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Oral-B iO Series 9 Smart Toothbrush

"With so much time devoted to development, it does justice to the best brushing performance."

• Exceptional cleaning performance

• Comes with four brush heads

• LED ring helps with pressure sensitivity

• Robust build quality

• Expensive

• Eats up battery

Earlier this year during CES 2020, I got a glimpse of Oral-B's new intelligent toothbrush: the iO series 9. I only had the opportunity to attend a single brushing session, but I got away from the intrigued experience. If a company has been developing a smart toothbrush for six years, expectations will surely be high. Months after this brief encounter, I've been better informed to tell you if it's worth the wait.

High tech in every way

I've owned several manual and electric toothbrushes, but the iO Series 9 is the first that I'd call downright imposing. While it looks like just another electric toothbrush from a cursory inspection, it's undeniably fancier to look up close and equipped with technology that makes it one step above the other. It's made of plastic, but much stronger than other brushes. The weight and the solid feel go together. A tiny screen displays battery life, brushing modes, and even an emoji face after each brush to evaluate my performance. Oral-B has put a lot of work into the brush mechanism, which consists of a frictionless, sleek magnetic drive system to create powerful micro-vibrations while brushing (more on that later).

John Velasco / Digital Trends

Pearl white clean

To be honest, I am thrilled with how well this toothbrush cleans my teeth. When using one of Oral-B's entry-level electric toothbrushes in the past, I've never been convinced they are any easier to clean than Philips' Sonicare line. The iO Series 9 is a whole different beast. In fact, it's the best toothbrush I've ever used including the Colgate Hum that I checked out right before this one.

It's the best brush I've ever come across.

Part of his world class performance comes from his ability to see how much pressure I am applying while brushing my teeth. An LED ring around the toothbrush lights up red, blue or green to indicate whether it is too much, too little or just right. The Oral-B app does the same, but I prefer the visual representation of the light, even when brushing with my smartphone in hand. In addition, a distinctive vibration indicates when it's time to switch to another quadrant.

Thanks to its intense micro-vibrations, the Oral-B iO series 9 offers the best brushing performance I've ever experienced. I feel like my teeth are getting a polishing job in addition to a power wash – this is how my teeth feel squeaky every time. The hard-to-remove plaque buildup between teeth isn't completely eliminated, but to be honest, I haven't come across a toothbrush that is good at this. Sorry, you still need to floss.

John Velasco / Digital Trends

After each brush you will see how much battery is left. Unsurprisingly, it's a battery eater, draining around 10% of its battery after each use. So yes, it will require frequent fees.

More of the same smart features

So far, most of the smart toothbrushes I've come across don't differ too much in their smart features. The Oral-B iO 9 tracks a total of six zones during the tour with the app, so that I can see exactly how well I brush each area. However, the tracking function is not available when the brushes are not guided, which is rather puzzling for something "smart". At the end of each brush, I get a score from zero to 100 to indicate my cleaning performance.

While it can tell me how well I brush each quadrant, part of me craves for more accurate brush dates. For example, I can spend a lot of time brushing the front of my teeth while neglecting the back, but it treats the two sides as one. It doesn't paint a true picture of my brushing and my habits. This is not an isolated problem, but a common problem shared by most of the products in this category. I want a smart toothbrush that learns my exact brushing habits and guides me to practical improvements. I don't want to clean to chase after a score.

Our opinion

Impressive cleaning comes at a price, which for the Oral-B iO Series 9 means more than $ 300 to fork. It's ridiculously expensive, but it's also one of the most advanced toothbrushes out there, and delivers a satisfactory clean every time. Fortunately, the purchase comes with a travel case and four brush heads, which saves the difficulty of buying replacements soon after. Even so, a two-pack replacement costs $ 30.

How long it will take?

I'm confident that with its considerable build quality, it will hold up for a while. Oral-B offers a 2 year warranty that covers defects but not normal wear and tear.

Is there a better alternative?

If you're looking for an exceptional clean with connectivity features, it's hard to find anything else that comes close. You may be able to get similar performance with the other models of Oral-B, possibly with the iO Series 7 smart toothbrush for $ 200.

Should you buy it?

Yes, mostly because cleaning takes precedence over everything else. All intelligent functions and tracking are extra. If cleaning is unsuccessful, there is an error.

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