Oral-B has long made a multitude of high-quality electric toothbrushes marketed at premium prices, and the 7000 and Genius 8000 product lines represent their latest efforts to dominate the oral hygiene game in 2018 and beyond. In this post, we’ll be taking an extended look at both products, comparing their similarities, differences, and everything in between.
Table of Contents
For starters, let’s take a high-level look at each of them:
Oral-B Black 7000: The Black 7000 represents one of the top-end Oral-B toothbrushes on the market, containing many of the features found in the ultra-fancy Genius 8000 for a more reasonable price.
Oral-B Genius 8000: The Genius 8000 goes all out in terms of performance and features, providing just about every single feature you could ever imagine a toothbrush having. Of course, all of this functionality comes at a pretty steep price.
Oral B 7000 VS 8000 Comparison Table
Features | Pro 7000 | Pro 8000 |
---|---|---|
Brushing modes | 6 modes:
| 6 modes:
|
Toothbrush speed | 40,000 pulses or 8,800 oscillations per minute | 40,000 pulses or 8,800 oscillations per minute |
2 Minute Pro Times | YES | YES |
Visible Pressure Sensor | YES | YES |
360 Degree LED Smart Ring | NO | YES |
Connectivity |
|
|
Oral-B SmartGuide | YES | NO |
Available colors | White & Silver/Black | Black |
Battery | Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery | Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery |
Battery Life | Up to 10 days | Up to 12 days - using twice a day |
Brush Heads Included |
|
|
Travel Case | YES | YES + USB Charger Support |
Price | Check Price | Check Price |
What Is Included
Pro 7000
The Oral-B Black 7000 includes the following out of the box:
- 1 Oral-B SmartSeries Handle.
- 1 CrossAction Brush Head.
- 1 ProWhite Brush Head.
- 1 Sensitive Brush Head.
- 1 Premium Charger with Refill Head Storage.
- 1 Premium Travel Case.
- 1 SmartGuide.
Genius 8000
The Oral-B 8000 ups the ante a bit, including the following:
- 1 Oral-B Genius Series Handle.
- 1 CrossAction Brush Head.
- 1 ProWhite Brush Head.
- 1 Sensitive Brush Head.
- 1 Premium Charger with Refill Head Storage.
- 1 USB-connected Travel Charging Case.
Features: How The Two Stack Up
These two toothbrushes represent some of the highest-end products Oral-B has on the market currently, so what exactly is the main difference between them, in terms of features?
As it turns out, there are several key distinctions between the two, and depending upon what you’re looking for, you may prefer one over the other (and it isn’t just a cut-and-dry case of “more expensive = better”, either).
That said, we should first cover what the two have in common with each other. Here are some features the two products share:
Smart Timer
One of the standouts features thankfully included with both products is the smart timer, which lets you set a 2-minute countdown that can be broken up into 30-second increments, one for each section of your mouth. This allows you to remove the guesswork from brushing, and while it may seem minor, if you’re going to be investing this much money into a toothbrush, wouldn’t you like to know that you are using it correctly? We certainly do.
Pressure Sensor
Putting too much (or too little) pressure on your gums and teeth can have a detrimental effect on their health, so this is another welcome feature included in both the Black 7000 and the Genius 8000.
The adaptive head will alert you whenever you stray from the sweet spot, helping you feel more confident about your brushing technique while also avoiding unnecessary damage.
Brush Head
Interestingly, both of these products utilize the exact same CrossAction brush head, which includes 16-degree angled bristles that surround your teeth, enabling them to get into spaces other brush heads simply can’t. As a bonus, both products are fully compatible with Oral-B brush head refills.
Each product also features the dynamic 3D action technology, which enables them to oscillate, pulse and rotate as needed. This is a very cool feature that could’ve easily been left to the 8000 alone, so we’re happy to see it included in both.
Cleaning Modes
Another easy win for consumers is that fact that both the Black 7000 and Genius 8000 share all of the same brushing modes, including daily clean, gum care, sensitive, whitening, tongue cleaning, and Pro-Clean mode. Regardless of which model you choose to go with, you won’t be left out in the cold in terms of flexibility.
Real-Time Feedback
Both products get to utilize the same Oral-B Smart App, which packs a bevy of built-in functions, most notably of which is the real-time feedback function. This virtual brushing coach has proven to be a hit amongst users, allowing them to feel as though they are getting personalized feedback on their brushing habits.
When coupled with the pressure sensor and smart timer, this can really start to feel like the ultimate brushing experience, regardless of which model you are using.
Bluetooth Compatibility
Finally, both products utilize a Bluetooth connection to connect to the smart app. There is no difference in the capabilities or range between the two, which is another great move on Oral-B’s part.
Unique Features
For all of their similarities, both the Black 7000 and the Genius 8000 each have a few features that make them unique to one another. Let’s take a look at a few of the big ones:
360-Degree Smart Ring
They say the devil is in the details, and we’ve found that to be very true here. The Genius 8000 alone gets this integrated LED light system that not only allows you to customize your experience with 12 different colors but also gives you visual feedback about your brushing pressure and speed. This may not seem very big, but it really does make a difference.
Facial Recognition
The 8000 series is the only one of the two to include this small but interesting feature, allowing the brush to recognize its user. This further personalizes the experience, but to be fair, we didn’t find it to be a must-have by any means.
Position Detection
While both the 7000 and 8000 series include real-time feedback, the latter is simply more robust and specific due to the position detection functionality built right into the higher-end product. This enables the device to spot if you are missing any particular area of the mouth, providing subtle reminders to go back over them if you are. Again, not necessarily a game-changer here, but definitely helpful.
Smart Travel Case & Smartphone Holder
The smartphone holder allows you to stick your phone onto your mirror for easy viewing of the real-time feedback while you brush, and the Smart travel case lets you charge your phone and the brush at the same time.
While we understand why the latter is only included in the 8000 series, the mirror suction holder feels kind of essential to the experience in real-world tests. We wish it was included standard with both.
Smart Wireless Guide
Only the 7000 series includes this wireless guide, which connects to the brush to provide feedback, but honestly, this feature has been integrated so tightly with the app that it is basically unnecessary. In fact, that’s probably why the Genius 8000 doesn’t include it. You get the same functionality with one less physical item to worry about.
Design
In broad terms, the 7000 and 8000 series’ share many of the same design cues. As mentioned above, both utilize the exact same brush head, so there are no differences there to speak of.
The real changes occur in the handles themselves, where the 7000 features a bit more of a curved design overall than the straight-as-an-arrow 8000. Both seem to be made from the same high-grade plastic components, so there are no glaring differences in build quality to speak of.
The rubber gripping on the Genius 8000 series feels a bit better in our hands compared to what’s found on the 7000, which is worth mentioning. It just feels a bit more natural to use, and whether or not that was intentional, we definitely preferred it when using both devices back-to-back.
Overall, both of these are bound to be some of the most comfortable, quality toothbrushes you’ll ever hold, but these subtle differences give the 8000 an edge over its little sister.
Battery Life
Battery life is a huge consideration for many, and for good reason; if you’re going to be brushing your teeth twice a day, every day (and you should be), the last thing that you want is for it to be dead one evening just as you’re about to crawl into bed. With that said, the difference between the two amounts to an extra 2 days or so worth of usage.
This isn’t a condemnation of the 7000 series, but still, lot’s of folks are likely to find the need to charge their toothbrush less very appealing in a world where everything around us needs to be charged. For this reason alone, the Genius 8000 wins out here.
Cleaning Performance
This is a difficult section to report on accurately, as truth be told, both of these products are going to clean your teeth better than just about anything out there.
After all, when talking about two toothbrushes in the hundreds-of-dollars range, we’re really splitting hairs as to which one is going to do better than the standard $5 brushes most of the world uses. All the same, this is a key distinction for many, because, at this level, you are likely looking to invest in something that will truly make a tangible difference in your oral health overall.
With that said, during our tests, it became immediately apparent that using the Genius 8000 was simply a more intuitive, effective exercise in oral hygiene on the whole.
The addition of features like the pressure sensitive head and LED smart ring may feel superficial at first glance, but when using them it is evident that this was the intended experience Oral-B had in mind from the get-go.
The Verdict: Which Should You Buy?
Glancing around online, you’re liable to find glowing reviews by the thousands for both the Black 7000 and the Genius 8000, many of which claim that one toothbrush or the other is “the ultimate brushing experience”.
Based on our tests, we can say this; both of these products feel spectacular to use. Both of them made us feel as though our mouths were simply cleaner, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what they are supposed to do?
Having said all of the above, after testing both of them out in real-world scenarios, we can say with relative confidence that we enjoyed our time with the Genius 8000 series more overall. The additional features packed into the product make it worthy of the (relatively minor) price hike it commands over the lower-end (but still wonderful) 7000, and if a family member were asking us for advice on which to splurge on, we’d ultimately tell them to go big or go home.
After all, if you’re going to be making this kind of investment for your teeth, why not maximize the results? We feel the Genius 8000 is the way to do so.
Author: Peter Mayhew
Peter is a dental hygienist in the city of Chicago, IL. In his free time he likes to write blogs and product reviews on anything dental health related.