor. If I let my beard grow a little they pull at the whiskers. I am not sure if I just got a bad set, but will use for awhile longer. If they give me too much trouble will get a new set of blades. It is too bad that we cannot get a decent replacement blades for a great shaver.

Horrible at first. If you put the whole unit in -- the wire mesh outer covering and the blades -- the shaver snags on your hair and pulls...ouch! bad experience shaving...the worst.I was about to write a totally horrible review, and then I thought of putting the new blades in the old wire mesh shaver heads--that worked fine, and I got a closer, smoother shave without snags and pulls on hairs.My analysis is that the actual blades are good quality, but the outer wire mesh shaving head is not.So, I am satisfied with the buy....cheaper than buying the whole unit--good for another year, but the outer mesh unit should have been good quality, and it wasn't.