The Smartest Toothbrush Ever Made

Shop $130 $120, amazon.com

Welcome to the Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.

I assume you don’t wake up looking forward to brushing your teeth. At least, you don’t give any special thought to the brushing part of your regimen; you probably reserve all that thought and care for things like whitening strips. It’s something we do on autopilot, yet it’s still one of the most important parts of your hygienic routine. So maybe it does deserve a little more thought.

I’ve tested a handful of electric toothbrushes, some of which I really liked and some of which are not special at all. But earlier this year, Philips Sonicare launched a new and improved 6500 Series electric toothbrush; I’ve been using it every day for almost three months, and it stands far above the rest. I genuinely love it. I love it so much that I reviewed it for our 2026 Grooming Awards. With so many options out there, many toothbrushes can feel interchangeable or not worth the jump up to electric. This one is worth it. This one actually changed my routine and the way I think about brushing my teeth.

Shop $130 $120, amazon.com

First off, and this is important to understand ... it’s a sexy toothbrush. Its minimal design makes it feel like the Mac of toothbrushes. You have a simple power button, a secondary button to choose your brushing mode and intensity, a battery indicator, and a ring light at the bottom that lights up when the toothbrush senses being picked up—or when it’s charging.

The three brushing modes—clean, white, and sensitive—with three intensities each make it feel customizable instead of one-size-fits-all and give you options to help with what you need that day. Maybe you want to clean on the highest intensity after a chewy meal; maybe your teeth are sensitive after a dentist appointment and need something gentler.

And you get to choose from many different kinds of brush heads. It comes with two heads: one for premium plaque control and one for sensitive teeth. But Philips Sonicare also makes a handful of interchangeable toothbrush heads. There’s one made specifically for gum care, one for optimal whitening, and even one for kids. For me, it makes the mundane task of brushing my teeth feel more special and exciting.

It also operates at a higher performance level than other toothbrushes I’ve tried: At 62,000 bristle movements per minute, it beats pretty much every other vibrating electric toothbrush (which are usually in the 24,000 to 40,000 range) and definitely beats oscillating/rotating models (which average about 2,500 to 9,000 rotations per minute).

The toothbrush’s new technology also lets the motor adjust power automatically so it’s still effective even in the harder-to-clean areas. And if you’re overdoing it on the pressure, the smart sensor provides feedback by pulsing and lighting up the bottom of the toothbrush so you know to brush softer to protect your gums. It also has a built-in timer that beeps every 20 seconds to let you know to move on to a different area, just in case you’ve completely zoned out (we all do it), and it stops after two minutes so you don’t even have to think about how long you’re brushing for.

Shop $130 $120, amazon.com

Now, all of those features would already make this toothbrush one of the best out there, but the companion app is what really takes it to another level. I made it a habit to open the Sonicare app on my phone when using it. I just pick up my toothbrush and watch the toothbrush light up as the app tells me to get ready for my brushing session. I watch the timer on the app count down the seconds as I brush like a fun little game.

And that’s just the most basic part of the app. The other features are what have really helped improve my oral-care habits. The app reminds me to brush twice a day, floss, scrape my tongue, and use mouthwash (all things I might otherwise forget to do, if we’re being completely honest), and the daily-use log acts as a dental diary so I can track my progress.

The app also tracks your brush-head usage and tells you when it’s time to replace one—for example, I currently have 26 sessions remaining on my C3 two-in-one brush head—and you can even set up automatic reorders so the app automatically sends for a new brush head when it’s time. You can even log dentist appointments in the app and read tips and tricks on how to get the best coverage and angle while brushing.

Do you need all these features in a toothbrush? Maybe not. But does it make the daily task of brushing your teeth a whole lot easier, more effective, and even kind of fun? Definitely.

Last but not least, let’s talk price. A few years ago, smart toothbrushes easily cost you $250 to $300 on the high end. The fact that this is the best option on the market and it retails for $130—right now it’s on sale for $120—shows that the market is clearly getting more diverse. Philips is leading the pack in both technology and affordability. Nothing else comes close.

Shop $130 $120, amazon.com

Photographs by Florence Sullivan