Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Review

Design, usability, clean & general use

Sleek and stylish are just two words that I could use to describe this brush.

I really like that this brush comes in an array of colour options, making it more appealing to a wider audience.  It is a shame that the Amethyst colour option has not made its way to the latest generation, but hey it is nice to have the option of white, black, pink and rose gold.

The white colour option is typically the most popular.

Smooth to the touch there are no lights or unsightly icons or buttons on the DiamondClean brush handle.  In fact I would argue that Sonicare have almost gone too minimal.

Whilst the handles have more of a matte finish to them and are not exactly slippery in hand, there are no raised grips or textured surfaces at all.

Running down the handle there is the Sonicare logo in a grey colour.

Below this is the power button, which has a depression that the thumb fits comfortably into.  It is not easy to accidentally press this, but does not take too much force to activate.

There is a green power icon on the button to indicate that it is this, but that icon is not backlit.

Under the power buttons are the names of the cleaning modes and the battery status icon.

These cleaning modes are lit when selected and the brush is running, as is the battery icon.  With the power off you can hardly see these names in the handle at all.

To access the different modes, you need to power on the brush and then press again, possibly multiple times to access the cleaning mode required.

The cleaning modes run in this order:

• Clean (Press power button once)
• White (Press power button twice, once to turn on and then again to change the mode)
• Sensitive (Press power button three time, once to turn on and twice to change the mode)
• Gum Care
• Deep Clean

The brush will remember the last cleaning mode used, if the brush automatically powers off at the end of the cleaning cycle.

So if deep clean was the last mode used and the brush turned itself off, when you next power it on, it will start on deep clean so you will not be required to five presses like you might if it was brand new and never before used.

In principle this is good and the brush looks smart, but you have to actually power the brush on to see what cleaning mode it is on.  So if you can’t remember what you last used, power it on to take a look, but remember to do this before adding toothpaste!

I get the minimal look and design but for me this has gone past the point of practicality.

Sorry I have to knock points off for Philips here.  On other models they have another button to cycle through modes.  I get the idea why, but I will take function over design in this instance.

This is perhaps worsened, if like many the brush handle is shared between users.  You constantly need to check and maybe cycle through the modes.  The redeeming feature is that 5 cleaning modes makes this applicable for a wide array of users.

The different cleaning modes, which we summarise below but explain in more detail here, last for differing amounts of time and deliver different frequencies and brush strokes to the teeth to deliver a different clean.

A little more detail on each:

• Clean – The ultimate in plaque removal (Standard mode). Lasts for 2 minutes.
• White – Whitening mode of 2 minutes to remove surface stains, plus an additional 30 seconds to brighten and polish your front teeth. Lasts for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
• Sensitive – Extra gentle mode for sensitive teeth and gums. Lasts for 2 minutes
• Gum care – Complete mode combines Clean mode with an additional minute to gently stimulate and massage your gums to improve gum health. Lasts for 3 minutes.
• Deep Clean – Provides an invigorating deep massage to deliver an exceptionally clean experience. Lasts for 3 minutes.

See full details in our guide on how to clean your teeth with an electric toothbrush, but as an overview: move the brush head slowly and gently across the teeth in a small back and forth motion so the longer bristles reach between your teeth. Do not scrub like a manual toothbrush. Apply light pressure to maximise Sonicare’s effectiveness and let the Sonicare do the brushing for you.

Compared to a manual brush the DiamondClean with the provided AdaptiveClean head could remove up to 10 times more plaque and leave you with healthier gums in just two weeks.

This brush has a quadpacer.  This is an interval timer that beeps and briefly pauses to remind you to brush the 4 sections of your mouth. Depending on the brushing mode you have selected, the quadpacer beeps at different intervals during the brushing cycle.

It is the timer, that at the end of the brushing cycle selected will turn the brush off to conserve power and alert you to the clean being complete.

If you want to continue, just press the power button again.

This brush offers up to 3 weeks battery life from the built-in battery, but more on that later.

The brush does a great job of cleaning and at no point did I feel the brush had done a poor job, my teeth felt clean and refreshed after each clean.

On the base of the brush is a silver plate.  This is the inductive charging panel.  There is no recess for a prong to charge the brush, like there are with many other models.

Just sit this brush on the charging stand provided or in the case and the charge is transferred through this plate.

At the top of the brush handle is the detachable and interchangeable brush head.

Perhaps rather oddly, the DiamondClean brush now comes with a standard sized AdaptiveClean brush head with this 3rd generation model.  The 2nd generation came with a DiamondClean head. I am not sure why Philips have changed this, possibly because the AdaptiveClean is a better all round head and does not focus primarily on whitening.

The good news is that there are a range of brush heads available that are compatible with the DiamondClean handle.

Your options include:

• DiamondClean – Superior cleaning, improved gum health and whiter teeth in just one week
• InterCare – Extra long bristles to reach plaque in hard to reach areas between teeth
• ProResults – All round cleaning with contoured profile to naturally fit the profile of the teeth and improve overall plaque removal
• ProResults Gum Health – Densely-packed, high-quality tufts easily reach teeth at the back of the mouth. Also features a gentle trim profile to cushion teeth for an extra gentle brushing experience.
• Sensitive – Ultra-soft bristles for gentle, effective cleaning. Also features special trim profile to cushion teeth for a gentler brushing experience.

Any of these can be purchased separately.  The pack size and the head size does differ depending on the one you opt for.  There is the standard size and the compact option for the harder to reach areas of the mouth.

With all the colour options, except black, a white coloured AdaptiveClean brush head is provided.  With the black, you get in the box you get a colour matched AdaptiveClean brush head.  This is great, but at the time of writing you cannot purchase the AdaptiveClean heads in black colour, so if you need to replace it, back to white.  I guess they will be launched at some point as to date only the DiamondClean brush heads have a black colour option.  So as nice as it is, if you want to keep the colour match you are somewhat limited.

The heads are easily replaced, pull off and push on.  Remember to change them every 3 months, sooner if the bristles are worn of the reminder bristles have faded.

The reminder bristles are the blue coloured bristles which over a typical 3 month period will fade from a relatively strong blue to white colour.  If they turn white, replace the head.

For more information see our complete guide on Sonicare replacement heads.

Some users share a brush handle with family members or a partner for convenience and to extend the value. Given the various cleaning modes and specialised heads, it would be nice to include or have available some form of brush head storage compartment to allow storage.  Third party options do exist.

Another neat feature of this brush is the ‘Easy-Start’ option.

Designed specifically for first time users, to help them ease into using an electric toothbrush. The Easy-start feature gradually increases the sonic power over the first 14 brushing sessions.

Brushing must last at least 1 minute to properly advance through this ramp-up cycle.

Easy-start can be deactivated.  To do so, just place the handle in the plugged-in charging base or charging travel case, then push and hold the on/off button for 2 seconds; 1 beep indicates the Easy-start feature has been deactivated; 2 beeps indicate the feature has been reactivated.

The brush itself is water resistant, but not water proof.  This means if you rinse it under the tap and it gets wet, don’t worry too much.  However, the brush is not designed to be used in or under water, so avoid using in the shower or bath.  A rinse and a damp cloth is fine for cleaning.

With 21 days of battery life this slim profiled brush handle is really quite impressive, yet it comes with 2 charging solutions in the box.  The first is a glass charging stand and the other is a travel case.  I explain more about each of these in the ‘Battery’ section of the review below.

A neat addition, I particularly like the travel case.

The case is sort of colour matched to the brush, although the case with the white brush is silver and is a rigid construction with a soft touch material coating over the harder inner shell.  This not only provides excellent protection to the brush handle and up to 2 brush heads, it also looks smart.

It is not small, but then again you do not expect it to be.  The case closes magnetically too, which is a nice touch.  It is easy to open again so the magnets are not that strong.

The brush can be charged in the case which is great and it can be connected to mains power or a USB socket on your computer or charger, must like a smartphone.  It is a shame unlike a smartphone Sonicare stuck with a dated connector, more on that below too.

2 features that are in my opinion missing is a pressure sensor and Bluetooth connectivity.

A pressure sensor is not that common on Sonicare brushes, but is on Oral-B.  As the name implies if too much pressure is applied during cleaning a light is illuminated to alert you and you can reduce this so as not to do damage to the teeth.  You soon learn, but the inclusion of such would help new users I think.

To be fair the brush will make a straining sound if too much pressure is being used, but you need to listen out for that.

Now the second feature I believe they are missing is Bluetooth connectivity.  It can be argued quite convincingly that this is a gimmick and not needed, but what’s the harm in including it?  Its use then becomes optional.

If you have missed this whole Bluetooth in a toothbrush thing then allow me to briefly explain.

Some brush handles include this and via an app available from the relevant app stores, your smartphone communicates with the brush to show you in real-time, cleaning time, mode and performance and then logs this for future reference.

For years we have done without the need for such, but as millennials adopt electric toothbrushes there is an expectation.

Sonicare have actually overall probably done a better job of implementing it that Oral-B have, yet Oral-B have it on a lot more models than Philips.

Given this brush is competing with the Genius 9000, it is an omission that will favour Oral-B.

So, overall it is pretty good going for the DiamondClean.

For that added extra peace of mind, the brush comes with a 2 year warranty that covers mechanical faults like the battery no longer charging or the power button not working.  It does not cover user damage.