Philips Norelco Bodygroom 5000 Review: The Go-To Trimmer

The Bodygroom line from Philips has long been the default choice for anyone looking for a capable and durable body trimmer.

For the past 10 years, I’ve owned various Bodygroom models and the design, features and even the performance have actually improved over time.

The Bodygroom Series 5000 is a relatively new iteration but one that looks and feels very familiar.

With an affordable price, all the basic accessories included and great user feedback, the Bodygroom 5000 is one of the best-selling Philips groomers.

But how good it really is and how does it compare to other popular trimmers?

In this review, I will share my thoughts on the Philips Norelco Bodygroom 5000 after using one for more than a year.

You’ll find out what it’s like to own and use it regularly, how it deals with hair on various body parts and whether it’ll be a good choice for your needs.

Features overview

The Philips Norelco Bodygroom 5000 in this review is the BG5025/40 variation, widely available and pretty much the one to get in 2023.

In Europe, you will find it as the Philips Bodygroom 5000 BG5020/15.

Side note: the so-called old model, the Series 3500 (BG5025/49), is basically identical apart from the packaging which was updated for the Series 5000 (BG5025/40).

Let’s now quickly go over the main features of the Bodygroom Series 5000.

1. Foil + blades head

One thing that is common among all the different Bodygroom series is the hybrid foil head.

Sandwiched between two shearing blades there’s a foil element that cuts hair at skin level.

As you move the shaving head against the hair, the leading blade will pre-trim the hair, while the foil cutter will then shave any remaining stump at skin level.

This is a great design solution that allows the Bodygroomer to effectively and safely cut body hair of various lengths.

And because the two blades have rounded, blunt teeth, the risk of nicks is minimum, even when trimming very sensitive areas like your groin or armpits.

In my opinion this foil head is the main advantage of all Philips Bodygroom trimmers over the competition.

Please note that the Bodygroom 5000 is intended to be used exclusively below the neck, you cannot use it as a beard trimmer.

I will get into more detail on how it performs when trimming the genital area and other body parts later on.

2. Three guards and back extension

If you don’t want to trim the hair at skin level, the Norelco Bodygroom Series 5000 comes with 3 different size guards.

• 1/8”(3mm)
• 3/16”(5mm)
• 9/32”(7mm)

The number represents the length of the remaining hair after using the groomer.

In my opinion these 3 guards are the bare minimum in order to have a versatile body trimmer and should be enough for most users.

Ideally, I would have liked an even larger guard (9 or 11mm) because some men just want to remove the bulk of hair.

But again, in most cases, the included guards should have you covered.

Another useful accessory is the back attachment, allowing you to trim hard-to-reach areas like your back.

3. Cordless, wet/dry operation

The Norelco Bodygroom 5000 (BG5025/40) is fitted with a rechargeable Li-ion battery that can provide approximately one hour of cordless trimming.

It will not work while charging.

Being IPX7 waterproof, the Bodygroom Series 5000 can also be used in the shower.

But the main advantage of it being waterproof is that you can easily rinse the trimmer with water for quick and effective cleaning.

4. Two-year warranty

Like most Philips shavers and groomers, the Bodygroom 5000 comes with a 2-year worldwide warranty.

Included accessories

The Philips Bodygroom 5000 BG5025/40 comes bundled with the following accessories:

• 3 different size guards
• Extra long attachment
• Charger

The user manual and warranty card are included in the box as well.

Apart from the back extension which is a rather unique accessory, the kit is pretty basic.

I am however glad to see that Philips doesn’t use a charging cradle anymore for the Bodygroom line.

In the past, you couldn’t plug the cord directly into the groomer and had to use this wonky stand.

It was annoying, fiddly to use and easy to misplace.

Build quality and ergonomics

Visually, the Bodygroom Series 5000 doesn’t exactly impress.

The looks are rather bland, especially when compared to the Bodygroom 7000 for example.

However, the build quality is solid and having used mine extensively, I can confirm that it is durable and can take a beating.

The body of the Series 5000 is made entirely out of plastic with a rubber-like textured material on the top front part.

That’s pretty much where your thumb naturally rests when using the groomer and it’s very grippy and comfortable.

It also covers the ON/OFF switch which is very clicky and easy to operate. I didn’t have any issues pressing it by accident while using the trimmer.

The power button however doesn’t have a travel lock function.

On the back of the Norelco Bodygroom 5000, we only have black plastic, even though it looks like the rubberized front part.

For that reason, it’s not as grippy and this is one of the couple of nitpicks I have with the ergonomics of the Bodygroom 5000.

The other one is that the foil head of the groomer is fixed, meaning it won’t swivel up and down like the one on the Bodygroom 7000 (both use the exact same foil head).

In practice, this means that you’ll have to keep the groomer at a sharper angle relative to the area you’re trimming so that the first blade can make the initial trimming (and not the foil part).

It’s not a very big issue, but I would have preferred a flexible head, especially when trimming pubic hair and armpits as it just makes holding the trimmer more natural.

At 132 grams (4.65 oz), the Bodygroom Series 5000 is lightweight and nicely balanced.

Despite its rather chunky body, it is very manageable and comfortable to hold.

The 3 guards are of excellent quality.

This is really important for the overall trimming experience when using a guard to get the desired hair length.

A guard should be made out of high-quality plastic so it won’t break as you use it constantly.

Also, it must glide easily on the skin so the stroke is smooth and controlled, not jerky.

And finally, it should have any sharp or rough edges.

I’m happy to report that the 3 guards included with the Philips Bodygroom 5000 meet all these requirements and are very enjoyable to use.

They also snap extremely securely over the foil head and are easy to remove.

I know we don’t tend to think much of a plastic piece, but a guard can really make or break the experience.

For example, the ones that come with the Braun Series 3000 body groomer don’t glide smoothly on the skin and the teeth are uncomfortably sharp.

Using the Norelco Bodygroom 5000 feels a lot smoother and more enjoyable.

My final gripe with it is the very basic battery indicator which simply turns orange with the battery is almost dead, which can take you by surprise.

But in all honesty, almost all other body trimmers have the same, very basic battery level indicator.

An exception is the Lawn Mower 4.0 with its 3-level display, but that one is a lot more expensive (to buy and to own) and has some other issues as well.

Overall, I think the Philips Bodygroom Series 5000 is a fair, decent groomer for the money.

It does the basics right and its shortcomings are few and rather minor.

Battery life and charging

As mentioned at the beginning of the review, the Philips Bodygroom 5000 is a cordless-only trimmer.

When fully charged, the internal battery can provide around one hour of cordless use.

An hour is in my book adequate; in fact, anything over 45 minutes should be enough for a full trimming session.

Unlike the Multigroom 7000 for example, the Bodygroom 5000 will not work while charging, so you cannot simply plug it in and continue your trimming session.

You will need to charge it first.

And that should take around one hour from 0 to 100% according to Philips.

In practice though, it tends to take less than 50 minutes, a bit faster than the official stat.

So in terms of battery life, the Philips Bodygroom 5000 is not anything special, but again, it is good enough.

I would have liked 90 minutes of cordless operation or the option to use it with the cord connected to an outlet.

Philips Bodygroom 5000 performance

Let’s now get to the most important part of the test and see how good the Bodyrgoom 5000 actually is.

Whenever I review body groomers, I like to address the performance separately for the groin area and for the rest of the body.

And that’s because trimming pubic hair vs other body parts can be a completely different story when using the same groomer.

So let’s start with the more sensitive matter.

Groin/genitals and armpits

An effective groomer for trimming below the waist is essentially one that is able to catch all the wiry/curly/flat-lying hairs with ease and cut them safely at skin level.

Most men (myself included) prefer a very close trim down there, so the trimmer will be used without a guard.

This will in turn make it more likely to nick the skin.

Luckily, the Philips Bodygroom 5000 is extremely forgiving and in my experience one of the very best out there for trimming pubic hair.

That foil element along with the pair of blades with rounded teeth are great for cutting pubic hair close to the skin with minimal risks of nicks.

The angle of the head, along with the fact that the Norelco Bodygroom 5000 is a pull-style trimmer — you pull it toward you and thus against the hair grain — makes it very natural and comfortable to be used on the pubic area.

Using short, controlled, overlapping strokes, this trimmer works in my experience better than any other groomers from the competition.

I’m referring mainly to push-style trimmers that only use a single shearing blade, like the Manscaped Lawn Mower or the Olov trimmer.

Those are nowhere near as forgiving or as practical for pubic hair.

I feel very at ease using the Bodygroom 5000 since I’m not too concerned about cutting the skin and I can just focus on trimming everything neatly.

See the price on Amazon

For that reason, it also takes me a lot less time to manscape down there using a Bodygroom trimmer.

Now, any trimmer will nick the skin or pull some hairs if you’re not careful.

With the Bodygroom 5000, I strongly recommend using slower and shorter strokes especially if the hair is longer (anything more than 5mm).

Also, in that case, make sure the first blade does the initial trimming — you do that by holding the handle very close to the body at a sharper angle.

The foil part of the head should ideally only be used on the very short remaining hair.

If the hair is longer and you pull the trimmer very quickly, it will snag some hairs or even nick the skin.

So make sure you’re always using short, controlled, overlapping strokes against the hair grain.

I also recommend tackling one small area at a time and then moving to the next one.

Another advantage of any Bodygroom trimmer is that the head never seems to clog with hair, so you won’t have to constantly stop and clean it.

Overall, the Philips Bodygroom Series 5000 works amazingly on the groin area and it’s in my opinion only second to the Bodygroom 7000.

That one has the foil head on a flexible mount which makes using it more natural, especially when trimming pubic hair.

Basically, you won’t have to hold the trimmer body as close to the skin as you do with the Bodygroom 5000.

But both will be excellent if you want a close, comfortable and quick trim down there.

If you only want to remove some of the bulk with the Bodygroom 5000, you can use any of the included guards that suit your preference.

But keep in mind that the hairs that stay very flat on the skin can be missed when using a guard.

I can’t really see this as a negative because any other trimmer will do the same in this situation.

Armpit hair is another tricky one.

The skin is very thin and sensitive, the hairs often stay flat and it’s a rather tight spot with a slightly concave shape.

Using a push-style groomer like the Manscaped just feels awkward and you don’t have much leverage.

Moreover, the risk of nicks and irritation with a conventional groomer is pretty high.

The Philips Bodygroom on the other hand feels like it was designed for this.

The rounded teeth of the blades are very smooth and gentle and they catch and cut those long, soft hairs quickly and effectively.

You can even hold the groomer in such a way that only the first blade will do the cutting, without the foil part touching the skin.

That is a tweak to consider if you tend to get irritation/folliculitis on your armpits after you shave the hair very close to the skin.

Trimming armpit hair with the Bodygroom 5000 is also a lot faster than with other types of body groomers.

And I don’t get any itching and redness afterward which is something it would often happen with other trimmers.

The guards work really well in case you only want to trim the hair down to a certain length.

I prefer a very close trim on the armpits, so I almost always use the groomer without any guard.

Trimming body hair (legs, arms, chest, abs, back)

Most men will probably use the Norelco Bodygroom 5000 on the rest of the body with one of the included guards.

If however you want to trim everything at skin level, you can do so without a guard and it will work really well.

It will be very fast and practical since again you will be pulling the groomer toward you instead of pushing it in an awkward way without much leverage.

The blades never seem to clog with hair and because it’s effective and comfortable, the whole process is very enjoyable.

Using the Norelco Bodygroom 5000 with the included guards is just as good.

As mentioned at the beginning, the guards that Philips included are of excellent quality and glide so easily on the skin, even when it’s a bit damp.

See the price on Amazon

Even though the head has two cutting edges and you can move it up and down, most of the time you will be pulling it toward you (against the grain).

If you push it (with the grain) there won’t be much cutting.

The only exception is maybe when trimming your chest hair — because that area is very high up, it will be a lot easier to push against the hair grain.

I personally use the 3mm guard to trim the hair on my legs, forearms, abs and chest.

It’s a length that works well for me — I like how it looks and because the hair isn’t excessively short, I won’t get any itching or bumps.

As I said at the beginning of the review, I think a larger guard should have been included as well (9 or 10mm) for men that just want to remove the bulk.

But if you’re fine with anything between 0 and 7mm, the Philips Bodygroom 5000 will work great on any body part.

And that includes the back.

Normally you would need the help of someone to trim your back, but with the Bodygroom 5000, you also get an extra long handle.

When fully extended and attached to the groomer, the total length of if (from the blade to the end of the extension) is an impressive 36cm (over 14 inches).

This allows you to reach far down your back and you actually have a lot of control.

I only did a dry run since my back is pretty much hairless, but it’s a really practical accessory in case you need it.

It has a hinge in the middle allowing you to fold it for storage and it’s even fitted with a locking button that allows you to extend it only partially (for trimming your upper traps or shoulder blade for example).

Philips did put a lot of thought into this and even though I said the bundle is quite basic, I think it’s actually really good considering the price of the Bodygroom 5000.

Using the groomer in the shower

The Bodygroom Series 5000 is fully waterproof, so you can also use it in the shower.

I’ll be totally honest, this isn’t for me and I think in most cases a dry trim is the way to go.

I just don’t find any real advantages of manscaping in the shower.

On the contrary, it makes the hairs stick to the skin and are a lot more difficult to cut.

But I know some men prefer this and if so, you can certainly use the groomer that way.

It is IPX7 waterproof, so there’s nothing to worry about.

Noise during use

The Philips Norelco Bodygroom 5000 is pretty loud during use.

The motor itself is not very noisy, but the added vibrations from the foil head make it quite loud overall.

It’s pretty similar to a foil electric shaver if you’ve ever used one.

If you need a very quiet body groomer, the Bodygroom Series 5000 isn’t the one.

A Bodygroom 7000 is even noisier since the head is flexible and vibrates more.

You will need to get one with a conventional shearing blade like the Multigroom 7000 or the Lawn Mower 4.0, but those have their own limitations and are nowhere near as good for shaving the groin.

Cleaning and maintenance

In my experience almost all body hair trimmers are easy to clean provided they’re waterproof.

And the Bodygroom Series 5000 is, so cleaning it is very straightforward and takes less than a minute.

Once you’re done with your trimming you simply rinse the foil head with warm tap water.

I recommend removing the foil head and washing the bottom part of it as well as there will be lots of clipped hairs trapped there.

I also like to rinse the inner of the frame where the head sits.

And that’s pretty much it.

You would then shake off the water, optionally pat everything dry with a towel and let the trimmer with the head removed dry completely.

Ideally, you would do this after every trimming session to keep the trimmer clean and working well.

If you want to be extra thorough, you can put a few drops of liquid soap on the foil, add a bit of water and turn the trimmer on to lather the soap.

You would then rinse everything generously with water.

I don’t think soap is absolutely necessary and you certainly don’t have to do it after every use.

But every once in a while it will probably be beneficial (for hygiene reasons).

Philips explicitly says that the Bodygroom 5000 doesn’t require any lubrication.

However, I’ve noticed that after a while the foil part of the head would get quite a bit warm during use.

And when trimming the genitals, the foil can feel uncomfortably warm.

For that reason, I think using a lubricating spray for clippers and shavers from time to time (like the Andis CoolCare Plus) would be beneficial.

The product also cleans the blades thoroughly and has anti-corrosive properties.

Just make sure the head is dry before you spray it and let the product dry before using the trimmer.

Replacement parts availability

Being able to use a groomer for years is not only about its durability.

Finding new replacement blades at a reasonable price is just as important.

Luckily, things are really good in the case of the Philips Bodygroom 5000.

The replacement foil head is the tried and tested BG2000 and is not only readily available but also affordable and durable.

Philips BG2000 Replacement Head

See the price on Amazon

It’s the same head used by other models in the Bodygroom line, including the 7000.

Philips recommends replacing this head every year, but in practice, it tends to last a lot more than that.

I’ve constantly gotten more than 2 years of regular use from my Bodygroom trimmers that use this very same BG2000 head.

So the Bodygroom 5000 is also very affordable in terms of costs of ownership.

I can confirm this from my own experience of using many Bodygroom trimmers over the last 10 years.

There’s a reason why this BG2000 head hasn’t changed at all in such a long time.

It’s a very effective, reliable and well-designed replacement head.

Wrapup: Should you buy the Bodygroom 5000?

The Bodygroom 5000 is an affordable, highly capable and versatile groomer that will have you covered no matter your preferences for manscaping.

As I said in my guide to the best body trimmers, I think it would be the best option for most users.

See the price on Amazon

It works great on the genital area, but it’s also effective on the rest of the body.

And with the three included guards you can get the desired hair length.

The battery life of the Philips Bodygroom 5000 is good and cleaning is easy and straightforward.

Moreover, the replacement head has a long lifespan and it’s widely available and inexpensive.

Overall, it does almost everything right without any major compromises.

As I said earlier in the review, the only negatives would be the lack of a bigger guard and the fixed foil head.

For most men these won’t be deal-breakers, but if they are, let’s check out the alternatives.

Alternatives: Philips Bodygroom 5000 vs 7000

This will probably come as no surprise — the Philips Bodygroom 7000 is the one that makes the most sense as an alternative to the Bodygroom 5000.

Its main advantage is that swiveling mount for the foil head that I mentioned a few times during the review.

It’s particularly useful when trimming pubic hair or the armpits and you can hold the trimmer in a more natural way.

But the cutting performance is identical and the 7000 uses the exact same foil head (BG2000).

You’re also getting a larger battery, the 7000 being able to provide more than 90 minutes of cordless use on a single charge.

Finally, there’s the unique feature of a second trimmer head that uses a normal blade (no rounded teeth) and has an adjustable comb.

So you would use the foil head (identical to the one on the Bodygroom 5000) to shave the groin area or any other part at skin level, and the other trimmer head (with the comb) for everything else.

The integrated comb allows for more granular control over the hair length (3 to 11mm) and it works really well.

Philips offers a fantastic 5-year warranty for the Bodygroom 7000. You’re only getting 2 years with the 5000.

The Bodygroom 7000 is however larger and it costs more than the 5000.

It also doesn’t come with a back extension.

These would be the main negatives compared to the 5000.

Depending on your needs and budget, one of the two should be a better fit.

That pretty much concludes my review of the Philips Bodygroom 5000.

I think it’s a safe choice for most men and a great tool to handle all your manscaping needs.

If you have any other questions or you’d like to share your experience with the Bodygroom 5000 or other trimmers, make sure to leave a comment below.