Philips Sonicare 2100 Series Review

Design, usability, clean & general use

The 2100 Series comes in typical Sonicare packaging. It isn’t the most snazzy and eye-catching, but it fits in with the Philips theme and does the job it needs to. 

It sounds daft, but it is nice that the box actually shows the brush and highlights the key features about it, so you know what you are buying. Believe it or not, many brushes have very little information on the box about what is inside. This is fine if buying online, but not quite so good for the shop shelves.

Another nice touch is the image on the box is colour matched to the handle inside.

Philips is working to improve their sustainability globally. This is a good thing. For quite some time their packaging has been mainly paper based as opposed to lots of plastics and materials like polystyrene.

As I will explain in more detail later, Philips has now even changed their conventional charging stand to reduce plastic use.

So why then, does the brush handle, the brush head and charging stand all come in a plastic sleeve?! It is LDPE 4 plastic, which can technically be recycled, but it is still fairly difficult to do for most people.

I think on the whole Philips strategy is positive, but it seems a bit daft to wrap parts of the package in plastic when they don’t need to be. The brush head, I kind of understand, but the other parts?!  It feels like they are missing some of the obvious bits here.

First impressions of the 2100 in hand are great. It is lovely and slim and fairly light too. It definitely isn’t the most grippy of all the toothbrushes I have used, but the matt coating to the handle means it doesn’t feel slippery to the touch.

There is certainly a feeling of quality when you handle this brush, which is a positive.

Like most toothbrushes, this is made up of 2 key parts, the brush handle and the brush head.

The handle itself is not a perfect cylinder. Although rounded, the edges are very slightly squared off which makes it feel solid and pleasant to hold.

The 2100 Series was introduced to the Sonicare range in late 2021. It technically replaces the DailyClean Series. It is considerably slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. And it is marginally thinner and lighter in hand, in comparison to most other Sonicare handles. This is a positive, but as I will explain shortly, it does have negative impacts, notably battery life.

It has a very typical Sonicare design to the handle, which is clean and practical in its approach. I can’t really fault it.

The 2100 Series is available in 2 different variants at the time of review.  Technically they are all the same, the difference is the colour of the brush handle.

I have the HX3651/32 variant which is light blue in colour. 

On the front of the handle, just below the metal shaft is the Philips Sonicare logo, in a grey font.

Beneath this within the upper third of the handle is the power button. It appears to have an almost seamless design, despite being rubber, compared to the plastic of the brush handle itself.

It is concave and has a power icon embossed on it. It is colour matched to the handle too. There is a nice clicky feedback to the button. It isn’t very firm, so it’s quite easy to activate. Great for those with limited dexterity.

It is hard to explain, but there is contouring to the plastic of the handle that creates a long oval shape around the power button. It adds a design cue to the handle and becomes a natural resting place for the thumb. 

It is then in the lower third of the handle that you have any extra notable detail on the front of the handle. Here sits the LED and icon for the battery.

The DailyClean 1100 that the 2100 Series replaces didn’t have this battery status icon, so this is a welcome addition. I will discuss the battery in more detail soon.

The rest of the handle, including the sides and back are smooth to the touch, with no raised elements for grip etc. For some, this is a negative, but despite the lack of gripping points the 2100 doesn’t feel uncomfortable or like it will really slip in the hand. For those who particularly struggle with getting a tight grip, the slimmer handle of the 2100 might not be ideally suited.  

The only exception to this smooth design is on the back of the handle, right at the bottom, is a small plastic notch extending from the handle. This is designed to prevent the handle from rolling about when laid on a countertop.

The base of the handle has a recess within it. This is a space into which the charging pin on top of the charging stand fits to provide the wireless charging of the internal battery.

The base has some regulatory information printed on it along with the model number.

The 2100 series does stand upright on a desktop.

The top of the handle tapers very slightly, just before flattening out to give a surface for the brush head to sit over. Extending from the top here is the metal shaft that connects to the brush motor inside the handle.

The provided brush head simply pushes onto and pulls off of this. There is no need to twist or lock any head in place.

Once fitted, if you take a look at the handle from the side, the head sits perfectly vertically. There is no angling of the brush head as is the case with some other models.

This is subject to change, but the brush head supplied with the 2100 series by default is the W2 Optimal White brush head.

It can be used every day, but it has been specifically designed to be more effective at stain removal, to make teeth appear whiter in just 7 days thanks to the diamond shaped bristle tips and ‘polishing pad’ in the centre of the brush head.

The head is interchangeable so you can replace it or switch it for another style of head from Philips if you prefer.

The range of heads is confusing. Our ultimate guide to Sonicare brush heads explains each in more detail.

Now, I need to make you aware of something which makes the situation potentially a little more complicated.

For a long time, the brush head supplied with the 2100 was named and known as DiamondClean or Optimal White. It has more recently had the addition of ‘W2’ to make it the W2 Optimal White. Same design, new name.

But, in addition, the head has also had a technology upgrade. It has gained an RFID chip.

This chip makes the head BrushSync compatible. 

Our BrushSync technology article explains what this means in some detail.  But essentially, this chip allows a compatible handle, which the 2100 is not, to do some clever things.

The chip has no benefit to you if you are using the 2100 Series.  But, the head does still technically work on the handle; the BrushSync features won’t function.

You may end up paying a slight premium for the heads with the RFID chip in.

You should on average replace your brush head every 3 months, sooner if they show obvious signs of wear.  To remind you to do so, built into the brush head are ‘fading indicator bristles’.  These are usually blue in colour, but over approximately 3 months they will become much paler, turning a white/translucent colour. This is a  visual clue the head needs replacing.

The 2100 is nice and simple to use.  There is only 1 cleaning mode on this brush handle.  

There is no facility to change the power or intensity. 

This one mode, known as clean, is all you really need, making for a really simple to use toothbrush.

Yes, potentially there are benefits from different cleaning modes, but for the vast majority of users, 1 mode like this is more than adequate.

It is worth mentioning that the motor in the 2100 isn’t the same as that used in the more premium Sonicare models.

The 2100 motor does offer up to 31,000 brush strokes, but it doesn’t achieve the 62,000 movements often quoted with the more expensive models. It is configured differently.  

As a result, the 2100 does feel less powerful/intense compared to some other Sonicare toothbrushes.

Technically, more power or movements does mean better cleaning results.  But, it isn’t quite as simple as this, there are more factors at play.

The lesser power on offer here isn’t immediately obvious. Even for me and I have tested hundreds of brushes. The brushing sensation is slightly different. It is most noticeable if you have used other premium Sonicare toothbrushes before.

The 2100 still does a very good job.  My teeth feel clean after each brushing session. It is just a bit of a shame that you are not getting the ultimate Sonicare cleaning experience.

As with any toothbrush, be that manual or electric, it is important that you use the correct tooth brushing technique. There is a different technique to using an electric toothbrush to a manual brush. Did you know the brush should be held at 45 degrees to the gumline? 

Our helpful guide explains the correct ways.

Be sure to learn the best approach, so that with each brushing session you are maximising the benefit you get.

The cleaning mode is activated by a single press of the power button. A second press will stop the toothbrush.

You should brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes each time. That is the recommendation of the vast majority of dental professionals.

Sadly, too few of us brush for this time, so the 2100 has a timer and pacer built into the handle to help encourage longer brushing sessions.

These are activated the moment the brush is powered on. 

As the bristles move the timer counts and once it hits 30 seconds, it pauses the brush motor briefly.

This pause changes the sound and brushing sensation. It is your alert to move from one quadrant of the mouth to another.

This then repeats every 30 seconds, until the brush gets to 120 seconds (2 minutes) at which point it will turn itself off.

If you are not familiar with the concept of quadrant and 30 second intervals, allow me to explain.

Whilst dentists recommend 2 minutes of cleaning twice a day, what this does not help with is ensuring you and I brush our teeth evenly. 

The idea is that you break the mouth up into 4 sections: 

• upper right
• upper left
• lower right 
• lower left

You spend 30 seconds cleaning each section. As you do, you try and give equal attention to the front, back and biting surfaces of the teeth. If you do, come the 120 seconds (2 minutes) of brushing time, you should have achieved an even clean to the teeth and gums.

The pacer acts as an alert to you, to change the quadrant as you brush to encourage this even clean.

Of course you don’t have to follow it, but it is good practice.

When brushing your teeth, the bristles need only really skim the surface of the teeth. You need just a little bit of pressure, not lots. Too much pressure can cause wear on the teeth and gums and in the long term result in irreversible damage.

Unfortunately, the 2100 has no technology built in to help prevent forceful brushing, or at least alert you to it.  

Brushes like the Sonicare 4300 and Oral-B’s Pro 2 2000 do.

We feel a pressure sensor is a key feature of a good electric toothbrush, and advise where possible to opt for one that does have this included.

Sealed inside the 2100’s brush handle is all the technology that makes this brush function, which includes the user rechargeable, but not user replaceable lithium-ion battery, which should give 14+ days of use on a full charge.

When the power is low, the brush will indicate this through the battery indicator LED. Just pop it on the provided charging stand for up to 24 hours to fully recharge. You can get more information in the ‘Battery Life’ section of this review.

The handle is water resistant, which means it has been designed to resist the water, toothpaste and saliva that it will inevitably come into contact with. A rinse under the tap to clean it is fine. Sonicare tends not to advise use when bathing, but I know many do brush their teeth whilst in the shower. The important thing here is to avoid full submersion in water.

Sonicare does offer a 2 year warranty that covers any mechanical or workmanship faults, but not user damage.