More and more people are switching over to electric toothbrushes, not just because of how “cool” these brushes look, but because science is now proving them to be better at plaque removal, and for improving your overall oral health.
A single use of the sonic toothbrush showed a significantly greater plaque reduction compared to the manual traditional toothbrush
Philips Sonic electric toothbrushes clean your teeth more thoroughly, reaching into the crevices between your teeth and along the gumline than standard toothbrushes don’t always reach.
But with so many great Philips electric toothbrushes available, it can be difficult to decide which one to purchase.
Many of them share very similar features, so how do you know which one is going to work for you?
Well, we’re here to help, by assembling all the info you need to make an informed decision. This is a review of the Philips Sonicare Series 7900 Advanced Electric Toothbrush, a premium family electric toothbrush that will blitz through plaque and bring some style to your bathroom.
Philips Sonicare Series 7900 Features
- Built in Pressure sensor alert.
- Choose from 4 cleaning modes – clean / whitening / gum care / deep clean
- Quadrant brushing zones and optimal timer.
- Alert keeps brush heads in check with smart replacement reminders.
- Long battery life of 2 weeks before full recharge is required.
- Attractive and secure travel case with spare brush head.
- Variable intensity settings – deep clean, gently does it
- Up to 62,000 brush movements per minute deliver supreme cleaning.
- Whiter teeth within a week *compared to manual brushing.
- Smart App integration
- Models: HX9631/17, HX9636/19, HX9631/18
Pressure Sensor, Cleaning Modes & Intensities
The Philips Sonicare Advanced Whitening Series 7900 comes equipped with a pressure sensor. If you apply too much pressure to your teeth while brushing, the pressure sensor will alert you by sending a pulse through the handle of the toothbrush.
This toothbrush also has 4 cleaning modes: Clean mode, which is the standard setting for cleaning your teeth; White mode, which is the setting you’ll choose if you want to remove stains and brighten your teeth; Gum Care mode, which gives you an extra minute of brushing at a slower speed to allow you to massage your gums, and a deep all-round clean.
You’ll find the 3 intensities of cleaning varying from higher to lower depending on how aggressive you want to get with your oral care.
Smart Brush Head Replacement Reminder Alert
This is a great feature to have because it can be easy to forget to regularly change the head of your toothbrush and with this feature, you’ll never have to worry about forgetting. Each brush head is good to use for about three months. The first time you attach the brush head, the toothbrush will record that time and will then alert you at the appropriate time when the head needs to be changed.
Impressively Long Battery Life
Many electric toothbrushes on the market need to be charged frequently or have the batteries replaced quite often. The Philips Sonicare Series 7900 HX9631/17 has a battery life of two weeks between charges with regular use. Obviously, if you use your toothbrush more or less often than twice a day, the battery life will vary.
Easy Start Mode
Another nice feature of this toothbrush is the Easy Start mode. When you first begin using this electric toothbrush, it will begin in Easy Start mode, which will slowly increase the power during the first 14 uses to allow you to get used to it.
Philips Advanced Whitening Pros and Cons
The Philips Series 7900 Advanced Whitening electric toothbrush has a lot going for it with only a few negatives.
What we like:
- Various attractive Colour Options – While many electric toothbrushes are only available in one or two colours, the 7900 has five colour options to choose from:
- Black: Model HX9631/17 comes with a stunning matte black coating and silver trim
- Navy Blue: Model HX6851/53 finished in dark blue with sliver detail
- Pastel Pink: Model HX6856/29 is a gorgeous vibrant pink toothbrush handle with pink buttons
- White: Model HX6859/29 is pure white, for a clean, clinical and modern style
- Deep Purple: Model HX6874/47 is a fun dark purple, for those looking for something a little different
- Three Cleaning Modes – The choice between 3 different cleaning modes makes this electric toothbrush stand out among some of the others and is a great feature for ensuring your teeth remain as clean and healthy as possible.
- Built-in Timer – This electric toothbrush also comes equipped with a two-minute timer that will alert you every 30 seconds to move to a different region of the mouth for cleaning. This ensures a proper, thorough cleaning all over the mouth. After those two minutes, the toothbrush will automatically shut off to let you know the time is up.
- Pressure Sensor – The pressure sensor is another favourite feature among many. It can be easy to apply too much pressure to your teeth while brushing to get them as clean as possible. However, applying too much pressure can also be a bad thing, and this electric toothbrush lets you know when you’re pressing too hard and need to lighten your touch a bit.
- Travel Case – A nice extra feature that comes with this toothbrush is the convenient travel case that will allow you to keep your toothbrush and attachments all in one clean place while you’re travelling.
What We Don’t Like:
Expensive – This is one of the more expensive options, but the quality is reflected in the price. With that said, there are great deals and discounts found on Amazon, and there’s the Philips Protectiveclean which is cheaper while offering comparable performance.
Users who already have the Philips diamondclean will not benefit from this toothbrush. In fact, some users have reported this as a downgrade to the successful diamondclean.
Unlike the Oral B range, the pressure sensor does not have a light, it simply vibrates if you’re brushing too hard. We think a light would have made a nice additional feature considering the quality of this brush.
Philips Series 7900 HX9631/17 Customer Feedback
If you search around on the internet for user reviews for this product on websites such as Amazon, you will find a mixed bag. There are many things about this toothbrush that customers really like and find superior to other products like it. But with any product, there’s always a handful of people who have some gripe to share.
The overall consensus is good, and this product works very well when you consider this electric toothbrush has received 4.1 out of 5 stars on Amazon from a total of 152 reviews. (at the time of writing)
When reading through the customer reviews on Amazon, you will notice that many customers who disliked the Philips Sonic Series 7900 have compared it to their DiamondClean 3rd Generation. They have stated that while both products are very similar that the Philips Sonicare is somewhat inferior to their DiamondClean 3rd Generation in, performance, features and construction.
Those who are new to using electric toothbrushes and don’t really have anything to compare to the 7900 are quite satisfied with it and didn’t voice any complaints at all.
What it seems to come down to is personal preference. If you’ve been using electric toothbrushes for a while, then you know what you want in one and you know which one is better suited to your tastes and needs. Of course, you may be a little biased and favour your current trusty electric toothbrush.
Overall, the Philips Sonic Advanced Whitening 7900 has many positive features that make the higher price of this item worth paying.
I have yet to find one review that says that it doesn’t do a good job cleaning teeth, and after all, isn’t that what matters most?
