The Braun Oral-B Pro 5500 is another addition to Oral-B’s stable of reasonably priced rechargeable smart brushes. It’s a mid-range offering, with a plain white body, so while it doesn’t have the kind of stylish looks with color accents that you will find at the high end of the Smart Series range, it still has plenty going for it. (Just a mention, the buttons glow blue when they’re on, so it does look pretty stylish when you decide to brush in the dark!)
Today we will be examining some of this brush’s innovative features so you can decide if it is the right electric toothbrush for you.
Key Features & Technologies
The Pro 5500 is typical of the Oral-B Smart Series range in that it features 5 different cleaning modes that are designed to better suit a variety of different brushing needs. Below the on/off switch on the handle is a button with a ‘V’ on it which lets you cycle between the different modes. On this brush, they are Daily Clean, Gum Care, Sensitive, Whitening, and Deep Clean.
- Daily Clean is general-purpose, intended for use with the CrossAction head, delivering oscillations, pulsations, and rotations to clean the teeth and get rid of twice as much plaque as a manual toothbrush.
- Gum care mode uses a lower speed and power output to clean the teeth and massage the gums. This is claimed to stimulate blood flow and reduce gum sensitivity.
- Sensitive mode feels very similar and is another slow setting.
- Whitening mode gives you extra time spent on polishing the front teeth.
- Deep clean as you spend forty-five seconds on each quadrant to really make sure that all the debris is flushed down.
Brushing technology is consistent with the rest of the smart series range,
which means that brush head speeds vary from 2600 oscillations per minute, right up to 10,500 a minute, depending on which head and mode you’re using. Pulsations are also high, up to 48,000, and the combination of these movements at such high speeds leaves your teeth feeling very clean indeed. In fact, your mouth is left so fresh that it often feels as if you’ve just visited the hygienist.
As usual, it features the typical 2-minute timer which pulses every 30 seconds, so that you know when to switch to another quadrant of your mouth.
Like all of its stablemates, the Pro 5500 is also compatible with Oral-B electric rechargeable brush head refills. This means that, for example, if you want to get more out of Sensitive mode then you can buy the Sensitive brush head. Or if you want to get more out of the Whitening mode you can buy the 3-D White brush head. It’s not essential to do this, but it’s one option that you have to improve your brushing experience
The charger can be used without the brush storage tray or the two can be popped together so that everything is in one place. The waterproof handle sits on the charger and should be fully charged in less than a day. It will typically hold that full charge for about 10 days, assuming you brush twice a day for the recommended 2 minutes.
Oral-B Pro 5500 vs Oral-B Pro 5000
The handle has a rechargeable battery built-in and the package comes with 2 brush heads. Interestingly this seems to be the only difference between this brush and the Oral-B Pro 5000. Cosmetically, they look to be exactly the same, so, the Pro 5500 might be a good choice for you because it isn’t particularly expensive (you can typically find on Amazon for around $100 as of writing this) and yet you get a Bluetooth connection and Oral-B smart APP that gives you real-time feedback on your brushing, besides, you will get one more refilled brush head in the Pro 5500 package. Finding one at that price makes it very attractive compared to the usually more expensive Pro 5000. So my suggestion is that if you haven’t bought the Pro 5000, personally I think that the new Pro 5500 is much more worth buying.
How It Works
Your smartphone and the toothbrush won’t talk to each other until you open the Oral-B APP up. It will ask you to enable Bluetooth, and after you tap a couple of ‘yes’ buttons to agree to pair them, they will connect. Once that happens, the APP will be your ‘spy in the bathroom’, keeping track of how often you brush and how long you brush for. The Real-Time system will tell you when to change quadrants during your 2-minute brush, and then at the end, it will ask you whether you flossed, rinsed, and brushed your tongue. It’s even particular about tongue how you do your brushing, advising you to brush back to front instead of side to side!
Not everybody needs or wants this kind of intrusion, but if you’re like me, and you can be honest about this too, you will sometimes cut your brushing short and lose track of how close to 2 minutes you are. The APP keeps you honest and is actually quite motivating when you get used to it. I got used to it, and now I don’t think I would want to be without it.
There is always a downside to any product of course, and in this case, it’s the fact that you get ads in the APP. This might become irritating enough to put you off using it, which seems counter-productive, but since there are ads everywhere else in life these days you will probably learn to ignore them. I know I did.
Still, that’s a minor gripe, and it doesn’t alter the fact that this is a well-featured and reasonably priced electric toothbrush.
Accessories & Packages
Current sales package including:
- 1 Pro 5500 brush handle
- 1 Gum care brush head
- 1 Deep clean brush head
- 1 Travel case
- 1 House charger
The blue plastic travel case which is not exactly handsome, but is perfectly functional. It’s very handy for when you are traveling, and you don’t just want to consign your brush and heads to a toiletries bag. You can click one into the travel case, so it won’t get lost.
The package also includes a white plastic stand that houses a charger and space for four spare brush heads. This is probably enough storage for most families.
Pros & Cons
PROS
- New lunched APP to connect via Bluetooth is a significant improvement in the last generation of products (Compare with the Pro 5000).
- This APP will remind you to clean your tongue back to front and Asks if you brushed, flossed, and rinsed very human interaction!
- Like most mid-range brushes of Oral-B, the new smart series 5500 is priced reasonably.
CONS
- However, This new APP still has some shortcomings need to be further improved. For example, Most users would be inconsistent with this implantable advertising. In addition, brushing data from this APP system can only record one user, but in fact, in many families, husband and wife often share the same brush handle.
Conclusion
The Oral-B Pro 5500 is effectively the same as a Pro 5000, which in itself is an excellent toothbrush. It’s quite good-looking, solid but not too heavy, well featured with Bluetooth and smartphone app, 5 modes, pressure sensor, and a travel case. The actual brushing experience itself is good, with enough head speed to render your teeth as shiny and fresh as if you had just visited the hygienist, so all in all, the Oral-B Pro 5500 represents very good value. It is hard to fault this brush, and any negatives listed here are only fiddly little details that are hardly worth worrying about. So, with all that going for it, if you can find one on Amazon for less than a Pro 5000 then you are doing well.
I enjoyed using it so much that I now have one. It is now my brush of choice because of its great combination of performance and value. I thoroughly recommend it, and if you buy one you will not be disappointed.
