Philips Sonicare DailyClean 1100 Review

Design, usability, clean & general use

The DailyClean 1100 comes in a fairly basic box.

It conforms with the current styling of Sonicare product packaging, but it certainly doesn’t catch the eye like some other products might do on the shop shelves.

The box calls out the key features and functions of the product as you might expect.

Once opened, the brush comes presented in a cardboard tray. It is nice to see this recyclable element here, rather than the likes of polystyrene that some other manufacturers still use.

The handle and the provided accessories are wrapped in plastic, which is supposed to be recyclable, but this will likely depend on your local recycling policies.

In the box, you get the brush handle, a single C1 ProResults brush head, a travel cap for the brush head and a charging stand.

The variant I am reviewing is HX3412/07 which is the mid-blue colour option. There is also a pink coloured variant that comes with a different brush head.

The handle itself is round. There are no harsh square edges here.

It is immediately obvious to me, that in comparison this handle is thicker, wider and heavier than most other Sonicare brush handles I have used in the past.

The weight is not much heavier, we are talking 5-10g but the width and thickness of the handle is about .5 of a centimetre.

It may not sound like much, but in hand, it is quite noticeable.

To be fair you can still get a good firm grip around it. Your fingers are not stretched, but it just feels a bit chunkier in comparison.

The overall height of the brush handle, with the head fitted, is shorter than most other Sonicare handles too.

Made from plastic, the handle is all white in colour and the plastic smooth to the touch.

It is a matt finish, rather than the gloss white that is common, particularly on Oral-B handles.

Whilst completely smooth, it does not feel too slippery in hand, but there are no gripping points designed into the handle, other than maybe the power button.

Sonicare models often have, particularly on the back, a series of raised dots that just give a bit more texture for the fingertips to grab onto.

The handle is quite minimal really.

On the front, there are just 2 stand out features. Placed in the upper third of the brush handle, is the Philips Sonicare logo in grey, with the power button just below it.

On this model, the button is blue in colour, circular and is convex in shape. There is also a power icon embossed onto the button, which makes it very clear to the fingertip where your finger is located.

Although convex, the button does not really stand proud of the handle.

The button is a rubber material and provides a perfectly adequate amount of feedback when pressed.

On the rear of the brush handle, a few millimetres up from the base is a notch. This is quite a clever design element that stops the brush handle rolling too much on a flat surface, should it be laid flat.

The toothbrush stands upright on a tabletop, but the base does have a small recess, into which the supplied charging stand fits.

It is here where you might find yourself questioning the build quality a little more. The base is essentially an end cap, sealing the brush shut.

There is the very slightest of gaps between the plastic body of the handle and the cap. I am sure there are seals inside and the chances of water ingression are very slim. Just when compared to other models, this cap is either more recessed or the whole unit appears to be a 1 piece design with less obvious parts and seals.

At the top of the handle is the point where the brush head attaches.

There is a metal shaft that feeds out from the brush motor sealed inside the handle.

In with the motor is the rechargeable battery and the other electronics that make this toothbrush function.

The handle is water-resistant.

The metal shaft looks a little different to most electric toothbrushes. I don’t know why but it has a sort of wavy design, rather than the more common completely straight design.

Irrespective, the provided brush head clips straight on.

The heads simply push on and pull off. There is no complicated fitting procedure.

Whilst the C1 ProResults brush head comes supplied, any other Sonicare brush head can be fitted to and used with the DailyClean 1100. The heads are interchangeable and are not brush handle specific.

The head does come with a small, transparent travel cap. It fits over the very top of the brush head to protect the bristles of the brush when in transit.

This cap can be retained and used should you travel with the toothbrush, to avoid any unnecessary damage to the bristles, but the size of the cap makes it quite easy to misplace.

Once fitted, if you take a look at the brush handle from a side profile, you will notice the head is aligned at a much sharper angle than most other electric toothbrushes.

This is an intentional design feature.

Most Sonicare brushes have a very slight tilt/angle to them but it is much more accentuated on the DailyClean 1100 due to the way it has been designed.

The theory here is that the angle means that it is easier to reach and effectively brush the hard to reach areas in the mouth, most notably the back teeth.

To be fair it can help, but I would struggle to suggest the more acute angle really makes a significant difference when you compare it to a regular Sonicare brush.

Replace the brush head every 3 months is the advice, as using it for longer can potentially cause damage to the teeth and gums as the bristles wear out.

You should replace the brush head sooner, if the bristles are obviously worn, splayed or damaged.

As I mentioned earlier, you have a range of different brush heads you can opt for. My guide to Sonicare brush heads might be worth a read.

You may too find value, by considering some third-party/aftermarket brush heads. These can prove more cost-effective.

A single press of the power button will turn the brush on, a second press will turn it off. Or, let the brush run through the entirety of the single cleaning mode and the toothbrush will turn itself off.

This automatic power-off feature is available on almost all Sonicare models and I love it.

It is such a simple, yet handy feature.

The only brushing/cleaning mode lasts for the dentist recommended 2 minutes. You can brush for longer if you like, but you will need to power the brush back on.

As the brush is powered on, the timer is activated, this is essentially what turns the brush off at the 2 minute time mark.

However, another really useful and what I consider an essential part of this timer is the quadpacer.

At 30 second intervals, there is a very slight pause in the brushing motion, which changes the sound and sensation of brushing and is your alert to move the brush head to a different section of the mouth.

The idea here is that you spend 30 seconds cleaning each quadrant of the mouth. You have the upper right, upper left, lower right and lower left as the quadrants.

Taking this approach to brushing ensures you as best as possible brush the teeth evenly and don’t just focus on the front teeth, for example, working towards healthier teeth and gums.

Electric toothbrushes are more efficient at cleaning the teeth than a manual toothbrush, primarily because of the number of movements the brush head makes.

The bristles on the head of the DailyClean 1100 sweep across the teeth at 31,000 times per minute.

The cleaning action is very good and removes a lot of debris and plaque.

However, to ensure you are doing the best job possible, you should ensure that you are using the correct brushing technique, as the style needed is different for a manual or electric toothbrush. In fact, the technique is different between Oral-B and Sonicare.

As you brush the bristles of the brush head should skim the surface of the teeth. There is no need to scrub with force. A pressure sensor would normally alert you if you are brushing too hard, but sadly the DailyClean 1100 does not have a pressure sensor built-in.

Easy-Start is a clever and underrated feature of this brush.

If you are a first-time electric toothbrush user, the number of brush strokes per minute can feel quite intense, so what Easy-Start does is gradually increase the brushing power of the toothbrush over a 14 day period.

Gently easing you in, by the end of the 2 weeks, the brush should be operating at full power and you will have become accustomed to the brushing sensation.

When in operation, the brush is fairly quiet, producing an audible humming sound as the motor vibrates. You can also feel this vibration in the hand as you hold it.

Compared to other Sonicare brushes, I felt like I could feel more vibrations through the handle than normal as if less vibration was being absorbed or insulated by the handle itself. It doesn’t affect the usage, but just something I noticed and you might if you have used a Sonicare brush before.

The Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery inside the brush handle is designed to operate for 2 weeks on a full charge. I speak more about this is the battery life section of this review, but the handle itself offers no battery status information, so you don’t know how much charge remains in the battery, which is quite frustrating.

The provided user manual implies that there is alight on the handle to show this, but there is not.

What it does do, is when the power is so low that you have 5 or less brushing sessions left, the brush will make 3 small beeping sounds and the handle will vibrate also. This is the clue you need to look for if your brush is not left on the charger at all times.

Last and by no means least, I just want to mention that the brush does come with a 2 year warranty as standard, so should the brush fail as a result of workmanship or parts, no user damage, then you have that warranty to fall back on.