Various conditions may affect this quoted usage time, but safe to say you are getting at least double the performance, yet despite the battery change the physical size of the brush handle has not altered. The idea behind this connectivity is to essentially be a little like having a dentist or hygienist looking over your shoulder saying good, bad, brush for longer, you missed a bit. It is about education for better cleaning rather than telling you that you have got it all wrong. Ideally, a way of selecting the mode prior to actually turning the brush on would be the solution. This is not available, not even on the premium Genius 9000 model. You can bring the cost down further if you were to share it with other members of your household. All you need do is invest in extra brush heads.

A point to note here is the different versions of the Oral-B Smart 4 that I mentioned earlier. Whilst both models comes with the same cleaning modes, the Smart 4 4000S comes with the 2 x Sensitive brush heads, most fitting to the Sensitive cleaning mode offered on the brush. You see, applying too much pressure when brushing is a big issue and it causes more damage than you might think. Excessive pressure can damage the gums and cause wear on your teeth. A brush need only skim the surface of the tooth and gums. So, the brush reduces the power to protect your teeth. Aside from the aforementioned 2 brush heads, the Smart 4 comes with a brush head stand included in the box. This is a moulded piece of plastic that clips around the charging stand that is also provided. If you take a look at the very bottom of the brush handle, there is a recess, into which the pin on the charging stand connects to. A charging stand is provided. When you brush, sensors within the brush detect if you are applying too much force to your teeth. When it detects this, it activates the pressure sensor.Go online, register the brush and you get a further 12 months absolutely free. That is 3 years of warranty. Enhance your smile with the Oral-B Smart 4 - 4000N Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush in White. This ultra-smart electric toothbrush gives you professional guidance on getting the most out of your brushing experience. This ingenious tool connects seamlessly with the Oral-B app on your phone, to help you achieve better cleaning results. Bluetooth connectivity allows the toothbrush to be connected to the Oral-B app allowing for a personalised brushing experience

One of the benefits with the Smart 4 is that you do get 2 of the same brush heads included, so if you like that style of brush head you do save yourself a little on the cost. Now, this leads me to one of the biggest problems with the Oral-B Smart 4000 and that is the box contents. The charging stand is fairly self explanatory, but I explain more about this in the battery section of the review.It takes a bit of practice to get in a routine of having your phone with you when brushing. If you forget it or don’t have it to hand, don’t worry. The handle will store the data for the last 20 cleans and sync this to the app, the next time it connects. At 30 second intervals, the brush will provide an audible warning via a slight pause in the brush motor at to tell you to change quadrant. Once the 2 minutes are up 3 brief pauses in the brush motor will be heard and felt. Another small but significant thing to remember is; put the brush in your mouth before powering on and changing modes otherwise the toothpaste might go flying across the room. When using the Bluetooth connectivity, the app will show the cleaning mode. I will explain the connectivity option in more detail shortly. If you activate it often, don’t worry all that much, over time you will learn and avoid doing lasting damage to your teeth. Just imagine if you didn’t have it…

At times I have found these distracting, you may want to customise the settings to avoid some notifications.

You don’t want a button that is too easily activated or too firm, thankfully that is not the case on the 4000. It has a nice resistance when pressed. Not too soft that it can be accidentally activated, but not too firm it is difficult to press. Good even for those with limited dexterity in my opinion. As good as the app is, I feel this may also be one of the negatives as some will not see the point of using it or find it more hassle than it’s worth. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You can find much more detail on each mode and how they compare in our article, Oral-B cleaning modes explained. I think this is a big oversight and even if it meant a few extra pounds being added to the price, I think it would have been a worthwhile addition. Brushing for the full 2 minutes is very important, but just as important if not more so is the right technique. Make sure you learn how to clean your teeth properly.