Spotlight Oral Care’s sonic electric toothbrush has long been one of the best electric toothbrushes in our round-up, owing to its affordability, gentle brush heads and impressive battery life. But, with the brand’s popularity on the rise (thanks to its stellar teeth whitening kit), I wanted to take a closer look at everything the device has to offer.
Chances are, you’ve probably already heard of Spotlight Oral Care, especially if, like me, one of the goals of your dental regime is to have brighter-looking teeth and reduce levels of staining. In fact, its USP is that it’s “created by dentists”. Sisters Lisa and Vanessa Creavan are the dentists in question, who began the Spotlight brand purely as a response to regulations around cosmetic teeth whitening that had been enforced in their home country of Ireland.
The range began with whitening pens, strips and toothpaste; however, these have since been supplemented with a sonic product that isn’t purely a toothbrush, but has a whitening mode, along with its sensitive and clean modes. In 2020, the brand even released a second, pro sonic toothbrush (£104.97, Spotlightoralcare.com) for real hygiene obsessives, albeit with a higher price tag.
If you already use the Spotlight Oral Care range for teeth whitening, it’s likely you’ll be interested in how well the original sonic electric toothbrush (£77, Spotlightoralcare.com) fits into the line-up. If you’re new to the brand though, the cost of the brush is something that will probably catch your eye. The price of sonic toothbrushes has reduced dramatically in the last 10 years, and there are now plenty of fuss-free alternatives to the Philips Sonicare range – including Suri, Ordo + and, since 2016, Spotlight. Scroll on for my honest review after 90 days of brushing.
How I tested
I was already familiar with the Spotlight Oral Care brand as I often use their products to whiten my teeth. I tested over a three-month period and, while brushing, charging and packing away the brand’s sonic toothbrush, noted the following things:
- Battery life: The manufacturer claims that the sonic has a 70-day battery life from full charge and so, during my three months of testing, I w abasle to effectively put that to the test. Plus, I looked at how long the device takes to charge.
- Ease of use: When testing I focused heavily on ease of use, which is something I believe can make or break a daily routine. I looked for features that support effective brushing without adding hassle, like a built-in timer, a pacer to guide you through each section of your mouth, and reminders for when to change the brush head. I also checked whether all the necessary charging components were included. These were all small but important details I kept in mind while assessing how user-friendly the toothbrush really is.
- Long-term effects: As whitening is the brand’s speciality, I was particularly interested in the product’s white mode, to see how effective it was in gradually glossing teeth and bringing about a healthy grin. Likewise, I recorded how effective the brush was at ridding our mouth of food debris and bad odours, and noted any instances of sensitivity.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Jon Axworthy has a long history of product reviewing and has been writing for IndyBest since 2017. Oral health is particularly important to him and he’s reviewed plenty of dental tech for The Independent, including Ordo’s sonic + electric toothbrush, Oral-B’s iO 6 electric toothbrush and the Philips sonicare 9900 prestige. So, it’s fair to say that he’s developed a sharp eye for what really matters. With a passion for gear that actually improves daily life, he assesses everything from brush head design to battery life, pressure sensors, and app connectivity, digging into the details so you don’t have to.
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Spotlight Oral Care sonic
Modes: Three
Battery type: Li-ion
Accessories included: Protective travel case
Battery life: Two months
Returns: 28 days, if unopened
Travel case: Included
App connectivity: None
Why we love it
- White mode minimises staining with regular use
- Effectively cleans gums without sensitivity
- Charge lasts two months minimum
Take note
- Can be noisier than competitor models when using certain modes
- Travel case not included
Spotlight Oral Care sonic toothbrush design and ergonomics
The brush offers an uncomplicated and uncluttered design, with a single, large power button, so it’s easy to find and turn the product off mid-routine (if you need to) without pebble-dashing the bathroom mirror with toothpaste.
The power button also enables you to cycle through the modes, with whatever intensity you settle on being the one that the brush remembers the next time you fire it up. The fact it’s not app-enabled and isn’t packed with gizmos, such as accelerometers, means it feels light in hand and is easy to move around the mouth quadrants without feeling too intrusive.
Spotlight Oral Care sonic toothbrush cleaning and whitening
This is a powerful toothbrush, compared with some of the other sonics out there. The sensitive mode delivers 31,000 repetitions per minute, while ‘clean’ is 41,000rpm and ‘white’ turns the intensity up to 48,000rpm. This compares with the Suri brush, which delivers 33,000rpm, and the Ordo + which maxes out at 40,000rpm.
I found, whether you have a whitening goal or not, white mode gives a satisfactory and thorough clean, without feeling overly harsh on gums. However, if you do have sensitive gums, it might be a bit too much, combined with the fact the brush doesn’t come with any kind of pressure indicator.
Read more: Does the Spotlight Oral Care teeth whitening system actually work? We find out
Sonic brushes tend to produce a higher-pitched noise than their oscillating rivals, but this brush is particularly noisy on white mode, which might be something to take into consideration if you’re often in the bathroom early, while everyone else is sleeping.
The calibration of the oval-shaped brush head with the motor really makes the most of the bristle pattern, so it was clearly going to be able to break apart the biofilm that can lead to cavities, while delivering a deep clean without damaging teeth and gums. The brush also has a quadrant timer, to ensure you give your mouth complete coverage.
Read more: Philips Sonicare 5100 toothbrush review
However, it was its quality as a whitening tool, over time, that really impressed, and I noticed a significant reduction in the amount of staining to the teeth and, in the end, I only used white mode in the morning, combining it with the clean mode before bed, which still delivers a powerful clean.
Spotlight Oral Care sonic toothbrush battery life
The battery light on the handle will flash when the product needs charging, but you won’t need to worry about this very often because the Spotlight brush’s ability to hold charge is impressive. After 14 hours on charge, I didn’t have to revisit the charger for more than two months (brushing twice daily), which is particularly useful if you’re going away and don’t want to bother taking the charger too.
The only slight drawback here is that you will have to charge the brush somewhere other than the bathroom, as its dock comes with a three-pin plug attached, rather than one that will fit the standard shaver socket.
Spotlight Oral Care sonic toothbrush value for money
Overall, the brush has a very robust feel and I would expect it to be able to withstand multiple sink drops and journeys rattling around in an overnight bag. It comes with three replacement heads and each head should last three months, so represents excellent value. I found that the bristles began to lose rigidity and effectiveness during the third month of use, but a set of three replacement heads costs £22.50 (Spotlightoralcare.com) which isn’t too bad.
While the brand used to include a travel case as standard, this has since been changed to a perk exclusive to the sonic pro electric toothbrush, which is a bit of a shame.
Buy now £77.00, Spotlightoralcare.com
The verdict: Spotlight Oral Care sonic
Are gleaming smiles guaranteed now the teeth-whitening brand is offering up its own sonic brush? It would certainly appear so. Teeth whitening won’t happen overnight, but daily use of the Spotlight brush will gradually have an effect on teeth that have become dulled over time. Even if this isn’t your goal, the brush is an effective sonic tool for maintaining oral hygiene at an excellent price.
Looking for more recommendations for achieving gleaming gnashers? Read our review of the best teeth whitening kits
