hum kids by Colgate review

Design, usability, clean & general use

Both the manual and electric hum by kids brushes come in eye catching boxes. Bold child friendly colors. They have a slightly different design, and the electric one is a little larger than it probably needs to be.  

On the box, some of the key features and functions are highlighted but there isn’t extensive information.  It’s enough I think.

The box contents will differ. Of course, the electric brush comes with 2 x AAA batteries.  Both come with a smartphone stand. This is because both the manual and electric brush work with the smartphone app.

I will cover the app in more detail shortly, but I feel it is important to share now how the app detects these brushes.

Neither the manual nor the electric brush has Bluetooth to connect it to the app.  The app uses the front facing camera on a smartphone to look out for the colorful dotted module at the base of the brush handle. It is this module and the raised dots that are tracked by the camera/app.

With the electric brush, this is fixed to the handle and can’t be removed.  With the manual brush, this comes apart, to allow the manual brush to be removed and replaced as is necessary.  The brush should be replaced every 3 months.

Each brush achieves the same end goal, they just do it slightly differently.  The manual brush is the more cost effective option, whilst the electric will likely help your child achieve a better overall clean, thanks to the number of bristle movements.

I am going to focus on the electric variant for the majority of this review.

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

I have the yellow colored option, but it is too available in red.

The brush head is color matched and pushes on and pulls off of the handle.

The main body of the brush has a cylindrical shape, made with a smooth touch plastic which is easy to wipe clean.

It is a fairly uniform shape down the handle until you reach the bottom. I am not sure what you call this part, but it is a bizarre looking bulbous module with raised rubber nodules of varying color.

Despite the odd shape, it does allow it to sit upright on a countertop.

The very bottom of this part of the brush can be removed if needs be.  You twist it to unlock it and twist it the opposite way to lock it back in place.  There are icons on the back of the handle to show this.

The lower half of the handle has the hum logo in red printed on it and does also unscrew from the top of the handle.  This is to allow access to the battery compartment.  

With the 2 x AAA batteries installed the handle can be turned and locked shut.  It is a secure and tight screw mechanism and icons on the back of the handle show when it has been successfully locked in place.

In the upper half of the handle is the one and only function button.  This turns the brush on and off.  It is a silicone material with a power icon debossed in it.  Red in color it stands out and provides a little grip to the finger.  It sits very slightly proud of the main brush body.

The button has a good level of resistance and clicks when pressed.

Above the power button is the top of the brush handle which tapers up to the bristles of the brush head when fitted.  If the head is removed a long white plastic shaft is exposed.

On the rear of the handle are 2 raised plastic nodules that help prevent the toothbrush from rolling when laid on a countertop.  There are too the icons for locking and unlocking the pasts of the handle.  And there is the Colgate logo along with the Kolibree logo.  Kolibree is the company that builds the technology for the smartphone app.

Although there are not lots of raised gripping points, the handle shape isn’t slippy and most children should be able to hold onto this quite comfortably.

The replaceable brush heads for this sonic toothbrush should be replaced every 3 months.

There is only 1 style of head which makes things quite easy.

The bristles are very soft. On the head itself are 4 rows of bristles, with the outer 2 rows being longer and more tapered to help clean along the gumline.

All the bristles are white in color.  They do not fade or change color over the weeks and months of use.

On the back of the head is a tongue cleaner.  This is a nice touch and more useful than many realize.  It ties in nicely as the smartphone app actually promotes tongue brushing.

The toothbrush has 2 cleaning modes.  Colgate hasn’t specified what these modes really are or how they differ, but it is quite obvious that the first mode is the more gentle and less powerful.

A single press of the power button will access this mode.  A second press will access the more powerful mode.

I believe it to be similar to Oral-B Kids 3+ brush where the default mode is the sensitive mode and the other the normal cleaning mode.

I like this setup because it doesn’t put kids off straight away.  It is an option for easing the child into the power of an electric brush.

Older children or those used to an electric brush can use the more powerful mode when they feel ready.

Colgate hasn’t specified the number of bristle movements, but I think the maximum number is 20,000 on the more powerful mode.

There is no easy way of knowing which mode is selected.  There are no mode labels or LEDs on the brush handle.  In time you can tell the difference between the pitch of the sound.  But, some form of cleaning mode icon would have been nice.

Unlike some sonic toothbrushes, this will not automatically turn itself off.  To turn it off you will need to press the power button when your child has completed their brushing.

In our opinion, essential features of a good electric toothbrush are a 2 minute timer and 30 second pacer.  This is to encourage even brushing of the teeth for the dentist recommended 2 minutes.

In some respects, it is less important for younger children because the main thing here is to get them in a habit of doing some brushing.  But, at the same time, it is good to promote doing it for the right amount of time.

The hum for kids has a 2 minute timer, but not a 30 second pacer.  This pacing is handled by the smartphone application.  

And in actual fact, the app works on 6 x 20 second sections (sextants), rather than the slightly more typical 4 x 30 second (quadrants).

It is not an absolute deal breaker, but something to be aware of if your child is not brushing with the app open.

The 2 minute timer alerts you by 3 pauses in the motor.  The change in sound and brushing sensation to your child or to you as the parent/guardian that the time has been achieved.

In use, the brush does produce an audible humming sound.  It is not the loudest toothbrush, but not the quietest.  Vibrations are felt through the brush handle and the motion of the bristles can feel quite ticklish to children that are not used to it.  

Most will desensitize to it over a week or so.

My preference is for electric over manual because you get the increased bristle movement compared to a manual brush, which can help with getting better cleaning results.  

Toothbrushing can be complicated so things that make the clean easier but yet effective can be very helpful.  

That said, used correctly a manual brush is still more than adequate.

From my testing, the cleaning results were perfectly satisfactory.

Another useful feature not found on the hum is a pressure sensor.  This helps prevent brushing with too much force.  The observant will hear the motor straining when too much pressure is used.  

Few kids brushes have this, so again it isn’t a big issue, just something to be aware of.

Key for children is establishing good, basic oral care habits.

Colgate suggests this brush is best used by children aged 5+ and I would be inclined to agree.  A 4 year old might be able to use it, depending on how competent they are.  That extra year’s development of a 5 years old pays off, particularly with using the app alongside the brush.

Whatever age, you should ideally be monitoring your children brushing until they are about 7 or 8 years old.

Right, so let me cover the app now in more detail and how it works.

Let me start off by saying, you don’t have to use the app, but it is kind of pointless getting the hum if you don’t intend to.

As a parent myself, I am not overjoyed at the thought of my child using a smartphone in the bathroom, for all the inherent risks that go with it.  I also personally try and limit some of the screen time.  But, I am keener on ensuring my child has a positive experience with toothbrushing and learns to establish good oral care routines.

You can probably agree that kids find these apps and gamified experiences far more engaging than a parent or guardian teaching them how to brush.

The hum by kids app can be downloaded for free from the Apple or Android app store.

There are a few different parts to the app.  The included screenshots likely better demonstrate what I am trying to explain.

Central to the app is the child’s experience.  It makes brushing fun and likely more appealing than any parent’s oral care lessons!

With each session, the child earns points, that turn into prizes within the app.  Prizes include unlocking levels and overlays that add further to the game experience.  The more points, the better and the more they brush over the weeks and months the further they can progress through the different levels/courses within the app.

Fundamental to this is the smartphone being able to see your child brush.

Both the manual and electric brushes come with a smartphone stand.  The phone needs to be positioned here and the app then uses the front facing camera to track the movement of the brush.

The camera and app are looking for the colored nodules on the bottom of the brush handle.  This is what is used to track the position etc.

For it to work correctly the child needs to stay in sight and within the boundaries of the camera.  The app is quite good at demonstrating this to the child and letting them know when things aren’t quite right.

Artificial Intelligence or AI monitors this and gives the on-screen overlays to make the app what it is.

On the whole, the tracking of the app with this method was pretty good.  But, it wasn’t 100% perfect. At times it didn’t track correctly or it is quite awkward to ensure the child and the brush remain in the frame for it to work. 

To be fair to Colgate, the app really does the best job it can of trying to keep the child on track.  It pauses the app and alerts the user the brush can’t be seen.

It is much better than the Disney Magic Timer app that Oral-B promotes with their kid’s brushes.

When brushing the screen is split into 2.  Half with a visual of what the camera is seeing with some visual overlays.  The other half is the diagram for brushing.

This is really quite good.  It highlights what area needs brushing and the child should then follow it.  Dark blue teeth turn to white as the child brushes. 

At the same time, assuming the brush is in the correct position and being moved appropriately points are won.  

As the 2 minutes pass, it moves from section to section of the mouth.  There are 16 in total.  

Areas that are not brushed properly are left with more of a yellow color to show that more time should have been spent brushing.

Bugs on the teeth help make it more fun for the child to see what they should be cleaning and the app will give helpful tips like saying to slow down if the child is brushing too fast.

Now technically because the app isn’t connected by Bluetooth to the brush, it is possible that the brush isn’t even turned on and the app/timer will still count down.  And providing the brush is still within the frame, it will continue to move from section to section, even if the brush isn’t being moved.  Thus it isn’t perfect, but I have yet to find one that is.

You can create multiple profiles within the app so that if you have more than 1 child each can be tracked individually and their progress kept separate.

Different parents/guardians might be helping children with brushing at different times.  It is technically possible to keep some elements in sync with different devices, providing the same account is used to log into the app.  

Colgate recommends if possible that only 1 device is used to track game progress and rewards.

With the current version of the hum kids by Colgate app, the game progress and rewards do not synchronize in real-time. Therefore, if you use the same hum kids account to log in on different devices, the game progress and rewards may be different. They are working to resolve this in later app updates.

Some extra controls are set behind the parental dashboard.  You can manage settings such as the brushing time and see brushing records for the last 7 days.

You can see if they are consistently missing areas and give your child that reminder to spend more time on their back teeth for example.

There are too small customizations that can be made to the app, including adding in the option to give a pause in the brushing to allow your child to spit.  This is brilliant.

I do also like how Colgate promotes tongue brushing with the hum for kids.

Overall I really like the app.  I think Kolbree has done a great job with Colgate in creating a product that engages children and makes brushing more fun.

I think the Sonicare for kids app is slightly more refined in some areas.  It feels more educational and possibly suits older children slightly better. 

But there are elements to the hum app which are definitely better.  It feels a bit more interactive. The child being able to see themselves for example on screen I think it is a big win.  You can win prizes with Sonicare, but not points.  Winning the points as the child brushes is quite a motivational factor for some.

It is very hard to conclusively say 1 app is better than the other.  There are benefits and drawbacks to each.

The hum for kids doesn’t come with a travel case or any way to protect the bristles of the brush head, which is a shame. No optional travel case exists as far as I am aware either.

The removable batteries make it quite convenient for those who do travel with their children and even the plastic smartphone stand is compact and lightweight.