To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
- Quieter motor
- Gentle cleaning
- Brilliant battery life
- Cleaning lacks power
- Terrible pressure sensor
- Expensive replacement heads
The latest addition to Oral-B’s sprawling range of electric toothbrushes, the Oral-B iO2 has been brought to the market with much fanfare. It has replaced the iO3 as the entry-level brush in the brand’s high-end iO line up, bringing the range’s starting RRP down to a cool £45.
I initially saw this as a welcome change – the last Oral-B brush I reviewed was the top-of-the-range iO10, which currently retails for a jaw-dropping £382 on average and cost a shocking £800 on release. While its cleaning power was brilliant, the brush was packed with ineffectual smart features, terrible brush tracking and a pathetic battery life. Unsurprisingly, I deemed it a total waste of cash.
The newly released iO2 brush is aimed at first-time electric toothbrush users, and strips things right back to basics. Sadly, though, the brush feels poorly designed when compared to the brand’s existing Pro range of brushes. For example, the redesigned iO2 pressure sensor pales in comparison to Oral-B’s 360 pressure sensors, which have always been the clearest on the market. Add to that the ridiculously expensive replacement heads, and despite its redeeming qualities, I can’t help but think the Oral-B iO2 is still a bad deal for most people.
What do you get for the money?
Like most Oral-B electric toothbrushes, the iO2 brush comes with the main brush body, one brush head, and a charging base. This model also has a handy plastic case which can keep your brush clean and safe on your travels. On the surface, that’s a decent offering for £45.
Once the brush head is slotted onto the base, the brush has a very simple design. Its chunky handle is the same 2.5cm width and 15cm length as others in the Oral-B iO range with a smooth matte plastic finish that’s easy to clean and comfortable to hold. On the base, you’ll also find the standard Oral-B barrel charging port.
The brush controls couldn’t be simpler. There’s a white silicone button on the front of the brush, which switches the brush on and cycles through the three brushing modes: Super Sensitive, Sensitive and Daily Clean. Like most good electric toothbrushes, it also features a built-in timer that pulses every 30 seconds to let you know it’s time to start brushing a new quadrant of your mouth.
Next to the button is the new pressure sensor indicator light. This small light replaces the 360-degree ring pressure sensor included in almost all of Oral-B’s other electric toothbrushes, from the £35 Pro 3 to the next step up in the iO range, the iO3. This new light flashes red when you’re using too much pressure while brushing, although its location and small size make it much harder to see than the previous design. At the same time, however, the brush is able to slow itself down when over-pressure is detected, which should save your teeth and gums from harm if you can’t see the indicator light.
An important thing to note is that this brush doesn’t come with any replacement heads. The iO heads you have to use with the iO2 brush are some of the most expensive you can buy. At the time of writing, a pack of two replacement heads will set you back around £30. That’s £60 every year on replacement heads alone, compared to just £13 if you were to buy a brush from the Oral-B Pro range. Yikes.
What’s it like to use?
Having tested the all-singing, all-dancing iO10 brush recently, the Oral-B iO2 was refreshingly simple to use. It was easy to scroll through each of the three settings using the button on the front and I thought there was a noticeable increase in intensity with every setting. Of course, since it’s aimed at first-time electric toothbrush users, its super-sensitive mode didn’t pack the punch I’m used to but it still gave my teeth a good gentle clean. The three intensity settings will definitely be useful to those who have never used electric toothbrushes before – helping them to progress to a more intense, thorough clean over time.
However, one slight frustration is that the brush doesn’t remember which intensity setting you use. That means, once you’ve progressed past using the sensitive options, you’ll need to press the button three times to get to the most intense Daily Clean setting every time you use the brush. While that might not seem like much of an inconvenience, memory is a fairly standard feature in most brushes, even budget-friendly picks like the Oclean Flow. For a £45 brush, where even first-time electric toothbrush users will quickly progress to using the Daily Clean setting, this feature would help to streamline the process of using the brush a little more.
The biggest gripe I had using the iO2 electric toothbrush is with its pressure sensor. As mentioned previously, Oral-B has swapped out its brilliant 360-degree ring light indicator with the measly indicator light you see here. Its position on the front of the brush means that, during brushing, it’s really difficult to see the sensor, even if you’re looking in the mirror. When brushing your teeth properly, your toothbrush needs to twist and turn to reach into different contours of your mouth. The iO2’s pressure sensor’s dinky size and location make it impossible to see throughout the whole brushing process, rendering it almost useless.
How well does it clean?
As expected, the Oral-B iO2 brush cleaned my teeth very well. Its large oscillating round head was efficient at buffing every surface of my teeth in a small amount of time. That being said, unlike other electric toothbrushes in the iO range, the iO2 uses a different motor that doesn’t provide the same micro-vibrations through the brush head. This means the overall intensity of the clean is reduced.
Since I’ve been using electric toothbrushes for the majority of my life, I’m used to a more powerful clean than the sensitive and super sensitive modes could offer. When testing these modes, I found my mouth didn’t feel as clean as I’d like immediately after brushing. However, someone who has very sensitive teeth and gums would definitely benefit from this gentler movement. On most days, I chose to use the daily clean setting and found it could almost measure up to the other iO brushes. This mode was good enough to get my teeth feeling clean but not strong enough to cause any irritation, or give a long-lasting polish.
How long does the battery last?
The brush’s real saving grace is its battery life. In our years of testing electric toothbrushes at Expert Reviews, a pattern has emerged – rotary brushes, like those produced by Oral-B, have a far worse battery life than their sonic competition. According to our test results, an Oral-B brush lasts 18 days on average before giving up the ghost, compared to the 50 days of a sonic brush. Thankfully, Oral-B has stepped up its game with the iO2 brush. In our battery run-down tests, it lasted 212 minutes on a full battery before running out of charge. That’s 53 days if you brush for the four minutes per day recommended by dentists.
That said, recharging the brush takes over 16 hours, which meant the iO2 required a few nights to fully re-juice. Thankfully, since leaving a toothbrush on charge is a relatively passive process, this isn’t too much hassle every 50 days. The charger itself is the same as every other charger in Oral-B’s range, aside from the iO9 and iO10 brushes. It uses a two-pin bathroom plug, and the brush slots onto the charging stand to power up. While it charges, the indicator light on the brush will flash green, eventually turning to a static, solid green light once the brush battery is full.
Should you buy the Oral-B iO2?
Unsurprisingly, my immediate response to this question is no. The iO2’s pressure sensor has been simplified almost to the point of redundancy and the toothbrush is less powerful than any other Oral-B model. Sure, that gentle cleaning is good for those with super-sensitive gums, and the battery life is the best of any other Oral-B brush we’ve tested, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for most people.
At £45, the brush isn’t exceptionally cheap either, especially when you consider the price of the brand’s iO replacement heads. At the time of writing, two iO replacement heads will set you back £32, while you can buy eight standard Oral-B heads for the same price. Add onto that the fact that the cheaper Oral B Pro 3 has a clearer pressure sensor and uses affordable replacement heads, and you can see why I find it difficult to recommend the iO2.
With that being said, Oral-B is now discontinuing the Pro 3 brush we usually recommend, which is a crying shame. Once this affordable brush has been wiped from the market, the iO2 will become the most affordable Oral-B brush to buy. Still, that doesn’t make it good value. Even if you can brave the price of the iO replacement heads, you’d be better off catching the £67 Oral B iO3 when it’s reduced in the sales (typically for around £50), since its pressure sensor is far clearer.
