Philips owner bought two trimmers two years apart, then found the chargers don't match

A customer who bought two Philips trimmers two years apart found the chargers don't fit each other.

A small piece of plastic inside the charger housing, square on one and circular on the other, appeared to block nearly identical charging ports from being interchangeable with each other.

Here's what to know

In a post on Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating forum, the original poster shared photos of two Philips trimmers and wrote: "I purchased these two trimmers two years apart, but they are incompatible with each other. What's the point of this?"

Commenters mostly agreed that the incompatibility was a way to 'force' an upgrade rather than being a necessity. One person argued that there is "really no good reason for this company to make proprietary connectors every other year except to sell you a replacement cable at an upcharge." 

Another took a deeper view of the incentive, writing: "They also hope people will consider it too much effort to find a replacement cable, and just buy a whole new device instead."

The criticism only grew because, as several users pointed out, at least one of the cords already has USB-A on one side. That made the proprietary end that connects to the trimmer feel even less defensible. As one commenter put it, "The funny thing about this All-in-One trimmer is that the charger cable actually is USB, it's just the plug that goes into the trimmer itself that's proprietary."

Not everyone in the thread saw the design choice as purely anti-consumer. One commenter argued that because these trimmers are meant to get wet, the connector may be intended to lower the chance of damage if water reaches the charging area. 

More background

If a charger is lost, damaged, or discontinued, a perfectly functional trimmer can quickly become unusable or end up in the trash and ultimately as e-waste in the landfill.

That has consequences for both consumers' wallets and the environment. Instead of replacing a cheap cable, people may wind up buying an entirely new device, along with more packaging and accessories, simply because the original charger is hard to find.

Some commenters said they bought USBC adapters or modified their chargers to make the devices usable again. But those workarounds address a compatibility problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. As one commenter put it, "This could and should be USB C."

Where can I learn more?

Everyday gadgets and grooming products become wasteful when charging and repairs get harder than they should be. These stories look at the same problem from a few angles.

• Philips now offers free 3D-printable replacement parts to keep small gadgets working longer.

• On TikTok, a simple toothbrush hack showed how planned-obsolescence design choices can push needless replacements.

• Oral-B's battery-powered toothbrushes drew criticism after shoppers questioned why disposable brushing tools still dominate shelves.

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