Oclean X Ultra S reviewed: a judgy toothbrush

AI is everywhere these days, but on a toothbrush? The Oclean X Ultra S could be one of the most intriguing gadgets to ever grace our mouths.

What is the Oclean X Ultra S?

With a name like “X Ultra S”, you’d never believe you were talking about a toothbrush. It sounds like a vacuum or some version of a sleek sports car.

It’s not. It’s neither. The Oclean X Ultra S is an electric toothbrush with a small touchscreen and WiFi, allowing your phone to receive data about how you’re brushing your teeth and whether you need to improve.

It’s not your ordinary toothbrush, that’s for sure, though it’s also not the first smart toothbrush we’ve seen. However, it is the first to give you lots of data on your brushing.

What does it do?

It’ll give your brushing a score from zero to 100, a chart of your teeth and where is getting the best brushing coverage, the time you’ve been brushing, the force of your brushing, if you’ve applied too much pressure and excessive lateral pull, plus a score for your gum care and an average for your cleaning over a space of time.

Able to move up to 84,000 times per minute, think of the Oclean X Ultra S as the deluxe version of an electric toothbrush that aims to be that little bit more advanced than your conventional variety.

Oclean calls the motor a “Maglev” motor, but we don’t think it’s magnetic or levitates like traditional maglev tech might. However, the amount it moves could brush your teeth better, provided you do it justice.

That’s where some of the other sensors come in.

A sensor to track position and pressure with some bone conduction technology thrown in for good measure, the toothbrush aims to deliver lots of cleaning power in a design that is mould-resistant, IPX7 waterproof, and comes with up to 40 days of battery life with both a wireless charger and a case that also comes with wireless charging built in.

Does it do the job?

It’s also a toothbrush sporting “AI”, something that seems to be a bit of a trend this year. Officially, Oclean notes that the AI in the X Ultra S is to aid your brushing, functioning as “AI brushing navigation”.

Simply put, it means Oclean has technology in place to track how you brush and provide feedback for when you do, particularly if you’re doing it wrong. There’s a mode specifically for it, and a bone conduction sensor and speaker that will trigger the sound of a child warning you what you’re doing wrong when you do it.

Hearing the sound of a child from the inside of your mouth is a little strange, but that’s what the brush aims to do. For instance, when you exert too much pressure as you brush, it will say “too much pressure”, almost as if your inner voice was a small child warning you not to do that. And if you brush too quickly in one direction, the same sort of thing will happen.

Outside of this, the AI seems non-existent. It won’t gather insights from how you brush, but the app will instead state the obvious, noting if you don’t brush enough regularly that not brushing enough can lead to poor dental hygiene.

From the time we’ve spent with the Oclean, the AI is neither insightful nor intelligent, and that applies to the AI guided brushing system, which appears to be a combination of motion tracking and pressure sensitivity.

AI is in everything this year, and is seemingly a feature of everything, too. Sometimes, though, the inclusion of AI is just for the sake of having it. In the Oclean X Ultra S, it definitely comes off that way.

Sufficed to say, you’re not buying this toothbrush for the AI. Instead, you’re buying it because it does a great job of brushing.

Lots of programs, plenty of force, and stats on how you brush. The Oclean X Ultra S is basically the bee’s knees for brushing data.

Face it, before you read this review, you didn’t even realise brushing your teeth had data. Well now it does, and it’s a thing.

What does it need?

However, you’re also not buying it for its compatibility with your old toothbrush charger, either. We found it didn’t work on a charging pad for a Philips toothbrush, even though the technology of toothbrush chargers hasn’t changed in years. That was a surprise, and not a great one. Compatibility would be nice.

There are also a heap of brushing programs on the app, but they don’t seem to be on the brush itself.

Grab the brush and touch the handle, and you’ll find a sunset program and a scientific program, and one for when you wake up, not to mention an unlimited one. But dive into the app and you’ll find standard cleaning, strong whitening, super whitening, sensitive cleaning, several options of a “teeth spa”, gum care cleaning, braces cleaning, post-wash sensitivity, and even a way to customise the process.

Oclean has included a heap of programs, but you need the phone nearby to trigger them, and the WiFi on the toothbrush isn’t always reliable.

We know, it’s crazy that a toothbrush even needs WiFi to begin with, but this one does, connecting your dental hygiene to the cloud and synchronising your information to Oclean’s services and Apple Health, if you use that.

There isn’t a lot to the app, and like the WiFi, it’s not great, so just be aware of it going on: the smarts need to be smarter, something that will likely come in time.

Overall, it comes off as a bit of a work in progress, almost as if Oclean has grand visions for understanding dental hygiene using a toothbrush, but they’re not there just yet.

Is it worth your money?

Getting access to those initial visions aren’t cheap, either, which is expensive in Australia, and considerably more so than the price in America. Locally, the recommended retail price of the X Ultra S toothbrush is a staggering $450, a lot of money for a toothbrush.

However, in the US, the same toothbrush retails for $129.99 USD. Even if you take into account taxes and currency conversion, you’re more likely to approach $250 AUD, not $450.

It’s such a staggering difference in price that it’s difficult to fathom. Oclean is for some reason asking for roughly twice the price in our neck of the woods, something the Black Friday sales could help with, but may not stick around. Over three hundred dollars is a lot to pay for a toothbrush, but nearly $500 is clearly pushing it.

Yay or nay?

Easily the most judgy toothbrush we’ve ever encountered, it’s difficult to know exactly who this toothbrush is for.

It’s not a standard toothbrush for folks just simply buying a new brush, nor is it necessarily for anyone who wants to know more about their dental health. The insights you’re getting aren’t dramatically different from the insights you’re not getting with every other toothbrush.

More than anything, the X Ultra S seems suited for two types of people:

• Those with too much money who won’t question a purchase, or
• Anyone who feels like they need guidance in better brushing

The first one seems more likely, but that last one is still possible, strange as it might be. For most people, we’d probably suggest a trip to your dentist to find out if you need to be brushing better. But if that’s out of reach, Oclean’s judgy toothbrush can sure do it, too.