The Oral B Black 7000 is a high-end electric toothbrush designed by Braun that retails for nearly $300 — toothpaste not included. Boasting up to 48,800 rotations per minute (RPM), it promises to remove double the plaque of a manual toothbrush. But is it any better than a $20 electric toothbrush?
The Oral B Black 7000’s main claim to fame is its German engineered power handle that allows the head to oscillate an impressive 48,000 times per minute. This works out to around 220,000 rotations during a five minute brushing session. (By contrast, most people only manage 300 strokes per minute with a manual toothbrush.)
Other noteworthy features include six separate brush modes (Daily Clean, Deep Clean, Whitening, Gum Care, Sensitive and Tongue Cleaning), inbuilt Bluetooth (more on which later) and a range of pressure-sensors that automatically adjust the rotation speed to suit your brushing style. You also get a SmartGuide timer that works in conjunction with the toothbrush.
As you’d expect from a $299 toothbrush, the Black 7000 comes with some extra bells-and-whistles bundled inside its ridiculously huge box. These include the aforementioned SmartGuide timer, a protective carry case, a faux leather pouch and three detachable brush heads: CrossAction, FlossAction and ProWhite.
Personally, we feel Oral B should have included two of each brush head so that families could share the device straight out of the box. As it stands, you’ll need to go out and buy some more brush heads straight off the bat. Tch.
Using the Black 7000 immediately erased any doubts about the product’s quality. It honestly feels similar to receiving a professional clean in a dentist’s chair, although part of that may have been down to my extra-strength toothpaste. In any event, the speed and sheer power of its oscillations comfortably put other electric toothbrushes I’ve tried to shame.
The inbuilt sensors trigger a red warning light when you push too hard and also slow down the RPM until you ease off. Battery life is rated at six to seven days in-between charges. This seems surprisingly low for a device that is only used a few minutes per day. Then again, 48,800 RPM obviously requires a lot of power.
In addition to timing your brushing sessions, the wireless SmartGuide includes vital stats on its LED display such as the mode you’re using and the teeth areas that still need brushing. It also rewards you with a star rating at the end of each brush. To be honest we’re not massively enthused by this gizmo but we suppose it could be handy for kids or forgetful users.
All in all, the Oral B Black 7000 is certainly a cut above the average electric toothbrush. Whether it’s worth the astronomical asking price is highly debatable, however. If you’re paranoid about oral hygiene we suppose it could be a worthy investment. With that said, you can get similar results from a normal toothbrush — it will just take much, much longer.
Comments
7 responses to “Hands-On: What Does A $299 Electric Toothbrush Feel Like?”
OK… and the heads for this thing cost what..? I’m guessing, an arm and a leg, cos at that kind of rotation, regular heads ain’t gonna last very long..! 🙂
They last longer than you’d think. I’ve had this brush for a while, it’s pretty good. Replacement head sets are around $30 for a set of 3, or they’re on special at Shaver Shop at the moment for $17.
I was always sceptical about these electric thingiemebobs.
Just bought the $19 Braun electric toothbrush… & I’m totally converted!
Just can’t justify such high pricing when $19 really does the trick (for me).
I’ve got an earlier model, the Triumph 5000, and swear by it. The screen is a huge gimmick and an excuse to go through batteries quickly though, but the toothbrush itself works like a dream.
Brush heads are fairly expensive, but at about $10 per head, it’s no different to buying a decent manual brush every few months anyway.
The biggest benefit I’ve seen from this is that it times 30 seconds in each of the four quadrants of my mouth, so I know when I’m focusing for too long in one area at the expense of another, something I’ve never really thought about before.
My experience is basically the same, and the clean is phenomenal, I couldn’t stop running my tongue over my teeth for hours.
I think if it saves you the cost and pain of one filling it is a worthwhile investment, and the sector timing really makes sure you don’t forget parts of your fangs or overdo it.
+1
I bought a dual pack of the Triumph 5000’s last Christmas and can say it’s honestly the best clean we’ve had. The 30 second quadrant timer is actually a really neat feature that I hadn’t thought about either. I tend to daydream when I brush, so that timer keeps you on track to having a rounded full mouth clean.
The heads aren’t that expensive when you figure you only need to replace it every three months. I’d rather pay that money than fork out for stupid ol’ fillings thanks to inefficient brushing/toothbrush.
“inbuilt Bluetooth (more on which later) ”
And……?