Oral-B 3000 vs 5000 Electric Toothbrush Review

	Overall Winner Oral-B Smartseries 5000	Overall Runner up Oral-B Pro 3000
Features	- 3 x Brush head refills - Pro Timer (Quadpacer) - Visible Pressure Sensor - BlueTooth technology - Waterproof	- 2 x Brush head Refills - Pro Timer (Quadpacer) - Visible Pressure Sensor - Waterproof
Mechanism Of Action	- 3D Oscillating rotating - 40,000 Oscillations and 8,800 pulsations per minute - Daily Clean Mode - Gum Care Mode - Sensitive Mode	- 3D Oscillating rotating - 40,000 Oscillations and 8,800 pulsations per minute - Daily Clean Mode - Gum Care Mode - Sensitive Mode - Whitening Mode
Battery Life	- 28 minute brushing time - 5-6 hours charge time	- 28 minute brushing time - 5-6 hours charge time
Portability	- 130 grams - 23cm x 2.5cm x 3cm - Travel Case Included	- 130 grams - 23cm x 2.5cm x 3cm
Value for Money

So which of these mid range electric toothbrushes should you go for?

The Oral-B Pro 3000 and Oral-B Smart Series 5000 are two electric toothbrushes that are aimed at different markets. The Oral-B Pro 3000 being the slightly cheaper of the two offers a more functional brushing experience. On the other hand, the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 is more technology focused and aimed at a slightly higher end market. In this review we will be directly comparing the two electric toothbrushes and answering whether the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 extra features are worth the added expense.

1) Features: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

Visually comparing the two electric toothbrushes handles there appears to be very little difference in weight and visuals. The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 comes in a slightly darker shade of blue than the Oral-B Pro 3000. Both electric toothbrush handles have a slimline profile handle that is rubberised and easy to grip.  Also both Electric toothbrush handles have one main on/off button which is easy to press and well constructed.

Feature Similarities: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

The Oral-B Pro 3000 and Oral-B Smart Series 5000 do share a few common features. Both electric toothbrush handles are waterproof meaning that you can use them in the shower if you so wish.  They also come with a quadpacer “Pro Timer” which is an on handle timer that “buzzes” every thirty seconds to make sure that you change area of your mouth. This feature is handy to make sure that you brush your teeth for the dentist recommended 2 minutes morning and night. Both Electric toothbrushes also have a visible pressure sensor that flashes red when you are pressing too hard on the toothbrush. Pressing too firmly with a toothbrush can lead to a type of tooth wear known as toothbrush abrasion. This is where the bristles of the toothbrush start eroding away the enamel of the tooth which can lead to sensitivity. Both the Oral-B Pro 3000 and Oral-B Smartseries 5000 prevent this from happening by having a visible pressure sensor.

Feature Differences: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

The major difference between the two electric toothbrushes is the bluetooth technology. This allows the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 to connect with the Oral-B App. The Oral-B App has numerous benefits including:

• Alerting you when you are pressing too firmly
• Reminding you to brush your teeth
• Automatically monitoring and tracking the number of times you brush your teeth a day and for how long
• Customising your brushing routine with Dental Professional guidance
• Brushing activities and achievements

The Oral-B 3000 can connect to the Oral-B app via sound recognition however it is not as good or as reliable as bluetooth technology. The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 also comes with an additional brush head refill which is useful and some extra cleaning modes. The cleaning modes will be further discussed in the next section.

Features Verdict – Oral-B Smartseries 5000 wins!

The Oral-B Smart Series 5000 has many features that the Oral-B Pro 3000 simply does not have. The Oral-B 5000 Bluetooth connectivity linked to the Oral-B app is an amazing feature that really helps improve your oral hygiene and so on this section there is only really one possible winner. A more detailed review of the Oral-B 5000 can be found here.

2) Mechanism of Action: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

Both electric toothbrushes on test today use the 3D oscillating rotating and pulsating mechanism of action. This action which is unique to Oral-B is my preferred cleaning method. There is evidence that this mechanism of action is better than sonic electric toothbrushes, which is it’s closest rival (more information can be found here).

Cleaning modes

The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 has one more cleaning mode than the Oral-B Pro 3000.

• Daily Clean mode (Oral-B 5000 and 3000)
• Gum Care mode (Oral-B 5000 and 3000)
• Sensitive mode (Oral-B 5000 and 3000)
• Whitening mode (Oral-B 5000 only)

Most of the time you will find that you just use the electric toothbrush in Daily clean mode so the extra mode does not really make that much of a difference. Whitening mode is also not one of my favored modes. I think it is quite aggressive and a misnomer. Whitening mode will not whiten your teeth merely remove some staining. If you really want to whiten your teeth go to the dentist and get professional whitening with hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.

Brush Heads

As mentioned before the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 has one more brush head refill which is useful (3 brush heads in total). Both the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 and Oral-B Pro 3000 are compatible with all the Oral-B range of brush heads. These include although are not limited to:

• Crossaction Brush head (the one I use at home)
• Precision Clean Brush head
• Trizone Brush head
• Floss Action Brush head
• Ortho Brush head
• Sensitive Brush head

Out of the range the one I prefer is the Crossaction brush head  because of the design of the bristles and small head size.

Verdict Mechanism of Action – Virtually the same

The Oral-B 5000 and 3000 are both pretty much identical in terms of cleaning power and ability to brush your teeth. It could be argued that the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 offers a whitening cleaning mode that the Oral-B Pro 3000 does not have but how useful is a whitening cleaning mode? In my eyes,  not very useful.

3) Battery Life: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

Both electric toothbrushes have decent battery life. They both last for 28 minutes of use which is roughly one week of regular cleaning. Although this is not the best on the market (the Oral-B Genius 8000 lasts for 40 minutes of use) it is reasonable for a mid range electric toothbrush. The Oral-B Smart Series 5000 comes with an upgraded charging station compared to the Oral-B Pro 3000. The Smartseries can hold up to 4 brush heads and has a neat cover to protect them. This is particularly useful if multiple people are using the same electric toothbrush handle. The Oral-B Pro 3000 charging station is less “swish” looking and can hold 2 x brush heads vertically. Both charging stations run off the standard 220-240 volts and have a 2 pin plug. This means that you will need a 2 pin to 3 pin adapter (shaving adapter) to fit into the UK standard plug. One of these adapters can be found at any decent hardware store or Amazon.

Both the Oral-B 3000 and 5000 take 5-6 hours to charge to full and have a useful battery indicator light to let you know when the battery is flat and when it is fully charged.

Verdict Battery Life – Virtually the same

The battery life of the Oral-B 3000 and 5000 are the same and also the battery indicator lights. The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 has a slightly better charging station however nothing to write home about.

4) Portability: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

Both electric toothbrushes weigh 130g without the brush head. This is fairly light and is very easy to carry on your travels. The dimensions of both electric toothbrushes are 23cm x 2.5cm x 3cm. This is small and will easily fit in to your hand luggage. The one area where the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 outshines the Oral-B Pro 3000 is the travel case. The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 has a travel case whereas the Oral-B 3000 does not. The travel case is really handy when going on holiday or moving from one place to another. The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 travel case neatly holds 2 x brush heads and the electric toothbrush handle.

Verdict Portability – Oral-B Smartseries 5000 is the winner!

The Oral-B Smart Series 5000 comes with a standard travel case that makes travelling with it much, much easier. In fact the travel case is so useful that this feature alone is worth the price differential.

5) Value for Money: Oral-B 3000 vs 5000

The Oral-B Smartseries 5000 costs . The Oral-B Pro 3000 costs . Both electric toothbrushes have similar operating costs. A pack of 4 cross action brush heads (the one I recommend) can be picked up for . This means that the running costs end up being around 3p per day for the brush heads which is reasonable. As with most Oral-B electric toothbrushes, the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 and Oral-B Pro 3000 come with extendable 2 year warranties. By registering the product online at Oral-B you can extend the warranty to 3 years. This means that you are guaranteed to get a good life span out of both electric toothbrushes. Given a 3 year life span the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 works out at 7p per day and the Oral-B Pro 3000 at 4p per day.

Verdict Value for Money – Oral-B Pro 3000 is the winner!

The Oral-B Pro 3000 is slightly better value for money in my opinion due to the cheaper price. There is not much in it however it does win this section.

Summary: Oral-B Smartseries 5000 vs Oral-B Pro 3000

Taking all the factors into account, if it were my money I would go for the Oral-B Smart Series 5000. I love the Oral-B app and the bluetooth connection as this is the future of electric toothbrushes. The reason most people buy an electric toothbrush is to improve the health of their teeth and the Oral-B Smartseries 5000 is more likely to do this because of the added features.

If you have any questions in regards to electric toothbrushes that you would like answering please ask away below and I will be happy to answer. If you want to find out what I regard as the best electric toothbrush click here.