Philips Sonicare 3 Series Review

Brushing your teeth is never going to fun (certainly, it will never be exciting) but there is no doubt that it will always be important. Spending a few minutes on your teeth each day can work wonders on your breath, gum health, and the appearance of your smile, but even if you have committed to a thorough oral hygiene regiment you may not be getting the most out of that time.

Today we will be taking a look at Phillips Sonicare 3 Series (HX6631/30,HX6631/02), jam-packed with innovative brushing technology so that you can decide for yourself if you would like to upgrade your regiment.

The Philips Sonicare 3 Series is the latest mid-end electric brush offered by Phillips and features innovative technology that delivers a thorough clean while still being gentle on your gums.

In fact, the emphasis of this product is “Gum Care”, so when you pick up this model you can do so knowing that is clinically proven to reduce redness, swelling, and bleeding. Let’s take an in-depth look at the features of this awesome product to see what it has to offer.

As the world’s leading oral health product provider, Philips has conducted a comprehensive study of common gum problems. I will suggest you read below Point of Views from Philips before we start the product review and help you to have a better understanding of the purpose of choosing this Sonicare 3 Series.

Key Features & Technologies

• High Cleaning Speed: This toothbrush does not mess around when it comes to speed. At 31000 brush strokes per minute and 5.5mm ultra-wide swing. This sonic technology offers a dynamic cleaning action that drives fluid deep between teeth and along the gumline for a thorough-yet-gentle clean.
  
• ProResults Toothbrush Head: The high-grade toothbrush head featured on the Sonicare is optimized to provide a thorough but gentle clean along the gum line that provides results 6 times better than that of the manual brush.
• Multiple Settings: Although the 3 Series only offers 1 brushing mode for exceptional every day clean, it is intense but only as intense as you want it to be – there are 3 intensities settings (Low, Mid & High) programmed in the brush handle to ensure that you are comfortable regardless of how sensitive your mouth is. The multiple settings offer you a safe use of orthodontics, implants and veneers.
• High-Tech Battery System: The battery featured on the Sonicare has a lot going for it. The handle will notify you when it is time for a charge by way of battery indicator – a light that changes color. The Lithium ION battery can last for up to 3 weeks when you finally charge it, which is much longer than other mid-end electric brush in the market.
• SmartTimer: Dentists recommend that you brush your teeth for 2 minutes each session. Any more, and you run the risk of damaging your gums. Any less, and there is a good chance you haven’t been as thorough as your teeth need you to be. The SmartTimer featured on the Sonicare ensures that you will hit the two-minute mark each time for the dentist recommended clean, which, by the way, will equate to 62000 brush strokes when it’s all said and done.
• QuadPacer: Personally, I think this feature is particularly cool. Not only does the Sonicare have a timer to ensure that your brush time is what the doctor recommends, it also features a pacer that makes sure every part of your mouth gets the attention it requires. The pacer keeps track of how long you’ve focused on each section of your mouth and notifies you when it is time to switch, for an even clean.

While many of the features between this brush and that of the Philips Sonicare 2 Series are similar, this brush differs mostly in its emphasis. The Sonicare 2 Series focuses on managing plaque while the 3 Series focuses on gum health. The 3 Series also features more frequency settings, as well as the quad pacer feature.

How It Works

I know that this all sounds like a lot, especially if you are used to a toothbrush that starts working the second you open the box but the truth of the matter is that the Phillip’s Sonicare isn’t all that more complicated than your standard manual toothbrush.

The first thing that you are going to want to do after purchasing your Sonicare is to charge the handle. After that, the rest is more or less as simple as pushing a button.

You will remember, of course, that the Sonicare features 3 intensity settings (low, medium, and high intensity) to ensure that brushing along the gum line is always safe and comfortable. To adjust these settings, you may hold the power button down for 1.5 seconds and then press it again once to pause it, and twice to switch settings. You will probably want to play around a bit with each frequency before using your brush extensively.

Accessories & Packages

Each unit will include 1 Sonicare 3 Series brush handle, 1 ProResults gum health brush head, 1 charger, and 1 carrying case.

Since it is recommended that you switch out brush heads every 3 months or so, you will also have the option to buy additional brush heads.The good news is, except for the ProResults gum health brush head, most of the Philips Sonicare brush heads can be fit and be replaced on the Sonicare 3 Series brush handle.

You are able to choose the separately sold brush heads from the Amazon online shop as you need or for additional functionality:

Pros & Cons

PROS

• It’s just better: If you have been using a manual brush to this point, but are looking for more in your oral hygiene regiment, than the decision really is a no-brainer. The Sonicare far exceeds the results you can expect from a manual toothbrush. In fact, you can expect this brush to remove 6 times more plaque, and improve gum health up to 100% more than your manual toothbrush is able to manage.
• Innovative Technologies: Not only is this brush capable of delivering a high grade clean, it also takes measures to ensure that you make the most of its features. The timer and pacer features that we mentioned earlier will make a huge difference in the quality of your brush jobs, but more importantly, they will also improve your health.
• Thorough Cleaning: It would be difficult to overemphasize just how powerful 31000 brush strokes per minute is. What I like about the Sonicare is that it does the work for you. The timer and pacer features are there to make sure that you spend the perfect amount of time cleaning your mouth, while the sheer power of this unit does well to ensure that that time is well spent.
• Low Maintenance: Between the heads that only need to be changed once every 3 months, (probably about how often you swap out your manual brushes anyway) and the battery that holds a charge for up to three weeks, this is a really low maintenance model. I will concede that need to change your brush heads out any more often than every 3 months would be something of an inconvenience, so if that component of this brush doesn’t do much to excite you that is understandable. The charge, on the other hand, is really impressive. With 3 weeks long battery life, you could feasibly go on a business, or pleasure trip without ever needing to worry about even packing a charger (though the carrying case certainly makes it easy to travel with one, just in case).I constantly forget things when I travel, and chargers are at the very top of that list, so this is a feature that I value.
• Doc’s orders: The Phillips brand electric toothbrush also has a longstanding reputation for being one of the most Dentist recommended electric toothbrushes on the planet. The value of that sort of goes without saying, doesn’t it? Since one of the chief goals of brushing one’s teeth is to avoid painful trips to the dentist, it’s certainly nice to know that most oral hygiene experts feel this is the product that will help deliver that result.

CONS

• Price: Unfortunately, the price is a con with most good electric toothbrushes. While I wish this were not so, quality generally comes at a cost, and the Phillips Sonicare 3 series is, unfortunately, no exception. If you are used to paying a few dollars for a brush from Walmart, the sticker price of this unit is probably going to come as quite the shock but I always maintain that a good brush will save you a lot of money in dentist bills. That said, those on a tight budget may unfortunately not find the Phillips Sonicare 3 Series an option.
• Tech: I almost hesitate to even put this here, because the tech on the Phillips Sonicare is top of the line. This makes the list of cons because many brushes in this class feature an interactive APP these days, which we, unfortunately, are not seeing with this Sonicare model. You still get the same great features that correspond to the app in most cases, but tracking your brushing progress just isn’t going to be as simple as scrolling through your smartphone with this model. It is a little bit unfortunate, but with the brushes that do come with APP, I always have to wonder how many users actually take advantage of the tech weeks, or months after they buy it. With me, brushing my teeth is always a rush, and while I do always try and hit that doctor’s recommended 2 minutes, I’m not always willing to bust my phone out just to do something I have done for as long as I have had teeth.

Conclusion

I think by this point it is obvious that I am fond of this product. The Phillips Sonicare 3 series is a quality brush that will do well to give your mouth the thorough clean that it deserves. Were we to rate this model on a scale of one to ten with ten, of course, being the highest, it would lose a couple of points for price, and perhaps a single point for lacking the app that many comparable models utilize, which would leave it at a seven.

Like I said, I don’t mind the lack of an app so much as it gives me less to concern myself with. The price point, on the other hand, is understandably an obstacle that some will not be able to overcome.

For those that can, I can’t recommend the Phillips brush enough. No, it’s probably not going to feel awesome dropping a lot of money on a toothbrush, but I am sure you will be glad the next time you go to the dentist.