Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 vs Oral-B Genius X

Detailed comparison: what’s the difference between the Oral-B Genius X and Sonicare DiamondClean 9000?

These are 2 premium electric toothbrushes. Whilst fundamentally they do a very similar job and achieve almost identical results, there is a whole host of differences that set these 2 apart.

The most obvious difference is the overall design and look of the brush handles.

In my opinion the DiamondClean 9000 is the more premium looking brush.  It appears more refined and classy.  However, style doesn’t necessarily equal practicality.

Both handles are similarly shaped, although neither are perfect cylinders, they have that rounded design to the handles.

The DiamondClean measurements are as follows:

• Height (without head) – 19.5cm
• Height (with head) – 25.5cm
• Width – 2.6cm
• Thickness – 3cm
• Weight (without head) – 136g
• Weight (with head) – 142g

The Genius X measurements are:

• Height (without head) – 20.5cm
• Height (with head) – 23.5cm
• Width – 2.7cm
• Thickness – 3.2cm
• Weight (without head) – 133g
• Weight (with head) – 138g

As you can see from the size and weight, there are not significant differences here.

There are more gloss plastics with the Genius X which degrade the overall appearance a little. However, the large rubber grip that adorns the side and back of the X is very appealing and it is more reassuring in hand, particularly when the brush handle is wet.

The images better depict the design differences than I can explain in text, so do take a close look at these.

Both have a separate power and mode button to power the brush on and change the cleaning mode.

A small but subtle difference here is that the brushing modes can be changed on the DiamondClean 9000 when the toothbrush is turned off. With the Genius X 20000, you can only change the cleaning mode once the brush is powered on.

On the front of the brush handle are icons for the cleaning modes available on each brush. Both are backlit by a white light once selected.

Unlike the Genius, the DiamondClean 9000 has the actual name of the brushing mode, making it very clear and easy to see which is selected. The X, on the other hand, has icons which make it a touch more difficult to remember what each icon really means.

To make things just a touch more complicated, the Genius has only 5 icons on the handle despite there being 6 cleaning modes available. There is no icon for the standard Daily Clean mode.

Both toothbrush handles feel solid in hand and I have little in the way of concern for the durability and reliability of these models.

A fairly major aesthetic difference is the LED smart ring and visible pressure sensor on the Genius X, compared to the Sonicare DiamondClean 9000.

Around the neck of the brush handle, just below the brush head is a translucent panel that runs a full 360 degrees around the handle.

Via the smartphone app, this can be programmed 1 of 12 different colours. But, it also turns red when the built in pressure sensor is activated.

The DiamondClean 9000 has a pressure sensor, but it is not a visible sensor.  Instead, when activated the brush handle vibrates until the pressure is relieved. 

The handle colours do vary between the 2 models.

Sonicare offers the 9000 in black or pink whilst the Genius X is available in rose gold, black and anthracite grey.

Whilst both Oral-B and Sonicare provide a black coloured brush head to match their black/grey handles, Sonicare do a better job here.  

Oral-B only offers the CrossAction brush head in black colour, all others are white.  Sonicare makes most brush head styles available in black as well as white.  This may seem relatively insignificant, but I think black handles and heads look better than a black and white combo.

The colour of the provided travel cases are either white or black, subject to the variant chosen. Their design differs a little too, more information about this can be found in each review. 

With the look of the handle covered, one of the biggest differentiators is their cleaning action.

Sonicare uses a sonic cleaning action whereas the Oral-B toothbrushes have an oscillating-rotating and pulsating cleaning action.

The Sonicare brush heads are larger, sort of more ovalish shaped compared to the smaller, circular brush heads found on Oral-B.

The sonic technology seen on Sonicare brushes uses 2 methods to clean the teeth. The first is a mechanical side-to-side cleaning motion of the brush and the second is a non-contact approach that uses the sonic technology that disrupts plaque beyond the tip of the bristles.

Oral-B’s cleaning is completed via an oscillating-rotating and also pulsating series of movements.

Oral-B brushes have a small, round brush head that moves back and forth (side to side movements) in a circular motion to help remove plaque and dental debris. The movement of the bristles and the head itself essentially scrub the teeth clean. You don’t need to repeatedly move the bush up and down, back and forth.

Pulsations offer a more sophisticated motion and give another dimension to the brushing. Essentially a ‘non-contact’ form of brushing and relies on pulsations/vibrations like Sonicare brushes do.

Whilst the cleaning action found on the Oral-B Genius X is more highly regarded clinically, both do a fantastic job. Whilst technically it is a fundamental difference between the 2, don’t get too worried about which approach is best.

The Genius X offers 6 cleaning modes as opposed to the 4 on the DiamondClean 9000.

The modes on each brush are as follows:

• Genius X
  • Daily Clean
  • Gum Care
  • Sensitive
  • Whitening
  • Pro Clean
  • Tongue Clean
• DiamondClean 9000
  • Clean
  • White+
  • Deep Clean+
  • Gum Health

A bit like the cleaning action of the 2 brushes, don’t concentrate too much on the different modes.

The Sensitive mode that the Genius X offers is very similar to its own Gum Care mode.  You could argue that the Gum Health mode on the Sonicare is equivalent to both of these on the X.

The Tongue clean mode is also a shorter 20 second mode.  A certain convenience it does bring, but you can still brush the tongue with any other mode or when the toothbrush is off.  Or if you do use it with the brush on, just end the cleaning mode early.

There is too limited evidence that any of these modes actually deliver better results, compared to a single standard clean mode.

Linked to the cleaning modes is a brushing intensity option available on the DiamondClean 9000 that the Genius does not have.

During any of the modes, you can press the cleaning mode button to change between low, medium and high intensity.

Essentially the power of the brushing mode is altered to be more gentle or more intense depending on your preference.

The brush does automatically select the best intensity, but you can override it.

This does then give you essentially 12 different cleaning configurations (4 cleaning modes x 3 intensities) compared to the 6 modes on the Genius X.

The intensity selected is shown on the handle via 3 vertical light bars that are located between the power and cleaning mode button on the DiamondClean.  

I have mentioned the brush heads briefly but these are quite a few extra things to be aware of.

Both Oral-B and Sonicare offer a range of heads which are interchangeable with their brush handle.

The DiamondClean 9000 comes with just 1 x C3 Premium Plaque Defence brush head included in the box, whereas the Oral-B Genius X comes with either 1 x CrossAction or Sensi UltraThin or 4 x CrossAction, subject to variant.

The Oral-B heads are smaller and can be more comfortable for some.  I would argue potentially slightly less technique sensitive, but that is up for debate.

Either brush handle requires replacement heads during ownership and on average should be replaced every 3 months.

Oral-B heads tend to be a bit cheaper than Sonicare.  £3 compared to approximately £7.  But, there is a reason Sonicare heads are more expensive, because they have RFID chips built-in.

You see the DiamondClean Smart has something called BrushSync technology which works in 2 ways.

The first is that the chip built into the brush head communicates with the handle to track how long it has been used for. Once used for 3 months, a light on the brush handle is lit orange/amber to alert you. This is incredibly clever and very useful for giving that visual reminder to change the brush head.

The second part is that depending on what brush head is fitted, the best-suited brushing mode is automatically selected. So, for example, fit the G2 Optimal Gum Care head and the Gum Health cleaning mode will be selected.

Whilst the Oral-B brush heads have fading indicator bristles and an in-app reminder, the Genius X does not alert you via a light when the head needs replacing, nor does it change the brushing mode based on the head you attach.

With either brush, you can use any of the brush heads on any of the cleaning modes available on the toothbrushes.

The brush heads themselves fit only to the respective brands, but both are easy to replace, pulling off and the replacement pushing back on.

Both Oral-B and Sonicare have timers and pacers built into these brush handles.  The idea is that these encourage you to brush the teeth evenly for the recommended amount of time.

However a subtle difference is that Oral-B has configured the Genius X to 30 second intervals whereas the DiamondClean 9000 is configured to 20 seconds.

In any typical 2 minute cleaning cycle you have 4 x 30 second periods or 6 x 20 seconds.  

So, the areas you brush under 30 second pacing looks like:

• Upper right
• Upper left
• Lower right
• Lower left

When brushing at 20 second pacing:

• Upper right back teeth
• Upper front teeth
• Upper left back teeth
• Lower left back teeth
• Lower front teeth
• Lower right back teeth

At the end of the 20 or 30 second sections, the brush motors pause briefly changing the sound of the brush and the brushing sensation, this is your cue to move to the next section.  

At the end of the cleaning cycle the same thing happens, but the DiamondClean 9000 has an automatic power off feature, which makes it very clear the cleaning cycle is complete.  The Genius X continues to function, relying on you to turn the brush off.

In use, the Sonicare is much quieter, producing more of an audible humming sound, whereas the Oral-B has a much more mechanical sound.

Built into both brushes are rechargeable lithium-ion batteries each claiming a battery life of 2 weeks.  However, their actual performance is very different.

In my hands-on testing the X just about gets past 2 weeks, whereas the DiaondClean 9000 actually exceeded 3 weeks in use on the most powerful setting.  If using the standard clean mode I achieved some 33 days of use compared to the 14 or so with the Oral-B.  

Whilst the claimed life is the same, actually the Sonicare is getting on for being twice as good.

Perhaps slight redemption by the Genius X is that its battery status icon is broken down into 3 bars, giving a little more feedback in terms of available power than Sonicare’s single bar battery icon, that only changes colour to yellow when at approximately 10%.  Although the smartphone app does provide a little more insight.  What is displayed is not a helpful percentage (%), instead, the words high, good and low.  

Both models will, of course, need charging at some point and both come with 2 options to charge the toothbrush. Both have a charging stand that the brush sits on to be charged and both come with a travel case that allows the brush to be recharged whilst inside the case.

The Genius X comes with a more traditional charging stand. The white plastic unit has a 2 pin plug on it that connects to a bathroom socket. The stand has a protuberance that fits into the recess on the base of the toothbrush handle.

The DiamondClean comes with a quite different, more premium charging stand. 

Made up of 2 parts, there is a charging base plate onto which fits a clear plastic frame, that the handle then sits within. It functions in basically the same way, just looks nicer.  It is a touch larger and is heavier.

The Oral-B X takes up to 12 hours to be fully charged whilst the DiamondClean 9000 can take up to 24 hours, although it appeared to be fully charged most of the time in just 12 hours in my testing.

Both charging stands have a 2 pin power connector that connects to a 2 pin bathroom socket. The Genius X supports 220-240V compared to the Sonicare which has a more internationally accepted 100-240V support.

With either brush, the travel case is of a premium construction feeling solid and robust in hand. Both have a soft-touch finish. Coated in leatherette is the Sonicare case, Oral-B’s is finished in a synthetic rubbery feeling material.

Holding the handle and up to two brush heads, the DiamondClean Smart’s case is better. 

Hardwired into the base is the charging cable that can be accessed and unwound to offer a USB connector that can be plugged into a mains socket, power adapter or computer’s USB connection.

The Genius X, on the other hand, has a separate proprietary charger that supports 100-240v and connects to a 2 pin socket.

In its favour, the case does have a stand for a smartphone built-in as well as a USB port into which you could connect a device such as your smartphone for charging.

The downside is this large power adapter that must be carried and the case must be connected to mains power to charge the brush and connected USB device.

Simply put, the Sonicare option is more refined and practical.

Now a key selling point for both brushes is the fact that they are smart.  But the implementation is a bit different.

Both brushes use Bluetooth to connect the handle and the smartphone.  Both companies offer Android and iOS apps for free.

Both apps are designed to take data collected by sensors in the brush handle and interpret it so that you can take insight and learn from it to be able to clean your teeth better.

The DiamondClean is primarily configured to sync the data with the app after the cleaning session.

This data is then charted in a fairly simplistic way to make it very clear and easy to understand.

The use of 3 colours does make it possible at a glance to achieve key learnings.  However, the data is only synced for 7 days and you don’t get the historic data you would likely want to see improvements over extended periods.

The Genius X is set up to work most effectively in real-time.  Although some data will sync after the brushing session if you don’t wish to use your phone at the same time as you brush.

Oral-B suggests the Genius X uses artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its process to monitor brushing and to give the feedback, it all sounds very impressive.  What this really means is that 

Oral-B’s app provides on screen graphics that  show the teeth you have and have not cleaned.  The teeth on the graphic turn white when you have brushed them properly.  It is giving feedback as you brush so you can perfect the cleaning there and then.  This can be very useful but relies on the app being in hand at the time of brushing your teeth.

The DiamondClean 9000 does transfer some data in real-time if you want it.  This includes the elapsed brushing time and pressure detection, it does not track the exact position of the brush in the mouth like the X does.

So what this means is that the Genius X  would know if you had not brushed all of the top teeth for example, because the graphic would not be complete.  Whereas the Sonicare 9000 has no way of showing or determining this as it is not tracking the brush handle location in the mouth.

In both instances the aim  is for you and me to achieve better oral health care at home. Think of it a little like having a dental professional on hand at all times to give guidance.

Lastly, both models come with a 2 year warranty as standard, but the Genius X has the option of extending this to 3 years (for free) by registering the brush online.

Does one clean better than the other?

Essentially no, they can clean as well as one another.  Although the answer is more complicated for a number of reasons.

In our article Oral-B vs Sonicare we dig into this a little deeper, but clinically the Oral-B brush is considered better.

An independent study completed by Cochrane suggests that there is evidence that Oral-B is more effective. 

However, the admission here is that the differences are small and clinically unclear with further studies required.

So, although technically there is some advantage to Oral-B it is not that great and ultimately data is lacking.

Of course if you asked the respective brands they would likely suggest their toothbrush cleans better.

The response could also be different between dentists as they may have personal opinions that influence this.

But, as the data shows there is little difference.

Another possible differentiator here is you as the user.  You may prefer the sonic cleaning action of Sonicare over the oscillating-rotating action of Oral-B.  This means you may be more inclined to brush for longer and with more attention because you like the brush more.

And then there is the feedback that both brushes give.  Whilst both are smart and provide feedback to an app, the Genius X is technically smarter and is providing you with real-time feedback to enable you to achieve better cleaning results each time you use the brush.

You do need the app to hand every time you use the brush. But, because on screen it shows you which teeth you have and have not cleaned very well, this can be a real advantage in ultimately brushing your teeth to a higher standard. 

With discipline and education you can achieve this with Sonicare. The way you engage with the brush is different and it might therefore be better for you as a tool to encourage and educate you.  You can’t get quite the same offering from Sonicare.

This is very much personal opinion though and you would likely only really know or appreciate this if you used both brushes for a period of time.

Is one better priced than the other?

Yes.

The Genius X is priced more cost effectively although the actual retail prices of the 2 brushes is almost identical.  

The Genius X has a recommended retail price of £339.99 through to £369.99 whereas the DiamondClean 9000 is £340.

However, it is very typical for electric toothbrushes to be sold with a sizable discount.

Whilst it is subject to change, the Oral-B is almost guaranteed to be around 50% if not greater.

Sonicare on the other hand tends not to be quite so great, but still fairly significant with at least 20% off. But, 50% is still a frequent occurrence.

At the time of comparison the Genius X standard edition is £164.99 and the Luxe variant £169.99.

When factoring in the cost of replacement brush heads this works out at approximately 18p per day over 3 years.

The DiamondClean 9000 is still actually being sold for or close to full retail price.  This leaves a significant price difference which is by no means justifiable.

Taking into account the likelihood of discounts coming into effect this selling price will drop to £170-200.

Clearly, this is much more similar, if not still a fraction more expensive than the Genius X.

The cost of replacement brush heads is a little more expensive, and this makes the daily ownership cost come out at around £0.22p day, although if sold at full price it works out at £0.32 per day over 3 years.

We all have different perceptions of price, and you have to go for the brush that is right for you.  However, for the vast majority, the DiamondClean 9000 is difficult to justify.

Please note that all prices quoted are approximates and will vary based on location, supplier and time of purchase.  These figures were correct at the time of writing and should not be relied upon as hard fact, but used as a guide during your decision process.