Philips Norelco Replacement Head for Series 7000 (SensoTouch 3D) and Arcitec

I read many very negative comments before deciding to go the less expensive route and ordering this replacement head for my Norelco 1250X 8000 series electric razor. But, I thought, I'll try this replacement as there were slightly more positive comments than negative ones. Also, I could always bite the bullet and spring for the more expensive one if this one didn't work out. My razor is about 6 months old. However, my beard is very thick and it got to the point that it was taking me about 20-30 minutes to get a decent shave. I wanted to continue to use the Norelco and not revert to my safety razor because after a couple of neck surgeries, I had some rather bothersome scars. It had gotten to the point that I was turning myself into a rather messy "self-sacrifice" every time I shaved with my safety razor. Also, I had spent a bunch of money on this razor and I wanted to get more use out of it. Once my replacement head arrived, I immediately installed it on my razor. After splashing on some pre-shave lotion and letting it dry, I fired-up the Norelco. As I mentioned earlier, it had gotten to the point that I was taking 20-30 minutes to get a clean, smooth shave. With the new head, I was done in 10 minutes and it was a closer and smoother shave than I had ever received with the original Norelco head; even when the razor was brand new! Some complained that the replacement head didn't fit their razor. It fit mine perfectly. Some people complained that it was more noisy to use the replacement head. I can agree with that somewhat. But, I'm shaving, not trying to go to sleep. It's NOT that much more noisy. The ads for this replacement head claims a closer cut. I'm here to say, that claim is very valid. I've NEVER gotten as close a shave from any electric razor I've ever owned as the shave I got from my Norelco with this replacement head. Some complain about the individual floating heads not opening up, individually, for cleaning, as is the case with the OEM head. With this replacement head, the top comes off so all three floating heads are exposed for cleaning, at the same time. Other reviewers complain about the replacement head being made of plastic. I see their point, to a point. But, thus far, I don't see a reduction in quality. And, for ⅓ the cost of the original replacement head and a far, far closer shave, I would'nt care if the head were made of aluminum and wax paper; as long as it does what I want it to do. Norelco has been around for as long as I've been. I can still remember their TV commercials with Santa riding a sled of "floating heads" over the snow, in black and white, no less. One needs to realize that Norelco needs to produce a product that will compete with the rest of the market. And, if they can do that by using a different material(s), sell it for far less money and still have a high quality product, they will do it. Plus, if they allowed their quality to fall, they know they will lose their edge (no pun intended) and eventually all of their customers. Of course, this is just my opinion, based on my experience. I'm not trying to down-play those who have negative experiences with the replacement head. For those who had bad experiences, I would ask them to contact Norelco and discuss the issue with them. There may be a practical explanation as to why their experiences were negative. _________________________ Update: 3/15/15 After using the RQ12+ for about 6 weeks, I can report that it's still performing satisfactorily. I shave about every other day and take the razor head apart once a week for cleaning. I break-down the head into its 10 component parts, wash each, individually, under warm tap water, allow them to dry, reassemble the components and reapply the razor head to the razor. There is a noticeable difference in the closeness of a shave, the longer one goes between cleaning. Once the blades are cleaned, it's like shaving with a new razor. Admittedly, I do miss the pop-up feature of the original blade assembly. But, upon figuring out the trick to disassembling, then reassembling the razor head, after cleaning, I'm not so sure that the design replacement head doesn't allow for a better job of cleaning the razor blades. The "trick" with disassembling, then reassembling the razor head lies with realizing that once the cover is removed, flip it over in your palm and be looking at it from its underside. From there, you can use your fingernails to rotate the orange retaining clips counter-clockwise, then lift them out of the way. Next, using your fingernail, pick out the razor blade from the blade cover. Next, using your finger, from underneath the cover (remember, you're looking at the assembly upside-down), push the blade cover out of its hole in the 3-blade assembly. Repeat this process for each of the 2 remaining blades. Now, clean each component. I use warm, running tap water, from my bathroom sink. Be sure to close the drain or place some sort of strainer over the drain so as to not lose any parts down the drain. Should there be any any residual left, I use an old toothbrush to remove it. Allow the parts to dry and reassemble the razor head by reversing the procedure. the parts are interchangeable! So don't worry about which component came off of which razor blade. NOTE: WHEN TAKING THE RAZOR HEAD ASSEMBLY APART, NOTE THAT THERE ARE NOTCHES ALONG THE EDGES OF EACH RAZOR HEAD COVER. ALSO, THERE ARE TABS ON THE ASSEMBLY COVER AND ON EACH RAZOR COVER. BE SURE TO ALIGN THE NOTCHES WITH THE TABS IN EACH CASE. OTHERWISE, YOU'LL NOT BE ABLE TO REALIGN THE COMPONENTS AND THEY WILL NOT FIT TOGETHER PROPERLY. Next, drop one of the circular blades into each razor cover. Be sure to place the cutting edges against the inside of the razor cover. Otherwise, the blades will be upside down when reattached to the razor and not cut anything. The final step is to reinstall the Orange retainer rings onto each razor. Again, align the notches on the retainer rings with the tabs on the razor covers. Rotate the retainer rings clockwise until they snap into place. Not much force is needed. It takes me about 15 minutes to disassemble, clean and reassemble my razor blades. It takes about 20 minutes for the parts to air-dry. So, roughly, 30 minutes total. Being as the razor is water-proof and can be used in the shower, waiting for the components to dry isn't really necessary. I just do it. Again, after a cleaning, my shave is just as good as any safety razor shave I've ever had.

Honestly, I was quite confused after reading all the negative and positive reviews, before buying this. However, I have been fond of my Philips Arcitec shaver and didn't want to give up on it, so I reached deeper in my pocket and bought the new replacement head RQ12+. After I started using it, I found most of my concerns melt in great functionality and quality of the product. Let's look at some of the concerns I had: - The newly redesigned head functions differently and opens and cleans differently. Will my shave be just as good as it used to be and will I be able to clean the head without taking too much time? You can view a demonstration video on how the three floating heads work now vs. in the past. I find the new design superior in its ability to adjust to the contours of my face. The combs (slotted metal parts of circular shape) move now in all directions in greater steps than before, making the shave more comfortable and closer. After cleaning you can pull off the top of the head and easily rinse it as well as the base, making the cleaning no more difficult than before. Extended cleaning is also recommended that is more involved and requires the removal of the combs with the rotating blades. Although still very simple, this is not something that needs to be done often. The cleaning of this sort is much more thorough than was EVER possible, so in my opinion, this is an added bonus and not something to gripe about. In comparison with the "flower like" RQ10 head I used to use on this shaver, the only inconvenience of the new model is the fact that you have to lay the top of the head that just got washed somewhere until it dries, instead of just flipping it open but still part of the shaver, as was the case with the prior model. -the redesigned comb now only have two tracks instead of three in the past. Will this extend the length of my shave and will it affect the closeness? Actually, the new design is more efficient. The outside track pattern hasn't changed much and works as before, but the inside has changed significantly for the better in my opinion. The new design now allows for easy trimming of longer non-compliant hair that took many passes in the past before they were sufficiently shortened to finally cut them off closely enough. The design of this pattern resembles Brown's center section of the foil and is designed to effectively catch and cut off the long hair in one pass. It works very well on this shaver and to me this is a big improvement in comparison to all past models. Now I feel I'm getting a close irritation free shave Norelco is famous for and I'm getting this shave in much shorter time than before, with no laying hair left behind! -The price. This is still an area of concern for me. I know from the manual included with the head, that eventually, the replacement combs and blades will be the replaceable parts, not the whole head, although we'll still be able to buy all the other parts of the head as they wear out. I hope that with time, the cost of the comb/rotational blade will come down to the level of the original replacements. -Quality. I really wasn't concerned about that part, and I didn't need to be. I'm not finding the quality has been lowered on this product compared with the previous generation of shaving head. OK, in conclusion, I'm glad I got this head and saved myself more than a $100 in buying a different brand razor. Although there is some slight adjustments in the way this head is used and cared for, the changes are well outweighed by the benefits of the new design providing a closer and a faster shave.

I was somewhat reluctant to purchase this replacement head after reading so many negative reviews regarding the new design, but now that I've received it and used it, I'm overall satisfied with the purchase. I'll go into a bit of detail in an attempt to clear some misconceptions of this product: THE DESIGN: The replacement head is identical to the head found on the new 9000 series razors, including using the newer V-track cutting blades. The V-track blades look like little V-shaped scoops which Norelco claims are better at grabbing and guiding flat-lying hair. Like the 9000 series, once you buy the RQ12/62 head, you can subsequently replace just the blades using the somewhat cheaper SH90/52 replacement heads. (The heads are advertised as working in just the 9000 series but the instruction sheet that comes with this replacement head confirms the SH90/52 heads are compatible). Many reviewers have posted negative responses to the fact that the heads no longer flip up to allow for easy cleaning. Instead, the top of the head assembly pops off and the individual razor blades can be detached for cleaning by using an included orange plastic key. Initially I was put off by this change, but now that I've seen it in action after several uses it's grown on me. While the flip up heads seemed elegant, they were somewhat impractical for sink cleaning. In the old design, both the blades and the rotor shafts flipped up, creating deep wells that didn't always rinse clean with water from the sink. My old razor head easily got gunked up with stubble that didn't rinse away between manual cleanings. Getting to the blades required carefully opening a second metal hinge on the underside of the flip-up head which wasn't always easy to do. The new design, while less elegant in appearance, seems to actually be better for day to day cleaning. The rotor shafts remain attached to the main body of the razor and the area around the blades is shallower and seems to rinse the stubble away under the sink more effectively than the old design. Since I shave dry, I can also much more easily just tap out the loose stubble into the sink after each shave and I notice it comes out much more cleanly than in my old flip-up head. Overall I think the new design is a slight improvement. Yes it's less elegant (and feels less sturdy) than the previous design, but in practicality I think I'm able to much more effectively clean the razor and it's not a chore to pop the head off compared to flipping up the heads. SHAVE QUALITY: The new razor performs as well if not better than the original head of this razor. I can't give much comment as to whether the new V-track blades are any better than the UltraTrack blades in the original design, if only because my previous blades were so dull that my basis for comparison is stale. I use Williams Lectric Shave as a prep and it provided a smooth, comfortable and very close, especially on the neck. OVERALL: I'm satisfied with this product overall and am only taking a star off because both the razor head and the SH90/52 replacement heads are still significantly more expensive than the replacement blades for any previous Norelco model. Still, the new design is practical and effective once you get used to the changes and the shave quality was excellent. Hopefully Norelco standardizing on the SH90 blades across multiple products that will help drive down the price.

The big label on the box says RQ12+, but on the bottom by the barcode it is identified as RQ 12/62, still made in the Netherlands. This is the same Shaving head used on the new top of the line Philips Norelco 9700 series. The main difference in the new series is a 3 speed setting base with enhanced digital setting displays. Kudos to Philips for offering the new "improved" head for older models like the SensoTouch 3D and the arcitec. Whether it is better that the old RQ 12/52, only time will tell. The Philips Norelco upgrade from the SpeedXL's to the Arcitec, was a disaster, with shave quality going down, according to most Consumer magazine reviews. I kept my SpeedXL with the HQ9 three row heads, until I saw the SensoTouch 3D getting good reviews. Here are my observations on the RQ12+. I thought the new head was noisy, until I firmly pressed the head onto the base, now the noise is about like the old head. The shave seems about the same, but like all Norelco's it will take about 2 weeks for the blades/cutters to properly seat in the combs. I'll update my opinion after the break-in period. The top portion with the three cutting heads can be easily removed or unsnapped from any of the three sides. You DON'T NEED TO REMOVE the individual blades to clean the head. Just tap it if dry shaving or rinse it if wet shaving. Just because you could easily remove the blades from the old 3D, didn't mean you should. Historically Norelco shavers have used plastic retaining rings to hold their cutting heads in place and it looks like they have returned to this concept. As in days of old, you will use the included orange tool to replace the three individual heads (SH90) rather than the entire head assembly. I like the new pivot assembly, where the 3 silver rings pivot rather that the old black plastic head sections. It feels & works the same in terms of shaving. Look at the Philips Norelco 9700 series on Amazon if you want a detailed look at the new head. Finally a comment about dry shaving, from a guy that has been doing it for a long time, from Remington Rand slot heads to Braun foils to these wonderful rotaries. Dry shaving is very convenient if done right. Wash your face with soap & water to remove skin oils & plump the hairs with moisture. Wait 5 to 10 minutes for your skin to really dry out before shaving. I use the period to make my morning coffee etc. I know wet shaving is nice, but if I'm going to use foam or a gel, I'd just as soon use a razor blade. Hope this info is helpful for all of you considering this replacement head. UPDATE: After 3 weeks use, these blades have broken in nicely. Shave is even better!

After reading so many negative reviews about the RQ12+ replacement shaver head, and a handful of positive reviews, I didn't want to believe that Norelco had ruined my great SensorTouch 3D 1250x shaver, wiped out the $220 investment I made 3 years ago and forced me into the arms of a competitor. But they did. I should mention that I always shave in the shower and use shaving foam. My beard is relatively light and grows every which-way, so regardless of the shaver it takes several passes to get a close shave. About 10 years ago or so I tried several different electric shaver models, including one Norelco, and they all failed in the shower due to water leakage. And they didn't shave very close. I spent the next decade shelling out big bucks for the various Gillette Fusion upgrades, including the powered models, and ever-more expensive blades. Got a close shave but got nicked a lot, too. Finally, I found the Norelco SensorTouch 3D 1250x. What a great razor! It worked flawlessly in the shower -- water simply can't get inside the mechanism. The shave was nearly as close as the Fusion blades. And the cleaning system was excellent. I felt that I'd finally found the answer. I don't shave every day, so the first head lasted 18 months. I replaced it with another RQ12/52 and the shave continued to be excellent. 18 months later, I couldn't buy the RQ12/52 anymore, except at outrageous prices -- some greater than what I paid for the 1250x shaver and cleaning system. I read the RQ12+ reviews with some trepidation, but there were enough positive reviews to give the new head a shot The first time I used the RQ12+, I thought it was better than the negative reviews indicated. But the more I shaved with the RQ12+ them more I noticed that the shaver was missing a lot of area on each pass and it was taking more and more passes to get a close shave. Some specifics: The RQ12+ head couldn't deal with the heaviest part of my beard, the upper lip and chin. The shave was never close and I couldn't get all the way to the nostrils. Didn't have either problem with the RQ12/52. Also, I frequently got an ingrown hair near the corner of my upper lip. It was in nearly the same spot every time. Had to pull it out with tweezers. I guess the hair wants to flop over and grow down, and the RQ12+ head couldn't lift it up. I decided to put up with this for at least a month to make sure it wasn't just a case of my beard and shaving style needing to adjust to the new heads. In fact, I did better than that -- I used the RQ12+ for three months. But the shave never improved and I finally gave up. It was hard to flush $220 down the drain, but I'd had enough. I did a bunch of research and bought the Braun Series 7 799CC-6WD CC4 Wet & Dry Shaver: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BWRLJ6O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00 I couldn't be more pleased with the Braun 799CC. The shave is actually closer than the Norelco 1250x with the RQ12/52 head. Smooth as a straight razor, but without the nicks. I can go more days without shaving than I could before. What really surprises me is how even the shave is. My beard never grew back so evenly with the Norelco. The Braun 799CC works great in the shower and the cleaning/charging system is better than the Norelco. So, even though I'm disappointed and angry at having my investment wiped out, I'm glad to have found a better shaver. Very bad call, Norelco.

No, you do not need to buy a new razor. The RQ12+ is not the disaster the one-star reviews imply. It is far from perfect–see below–and may not be due five starts, which I gave to offset some of the one-star reviews that are over the top. I have only shaved twice with the RQ12+ on my series 8000 and the quality of the shave is the same. The place under my nose is still hard to reach to get all my mustache. The stubble on my neck that is hard to clean shave is still hard to clean shave. And the parts of my beard that are easy to shave are still easy to shave. Given that it is supposed to take three or four weeks to break it in, it may turn out to shave better. The Norelco shaver is a very inconvenient shaver to use in the first place and the RQ12+ has made that worse. Instead of opening up the blades, rinsing them, and then leaving them open to dry, the RQ12+ must be removed from the razor to be cleaned. You are supposed to use hot water, but unlike the original blades, you must get your hands wet to rinse the blades, so–and this is a warning they put in the packaging–you must make sure the water is not too hot. Once you have rinsed the blades you are told to air dry them, but your choices are to put them back on the razor (shielding one side from air flow) or lay them on a surface (shielding one side from air flow and requiring someplace to put them where they will not get knocked around and damaged). Once a month you are told to disassemble the blades one at a time (to avoid getting them mixed up which requires re-breaking them in) and clean each one. To do that they give you a little orange plastic tool. Assuming you do not lose the tool, you have to use it to disassemble one blade, clean it, let it dry, and re-assemble it. Then repeat that whole process two more times. Although there is no mention of it in the instructions (and I use that word loosely), if you have the little cleaning system, you can use it. I assume it does as good a job as the once-a-month cleaning. If you are thinking about getting a new razor anyway, I recommend you go with a Braun. I used Braun for years and tried the Norelco to see if I like to shave wet. I have found that having wet shave available is not something I need. The Norelco is much less convenient to travel with. The Braun fits in a case about the size of a hard-shell glasses case. The shave quality is close enough, the differences are subjective. The Norelco is quieter, although the RQ12+ makes it noisier and has a metal on metal sound. My wife says I shave faster with the Norelco, but I haven't noticed.

Because of the plethora of negative reviews I waited three weeks and over 20 shaves with the new blades before writing this review. In some ways I think the negativity is overblown ,in others ,totally justified. Whats OK: 1) the new system cleans easy and well, just different from the original system.In some ways it is a throwback to the way the older and cheaper XL's cleaned. It takes a little longer to remove the blades from the head, and yes you get your hand wet holding them under the hot water , and yes you need to let them dry before you return them to the head. But so what really. They clean well and just as quickly as the originals. 2) Yes they are a little noisier than the original system, but not to the point of being an intrusion to the music on the radio , and it is not an unusual or irritating noise. It sounds like , well, an electric shaver. 3) The shave at first was not as good as the original head/blades.However after a couple of weeks and paying some attention to what I was doing ,it got to be acceptable and in fact comparable to the shave with the original head/blades. But with a couple of caveats. It takes longer to get the same result and requires more pass overs with the razor. Whats Not So OK : 1) The shave is not nearly as comfortable and smooth . I never noticed a feeling of pulling or tearing whiskers with the original blade system, I do with this one .Just not the same smooth, comfortable shave. 2)Battery life is shortened because the shave takes longer .3) The new system looks bulky ,cumbersome sitting on the head of my senso touch 1250X . Whats Unacceptable : What I find unacceptable and utterly inexplicable is Philips/Norelcos' complete disregard for its customer base and their obvious dissatisfaction with the new blades and the way they have been foisted on the customers. What was done was essentially a major change to the design and operation of a very popular product. Seems to me that from a purely "customer satisfaction " point of view Norelco at a minimum should have left the option to continue to buy the original head/blade system for those that wanted to do so .They didn't and so the only way to get the original-system replacements is to pay astronomical prices to merchants , for what was already an expensive system. If Norelco had continued to make the original system available as an option of choice we would not see the price gouging that is going on .I think Philips/Norelco owed that to its customer base. I will continue to use the shaver,with the new blades.Hopefully the replacement blades will be reasonably priced when I need them because they will not come with a base, it will be just the shaving blades. But I will never feel the same loyalty and comfort I have in the past when purchasing a Philips or Norelco product, given the way they have treated their customers in this fiasco. And I will give much more attention to whatever competitive product is out there. Update 4/29/2015 ,after thinking more about my dissatisfaction with the new blades I asked myself why I was putting up with mediocrity in the shaving experience and the shaving result . Answer, because I have always used Norelco shavers . Not much of a reason to suffer mediocrity every morning 365 days a year is it ? I went on line ,did a lot of research on alternative electric shavers, wound up focusing on Braun , Series 5 & Series 7 . Got one of each to try and wound up keeping the Series 7 ,which I plan to review on the proper web page for that product. The point however is that I am now again satisfied with my shaving experience ,and the daily shaving result , Perhaps that is what we should all do, move on to another product,and perhaps Philips/Norelco will get the message going forward.

I have had the new RQ12+ for several months now and have waited to make sure that this product is given a fair review. This is a great replacement to the original RQ12 razor head, which has been discontinued. All of the complaints about poor quality, tugging on your beard, loud noises, the razor losing its sharpness after a few weeks, etc. etc., is simply not true. In a nut shell, here are the "Joe Friday" facts: Pros: 1. Very sharp blades. 2. Excellent pivoting action of each razor head, despite the fact that the three heads are seated as one unit on the pod. Each blade assembly pivots quite well and independent of each other. 3. The blades are very sharp and remain sharp even after three months of use with a heavy beard. 4. Cleaning is easy and more thorough then the previous RQ12 head. The entire 3-blade assembly unit pops off to be cleaned under hot running water, then simply snapped back on. 5. The blades are very sharp, resulting in no pulling or tugging. If there is pulling or tugging of your beard, you are using too much pressure. A light touch is all that is necessary. 6. The sharp blades and excellent pivoting action result in a comfortable shave and smooth skin. Hint: Use Williams Lectric shave. Cons: 1. A little more noisy than the RQ12. Why? Because its cutting more hair. 2. A little cheaper looking plastic. 3. No more hinges on the blade assembly for cleaning. You must now remove the entire head assembly, but this means the cleaning is now more thorough. The cosmetic issues are relevant to a great shave.

Many, many reviews slate this for being not as good as the previous head Phillips made. After using it for 6 months I would have to disagree. It's simple enough to clean (although different to the older head), it cuts well and absolutly handles longer hairs better than before. My only issue is that it does tend to require MORE FREQUENT cleaning than the other one.

Remplace parfaitement la tête d’origine. Emballage souple sans marque apparente Philips. Curieux mais semble être une pièce de rechange d’origine fabricant tout de même.

Nach 4 Wochen endlich da,ich hoffe sowas kommt nur selten vor.

Great product .. slightly better than previous models... the only "negative" is that the blades don't come close to the edges as in previous models so close to the nostrils for example, it became a challenge!

Buen producto, lastima que no siempre se tenga en existencia dentro de la tienda, espero se tenga más ofertas de compra