Oral-B iO Series 6 review

Our Finding of fact

The Oral-B Io Series 6 strikes an excellent Libra 'tween features and Leontyne Price. It's basically the duplicate as the victory Io Series 9, but with a couple of carefully selected changes to hold open the price down. The sweep is fundamentally the unchanged, with a super quiet motive that lets it glide smoothly across your teeth, a bright colourise LCD display happening the cover, a insistence sensor, and real-time brushing feedback through Oral-B's mobile app. The exclusively changes are the accessories, with a less elegant charging base and a very alkaline travel subject that protects the light touch from stain, but doesn't keep IT charged. If you're non planning to take your toothbrush connected off-grid adventures, and aren't too special about how its charging dock looks in your bathroom, it's unchaste to urge. One of the best electric toothbrushes you rear buy out today.

For

Extremely quiet motor
Smooth, effective brushing action
Dead-on time period feedback
Works well with or without app

Against

Alkaline plastic carry case
Expensive replacement heads

TechRadar Verdict

The Oral-B iO Series 6 strikes an excellent balance between features and price. It's essentially the same as the award-winning iO Serial publication 9, but with a a couple of cautiously elect changes to hold out the price down. The brush is fundamentally the same, with a super quiet motor that lets it glide smoothly across your teeth, a bright color LCD expose connected the handle, a pressure sensor, and real-clock brushing feedback through Oral-B's mobile app. The only changes are the accessories, with a less elegant charging base and a very basic travel case that protects the brush from dirt, but doesn't continue it charged. If you're non planning to take out your toothbrush on off-grid adventures, and aren't besides specific about how its charging dock looks in your bath, it's easy to recommend. One of the go-to-meeting electric toothbrushes you can buy now.

Pros

+ Highly quiet motor
+ Smooth, effective brushing fulfi
+ Accurate time period feedback
+ Works well with or without app

Cons

- Basic plastic carry caseful
- Expensive replacement heads

Two-minute review

Net year, Oral-B launched the iO Series 9 – a top-end electric toothbrush with a super quiet motor, sleek design, and real-time brushing feedback either on the brush handle Oregon in the smartphone app. It cleaned intimately, was a joy to use of goods and services, and earned a place at the pass of our guide to the best electric car toothbrushes. The only downside was its monetary value – with a launch price of $300 / £500 / AU$400, information technology was one of the most expensive brushes around.

Now, there's an alternative: the Oral-B iO Series 6, which gives you the topper features of the iO Serial 9, for a substantially lower price mark down. Buccal-B hasn't slew any significant corners to accomplish this; the iO9 Series 6 is fundamentally the comparable as its more expensive counterpart, and the whole experience is merely as good.

You get the same modest-friction magnetic motor, half-witted controls, crisp LCD display, and Bluetooth connectivity. The differences are in the accessories, with a unanalyzable plastic example that only keeps the brush clean, but doesn't charge IT, and a standard charging mean rather than a satiny magnetic Robin Goodfellow for your bathroom.

Oral-B iO Series 6 on charging base — Unlike the Viva-B iO Series 9, the iO Series 6 has a regular charging base with a prong that fits into a recess in the palm (Image credit: Future)

Whether those differences matter will be entirely a matter of personalised choice. If you'ray a frequent traveler then the good charging case of the iO Series 9 may justify the extra disbursal, but for everyone else, the iO Serial publication 6 is an fantabulous via media. Its cleansing performance is sporty every bit good, its pressure sensor is as accurate, and its real-time location tracking is just as effective at helping you cover apiece segment of your mouth.

Oral-B iO Series 6 electric toothbrush in black — The iO Series 6 is very similar to the iO Series 9 launched in 2020, and the handle is nearly very (Persona cite: Future)

Terms and release date

The Oral-B iO Series 6 was released in July 2021, and costs $149.99 / £300. For comparison, the iO Series 9 cost $300 / £500 / AU$400 at launch – though information technology was soon available more cheaply at third-party retailers.

The iO Series 6 uses the identical encounter heads as the Series 9, which cost around $35 / £30 / AU$35 for a set of 2, merely can sometimes Be found more cheaply on Amazon. It's not compatible with heads from older Oral-B toothbrushes.

Oral-B iO Series 6 with brush head detached — The Oral-B iO Serial 6 takes the Lapp brush heads as the iO Series 9 (Image credit: Future)

Design

The Oral examination-B iO Serial 9 and 6 are identical similar; in fact the handles are nearly identical. Both are modern-looking electric toothbrushes with a bright LCD display to render the actual brushing way, summation C. W. Post-brushing feedback. It has a big-quiet motive, a color-changing pressure detector, and comes in three colors: black, gray, and pink.

There are just two buttons to control the brush (i for cycling through menus, and another to control the big businessman or select the current menu option), which keeps things refreshingly uncomplicated.

The key differences are in the accessories. Piece the iO Serial 9 has a rechargeable case that keeps the brush powered up piece you'rhenium away from household, the Series 6 has something overmuch simpler. It's a very basic Patrick White plastic cause that keeps your brush handle and two heads protected from soil and impairment, but that's every.

Oral-B iO Series 6 and brush head in carry case — Oral-B has kept the toothbrush's cost down by providing a rattling basic plastic carry case for the iO Series 6 (Icon credit: Future)

The two brushes also have unlike chargers. The Io Series 9 has a wise magnetic charging hockey puck that keeps your skirmish in situ, while the iO Series 6 has a many time-honored charger, with a peg that fits into a recess in the hind end of the brush handle.

IT's not quite American Samoa sleek, and means you have to be thrifty to avoid toothpaste and water residual building up inside the bottom of the handle, but does mean you're not going to accidentally knock the encounter from its base with a clumsy lif of your hand (a problem we've sometimes had with magnetic bases).

Operation

We were tremendously impressed by the performance of the Oral-B iO Serial publication 9, and the Series 6 is basically identical, from best impressions to final testing.

The iO Series 6 has Oral-B's latest motor, which is extremely unruffled and allows the brush to glide smoothly crossways your teeth. The handle has a smooth finish and, although non the lightest around, is evenly weighted and comfortable in the pass.

IT takes Oral-B's iO Light Care and Ultimate Fresh brush heads, which have densely packed bristles that fit some the curve of each tooth. The Oral-B app lets you track how long you've been exploitation your current brush head, and will prompt you to re-order when it's coming towards the end of its aliveness (a useful equal).

Oral-B iO Series 6 in woman's hand — The Oral-B iO Series 9 has a smart press sensor that detects non simply when you're pressure too hard, but likewise when you're being too gentle (Image credit: Future)

The Oral-B iO Series 6 offers Bluetooth connectivity so you can receive real-time feedback on your brushing through with the Oral-B app (available for Android or iOS), but information technology's a pleasure to use even without this.

The first time you use the thicket, you'll be prompted to select a color for the illuminated dance band around the bottom of the encounter head. This unimportant likewise indicates whether you'ray applying enough pressure while brushing – green means good pressure, red means too high, and if it returns to your Chosen emblazon, you're pressing excessively lightly or not in the least.

Once that's done, cycle through the various brushing modes with the button below the display, select one with the button in a higher place it, and you're quick to begin. Past default the brush runs for ii minutes, vibratory every 30 seconds to indicate when you should move to a different quadrant of your mouth. Erst that time is up, the sweep wish oscillate several times in quick succession, and when you switch it off, you'll constitute presented with a smiley, neutral, or frowning face on the show reflective how considerably you cleansed your whole mouth.

This is based along time taken, and whether you practical excessive pressure (and if and then, how much). IT may seem a little childish, but earning praise form your toothbrush is surprisingly motivating, and if you've been warned that backbreaking brushing is putting your gums and tooth tooth enamel at risk, it could be scarce the nudge you need to alter your habits.

Screengrabs from Oral-B mobile app — The Spoken-B app provides veridical-time feedback along your brushing using the sensor set in the brush handle (Image credit: Future)

For more detailed guidance happening your brushing, install the Oral-B app, register for an accounting (a quick process that asks for a bare tokenish of individual information), and get off the brushwood so it john be discovered via Bluetooth.

The app is extremely unproblematic to use; just begin brushing, and a graphic on-screen will appearance which section of your mouth you're currently cleaning victimisation data from the location sensor in the brushwood's handle. The teeth in the paradigm will gradually change from blue to white arsenic you work your way around, showing when you've cleansed from each one part of your mouth thoroughly

Once you're done, turn dispatch the brush and you'll equal relinquished a rating for your efforts. It doesn't matter if you end up taking yearner than the true two minutes to complete a thorough clean, but you'll lose points for not completing all part of your mouth, rushing, operating theatre applying excessive pressure. It's an heroic system of rules, and will help you get a better idea of how good brush should feel so you can adapt your habits along days when you choose not to usance the app.

It's straightforward decent for kids too, and if they brush well, they'll receive virtual awards that are gathered in a 'piggy bank' for extra motivating.

Over clock, the app will arm a picture of your brushing habits and initiate to suggest tips accordingly to help improve your rima hygiene. IT's a small touch, but a thoughtful ane that's more meaningful than generic advice.

If you want to take things a step further, there's also a set of programs to service with specific concerns, such as bad breath or whitening. These will suggest taxonomic category brush routines, and give you feedback supported how wellspring you follow them. Unlike some brushes we've time-tested, the selection of programs is quite small, and cautiously curated to avoid confusion.

It's in essence the same experience you'd get with Oral-B's whirligig-finish iO toothbrush, but for a immensely reduced price. If you put on't mind devising a few sacrifices when it comes to the accessories, the iO Serial 6 is passing comfy to recommend.

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Cat (@CatEllisBristol) is the fittingness and eudaemonia editor at TechRadar. She's been a technology journalist for 11 eld, and cut her teeth on magazines including PC Plus and Personal computer Initialise ahead joining TechRadar. She's a trained run leader, and enjoys nothing Thomas More than lacing upfield her shoes and hitting the pavement. If you have a story about good shape trackers, treadmills, running place, e-bikes, surgery some other good shape tech, drib her a line.