Remington PR1335B (R3000 Series) Review: Is It Any Good?

The R3000 Series (PR1335B) is one of the more popular models in Remington’s current lineup of rotary shavers.

With an affordable price and a decent set of features, this shaver seems like a compelling option if you’re looking to buy an inexpensive rotary razor.

But is it actually any good?

Well, I bought the Remington PR1355B R3000 Series and in this review, I’ll be sharing everything you need to know after using it as my main shaver for a couple of weeks.

Even though the R3000 Series undercuts the competition regarding the cost — at least for the initial purchase — you still don’t want to spend money on a cheapie if it won’t give you a decent shave.

So before pulling the trigger, make sure to read my review and also check out the other options at the end.

You’ll have a far better chance of buying a suitable budget razor for your needs.

With that out of the way, let’s quickly see what this Remington has to offer.

Side note: The European version of this shaver is called the Remington R3000 Style Series R3 and it’s a corded-only shaver. Other than that, it’s identical to the PR1355B.

Remington PR1335B features

1. 3-blade PrecisionPlus Heads

Like the vast majority of today’s rotary razors, the Remington R3000 Series features a shaving system comprised of three cutting heads.

One such cutting head is basically a metal guard with slits and holes for the hairs to poke through and a rotary blade that spins inside the guard.

The heads fitted to the R3000 Series feature two concentric rows of blades (Remington calls them Twintrack Blades).

As a comparison, the Philips shavers that compete directly with the R3000 Series have only a single track of blades, which in theory should give the Remington an advantage.

We’ll see later on in the performance section how this pans out.

2. Active Contour head

Most rotary shavers feature some kind of flexible shaving head in order to keep the guards flat on the skin for effective cutting.

The Remington PR1335B comes with one of the more basic implementations of this.

Precisely, the plastic holders in which the cutters sit can only flex inward, but not independently, meaning if you press one, the other two will mimic the same flexing action.

This is the so-called Active Contour feature.

As a side note, with Philips shavers, the cutters themselves also flex in addition to that, being mounted on these tiny springs inside the holders which are highly responsive.

You can see it in action in the animation below (the razor is a Philips Norelco Shaver 3800):

The Philips heads also stick out more from the plastic cradles compared to the ones on the Remington PR1335B, which helps the Philips shavers glide easier on the skin and shave more efficiently.

3. 40 minutes of cordless use

The Remington PR1335B R3000 Series is a cordless-only shaver, so you won’t be able to shave with the cord connected to a power outlet.

This is usually a limitation of wet/dry electric shavers.

However, the PR1335B is suitable for dry-only use, so it’s a bit odd that you can’t use it with the cord plugged in.

Since the shaver is also not waterproof, it means you won’t be able to wash it with water.

The rechargeable battery will provide around 40 minutes of cordless use on a single charge.

There are also a few caveats with the particular battery fitted to the Remington R3000 Series and I’ll explain everything in great detail in the battery section.

5. Stubble attachment

The Remington R3000 Series comes with a click-on stubble attachment you would use in order to get a stubble look.

For some reason, my unit did NOT include this accessory, even though it was even depicted on the box.

And I bought a brand new, unopened shaver.

So while I did not manage to get any hands-on experience with the stubble attachment, I’ll still share my thoughts on it in the performance section.

6. Warranty and using the shaver abroad

The Remington PR1335B R3000 Series comes with a 2-year limited warranty in the USA.

In Europe, you can get an additional year if you register your product on Remington’s EU website.

The included charger is fitted with a universal voltage converter (AC 100 – 240V), so you can use it anywhere in the world.

You may need a simple plug adapter though.

For example, I bought my review unit from the USA and since I live in Europe, I must use a USA to EU adapter.

Build quality and ergonomics

I think anyone planning to buy the Remington PR1335B should have realistic expectations regarding pretty much every aspect of it.

And that includes the build quality and any bells and whistles.

It’s a very basic, inexpensive rotary shaver and it really shows.

That said, the overall build quality and feel when holding it in hand are quite good.

It’s only when you take a close you’ll be able to spot where the compromises were made.

At only 156 grams (5.5oz) it’s also one of the lightest full-fledged shavers I’ve used so far.

The plastic body is solid and while it doesn’t look or feel premium, it’s not terrible by any means.

It is however quite slippery since there’s no rubber-like material for some extra grip.

There are both glossy and matte surfaces and the latter is surprisingly more slippery, like being coated in talcum powder.

That texturized part on the sides looks grippy, but it’s not. I got around this by gripping the shaver a bit lower than usual and that worked fine while I shaved.

The shaving unit has a flip-open lid which is always a nice feature to have as it makes cleaning easier.

You won’t have to pry it off the shaver with your fingernails.

That said, it’s not the best implementation I’ve seen.

Once you press the release button, the lid only pops up a bit, it doesn’t open fully as it does on Philips shavers (the 2000 and 3000 series), so you’ll have to further open it yourself.

But the more potentially serious issue is with the hinge — it’s just this wire that you force slide into a slot on the shaver:

I don’t know how long it’ll hold its shape if you constantly pull it in and out of the shaver.

And you probably will be doing that since the shaver is not waterproof, but you can actually rinse the detachable head with water.

But more on that later on.

The power button is basically a switch that you slide up in order to turn on the razor.

It does not feature a travel lock, unfortunately.

The battery indicator is just this tiny LED light right below the power switch that’s not of much help as you’ll see.

On the back of the Remington PR1335B we have a pop-up hair trimmer and a button that deploys it.

The charging port is located at the very bottom and it’s a Remington-specific connector.

Remington deserves props for making it easier for the user not to intermix the blades and guards.

These are matching pairs and mixing them will have a negative effect on the performance of the razor.

And it’s really easy to do that with most other rotary shavers when taking the heads apart for a deep clean or when replacing them with new ones.

Remington came up with a simple, but highly effective solution to prevent that.

Each of the three rotary blades has a plastic hub that matches the color of the corresponding guard (grey, black or blue).

It’s the only shaver I’ve come across that does this, so I can only applaud it and hope other manufacturers will follow suit.

Overall, the build quality and features of the Remington R3000 Series are in line with what you’d expect from a shaver at this price point.

If the shave also turns out to be good, I think we can let some of the negatives slide.

Included accessories

Here’s what you should be getting with the Remington PR1335B model:

• Electric shaver
• Charger
• *Stubble attachment
• User manual

This is one of the most basic bundles I’ve seen with any shaver.

There’s no cleaning brush, travel pouch, or protective cap.

*And in my case, I didn’t get the stubble guard either (which can double as a protective cap, to be honest).

I know the price is lower compared to this shaver’s main competitors, but I think a brush should have been included in the pack.

As mentioned at the beginning of the review, the Remington PR1335B is a dry-only shaver, so a brush is useful for cleaning the hair pocket — the shaver itself is not waterproof.

I personally can overlook the missing pouch and even the stubble guard as I don’t think the latter would have been particularly good.

Battery life and charging

The Remington R3000 Series is a dry-only model that can only work cordlessly for some reason.

The Philips Shaver 2300 for example is also a dry-only rotary, but you can also shave with it with the cord plugged into an outlet.

It’s a fallback solution for when the battery doesn’t hold a charge enough to complete a shave (after years of constant use).

The Remington PR1335B R3000 Series comes with a rechargeable battery that will provide 40 minutes of cordless use.

That’s not bad at all considering the price and what the competition has to offer.

The above-mentioned Philips will also last for around 40 minutes before needing to be charged. On the other hand, you can simply use that one while charging.

Getting back to the Remington, I didn’t track the battery life in the most accurate way, but I’d say it falls a bit short of the claimed 40 minutes.

Also, it dies pretty suddenly — you hear the motor slowing down and then after around one minute it stops completely.

Oh, and the LED doesn’t warn you when that’s about to happen.

It only glows while the shaver is charging, meaning it’s useless as a battery level indicator.

Remington lists a charging time of 16 hours for the PR1335B, which is outrageously long.

It does come with a really small charger, but that’s still no excuse.

Other razors also have compact chargers, but are able to go from 0 to full in less than one hour.

As mentioned above, that battery LED is pretty much useless.

It glows solid green when you plug the razor in and there’s no indication of when the charging is complete.

That’s right, it won’t even turn off after the required 16 hours of charging.

The manufacturer also recommends charging the PR1335B for 24 hours before the first use. I haven’t used such a device since the old days.

That leads me to believe the R3000 Series is fitted with an older type of battery (NiMH most likely considering the very slow charging) which does come with other drawbacks as well (apart from the long charging time).

First, there’s no quick charging function available.

Most modern shavers allow you to charge it for 3 or 5 minutes and get just enough juice for a quick shave.

But that’s only possible in the case of more modern batteries (Li-ion or Li-Polymer) and better electronics.

Second, NiMH batteries lose charge pretty quickly when the device is not being used and it drops quite abruptly during use (with no warning from the LED).

But the most inconvenient aspect is that you’ll have to discharge the battery completely through use in order to avoid the memory effect and prolong its life.

You cannot just plug it in whenever you want as you can with a Li-ion battery.

And make sure you do not overcharge it — you will need to remember to disconnect the cord after 16 hours because the LED won’t turn off.

Overall, the battery situation of the Remington PR1335B is not particularly good, with the long charging time and the inability to use the razor corded being the most significant drawbacks.

Shaving performance

Some entry-level razors that I’ve reviewed in the past actually managed to punch above their price tag, so let’s see if that’s also the case with the Remington R3000 Series.

The closeness of the shave

Overall, I’d say that the closeness of the shave with the R3000 Series was average at best.

And that’s while accounting for the fact that rotary razors can’t really shave as close as foil shavers.

But even for that relatively low bar, the performance of the Remington R3000 Series was pretty disappointing.

During my tests, it only managed to provide a reasonably close shave on the cheeks.

On my neck, chin and below the nose it was definitely not as good.

I could clearly feel some rough patches of hair after completing my shave, especially in areas where the stubble is thicker.

And the results were pretty consistent regardless of the length of the hair or whether I used a pre-shave lotion or not.

That only made a difference to the comfort of my shave and how effective was the razor at capturing the hairs, but more on that later on.

I’m not excessively demanding when it comes to closeness, but I do want a fairly close shave.

And in my case, the Remington PR1335B didn’t quite manage to deliver it.

I think there are better options out there for only slightly more money that will shave closer than the R3000.

And those options include both rotary and foil razors as we’ll see at the end.

Also, this Remington only works dry, so I couldn’t test whether a good shaving cream would’ve improved the closeness. I doubt it though.

Comfort

Unfortunately, things weren’t any better with the comfort of the shave.

The Remington R3000 Series proved to be quite a handful for me.

I do have sensitive and dry skin, so my experience with it may be different from yours.

This shaver was one of the least enjoyable rotaries I’ve used in the past few years, mainly because it would constantly snag some hairs and pinch the skin no matter how gentle I would be.

Even when moving the shaving head slowly and applying light pressure, there would be some painful pinches and even some bleeding.

This happened almost exclusively on the neck and chin.

The skin on my cheeks can take more abuse from shavers, so it was less of a problem there.

Again, you may find the comfort adequate if you don’t usually suffer from razor burn or post-shave irritation.

But at least in my case, it was pretty much impossible to use the Remington R3000 smoothly and without constantly interrupting my shave because of this pinching.

The experience was similar to using one of the older Philips Norelco rotaries that had the double-blade design (Super Lift & Cut).

Philips ditched them with the latest Series 9000 and the more premium variations (the Prestige line) in favor of a single-blade design which is a lot smoother and less aggressive.

Shaving a shorter beard with the Remington R3000 Series was better and it snagged the hairs less often, but it was still not a smooth and enjoyable shave.

And after shaving with a Philips Series 2000, that can definitely be achieved even with an inexpensive rotary.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with this Remington.

On the other hand, the shaving heads always remained cool to the touch — even after 10 minutes of use.

But if you need a gentle rotary, I think you should consider other options (I will list my picks at the end of the review).

Shaving longer hairs

As mentioned above, the Remington PR1335B R3000 Series was grabbier and more aggressive when shaving a longer beard.

In my case that would be around 3 days of growth.

If your skin can handle the discomfort better than mine, the shaver will be reasonably effective at catching the longer, flat-lying hairs.

I think a Philips Series 2000 and 3000 is better and also glides easier on the skin as the three cutting heads stick out more, making it easier and more enjoyable to shave these difficult hairs.

With the Remington R3000, the plastic holders touch the skin as well since the guards sit almost flush with them which increases the drag.

That also makes the circular motions a bit jittery, especially if you don’t use a pre-shave, but it’s not by any means as bad as with other rotaries.

If the hairs also grow in different directions, things get worse and you’ll have to work harder for a clean shave.

It’s especially obvious when shaving the neck — the shaving head of the aforementioned Philips shavers is definitely superior.

I think this also shows that despite the use of twin track blades (two concentric rows of blades), Remington just can’t achieve the same effectiveness.

The Philips rotaries are better even with a single track of slots per cutting head.

Pop-up trimmer

The hair trimmer on the Remington PR1335B is just plain bad.

There’s really no other way of saying this.

I think it’s the worst pop-up trimmer I’ve ever seen on an electric razor.

Even though it looked promising — it’s wide enough and sits high on the shaving head, using it is a whole different experience.

And it’s not a good one.

It’s very ineffective at cutting the hair close to the skin when trying to shape and tweak your sideburns and it also feels very rough and uncomfortable on the skin.

On top of that, it obstructs your view since it’s rather thick and the extremities of the blade don’t cut — the actual teeth start more inward.

Finally, the spring holding it upright is so weak that the trimmer falls back with minimal pressure, so you must hold the shaver upside down in order to use the trimmer.

So unfortunately, the trimmer on the Remington PR1335B is almost useless in practice.

In comparison, the pop-up trimmers on the Panasonic Arc 3 shavers are in a different league.

And on that note, Panasonic in general is way better than Philips and Braun when it comes to hair trimmers.

Stubble attachment

One of the selling points of this Remington is the stubble attachment that in theory transforms your shaver into a beard trimmer, allowing you to maintain a stubble look.

I didn’t get the chance to test its effectiveness since it was missing from the package, but based on my experience with various trimming and shaving tools I think I can at least try to review it.

And I’ll say it right off the bat, I don’t think it’s particularly good.

It’s basically a spacer that prevents the cutting heads from touching the skin, the same idea behind the different guards of a trimmer.

However, instead of shearing blades (which work perfectly fine at cutting the hair at a certain length), a rotary cutter is only effective (and comfortable) when held flat on the skin.

Otherwise, it will miss a lot of flat-lying hairs and it will definitely snag and pull some.

I honestly cannot see how this attachment would work reasonably well in the real world.

I definitely wouldn’t want to use a rotary shaver in that manner.

If you’re often alternating between a clean shave and a stubble beard, there are definitely better options out there.

A bit more expensive, but they actually work.

I will go over them in the last section.

Noise

During use, the Remington PR1335B remains fairly quiet.

I wouldn’t say it’s as hush as other affordable rotaries from Philips, but it’s still acceptable.

Key takeaway:

The Remington PR1335B (R3000 Series) didn’t manage to provide a reasonably good shave in terms of closeness and comfort. Moreover, it wasn’t as good as other shavers from the competition when used on longer facial hair.

Cleaning and maintenance

Most of today’s dry-only shavers are actually washable, which makes them very easy to clean with warm tap water.

Unfortunately, the Remington PR1335B is not waterproof, so you won’t be able to do that.

Instead, Remington recommends using a cleaning brush which they don’t include.

Side note: the box actually depicts a similar shaver being washed — please ignore it and do not wash it as your shaver will get irreversibly damaged.

Some other models in the PR line are washable, like the PR1340 and PR1360, but I guess Remington uses the same graphics for the PR1335B box which can be misleading.

However, while the PR1335B is not waterproof and you should absolutely not wash it with water, I see no reason why we shouldn’t detach the cutter head and only rinse that one with water.

In fact, that’s what I did most of the time.

Quick cleaning

Here’s what a typical quick clean looks like for the Remington PR1335B.

Once I finish shaving, I flip open the head and gently tap out the clippings trapped inside the hair pocket.

After that, I grab a small bush from one of my other shavers are remove any remaining hairs from the pocket.

For the shaving head, I detach it from the shaver by pulling it straight off, then give it a quick rinse with warm tap water.

Make sure you put the shaver somewhere safe and doesn’t get wet.

I shake off the excess water from the detached shaving head and let it air dry completely before attaching it to the shaver.

I find rinsing the shaving unit (again, NOT the shaver, just the detached head) a lot more effective and practical than trying to use the brush on it.

And that’s pretty much it. This is a quick clean you should be doing after every shave.

In-depth cleaning

Every once in a while you should be performing a more thorough clean.

Remington recommends once a week, but I think you can get away with doing it less often, like once every two weeks.

This procedure involves cleaning each cutter individually.

Luckily, it’s way easier to do it for the Remington R3000 Series compared to most other rotaries.

Here’s how it goes.

Flip open the head and remove it from the body of the shaver.

On the inside you’ll see the blue retainer that holds the three cutters in place.

Slide it down with your fingernail and it should pop right out.

Lift the retainer from the shaving head and you now have access to the three cutters.

Normally at this stage, you would be extra careful not to intermix the cutters and always match the cutter to its original guard.

In the case of this shaver, things are a lot simpler.

Each rotary blade has a unique color of the hub that matches the one on the corresponding guard.

You can now remove each cutter and give it a thorough rinse with warm water.

Rinse the guards as well since the shaving unit is detached from the main body of the shaver.

Unlike most rotaries, the PR1335B has the guards bolted to the shaving unit, so they cannot be removed.

This also means that when it’s time to replace the cutters, the whole flip-open head will be replaced.

It’s easier and less fiddly, but also a bit wasteful. Moreover, this likely increases the price of the replacement head.

Once you’ve cleaned everything from any grime and hairs, it’s time to put the blades back into their matching guards and lock them in place with the blue bracket.

You must slide it up this time until you hear a click and it stays firmly in place.

Let it air dry completely before attaching it to the shaver with the spring hinge.

Lubrication

Remington also recommends lubricating the cutters every week.

For that you would need a highly refined mineral oil.

Unfortunately there’s no lubricant included with the R3000 Series, but you can use any clipper oil.

These are cheap and highly effective.

I recommend the Oster Blade Lube or the Wahl Clipper oil.

With the shaving head completely dry, apply one or two drops of oil on the outside of each cutter, then turn the shaver on for around 5 seconds.

Gently wipe any oil excess with a paper tissue and you’re all set.

The hair trimmer should be lubricated only once every 6 months.

Remington PR1335B replacement head

As mentioned above, the Remington PR1335B R3000 Series uses a shaving head that doesn’t allow you to remove the guards.

When the blades become blunt and can’t cut effectively anymore, you would need to replace the whole shaving head.

The replacement head for the Remington PR1335B is called SPR-PR13 and includes everything: guards, blades, plastic holders and hinge.

Remington SPR-PR13 Replacement Head

See the price on Amazon

It’s basically the entire flip-open head unit you would detach from the shaver for cleaning.

Because it comprises everything, it’s not exactly cheap.

In comparison, a set of three rotary cutters for the Philips Series 2000 usually costs less.

Fun fact: the areas surrounding the blades are supposedly coated with an anti-microbial compound to help inhibit the growth of bacteria according to Remington.

There’s really no way to objectively verify that, especially if you clean the shaver regularly.

The shaving head of the R3000 Series should be replaced once every 12 months, but in practice that can vary a lot.

Rotary blades usually last more than foil cutters, so provided you clean and lubricate your shaver properly, you could get more out of a shaving head.

Should you buy the Remington PR1335B (R3000 Series)?

Considering all the pros and cons of this shaver, along with the alternatives, I find it very difficult to recommend it to anyone.

The Remington PR1335B just proved to be underwhelming in pretty much every aspect that matters.

While there have been some decent foil shavers from Remington during the past 10 years or so, the rotaries just don’t seem to match the performance and capabilities of the competition.

In the case of the PR1335B (R3000 Series), the closeness and comfort of the shave just weren’t good enough, even for an entry-level rotary razor.

On top of that, there’s the battery situation and the sub-par hair trimmer.

The purchase price of the shaver is lower than what the competition has to offer, but the pricier replacement head means the advantage will be gone as your cost of ownership will be higher.

Finally, there are better options out there for roughly the same price.

So let’s check out some of them.

(Better) alternatives

The first and the most obvious one would be the Series 2000 from Philips Norelco.

Precisely, the Shaver 2300 and Shaver 2100.

Philips Norelco Shaver 2300

See the price on Amazon

These razors shave closer and are a lot more comfortable. The performance on longer, flat-lying hairs is also noticeably better.

The replacement heads are cheaper and will likely last longer.

You can get the 2300 at a discount for roughly the same price as the Remington R3000 Series.

You’ll end up with a better shaver that also works corded, is fully waterproof and takes around 6 hours to fully charge.

The Shaver 2100 is even cheaper, the only difference compared to the 2300 being a slightly smaller battery (30 minutes of use). But that one will also work corded.

If you need a cheap, basic rotary that can get the job done, I think the Philips Series 2000 will be a much better option.

Finally, if you need a stubble guard or a way to trim your beard when you don’t want a clean shave, you’ll probably have to either get a separate (cheap) trimmer like the Philips OneBlade or get a shaver that comes with a decent beard attachment.

The one included with the Remington PR1335B is not up to the task in my opinion.

The Braun Series 5 (with models like the 5020cs) is on the other hand a lot more capable.

It’s a foil shaver that includes a trimmer attachment and two combs (the 5020cs variation) and while it costs more than the Remington, it will work a lot better if you also rock a stubble beard from time to time.

The Braun Series 3 3010BT is an equally good option as the 5020cs above, so I would just get the cheaper one as the performance will be extremely similar.

That pretty much concludes my review of the Remington R3000 Series.

If you have any questions, make sure to post them in the comments section below.