When you think of Electric toothbrushes, Oral-B and Sonicare are the two first names that come to mind. These two companies have ruled the industry for over thirty years.
The competition between the two has been nothing if not fierce. Oral-B and Sonicare are constantly fighting for a larger market-share, leading to more and more innovations and improvements in both company’s products. This constant progression means that buyers have a ton of options.
From high-end electric toothbrushes crammed full of the newest features and the most recent technology, to simple budget brushes and everything in between, Oral-B and Sonicare have it all.
With so many options, choosing the perfect toothbrush can be a daunting task. Luckily, we’re to help you out. We’ve compared the best options from each company at every price-range, and now we’re going to pass all the information on to you.
Without further ado, we give you an in-depth comparison between Oral-B and Sonicare.
The Oral-B Genius is very comfortable and easy to use. It also comes with an extremely stylish, well-made travel case, as well as the longest lasting battery offered by Oral-B.
1. How We Started
Table of Contets
To get thorough results, we tested two toothbrushes, one from each company, in each of three different price ranges, High-End: $200 and above, Mid-Range: $100-$150, and Low-End: $50 and below.
We’re not scientists, so we can’t give specific test results like plaque-reduction or the ability to prevent gum-disease. What we can attest to, however, is how comfortable each of the toothbrushes are to use, how easy they are to maneuver around in your mouth, the usefulness of the features, how long the batteries lasted, and other very important factors.
After all, it’s clear that electric toothbrushes are far better for your teeth than manual brushes. Finding one that’s easy and comfortable to use, then, is a big step towards improving your dental health.
Both companies make very capable brushes, but over the course of our testing we found there to be some pretty giant differences in design that could easily make the difference between you enjoying them and becoming frustrated.
The younger brother of the Genius Pro 8000, Oral-B’s 7000 model is the same great toothbrush with just a few differences. The main is the battery. The battery for the 7000 models is a little weaker than the Genius.
2. Similarities and Differences
The biggest difference between the brushes made by the two companies is how they clean your teeth. Oral-B brushes use rotary-motion. This means that the circular brush-head spins left and right, while also incorporating a pulse motion. Oral-B brush heads are usually quite small.
This allows you to move the brush comfortably throughout your mouth, cleaning hard to reach places like your back molars. The small, circular heads allow you to clean one tooth at a time, which gives you a more thorough clean.
Philips Sonicare brushes take another approach entirely. Instead of oscillating, these brushes move side-to-side in what is called sonic motion. While this is effective enough, the sonic motion necessitates a larger oval-shaped brush head which can be less comfortable to move around inside your mouth.
The next biggest difference is price. Although we tried to compare models of similar price, the Sonicare brushes were generally a bit more expensive. This wasn’t always the case, especially with some of the low-end models, but generally, Oral-B tended to make the more affordable brushes.
3. Battery Life
Although this varies greatly from each unit, for the most part, the batteries featured in Oral-B brushes are quite bad. These lower quality batteries are probably responsible for the greater affordability of Oral-B’s toothbrushes.
Depending on the model, the battery usually lasts between 7 and 12 days before needing to recharge.
Battery life is the one area in which Sonicare really pulls away from its competitor. Brushing for 2 minutes twice daily, the typical Sonicare brush can go 15 days before you need to charge the battery.
While not a giant issue, this greater battery life really ads up over the years, saving you time and hassle, and Sonicare nailed it with their batteries.
There’s nothing more annoying than having to constantly charge something. Whether you’re dealing with a phone, a laptop, or a toothbrush, a strong battery is a great feature to have.
Sonicare has a clear advantage over Oral-B here. This advantage is offset by the price difference between the products. Sonicare brushes typically cost a bit more but come with a longer-lasting, higher quality battery.
Sonicare gets the nod here.
4. Brush Heads
As mentioned above, the brush head designs used by the two companies are quite different. Oral-B, as opposed to the more traditional oval-shaped brush-head, uses a circular head, and all Sonicare brushes feature oval-shaped heads that use sonic motion, in which the bristles move back and forth
Oral-B, as opposed to the more traditional oval-shaped brush-head, uses a circular head. This shape allows the bristles to rotate to the left and right.
This oscillation helps to eliminate plaque build-up and leaves your teeth feeling fresh and clean.
Oral-B brushes also use a pulsating motion which causes an effect called non-contact cleaning. This helps to clear away plaque from places the bristles can’t reach.
The smaller brush heads featured by Oral-B are a joy to use. The neck is quite thin, and the small, circular head can be effortlessly navigated within your mouth.
During our testing, I was extremely impressed with the Oral-B products.
Even the low-end models were comfortable to use and left my mouth feeling great every time.
While not as comfortable as Oral-B, the brush heads featured by Sonicare did their job quite well, leaving my teeth feeling nice and clean.
All Sonicare brushes feature oval-shaped heads that use sonic motion, in which the bristles move back and forth.
As well as this back and forth motion, these brushes also feature a pulse motion which allows for non-contact cleaning, reducing plaque build-up in places manual tooth brushes miss.
The main advantage of the larger, oval-shaped head is that it’s able to clean multiple teeth at once, making it perfect for people who tend to lack the diligence to move back and forth from each tooth.
The downside to this shape is that it’s much harder to move within your mouth. While the Sonicare brushes were still easy to use, they lacked the effortless maneuverability of the Oral-B brushes.
Both companies’ brush heads possess the useful pulse-function, allowing you to take advantage of non-contact cleaning. Both brush-heads use cleaning methods, that, while quite different from one another, are extremely effective at keeping your mouth healthy.
Whether you prefer the smaller Oral-B heads, or the larger Sonicare ones will depend largely on the size of your mouth and your brushing habits. However, the effortless usability of the Oral-B heads had me looking forward to brushing my teeth every time.
Some studies have also shown that the oscillating method can be slightly more effective in preventing plaque built up.
Oral-B has the edge here.
5. High-End Products
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean
The Philips Sonicare DiamondClean is the best of the best. If money isn’t an issue for you, you can do no better than this brush. The DiamondClean features a sleek, black motor base, attractive in its simplicity. If you care about the aesthetics of your brush, the DiamondClean is for you.
It also comes equipped with countless features including a smart-timer, a fancy travel case, 5 different brush modes, and a pressure sensor to let you know when you’re brushing your teeth too hard.
The only downside whatsoever to the DiamondClean, is the price-tag. This is one of the most expensive brushes on the market. You do, however, get what you pay for.
| DiamondClean 9300 Features |
|---|
| 1. Long Lasting Lithium Ion Battery |
| 2. Standard Clean Mode |
| 3. Whitening Mode to Remove Stains and Brighten Teeth |
| 4. Gentle Mode for Sensitive Mouths |
| 5. Gum Care Mode Massages and Cleans Gums |
| 6. Deep-Clean Mode offers Thorough Cleaning of Hard to Reach Places |
| 7. Pressure Sensor Protects Your Mouth by Alerting You when Too Much Force is Being Applied |
| 8. Travel Case |
| 9. Bluetooth Compatibility |
The brush feels fantastic to use, and, even though I prefer Oral-B’s brush heads, the easy controls and powerful cleaning power offered by the DiamondClean made me happy to brush my teeth every time.
The battery on this unit is fantastic. The lithium ion battery has a life of 14 days, meaning you only need to charge your toothbrush twice a month.
If you can afford it, the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean gives you everything you could ever hope for in a toothbrush, and then some.
The Philips Sonicare DiamondClean is the best of the best. If money isn’t an issue for you, you can do no better than this brush. If you care about the aesthetics of your brush, the toothbrush is for you.
Oral-B Genius Pro-8000
The Oral-B Genius is without a doubt the most advanced brush that we’ve tested. In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, the Genius Pro-8000 uses the front-facing camera on your smartphone to track the position of the brush head in your mouth.
You’ll need to download the Oral-B app and use the provided mount to attach your phone to your mirror. You then brush your teeth in front of your phone’s screen, and the app automatically records and stores information.
You can then keep up with your stats in the Oral-B app. It tells you which parts of your mouth you may be over-brushing or under-brushing and much more.
Although this feature is quite cool, and no doubt useful for some, once the novelty wore off, I found it to be more of a bother than it was worth.
For the position detection to work properly, you need to brush your teeth directly in front of your phone’s screen, which can be a little uncomfortable at times. The phone mount is also unattractive when left on the mirror.
While cool, the feature feels mostly unnecessary, especially when you consider the price increase it brings to the model.
| ORAL-B GENIUS PRO 8000 |
|---|
| 1. Lithium Ion Battery Lasts for 10 Days |
| 2. Bluetooth Compatibility |
| 3. Position Detection Technology Monitors Your Brushing Habits and Gives Useful Feedback |
| 4. Standard Clean Mode |
| 5. Whitening Mode to Remove Stains and Brighten Teeth |
| 6. Gentle Mode for Sensitive Mouths |
| 7. Gum Care Mode Massages and Cleans Gums |
| 8. Pro-Clean Mode Thoroughly Cleans Hard-to-Reach Places |
| 9. Tongue Cleaning Mode Cleans Stubborn Bacteria from the Tongue |
| 10. Pressure Sensor Protects Your Mouth by Alerting You when Too Much Force is Being Applied |
| 11. Luxury Travel Case |
While cheaper than the Sonicare DiamondClean, this is still an expensive toothbrush, and if you don’t plan to use any of the fancy features, you can get similar cleaning performance from a more affordable model.
The Oral-B Genius was, however, very comfortable and easy to use. The pressure sensor worked great, lighting up red anytime I started to brush too hard. It also comes with an extremely stylish, well-made travel case, as well as the longest lasting battery offered by Oral-B.
Overall, this is a masterfully designed brush with lots of ambitious features, great for users looking for advanced feedback on brushing habits.
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean and Oral-B Genius Pro 8000 are the two best all-around toothbrushes that money can buy. If you can afford to buy either of these brushes, you won’t regret it. While both are expensive, the Oral-B model is slightly cheaper and also offers a ton of fancy features.
The Philips Sonicare DiamondClean has fewer features but instead focuses on being the most well-made brush on the market. With a long-lasting battery and a sleek, stylish design, Philips Sonicare wins the battle for the best high-end electric toothbrush.
6. Mid-Range
Oral-B Pro 7000
The younger brother of the Genius Pro 8000, Oral-B’s 7000 model is the same great toothbrush with just a few differences. The main is the battery. The battery for the 7000 models is even worse than the Genius.
While the latter’s battery wasn’t as good as the high-end Sonicare model, it was still a high-quality battery.
The older Oral-B Pro 7000 model, however, features an outdated NiMH battery instead of lithium ion. With a battery life of only 8 days or less, you’ll have to charge quite often.
| Oral-B Pro 7000 |
|---|
| 1. NiHM Battery Lasts for 8 Days |
| 2. Standard Clean Mode |
| 3. Whitening Mode to Remove Stains and Brighten Teeth |
| 4. Gentle Mode for Sensitive Mouths |
| 5. Gum Care Mode Massages and Cleans Gums |
| 6. Pro-Clean Mode offers Thorough Cleaning of Hard to Reach Places |
| 7. Tongue Cleaning Mode Cleans Stubborn Bacteria from the Tongue |
| 8. Pressure Sensor Protects Your Mouth by Alerting You when Too Much Force is Being Applied |
| 9. Bluetooth Compatibility |
| 10. Luxury Travel Case |
If you can get past this downside, however, the 7000 model is the exact same toothbrush as its much more expensive counterpart, minus a few superfluous features.
It’s even Bluetooth compatible, something that cannot be said for most mid-range models. As long as you don’t mind charging often, the Oral-B Pro 7000 is a joy to use and might have the best value of any toothbrush at any price range.
The Sonicare Flexcare Platinum
In stark contrast to the Oral-B Pro 7000, the Sonicare Flexcare Platinum is quite expensive, just barely fitting into mid-range consideration. You get what you pay for, however.
As per usual with Philips Sonicare products, this model features an outstanding battery. The battery life is listed at two weeks, and our testing found that to be a conservative estimate.
The brush features most of the same great features that you expect from a mid/high end electric toothbrush, including a timer, pressure sensor, multiple cleaning modes, extra brush heads, Bluetooth compatibility and a luxurious travel case.
| Sonicare Flexcare Platinum Features |
|---|
| 1. Lithium Ion Battery Lasts for 14 + Days |
| 2. Standard Clean Mode |
| 3. Whitening Mode to Remove Stains and Brighten Teeth |
| 4. Deep-Clean Mode offers Thorough Cleaning of Hard to Reach Places |
| 5. 3 Power Settings to Choose from |
| 6. Pressure Sensor Protects Your Mouth by Alerting You when Too Much Force is Being Applied |
| 7. Travel Case |
The Oral-B Pro 7000 and Sonicare Flexcare Platinum possess similar value. Both brushes cover the basics very well, offering pressure-control and plenty of cleaning modes.
The Oral-B model lacks a quality battery, while the Sonicare model is expensive and lacks some of the extra features you expect when dealing with such a pricey mid-range toothbrush. The weight of these pros and cons depends largely upon your preferences.
While these models are close in quality, the Oral-B Pro 7000’s combination of excellent quality and affordability makes it our choice for best mid-range electric toothbrush.
7. Low-End
Oral-B Deep Sweep Toothbrush
The Oral-B Deep Sweep electric toothbrush is extremely inexpensive, yet still comes with the essential features, making it a great option for budget users, or for users wanting to test electric brushes before shelling out money for a fancier model.
| Oral-B Deep Sweep Features |
|---|
| 1. NiHM Battery Lasts for 7 Days |
| 2. Standard Clean Mode |
| 3. Pressure Sensor |
| 4. Timer |
| 5. Great Affordability |
The brush only features 1 cleaning mode, but unless you have sensitive gums, that shouldn’t be a big factor. It features a timer and a pressure sensor, the two most important features a brush can have, all for an amazing price.
The battery only lasts for about a week, but this low quality is more forgivable given the amazing price of the unit.
Philips Sonicare Essence
The Essence is Philips Sonicare’s cheapest product. Despite this, they didn’t cut too many corners. I was impressed by the cleaning performance of the Essence. Despite its budget label, it offered the same powerful clean as Sonicare’s more expensive models.
The Sonicare Essence is, however, the only brush that we reviewed that doesn’t feature a pressure sensor. Considering that most people accidentally brush their teeth much harder than they intend to, the lack of this useful feature is disappointing.
| Philips Sonicare Essence Features |
|---|
| 1. Lithium Ion Battery Lasts for 12 Days |
| 2. Great Cleaning Power |
| 3. Standard Clean Mode |
| 4. Timer |
| 5. Great Affordability |
Electric toothbrushes are also more likely to damage your gums if you use too much pressure, making an Electric brush without a pressure sensor a bad idea for users with a particularly heavy hand.
With either of these brushes you get the bare bones. No travel cases, no fancy cleaning modes, no Bluetooth compatibility. What you do get, however, is a solid electric toothbrush capable of cleaning your mouth better than is possible with a manual toothbrush.
The Sonicare model come with a more powerful battery, while the Oral-B model comes with the pressure sensor. For me, the latter is the more important feature, and so the Oral-B Deep Sweep is our pick for the best budget tooth brush.
The Oral-B Deep Sweep electric toothbrush is extremely inexpensive, yet still comes with the essential features, making it a great option for budget users, or for users wanting to test electric brushes before shelling out money for a fancier model.
8. Alternatives
WAGNER SuperSonic Toothbrush
Although Oral-B and Philips Sonicare dominate the electric toothbrush industry, new companies continue to emerge and offer interesting alternatives. WAGNER from Switzerland is a company that’s recently began making a splash.
Their electric toothbrushes come absolutely slammed with features, including multiple cleaning modes, timers and travel cases. The WAGNER SuperSonic model even boasts an incredible 40-day battery life. This is a toothbrush to check out.
Who Should Get This?
Philips Sonicare
After testing multiple models, it’s clear to us that Philips Sonicare makes extraordinary electric toothbrushes. No matter the model, you can be confident that Sonicare took the time to develop a quality product. The most impressive aspect of Sonicare brushes are their batteries. If you’re easily annoyed by the need to charge your devices, Sonicare is the company for you.
Their brushes do, however, tend to be a lot more expensive than their competitors. If you’re looking to save money, you might be forced to look elsewhere.
Another thing to consider is the shape of the brush heads. Sonicare uses traditional oval-shaped heads which cover a larger area in your mouth. Although this makes it harder to maneuver and may be uncomfortable for users with small mouths, this larger area helps users not miss any teeth.
Their top-end model, the Sonicare DiamondClean was by far the nicest looking and best performing brush we tested. The company’s excellent batteries are perfect for users who are easily annoyed with the constant need to charge. Overall, Sonicare brushes are wonderful for anybody not concerned with budget.
Oral-B
Oral-B’s greatness doesn’t come from the quality of their toothbrushes alone, but quality mixed with affordability. Their bad batteries are definitely the weakest point of the products; users easily annoyed by frequent charging beware. Aside from this one complaint, the brushes offered by Oral-B perform wonderfully and are packed full of convenient features regardless of the model.
The circular brush heads and oscillating cleaning motion allows you to clean each tooth individually. The brushes are super comfortable to navigate within your mouth and are sure to leave your teeth feeling incredibly clean.
Oral-B is the perfect choice for anybody looking for an exceptional electric toothbrush while being conscious of budget.
Our Pick
Both companies make excellent toothbrushes, but Oral-B sells them for quite a good bit cheaper. More so than appearance or battery-life, the most important thing about a tooth brush is how comfortable it is to use and how well it cleans your mouth.
Our Pick: Oral-B
Oral-B equals or surpasses Philips Sonicare in these regards, while still being the more affordable option.
The Oral-B Deep Sweep electric toothbrush is extremely inexpensive, yet still comes with the essential features, making it a great option for budget users, or for users wanting to test electric brushes before shelling out money for a fancier model.
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