Philips Sonicare Healthy White Electric Lavender Toothbrush

I really like sonicare toothbrushes, and this one is no exception. I like the way my teeth feel clean and massaged after I brush. I like the timer feature that lets you know when to switch to a new quadrant of your mouth for brushing. The whitening feature I can't really speak to because I've only tried it once and it was okay -providing an extra "polish" to the front teeth at the end of the brush cycle.My main complaint about this particular sonicare brush: Prior to this I had a different version of the sonicare that allowed you to change the modes BEFORE you put it in your mouth. I cannot for the life me understand how whoever designed this thing thought that changing the mode while the brush is vibrating away is a good thing. if you try changing the mode while it's in your mouth you can can count 1-2-3 I suppose but you cannot confirm that you're on the mode you really want unless you take it out of your mouth to see the tiny LED lights. And then you have a mess of toothpaste spattering around the bathroom. crazy. And this one seems to always default back to the start so you have to start on the basic mode, put it in your mouth and click the button a few times to change to the desired mode. design fail.My only other complaint is the cost of replacement heads, but you can find some fairly decent off brand ones for cheaper. Just be wary as they are generally not as good as the Philips brand. I've not had to order replacements for this one yet, so I can't speak to what off brands may be good (if anyone reading this has a suggestion, please comment!)Still I do love my Sonicare so that's why I give it 4 stars.

I own a variety of Sonicare toothbrushes. Besides the Healthy White, I also own the Flexcare Platinum, the Series 3 and the Series 2. The Healthy White is supposed to sit just between the Flexcare Platinum and the Series 3 in terms of features and price. The most important thing to know about Sonicares is that they all have the same cleaning ability for the given types of brush head. Since everything from the Sonicare 2 all the way up to the Diamondclean can all take the same heads, you can get the same performance from the Sonicare 2 as you can from the most expensive model by switching out the brush heads.Specific to the Healthy White, its feature are that it comes with a case (like the Series 3), and it has 3 different cleaning cycles, and this model is a bit more sleek and stylish than the Series 3. Normal is just like any other brush; sensitive is just a less intense normal cycle, and whitening is just an extra 20 seconds at the end of the standard 2-minute cycle. The drawback to these options on the Healthy White (and the intensity settings of the Series 3) is that it doesn't remember the last cycle. So, if you always want to do sensitive, or always want to do whitening, you have to press the button multiple times every time you brush. Additionally, the whitening setting doesn't make the brush clean any differently other than adding an extra 20 seconds. This can easily be done with any of the lower models just by pressing the button again for some extra time.Here's my summary of what you get for each model:Series 2: All the cleaning ability of any other sonicare. Basic operation with a 2-minute timer, which is divided into four 30-second intervals. Basic battery life and no carry case.Series 3: Add 2 additional intensity settings and a bit of battery life. Comes with a carry case; handle slightly more compact than Series 2.Healthy White: Has low (sensitive) setting, regular setting, plus an option to add 30 seconds to the normal cycle (this is the "extra whitening" feature). Handle is slightly more compact than series 3.Flexcare Platinum: Has 3 intensity settings plus 3 cycle options (2-minute, 2:30 (same as Healthy White), 3 minute). Upgrades the carry case to a clear cover, adds a brush head holder to the charger, remembers your settings so you only need to push the main button each time you brush, comes with two brush heads instead of one. Has sensor to stop moving if you apply too much pressure against your teeth. Some models also upgrade to a sanitizer or other accessories.DiamondClean: Adds some extra mode options compared to the Flexcare. Sensitive is extra gentle, gum care simply adds 1-minute of lower intensity to brush gums, polish is a 1 minute cycle, and whitening is the 2:30 cycle found on the previous 2 models. Comes with a fancy charging glass and the travel case can be plugged into a usb port and charge the brush. Keep in mind that even the Series 2 has about a 2-week battery life and all the others an average 3-week. So, unless you travel for extended periods AND don't want to take the standard charger with you, there's not a whole lot of advantage to these perks.Back to the Healthy White, I see it as kind of a "fill-in" model to bridge the price gap between the Series 3 and Flexcare Platinum. I personally love the Flexcare because I like the higher intensity and 3-minute setting. Many, if not most people are quite happy with the Series 2 and its simply operation. You can accomplish just about anything with the Series 2 as you can with the other models just by pushing the start button to add some time. Unless you really need the sensitive setting (and assuming it's different than the low setting of the Series 3), there's not a whole lot of advantage to upgrade to the Healthy White other than aesthetics.