Oral-B iO Series 10 review

Oral-B is the model that springs to thoughts first when interested by electrical toothbrushes and the agency is again with one other flagship mannequin within the iO Sequence 10. 

As you may anticipate, this replaces the iO9 on the prime of the pile and comes with a spread of enhancements and new options, together with reside teaching constructed into the iO Sense sensible charger and superior strain recognition. 

The query is, are you able to abdomen this toothbrush’s whopping £800 asking worth?

Design & Construct 

There’s not an enormous quantity of issues you are able to do with the design of an electrical toothbrush however Oral-B has finished its greatest with the iO10. 

You’ve all the same old issues in place, together with a full-colour OLED display constructed into the entrance with an influence button above and a menu button beneath.  

More often than not, the display will present you issues like brushing time and numerous smiley faces when you’ve completed, whereas the menu has numerous choices, together with cleansing modes and customising the ring gentle on the prime. 

That can pulse when the iO10 is charging but additionally serves as a strain indicator – extra on that later. 

The iO10 is obtainable in black or white colors and has a speckled design meant to symbolize the night time sky, though the white mannequin I examined jogs my memory extra of a granite kitchen worktop. 

I like the sleek soft-touch end to the physique and the way in which the interchangeable heads have small icons on the entrance corresponding to a rainbow or diamond that will help you keep in mind which is yours (if sharing) quite than a colored plastic ring. 

Nevertheless, the comb doesn’t detect totally different brush heads as totally different individuals, so it’s not very best for sharing one deal with between a number of individuals if you wish to monitor all of your brushing and get stats on the app. 

It’s through the iO Sense sensible charger that the iO10 actually differentiates itself from the opposite Oral-B fashions and rivals.  

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The toothbrush stands in the course of this when docked and is held in place with magnets, although they aren’t massively sturdy so it’s not probably the most safe resolution. I knocked the iO10 on the ground a few instances, though it doesn’t assist that my lavatory is somewhat cramped. 

The bottom has a digital clock on the entrance to time your brushing but additionally a set of six lights on the highest to educate you in real-time – extra on how they work beneath. When it’s not timing your session, it conveniently doubles as a digital clock, though solely when you’ve set it up through the app. 

The comb comes with a journey case which may maintain the comb deal with and one toothbrush head. Whereas it does the job on a fundamental stage, it has a surprisingly awkward button to launch the lid and doesn’t have USB charging as rumoured.  

As a substitute, you’ll want to make use of the provided charger. Should you’re within the UK, it matches a shaver socket. You additionally get a refill holder which inserts two brushes. 

Efficiency & Options 

It took me quite a few makes an attempt to get the iO10 synced up with my telephone. Nevertheless, I didn’t even do that for a few weeks which tells you a large number about how a lot you want it. 

The clock perform on the bottom is an actual boon (it wants Wi-Fi) however not like different iO brushes, you don’t want the app for guided teaching. Mentioned base has a hoop of six lights which steadily flip from blue to white as you sweep every zone. 

When every zone has had sufficient brushing motion, it performs somewhat gentle present and once you’re all finished as a result of all six lights will dance, flashing white and blue. The app does have barely extra superior teaching with entrance, prime and again components if you wish to get in-depth and do issues like acquire badges for achievements as if it have been some type of health tracker. 

Nevertheless, I usually discovered that taking my telephone in to brush my enamel was a ache and utilizing the bottom is far more handy.  

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

My gripe with the bottom is that the monitoring across the six zones can usually be sluggish to maintain up as you progress spherical. Even worse, it generally thinks you’re brushing the alternative facet of your mouth, so you have to use your individual judgment. 

The strain sensor works very effectively certainly, and each the ring gentle and the bottom will flip purple in case you’re pushing too laborious. You’ll must depend on the deal with gentle to know in case you’re not making use of sufficient strain, although. 

This may go from inexperienced (right strain) to no matter color you’ve set the ring gentle to. Maybe a bit complicated in case you’ve set it to orange quite than white, for instance. 

The strain steering, mixed with the Final Clear brush heads I examined with – which have issues like twisted ‘tuft-in-tuft’ angled bristles for higher attain, resulted in a wonderful efficiency.  

In comparison with my previous however nonetheless respectable Philips Sonicare, the iO10 leaves my enamel and gums feeling a lot cleaner and a few locations that are usually an issue space aren’t a lot with the iO10. 

I usually used the iO10 on the Day by day Clear mode, however you have got an extra six to select from: Delicate, Gum Care, Intense Clear, Whitening, Tremendous Delicate and Tongue Cleaner. That’s greater than different iO brushes just like the Sequence 5, which appropriately has 5. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The iO10 additionally costs extra rapidly: round three hours in comparison with 12 of the Sequence 5. With the bottom in your lavatory this shouldn’t matter a lot. 

On the Day by day Clear mode, the iO10 makes use of round 5% of the battery energy for a 2-2:30 minute brush so you must be capable to get round 20 cleans in case you’re travelling and don’t have any approach of charging it. Nevertheless, it’s not completely dependable: the iO10 had a said 4% battery energy, then powered off just a few seconds after hitting go. 

Worth 

The worth, as with so many electrical toothbrushes, is the place issues get a bit difficult, within the UK a minimum of. It’s not but obtainable within the US, however you’ll be able to be part of the waitlist. The iO10 is perhaps a flagship, top-of-the-line, mannequin however I undoubtedly did a double take on the £800 worth. 

That’s greater than a number of high-end smartphones, however the RRP for a toothbrush is one thing of a misnomer. It’s actually simply that worth for a short while in order that when it will get an inevitable low cost, it seems to be a fantastic deal. As you’ll see, it’s already obtainable for lower than half the RRP.

On the time of writing, regardless of the iO10 simply hitting cabinets, you should buy it for 50% off on the official Oral-B store and retailers will probably have related, and even cheaper costs in case you store round. You can even purchase it from retailers corresponding to Boots and Currys.

Even at £400, it is a dear little bit of equipment and can instantly put many potential prospects off. If that’s you, and I completely get it, then Oral-B does have some extra reasonably priced choices: we’d advocate testing the iO Sequence 6. 

You will discover loads extra choices in our greatest electrical toothbrushes chart. 

Verdict 

In some ways, the iO10 is a superb electrical toothbrush. It’s definitely one of the crucial technically superior fashions in the marketplace proper now. 

Nevertheless, Oral-B doesn’t do itself any favours with the £800 RRP, other than making it appear like a relative discount at £400. Even then, it’s far too costly for most individuals. 

Some glorious options and efficiency go a protracted approach to making the iO10 a fascinating brush however that worth means expectations are understandably excessive. 

When the case is tough to open and doesn’t have USB charging, adopted by laggy and generally inconsistent monitoring from the bottom – the headline function no much less – it doesn’t really feel like the cash is justified. 

Positive, in case you’ve bought loads of money to splash then it is a luxurious toothbrush, however in any other case you’ll discover higher worth elsewhere – together with inside the iO vary.