Philips DiamondClean 9000 – the high-tech toothbrush (review)

The Philips DiamondClean 9000 toothbrush offers superior cleaning, and the Philips Sonicare App provides a suite of tooth care indicators.

Now, this is not a cheap toothbrush – the deluxe kit with a USB charging travel case and charging glass is $379, although there are often specials and bundles that you should look for.

But, and remember, this is only a reviewer’s opinion; for my wife and me, for our needs, these are better than the Oral-B equivalent iO series 8 or 9.

Why? We used Oral-B for years, believing the rotating head removed more plaque than regular brushing. Philips uses a traditional toothbrush-style head that moves up and down, more in tune with conventional side-to-side brushing. Regardless, any electric toothbrush will give you a cleaner clean.

Australian Review: Philips DiamondClean 9000 and Sonicare App

Website	Product range
Price	$379 for the full kit in Black or Pink Replacement brushes 2-pack $42.95
Warranty	2 years
From	Harvey Norman, David Jones, Shaver Shop, Bing Lee, and major CE retailers (shop around – seen as low as $279)
Made in	China
Company	Philips (Est 1891) is a Dutch multinational with interests in lighting, consumer lifestyle, consumer healthcare, and commercial health equipment.
More	CyberShack’s Philips news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression: Well-made – Pass+

It is a rechargeable electric toothbrush, and you can use it just that way. It has a range of Bluetooth (BrushSync) pressure-sensitive heads:

• C3 for deep cleaning and plaque control (the standard head).
• G3 for Gum care.
• W3 for stain removal with an appropriate paste.

There are two buttons. Power on/off and Mode/Intensity that cycles through

• Clean – normal plaque removal, 2-minute clean
• White+ – surface stain removal (with a paste), 2 minutes 40 second clean
• Gum Health – Gum massage, 3 minutes and 20 seconds clean
• Deep Clean+ (the mode most used) – 3-minute clean

Intensity can also be altered 1x, 2x, and 3x. The toothbrush vibrates every 30 seconds to remind you to move on to a new tooth area.

The kit comes with a glass, power base and USB-A travel case. The travel case is beautifully made but takes up a fair bit of space in your travel kit. When traveling, we take one handle and two brushes.

The App – Pass

Upfront, you need to know that the Android or iOS App is useful, but we stopped using it a week or so after the review. Why? A toothbrush is a toothbrush, and this is a great one with or without the App.

The App tells you

• Daily brushing sessions
• Time spent during each brushing session
• Applied brushing pressure
• Brush head replacement reminder (based on actual use)

The Brushing pressure is handy as it identifies where you are too heavy-handed.

Having used this before, the Brush Head replacement notice happens at about 180 cleans or three months. This may be quite a few weeks before you need to change it. You can keep using it until you feel it is time to replace it.

Battery Life – Pass+

With twice-a-day cleaning, I get about a month (Philips says 14 days). The recharge time is about four hours.

Consumer Advice: Lithium batteries have a set number of charging cycles. It is best to use this until it is ready to recharge instead of leaving it on the glass charger/base all the time.

CyberShack’s view – Philips DiamondClean 9000 is a premium toothbrush that makes a difference.

It cleans teeth very well. If that is all you want, this is for you.

Plaque is noticeably reduced, although there is no substitute for an annual clean at the dentist.

The included USB travel charging case is a great accessory.

Rating Explanation

Features: 90 – regardless of whether you use the App, the toothbrush is fully featured, adjustable and has different heads.

Value: 80 – shop around because if you get it under $300, it gets an extra 10 points

Performance: 90 – it gives an appreciably cleaner tooth and mouth feel

Ease of Use: 90 – simple, although the App complicates that

Design: 95 – it is the Rolls Royce of electric toothbrushes

This is for an older model