Oral-B iO9 electric toothbrush review

Best Prices Today: Oral-B iO Series 9

There are now nine models in Oral-B’s iO line – which runs from the affordable iO2 to the luxury iO10 – each with a different feature set and price point. Most have smart features, which increase in quality and depth as the price point rises. The pricier models (from the iO7 upwards) have fast charging and from the iO8 up they have a full colour OLED screen for feedback and settings.

To compare brush features and prices as well as pros and cons, have a look at our Oral-B iO Series guide. In it, we compare all the iO models, explain how they differ and advise on what you should pay for each one. You can also check out our best Oral-B brush round-up, which has our top recommendations for Oral-B electric toothbrushes of all types.

But in this review, we’re looking at the second-most-pricey model, the iO Series 9. Let’s start off with this: I think that the iO9 could help to improve dental health. So, if that’s a concern and you can afford the investment, it could be worth it.

But there’s a caveat. The iO9 is a tool that could help to seriously overhaul your brushing technique in the same way that My Fitness Pal or a FitBit can help to improve your diet and fitness, ie only if you’re willing to use it as the makers intended. That means there’s a bit of commitment involved.

The other point is that, although the iO9 is one of the best brushes I’ve tested for performance, you’re really paying for the extra features, including the OLED screen and app. This is what sets it apart from other brushes on the market. 

But it’s not perfect and you’ll have to balance what use you’ll get from those features and whether you can overlook its flaws to decide if it’s worth its very serious price tag. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look.

Design and Build

The iO9 is approximately the same size and shape as Oral-B’s Genius brushes, but it’s been subtly redesigned. Its neck is sturdier and the brush neck flows into the handle more elegantly, and the most obvious difference is its colour OLED screen, which is set into the handle.

The iO Series also features redesigned brushing heads, and are not compatible with the heads from older models. There are now several types of these, optimised for daily cleaning, whitening and gentle gum care. You can see all the types available on the Oral-B website. Bear in mind that they are more expensive than classic Oral-B brush heads, although you can buy generic, compatible brush heads from Amazon.

It’s also been redesigned internally too, with a linear magnetic drive motor that allows the brush head to clean via tiny vibrations as well as oscillation, rather than the straightforward oscillation of earlier Oral-B brushes. It’s a big change to the performance and, I think, a noticeable improvement to what was already good technology.

The Series 9 comes in black, white and pink. The light ring can be personalised in one of a number of colours. 

OLED Screen

This, of course, is the most obvious point of difference with the iO9: the full colour OLED screen. Few other electric toothbrushes have one. Do you need it? No. Do I like it? I have to say I do.

The iO9 greets you with an image of the sun and a hello. You’ll be relieved to hear it doesn’t actually speak, although I’m sad to say that technology has now reached the point where we have, in fact, reviewed a talking toothbrush. (Read our Oclean X Ultra S review to find out more.)

You can select your brushing method via the screen. There are seven options: daily clean, whitening, sensitive, super sensitive, gum care, tongue clean and intense. There are brushing settings for any individual and in any situation, so you can always find something comfortable and effective.

Still, I think that the intense setting is needlessly intense (the Philips DiamondClean 9000 is also guilty of this). I grazed my gum trying it out. Over-brushing or brushing too hard can lead to sensitive teeth and receding gums. Electric toothbrushes, with their variable settings and pressure sensors, should be able to help people avoid this bad habit.

Moving on from that ticking off, the screen also gives you access to settings, including turning on and off the Bluetooth and light ring and restoring factory settings.

When you begin to brush, an onscreen timer displays how far you are through your dentist-approved two-minute brushing time. This works in conjunction with the brush vibrations, which pause every thirty seconds to tell you to move on to the next quadrant of your mouth. After two minutes, there’s a longer pause. Unlike similar brushes, it doesn’t stop altogether at two minutes and will continue to time you.  

The countdown timer makes it very easy to see how long you have left to brush, and that’s a feature you’ll only see in a few electric toothbrushes.

When you’ve finished, the remaining battery life will be displayed and you’ll get feedback for your brushing in the form of a smiley or sad face. How you feel about that will probably determine how well you’ll get on with the iO9 in general.

The App and Smart Features

The light ring doubles as the pressure sensor alert. Press too hard and the light ring glows a warning red. This, plus the timer and vibration pauses and feedback smiley means you get a lot of brushing help without actually needing to open the app.

But since this is one of the best systems for brushing feedback, you should give it a go.

Hold your phone in front of you while you brush and you’ll get real-time feedback about how long to continue brushing each part of your mouth to achieve total coverage.

I found that the sensor was accurate in determining where I was brushing but in order to complete brushing to the app’s satisfaction, I had to continue for longer than the optimum two minutes.

This raised a couple of issues: first, was trying to get a perfect score via the app’s feedback making me brush for too long? And second, brushing for longer drains the battery life noticeably. But more on that later.

The app will also keep track of your brushing history, along with an overall percentage score (calculated from how long you brushed, how much coverage you achieved and whether or not you pressed too hard). It also keeps track of how long you’ve been using your brush head and can send you an alert to remind you when the three-month recommended period of use is up. 

There are also some daft inclusions in the app. Do you really need to gamify your brushing routine by collecting medals? Although ‘Captain Gum Guard’ sounds kid-friendly, another medal, ‘Kissable’, sounds less so, so it’s not clear who they’re aimed at or why they’re there, except to fill app space. 

There’s also the option to sync data to Apple Health (if you’re an iPhone user) and plan “dental care journeys”, but these are really just other ways to log and assess your brushing. 

Battery Life

The trade-off for the iO9’s screen is battery life. The OLED screen uses a lot of power, which means that the iO9’s time between charges is not great compared to other high-quality electric brushes. Oral-B reckons you can use it for two weeks before you need to recharge but in reality, it doesn’t last that long. As I tend to brush for a bit longer than the recommended two minutes each time, I found that I used 10% of the battery life each day.

That would obviously give me only ten days between charges, at most. Oral-B suggests that you keep your brush in its charger as there’s a failsafe to keep it from overcharging. If you can do that, then battery life won’t be an issue. But for many people, that’s less than ideal.

Charging is quick, however, at just three hours, thanks to its fast charging abilities, which are limited to the more expensive iO models.  

Accessories

The iO9 comes with a magnetic charging base with a shaver adapter (for UK users – US buyers will receive a standard, two-pin plug), a travel case with a second two-pin adapter and a separate case that’ll store two spare brush heads.

The accessories are a bit disappointing, especially for a brush at this price point. The magnetic stand is efficient and simply designed but a USB charging option would have been welcome.

The travel case is nicer than the one that comes with cheaper iO models but it’s not nearly as plush as the Philips DiamondClean 9000‘s case, which has an elegant, inbuilt USB charging solution. 

Price and Availability

The iO Series 9 is currently available in the UK from Boots and Amazon. Its launch price was £500 but in reality, its day-to-day price is £250. Buy it in the sale and you should be able to get it for even less.

If you’re in the US, you can buy the iO Series 9 on Amazon for $299.99, but it’s often available for closer to $200.

If you want the iO9, the best time to buy is on Prime Day or Black Friday, when discounts will likely be available from a number of retailers. Just remember that you should be considering £250 as the brush’s real price.

Should you buy the Oral-B iO9?

Performance-wise, the iO Series 9 is a winner. As far as I’m concerned, it’s earned its stars right there.

And if you’ve been meaning to take your dental care in hand, its feedback, via both handle and app, will help you to remember to brush properly and well.

But if you’re happy with the condition of your teeth and the way you brush, you’ll probably ditch the app pretty quickly. So, the smart element of this product will be useless to most people. 

But that’s okay, because really, the USP of the iO is the screen. It’s fun, ridiculous, useful and unnecessary in roughly equal measures. You definitely don’t need it. But you might want it.  

🙂

If you’re looking for more options, and to see how the iO measures up, you can compare all iO brushes in our Oral-B iO guide, see our top Oral-B recommendations and check out our round-up of the best electric toothbrushes we’ve tested.

Best Prices Today: Oral-B iO Series 9