The biggest debate in the world of dental hygiene has to be: who does it best, Oral-B or Philips Sonicare?
If you're in the market for the best electric toothbrush, this will probably be the first thing you want to know. Annoyingly, there’s no simple answer. Philips and Oral-B each utilise a different kind of technology to get your pearly whites gleaming like a TOWIE co-star, so it usually comes down to preference.
To keep it simple - Oral-B toothbrushes make use of a rotary or oscillating mechanism, with its brush heads pulsating to loosen plaque and then oscillating to sweep it away, while Philips Sonicare move side-to-side at ridiculous speeds; a kind of vibration sensation referred to as sonic motion.
Both the Genius and the Diamondclean Sonic are both the mid-to-high range toothbrushes of their respective makers, offering a similar set of features for a similar price.
However, it’s not like you can just waltz into Boots and give them a demo before picking your favourite. Thankfully, we’re here to talk through the features of experience of using both to help you decide which is most likely to tickle your fancy.
Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic Vs Oral B Genius 9000: Design
So, how do the two toothbrushes compare in terms of design. Let’s talk you through it...
First off, there’s one thing you can’t deny about Philips’ Diamondclean Sonic, and that’s how it boasts a slick and slender design you’d proudly display atop your sink cabinet, alongside the grimey soap bowl and stubble-encrusted razor (or maybe that’s just us?). Our review model was the matte black edition: a minimal yet elegant bit of kit that we’d like to think makes us look more sophisticated.
The Genius 9000, on the other hand, isn’t a bad looking toothbrush by any means, especially the midnight black edition, which boasts a more showy aesthetic, with light-up icons and flashing LEDs all over the shop. It’s obvious this model is serious about flaunting its smart capabilities. Still, it’s just not as refined as Philips’ offering.
WINNER: Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic. Going off design alone, Philips is a clear winner. If you could ever call a toothbrush sexy, well - you get the idea.
Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic Vs Oral B Genius 9000: Features And Performance
When it comes to performance, the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Sonic is exceptionally pleasant. The sonic vibrations do a great job cleaning your teeth, leaving you with a fresh-feeling mouth for most of the day. In terms of brush modes, you’ll find five (compared to the genius 9000’s six), these are: clean, white, sensitive, gum care and deep clean.
As with most electric toothbrushes, the DiamondClean Sonic has a built-in timer that will pulse every 30 seconds to encourage you to move onto the next quadrant of your teeth. It’ll turn itself off after two minutes of cleaning to tell you you’re done.
Performance is a completely different kettle of fish when it comes to the Oral-B Genius 9000. What makes this toothbrush really stand out is that it connects to an app, and you can choose to have this open while brushing (there’s a phone stand included in the box). This acts as a real-time trainer, giving you tips on how to brush better or if you’re pressing too hard - making it easy to brush like a pro while feeling a tad incompetent (“We’ve been doing it wrong this WHOLE TIME?”). If you can’t be bothered using the app every time you brush, you can simply sync all the data every couple of days and look at your feedback retrospectively.
The Genius 9000 also lets you pick from six brushing modes to find one that best suits your oral care needs. These are: daily clean, deep clean, sensitive, whitening, gum care, and tongue care. These light-up alongside a battery notification and an LED red pressure sensor (called MouthGuard tech to notify you if you’re brushing too hard), for a super fancy effect.
The only thing we would say is quite irritating about the Genius 9000 is that it’s obnoxiously LOUD during operation. On the contrary, the DiamondClean Sonic is super quiet, producing more of a high-pitched buzz as opposed to a whaling like a pneumatic drill. Philips also wins on battery life performance, giving around three weeks of use between charges whereas the Genius 9000 was more like two weeks.
WINNER: Oral-B Genius 9000. The lengths Oral-B has gone to to make this toothbrush shine through innovation is pretty extraordinary, to be honest. An obvious winner in this department, even if Philips does offer better battery performance.
Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic Vs Oral B Genius 9000: Price
The Oral-B Genius 9000 was launched back in April 2016 with an RRP of £300. It’s still available to buy today, but retails for a much lower price of around £150 / $130 depending on where you buy it from. The colours currently available are, Black, White, Rose Gold and Purple.
In the box you get the toothbrush handle, a charging travel case, four brush heads and a smartphone holder – the latter is so you can stick your phone to the mirror to more easily view the app's feedback.
The Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic was released six months later, in October 2016, also retailing for £300. However, it’s now £50 cheaper than Oral-B’s equivalent, priced at £100. It comes in black, white, rose gold or pink colour options and ships with a carry case, wireless charging cradle and one brush head.
WINNER: Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic. At around £50 less, Philips has to win this one, even if it does come with three fewer brush heads than its Oral-B counterpart.
Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Sonic Vs Oral B Genius 9000: Verdict
With the most wins in our head-to-head review, we’ll have to say that the unnecessarily long-named Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Sonic pips Oral-B’s Genius 9000 to the post in the race of best electric toothbrush. The Genius 900 might tout more impressive and innovative features, but
Ultimately, though - it’s all about preference and if you don’t see yourself making use of the smarts the Genius 9000 has under its belt, and you’d happily settle with a good quality toothbrush that does the job without breaking the bank, Philips might just take the biscuit (and prevent any subsequent decay afterwards - LOL).
Liked this?
