Elsewhere, we’ve looked at a combination of user reviews, specs, and features to pick the cream of the electric toothbrush crop. This toothbrush is made by one of the two biggest brands in electric toothbrushes. (The other is Philips Sonicare.) It comes with a timer (to make sure you brush for 2 minutes) and a pressure sensor (which alerts you if you are brushing too hard). Oral-B first oral b genius toothbrush debuted its Genius series in 2016, when you needed to mount your phone on your bathroom mirror so it could watch you brush and coach you to do better. But now, several models later, it can figure out just how you are brushing without connecting to your phone camera. Their toothbrushes tend to skew cheaper than Sonicare, and replacement brush heads also run on the cheaper side.
Oral-B’s signature feature is its circular brush head, which looks more like a tool that you would see at the dentist’s office. The brush head on an Oral-B toothbrush oscillates, as opposed to Sonicare’s side-to-side motion. For a broader comparison of things such as brushing modes and replacement brush heads, check out our comparisons hub page. If you want to standout and own something a little different to Oral-B and Philips, then you could try Ordo.
For the majority of people, myself included the Oral-B Smart 1500 is the toothbrush to go for. It offers a balance of cleaning performance and features at a price most will find affordable. Both brushes will track your cleaning performance and log it in the app whilst providing real-time feedback.
It lacks a pressure sensor, which is disappointing at this price point, and it turned off easily while testers were adjusting the settings. Its five cleaning modes cover all the most common brushing needs, leaving almost all testers with considerably cleaner teeth, and it comes in a choice of pink, white, black or rose gold. This elegant sonic oral b braun toothbrush toothbrush delivers a punchy 62,000 vibrations per minute, removing up to 10 times more plaque over a fortnight than a manual could muster. Its bristles are soft and flexible — great if you suffer from sensitivity — and its two-minute timer is broken into 30-second intervals to make sure all areas of your mouth get adequately brushed.
This basic option doesn’t have as many gimmicks as a high-tech brush, but it struck the best balance between value and function. In fact, it performed just as well as other brushes twice or three times its price. It has a basic quadrant timer to make sure you’re cleaning all areas of your mouth, and a helpful pressure sensor to let you know if you’re oral b braun toothbrush brushing too hard. If you’re looking for an electric toothbrush to amp up your oral hygiene routine, the Oral-B Pro 1000 was one of the easiest to use—there are no brushing barriers here. Colgate’s Hum is a lower-cost smart toothbrush with uniquely designed brush heads and the option of a rechargeable or replaceable battery-operated handle.
If the brush didn’t include a built-in timer, we set one for two minutes to make sure each brush got the full amount of time, brushing at the recommended 45-degree angle to the gums and making sure to clean every part of the mouth. We then noted what the brushing experience was like, including whether our teeth felt clean, if anything was left in our teeth afterward, and how loud the brush was. Trying out the Series 5 made us feel like our previous manual toothbrush was a relic of the caveman era. We were amazed by its smart features and app abilities, though we did have to read the instructions during setup to make sure we knew how to select our chosen mode and what the different colored lights meant. Once you know them, though, they’re straightforward and simple, with different lights for brushing too hard, too soft, or just right.
You’ve probably already realized that Braun Oral-B manufactures quite a few different types of electric toothbrushes. Most of their brushes have a number after their name, and a higher number is generally an indication of more features. As you’d probably expect from a flagship model, it also has a companion smartphone app so you can keep learning more about the way you brush your teeth. You may be asked to remove the rechargeable battery before disposing of an electric toothbrush handle. Both Philips and Oral-B provide instructions in their manuals on how to remove the battery for this purpose.
Experts told us that the RotaDent electric toothbrush has a 360-degree rotating head for efficient cleaning that gets under the gumline. It’s a very basic toothbrush in its design — there are no smart features, brushing modes, pressure sensors or timers, for example. You can purchase multiple different types of replacement brush heads for this electric toothbrush, which will typically cost you about $21 per brush head. The Pro 1000 model from Oral-B comes with all the features most of our experts recommend, for one of the lowest prices. It has a two-minute timer (with a nice-to-have quadrant alert at 30-second intervals) and is compatible with a wide selection of affordable brush heads. We’ve recommended this brush since 2015, and it continues to perform well in long-term testing.
Finally, we submerged the toothbrush underwater for a full brushing cycle to test its water resistance. The Oral B Genius X had no problems during this test or afterward in terms of performance or water damage. Users may be a little confused about how to fit the toothbrush into the case. It took us a little while to work out that it won’t fit unless you insert the toothbrush in on its side. This is indicated with a very subtle diagram on the inside of the travel case, but it is easy to miss.
The Oral-B Genius Elite 6000 has a lithium-ion battery that lasts 14 days between charges. Brushing twice a day for two weeks – that’s enough battery for almost 60 minutes of brushing time! It includes an electric cord and charger, making it easy to keep your toothbrush charged, even while traveling. With proper maintenance and charging cycles, this rechargeable electric toothbrush has a life expectancy of 3-4 years.