Aeno DB1S review: A smart sonic toothbrush with extra customisation

Increasingly, buying a smart electric toothbrush doesn’t have to mean buying from Philips Sonicare or Oral-B. There’s now more competition out there, rival products often matching the big guys on features and at lower prices. The Aeno DB1S is a great example. It’s a smart electric toothbrush based on 46,000 movements per minute sonic tech, which will work through Bluetooth with a smartphone app to track your brushing and set up useful routines.

It’s a good-looking brush and fairly affordable at around £90, but does it have what it takes to compete with mid-range options from the biggest names in dental care, or is it just another cheap Sonicare clone? I’ve spent two weeks testing the DB1S to find out.

Aeno DB1S review: What do you get for the money?

The DB1S certainly can’t be accused of feeling like a bargain-basement option. It’s a robust brush measuring 24cm long, with the shaft tapering upwards from a thick octagonal base, which makes it easy to grip.

It comes with three DuPont heads, each with its own icon so you can identify which is yours if you share your toothbrush. Also in the box is a small USB-C wireless charging cradle and the USB cable to connect it to a USB-A charger (not provided).

The DB1S works with Aeno’s smartphone app which, oddly enough, is the same smartphone app used to control the brand’s existing range of smart appliances. It’s a little weird using the same app when brushing your teeth that you already use to control your smart electric heater, but it works well enough for all that.

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Aeno DB1S review: What’s it like to use?

The DB1S keeps things fairly simple. There’s a single button on the front which turns the brush on and switches between its five modes – Soft, Clean, Massage, White and Smart. Small LED indicators below each keep you informed of your current mode. The vibrations in the Clean, White and Smart modes can be quite intense, but the handle is easy to grip and the plastics used have a slightly matte finish. Overall, the DB1S handles very well.

The Smart features are also easy to set up from within the Aeno app. You can check your performance on your last brush and make sure you gave it the allocated time, or check your brushing history over the last day or month and see how efficiently and frequently you’re brushing.

The DB1S doesn’t have any sensors to work out where or how you’re brushing, though, and it doesn’t appear to retain any brushing data if you use it without the app connected. If you want it to retain any information, you need to launch the app and have it active every time you brush.

Perhaps the best feature of the app is that you can set up routines or ‘Plans’ for specific purposes, like performing a quick ‘express’ clean or improving your gum care. These tell you where to clean and how long in different quadrants of the mouth, and also set the intensity and pattern of the brush to match. What’s more, you can create your own plan, step-by-step, setting the frequency and intensity of the movement.

You can’t customise where the app tells you to brush, however; this has to follow the usual left-exterior, right-exterior, left-interior, right-interior pattern of the other presets.

Aeno DB1S review: How well does it clean?

The Aeno DB1S cleans well, particularly if you take the time to play with the basic modes and try out some of the Plans. For my money, Soft is a little too soft while the Massage mode just feels weird, but the Clean mode gives you a decent clean that’s not too intense, while White is an effective mode for cleaning the surface of your teeth with a strong pulsing sensation.

With the Plans, you can tailor the feel to get exactly what you want, giving you a wider choice of brushing times, frequencies and intensities. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of chai, but I don’t think I’ve seen another smart toothbrush with this level of customisation.

Are you sometimes short on time before leaving for work? Set up a more intense brush for 60 or 90 seconds – it’s probably best not to use this every day, though. Do you spend more time getting around awkward teeth or want to finish with a massage for your gums? You can set that up as well. You’ve got the tools to create a brushing regime that fits your exact needs.

Only one major thing is missing: any kind of indication that you’re brushing too soft or too hard, or getting the pressure just right. Even affordable non-smart brushes have some kind of pressure indicator these days, and it can really help inexperienced users who might be tempted to apply too much pressure and potentially damage gums or teeth.

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Aeno DB1S review: How long does the battery last?

Aeno claims that the DB1S will provide up to 90 days of brushing, and it does seem to go on almost endlessly for week after week in actual use. In tests, where I ran the brush continuously in the Clean setting, it ran for a staggering 189 minutes before there was an audible loss of power, so 47 days of brushing for four minutes per day certainly wouldn’t be out of the question. You could easily take this brush on holiday without bothering to pack the charger.

Aeno DB1S review: Should I buy it?

It’s definitely worth considering. It’s well built, the battery life is epic and it does a great job of cleaning teeth and gums. Its built-in modes cover most people’s dental needs, and more modes and settings are easily available through the Aeno smart app.

It really ought to have a pressure sensor and alert to avoid doing damage while you’re brushing, but otherwise, it’s an excellent sonic toothbrush, with features to rival some premium options. If you’re after a mid-range smart brush, it’s one of the best we’ve seen.