Verdict

Pros

• Clever app
• Well priced
• Quiet operation

Cons

• Soft brush head
• App disconnects too frequent

What is the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1?

The Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 is the first toothbrush to go on sale in the Apple Store. As you can probably guess, this is no standard sonic model, but rather a smart one that hooks up to your smartphone to help you brush better.

A well-designed app makes this an attractive toothbrush, but cleaning power could be better and there are a few niggles with the smartphone connection.

Related: Best electric toothbrush

Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 – Design and features

As you might expect from a toothbrush that’s available in the Apple Store, the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 looks rather neat. Its sleek, sculptured body decked out in white looks great, and the toothbrush is surprisingly light.

A single button sits on the front of the device to turn the toothbrush on or off. If you don’t connect the E1 to your smartphone (or you’re out of range), the toothbrush operates with a standard two-minute timer, with 30-second pulse timers prompting you to change quadrant in your mouth.

Colgate ships the toothbrush with two toothbrush heads, which consist of softer outer bristles to reach between your teeth, and a denser core of bristles for cleaning the surface. The brush head is quite soft, though.

Replacement packs come in sets of three for around £20, with each brush head needing replacement every three months. Each brush has a plastic cap for protection, but it’s a shame that there’s no travel case in the box.

The Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 is charged via the provided wireless charging dock, which has a standard two-pin plug on it. A single charge should last up to 10 days, although this will be determined by how often and for how long you brush.

Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 – App

The Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 comes into its own when you use it with the Colgate Connect app (Android and iOS). Once your toothbrush is connected to your phone via Bluetooth, the app can start to track where and how you brush, estimating the coverage you get when brushing.

When using the app, the toothbrush no longer has a two-minute timer, letting you select a mode that helps you brush more accurately. The more grown-up adult mode is the best, in my opinion. It divides your mouth up, giving you segments to brush the outside, inside and underneath/top of your teeth.

The app tracks the toothbrush’s location and angle, helping it to work out how well you’re tackling the current segment. It works pretty well, too. Yes, you can fool the app by brushing a different part of your mouth, but the question is, why would you want to? Used properly, the app tracks what you’re doing and ensures that you brush properly.

The only downside is that the E1 doesn’t have a pressure sensor, so it can’t tell if you’re pressing too hard or not.

There are a couple of games, too, including a Temple Run-style option where good brushing gets a pirate to collect more coins. It isn’t quite as usable as the main brushing guide.

There are a couple of niggles. First, there’s no storage for your smartphone, so you either have to hold it or balance it on a sink, which isn’t ideal. Second, the toothbrush lost connection a couple of times, preventing the app from registering a brush. I had to restart brushing on these occasions to get the detection working again.

Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 – Brush performance

I started out with the test teeth, using beetroot and spinach squished between the gaps in the teeth. Using the toothbrush in connected mode, I let the app guide me to get full coverage of the teeth, cleaning as I went.

The bristles went between the teeth well, but the toothbrush didn’t feel quite as powerful as some other models I’ve tested, and it took a bit more work to encourage food scraps out. After I’d finished, the teeth were mostly clean, with only a small trace of a beetroot stain left behind.

Testing on my own teeth, the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 didn’t feel as powerful as the best sonic toothbrushes, such as the Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean 6100. The E1’s soft bristles were very apparent when brushing. I managed good coverage but preferred the feel (during and after brushing) of the Philips model.

As a sonic toothbrush, the E1 is super-quiet: I measured a peak noise of 61.2dB while brushing.

Why buy the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1?

Smart toothbrushes from other manufacturers cost a lot more, so the fact that Colgate has packed so much into a toothbrush at this price is impressive. For the most part, the app is also very good, helping to increase brushing coverage for a better overall clean.

Cleaning results were generally very good in my tests, although the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 needed a bit of encouragement to pull out all food. Plus, the soft brush didn’t feel as good to me as the stiffer brushes on other models.

If you’re looking for an electric toothbrush that will encourage and train you to brush better, the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 is well priced. However, the lack of a pressure sensor and app disconnects detract.

Verdict

A smart toothbrush but a few niggles hold it back.

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