Oclean X Ultra S Electric toothbrush review: A great clean with limited intelligence

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A few years back, I decided to move back to a manual toothbrush after my dentist told me I was brushing too hard with the cheap electric model I’d been using.

Since then, every time I go to the dentist, they ask me about my toothbrush habits. In my most recent visit, they asked me if I’d consider going back to electric. And having used the Oclean X Ultra S for the past three weeks, the answer is a tentative “yes”.

Because the Oclean does a fantastic job at brushing. Its Maglev 3.0 motor vibrates at up to 42,000 RPM, and makes my mouth feel fresh after every clean.

But it seems like the promise of “AI” is little more than a marketing gimmick here. The AI Voice is honestly disturbing, while the lack of real-time feedback doesn’t help you improve your process.

It’s a big step forward over my last electric toothbrush, that’s for sure. But I had hoped the “AI” integration would offer more nuanced feedback on my toothbrushing regime, and it doesn’t.

What is the X Ultra S offering?

The Oclean X Ultra S is a premium electric toothbrush with a premium electric toothbrush price tag. It has an RRP of $449.95, but for that price tag you do get a significantly higher level of tech than your standard Colgate manual brush.

Under the hood is what Oclean calls the Maglev 3.0 motor. I’m not sure how different it is from previous maglev motors, but it can supposedly deliver up to 42,000 RPM, with a consistent output at even when the battery is running low.

Oclean claims this all means it is three times more effective than a standard sonic motor, while running fairly quiet at under 45 dB. When it’s vibrating in your mouth it can sound pretty loud, though.

Inside the toothbrush, you get Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth, which is used to connect to the Oclean app. The app lets you do the standard things like update firmware and track your brushing history, as well as tweak the toothbrush’s settings.

The Oclean app lets you connect your brushing habits in with Apple Health, though it’s effectively only a record of the time you spend brushing your teeth, without any more detail on the quality of your brushing.

The toothbrush itself boasts a compact touchscreen above its power button. This lets you cycle through the different cleaning modes, as well as details of your most recent clean and your overall brushing score. It also shows you the daily weather forecast because brushing your teeth is the perfect place to find out about the weather.

There are six different modes on the brush to choose from: Sunrise soothing, Sunset clear out, Sensitive gum care, Whitening Polishing, Unlimited clean and Exclusive mode. That last one is a weird name for what is effectively a shortcut to one of 19 other cleaning modes you need to select within the app.

The toothbrush comes with three different head options in the box, plus a charger and a carry case. There’s no wall charger, disappointingly, and it uses a USB-A cable to plug in, which means I have to carry the toothbrush out to my computer to charge. Not everybody will have that challenge, but I did.

There are two other key features on offer here. First is the voice notification of when to change the cleaning area in your mouth. The second is a light in the base of the toothbrush that will turn red when you press too hard. I’ll go into more detail of both a bit later.

What does the X Ultra S do well?

In the three weeks I’ve been using the Oclean, my mouth feels fresher when I brush. I have no doubt that the clear timing and voice notification has improved my cleaning, as has the rapid vibration.

Honestly though, there are too many options to choose from. Despite my reviewing intentions, I found myself sliding into the simplicity of the morning and night cleaning modes.

I do appreciate the sheer depth of cleaning modes, though. There are options for quick cleans, cleaning for braces, and varying levels of whitening.

If you can’t find a cleaning mode you like, then you can also create your own. You set the duration, cleaning mode (Clean, Whitening, or Massage) and the brushing force, with 32 steps of intensity.

The battery life is strong. Oclean claims 45 days and I don’t think it’s that long — I managed to get about a week from the toothbrush from the unboxing, and in the two weeks since it’s dropped from 100% to 31%.

Still, three weeks between charges is a good run of time. And if you can manage to leave the toothbrush on the charger, you won’t even notice.

I’ll also call out the travel case, which is lightweight and convenient. I didn’t go anywhere to actually use it, but the fact it comes in the box is a nice touch.

What could the X Ultra S improve?

For some reason, the designers decided to summon a demon child to voice the toothbrush. Every 30 seconds when the X Ultra S prompts you to change the quadrant of your mouth you are cleaning, it sounds like the disembodied voice of a baby’s doll.

It’s probably a minor thing, really. But if you brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day, you’ll hear this six times a day. That’s 2,190 times a year. I think it might drive me crazy.

You can turn it off, but then there is no indication of when to move to the next section of your mouth. There’s not even the flashing of the light at the bottom, or a special vibration, to indicate to move along. So you’re either stuck with the weird voice or you have to guess when to change sections of your mouth to clean.

(Quick note: In the settings it looks like you can have the “Change Area” reminder switched on but the “voice feedback” switched off. But doing that doesn’t provide any feedback on when to change area from what I can tell.

I also feel like the “real-time” feedback is a bit misleading. The toothbrush will show you a 3D diagram of teeth, with sections highlighted in red or yellow for areas you didn’t clean well enough.

It’s not overly accurate – it breaks your teeth up into 8 areas, and highlights the entire area if your brushing isn’t perfect.

But it won’t tell you are missing a section as you brush – it only highlights it on the display once you’ve finished. If you decide you want to get in to top up that section of your mouth that came back coloured red, you need to brush your entire mouth again. You will also need to get it all right this time, otherwise when you finish, the rest of your mouth will be highlighted red.

I’d love for an option that lets you add on an extra 15–30 seconds just to nail that spot you missed the first time around, or failing that, real-time awareness that says, “hang on, you missed your back molar there! Go back and give it another go, buddy”. (And not in a demonic child voice, please).

Verdict

If you judge the Oclean X Ultra S on its cleaning performance alone, this is a top-shelf product. It is going to make your dentist much happier, so long as you use it regularly and properly.

With a massive range of custom cleaning options, plus the ability to create your own, this toothbrush is designed with deep oral hygiene in mind.

However, If you’re looking at picking this up because you like the idea of a smart toothbrush with connectivity and “AI”, then prepare for some disappointment. It’s not intelligent, and the AI features are underwhelming.

But if you can get past the odd voice selection and can forgive the exorbitant markup for Australians (the toothbrush sells for $129.99 USD (about $200 AUD), yet has a $449.95 RRP in Australia), then this is an excellent toothbrush. Even if it isn’t overly smart.

Buy the Oclean X Ultra S online

Oclean X Ultra S

RRP: $449.95

Check Price @ ShaverShop eBay