I was replacing an Oral B electric toothbrush. I have been using this Sonicare toothbrush for 9 months before I wrote this review. I really like this toothbrush better than my Oral B. The vibrations seem to clean my teeth better than the Oral B. The brush feels like its high quality and made well. The entire brush feels like one solid piece so its watertight. It takes some time to get used to the vibrations if you have never used an electric toothbrush before. The toothbrush came programmed with a setting for a gentler vibration in the first week or two. It automatically switched to a stronger vibration after that. I didn't really notice a big difference. The toothbrush also automatically turns off after 2 minutes, regardless of whether you are done or not - a minor inconvenience. I'm used to spending longer on my brushing routine. The charge lasts for a long time, about 2-3 weeks before I need to recharge. The toothbrush automatically gives you a sound and vibrate after you brush to alert you when it needs to be recharged. It takes about 24hours to fully recharge. After each use, I always remove the head and rinse it and let it air dry thoroughly. The only minus is that I noticed that this toothbrush has a ni-cad battery, whereas my daughter's electric toothbrush has a lithium ion battery. She has the kids version of the Sonicare and it can last for months before a recharge. I am very happy about this toothbrush and will stick with the Sonicare brand in the future.

I've had two Sonicare brushes prior to this purchase, but they were all the HealthyWhite models. They aren't the most expensive in the line, but Phillips is still pretty proud of them. The problem is that both broke in a relatively short period of time. 2 years for the first one, and less than one year for my latest.
Still, I have not found a better toothbrush and so here I am, once again, buying another. This time, though, I've decided to do away with the bells and whistles and just buy the basic brush. Despite the cheaper build quality, there are things that I have found to be very good about this brush. First, it vibrates at exactly the same rate as the higher end model I was using. Second, it uses the exact same brush heads, so I did not lose anything in the conversion. Third, and best of all, it is entirely hard plastic which makes it very easy to keep clean. My HealthyWhite had a rubber coating that would "mold" and discolor at the bottom.
This brush is slightly larger than the premium models, and it does feel "cheaper" in your hand, but it gets the job done in the exact same way as the more costly models. Given that Sonicare toothbrushes fail so often, I will be sticking with this "basic" model. It cleans my teeth just as well, and cost less.

I always been a Philips Sonicare fan for their tooth brush. My previous and more expensive Sonicare toothbrush stop working a few weeks ago after using it for about 2 years. This Sonicare toothbrush has less options than my previous one but it does the job just fine. Beside, I barely used any other options in my old one beside Clean mode anyway. So it is not a big deal to downgrade to this toothbrush. Overall, I'm very satisfied with it. it does its job fine and it seems to be well build. The minor problem I have with this is the packaging is not so good.

Pro:
1) Automatically turn off after 3 min of brushing
2) It is powerful and can clean your teeth well. If you never use an electronic toothbrush before, you will love this.
3) It is rechargeable and the charging pad is water proof so you don't have to worry about water spill on it when you leave it on your washing counter.

Con:
1) No options beside Clean. Honestly, that is what I always used anyway even when my old toothbrush has a lot of other options. I feel like the more options it has, the more likely the toothbrush will died
2) Packaging is not so great. It comes wrap loosely in hard cover and not seal in plastic

I still give this a 5 stars considering the price and its usefulness.
Recommended!

My product is at the end of its life, so I thought I'd give everyone my two cents. I have had this for almost 5 years now. It still works, but the battery has less endurance, but metal prong the toothbrush head fits onto is rusted, and the on/off button cover is wrinkled and coming off.

My dentist badgered me about getting one of these, and I obliged them. What a difference it made. Everything I researched said a normal toothbrush works just as well, but my dentist let me know there was a big difference after switching to this.

Operation: You have 2 minutes of brushing as soon as you hit the on button. It pauses and beeps at every 30 second mark. You are supposed to brush a quadrant of you mouth in that time, and then switch quadrants at the beep. At 2 minutes it turns off.

I wish it kept going. I have problem areas in my mouth that sometimes require a bit of extra time. Initially, I kept running short on time on the last quadrant. I would turn it back on and finish. The next time I used it the first 30 seconds seem to go much faster as if it kept track of the time I turned it on the previous use. It may just be my imagination though.

Also. Don't turn this thing on before you have it in your mouth. That is a great way to get a face full of water and toothpaste. It is not a fun time.

I highly recommend this for first time users.

Ok, I read and re-read all of these reviews on here and hesitantly pulled the trigger. I have nothing to complain about these toothbrushes. They are "loud" but not ear-splittingly. My husband and I decided we would use them at night so we don't wake each other up with them (we don't have a door into our master bathroom).

As for the complaints about scum/black stuff build up under the brush head, of COURSE that is going to happen if you let moisture and mouth germs just sit in there! That would be true for pretty much any toothbrush like this. If mine gets water under the head I remove the head and allow the whole thing to air dry. I just have a folded up washcloth I lay it on. It's a small price to pay for the cleanest teeth I have ever had! If you think about the design (and I am an engineer so I always do when looking at a product) there is not a better way to make these brushes ergonomic, functional, etc.

The brush heads that come with it are not identical, for those of you like me researching and wondering how often you will use your spouse's tooth brush. One has a dot and one has a square. They are small identifiers. And they are on the brush heads, so you will still have that issue once you change the brush heads that unless you can always find yourself packs with dots and squares and use the same one.

BUT the biggest thing is how CLEAN my teeth feel! I love this brush! And hopefully I am not doing so much damage brushing so hard! I was starting to recede my own gums. I love this and would recommend it to anyone who asked! Maybe even someone who didn't ask! LOL!