Reviewed: Oral-B's iO Series 7 electric toothbrush

The electric toothbrushes in Oral-B's new iO range are the most expensive you'll find, so can the performance justify the price?

We ran the Oral-B iO Series 7 (£400) through a series of tough lab tests to see how well it removes plaque, how long the battery lasts between charges and how comfortable it feels to use.

Read on to discover more about Oral-B's newest release, or go straight to our full Oral-B iO Series 7 electric toothbrush review.

What is the Oral-B iO Series 7 electric toothbrush?

At £400, the iO Series 7 jumps straight to the top of Oral-B's electric toothbrush price range. But what do you get for your money? The specs on the Oral-B iO Series 7 electric toothbrush include:

• Magnetic iO technology Designed to achieve an improved clean, this technology combines the standard Oral-B oscillating-rotating cleaning action with micro-vibrations at the bristles.
• Artificial Intelligence This smart toothbrush can determine where in the mouth it is, and through the Oral-B app you can access an array of associated data that should help you improve your brushing habits.
• Five brushing modes Multiple brushing modes give you the chance to tailor your brushing to suit your needs. The Oral-B iO Series 7 has five brushing modes: Daily Clean, Sensitive, Gum Care, Intense Clean and Whitening.
• OLED display The handle of the iO Series 7 has an interactive black and white OLED display. This display shows brushing modes, the two-minute timer and a happy, sad or unsure emoji face when you're done brushing to indicate how well you brushed. When the toothbrush is charging, the display shows a percentage progress bar indicating how long until the battery is fully recharged.
• Magnetic charger Designed to lock the toothbrush in place for additional stability.
• Smart pressure sensor What's unique about this feature is that not only does it let you know if you're brushing too hard, but also if you're brushing too lightly.
• Two-minute interval timer A useful function that lets you know when you've brushed for the dentist-recommended two minutes and prompts you to switch to a different section of the mouth every 30 seconds to ensure an even clean.

If you want to see how it stacks up against electric toothbrushes from brands such as Philips Sonicare and Colgate, check out all of our electric toothbrush reviews.

What Oral-B electric toothbrush heads does the iO use?

One downside to the Oral-B iO range is that it's not compatible with the current range of Oral-B toothbrush heads, such as Cross Action and Sensi UltraThin. You will need to buy iO-specific brush heads. Electric brush heads aren't particularly cheap anyway, but the new iO ones will really empty your wallet.

There are two types available: Ultimate Clean and Gentle Care. These will set you back between £13 and £15 per head if you buy them at full price.

A pack of four iO Ultimate Clean brush heads, which should cover you for a year, typically costs £54 at Boots, while a pack of four Oral-B Cross Action brush heads at the same retailer is just £18. Paying three times as much for them is probably going to be a fairly bitter pill to swallow for most Oral-B acolytes.

Oral-B iO brush heads are currently on offer at Bootsand you can expect to find them discounted at different retailers throughout the year. Make sure to shop around before picking up replacements.

Which? has tested electric toothbrushes for 57 years

• We did our first test of electric toothbrushes back in December 1963, and although prices and technology have changed a fair bit since then, our dedication to rigorous testing has remained the same.
• During our tests we collect more than 2,000 before and after plaque readings, so we can tell you exactly which toothbrushes will do the best job of keeping your teeth clean and healthy. Some brushes only manage a paltry two starsout of five in this part of the test, while the best brushes achieve the full five-star rating.
• We also check to see how long it takes for the battery to recharge. The fastest go from flat to full charge in less than six hours, while the slowest can take more than 32 hours to fully recharge.

Read our guide to find out more about how we test electric toothbrushes.

Prices correct as of 12 January 2020.