Philips Sonicare 3100 electric toothbrush review 

We tested the Philips Sonicare 3100 twice a day over a six-week period. We assessed how well it cleaned our teeth, ease of use, its charging capabilities and how easy it was to clean. During the testing period we also took it away overnight. 

The 3100 comes in a recyclable cardboard box. It’s not massive, because all that’s inside is the brush, head and charging dock. To assemble the brush, you simply push the head onto the base, but here’s where it’s clever.  

The base of the brush detects the new head via a small microchip. The light on the front of the handle will flash three times, and you’re good to go. From there, the brush will detect how long that head has been in use for and after three months it’ll remind you to change it.  

We did charge our brush before first use, though it wasn’t stated that we needed to. You could just use it right out the box if you wanted to. There’s no app to worry about, no different cleaning modes to try out, just a USB charging dock and the brush.  

The base of the 3100 is slim and easy to hold, though there’s no rubber grip. That’s worth bearing in mind if hand dexterity or grip is an issue for you. Otherwise, we quite like the design, as it’s easy to manoeuvre and not too chunky.  

The brush head is also slim, and it’ll come down to personal preference whether you like it or not. We found it more than adequate for cleaning, but we’re used to the small round head of an oscillating toothbrush. If you’re coming from a manual brush this might seem too small at first.  

It’s easy to clean the 3100 – the brush head comes on and off with ease and you can run the unit under the tap. We found that the slim design meant we didn’t get as much toothpaste down it as the larger bases, which we liked a lot. We tested the white brush – the black one will show up the marks more easily.  

The Sonicare 3100 has a timer, but it lacks the bright flashing light seen on other electric toothbrush models, and it’s hard to see the small flashing light on the front of the unit whilst you’re holding it.

However, that’s not really an issue – you’ll know when the two minutes are up as it’ll stop vibrating. 

The Philips Sonicare 3100 works using sonic pulses, meaning the brush head moves side to side. For comparison, Oral-B brushes use oscillation, so the head moves round and round. For best results, you tilt the brush head at a 45-degree angle to the teeth and move it along from one tooth to the next.  

The 3100 has a ‘quadpacer’, meaning it will tell you when to move from one quadrant of the mouth to the next. It does this by momentarily pausing vibration. It turns itself off after two minutes of use (recommended brushing time).  

Reflecting its budget price point, the 3100 has a slightly less powerful motor than other, more premium Sonicare brushes. It delivers 31,000 brush strokes per minute, which, for comparison, is the same as the sensitive mode on the Spotlight Oral Care Sonic we tested.  

Is this an issue? Not really, and if you have sensitive gums, it might be just right for you. Our teeth looked and felt clean after every use, and we didn’t feel the brush was lacking for not being as powerful. We also didn’t miss the multiple cleaning options. If you just want a brush that cleans your teeth well, this is it.  

The Sonicare 3100 is light, easy to use and maintain, and gives a good clean. It isn’t an all-singing all-dancing toothbrush like some on the market. There isn’t a supporting app, for example, and some aspects of it aren’t as high-spec (like the motor).

We also felt the clean wasn’t quite as precise as some other brushes we’ve tested, but only marginally. The pressure sensor is great – the brush makes a higher pitched vibration sound if you press too hard, prompting you to ease off.  

Overall, we liked how easy it is to use, and felt it would be especially suitable for people who haven’t used an electric toothbrush before. An accompanying app is all well and good, but it does add another level to a process that should be uncomplicated.  

The one thing we would have liked was a travel case, as when we went away, we had to wrap it in a plastic bag in our wash bag.  

Philips state the Sonicare 3100 has a battery life of 14 days. This was an underestimate, we felt, since we got around 17 days between charges. It’s not the longest battery life out there, but it’s not too bad. You could charge it and take it on holiday for a week, for example.  

The charging dock has a USB cable, so you’ll need to place it somewhere other than the bathroom, using either a USB port or an adaptor plug. Charging takes up to 24 hours, but we left ours on charge after brushing in the morning and it was ready for use before bed.  

The Sonicare 3100 isn’t the cheapest electric toothbrush out there, but it’s not far off. It’s a great price for a quality Philips product, and we felt its price point was more than justified.  

Some extras would be nice, like a spare brush head thrown in or a travel case.

Philips offer a wide range of Sonicare products, with differing price points. Although the 3100 is at the lower end of the spectrum, we felt it was adequate for our needs.

That said, if you’d like a Sonicare brush with more cleaning options, the ProtectiveClean 5100 offers three different modes, while the Series 7900 Advanced Whitening offers four modes and three different intensities. Expect to pay higher prices for these extras, although discounts can bring prices down to between £99 and £150. 

Out of all the sonic brushes out there, we would choose the Spotlight Oral Care brush every time. It offers a superb array of extras and cleans brilliantly. If you want something quirky and stand-out, though, you could try the Foreo Issa 3.  

If an oscillating brush is more your thing, Oral-B have the Pro 3 at a slightly higher price than the 3100, with three different cleaning modes. Or, if you’re looking to splash out, the Oral-B iO Series 10 offers next-level cleaning but with a hefty price tag.

Overall we really liked this brush and felt it gave a really good clean. Although the brush itself is great quality, we would have liked some added extras to truly justify the price tag.

The pressure sensor, replacement head reminder and timer are all great touches, but the brush would be enhanced with different cleaning options. If a no-nonsense, functional electric toothbrush is what you’re looking for, this is a good choice.