Planck 01 smart sonic toothbrush review

Best Prices Today: Evowera Planck 01 Smart Sonic Brush

Planck 01 is the first sonic toothbrush from consumer electronics company Evowera. It will give you feedback as you brush and even tailor the brushing strength to your dental needs. We check the hype.

Design and features

• Color LCD screen
• 6 cleaning modes
• 3.5 hours Qi wireless charging
• Up to 28 days of battery life

Planck 01 is a sonic toothbrush available in black and white. At first glance, it looks like many competing sonic toothbrushes on the market, with a small oval brush head and a thick, slightly square handle. For example, it doesn’t look like a million miles from a Philips toothbrush.

But if the overall shape is mundane, then its quality build is not. It is light in the hand, with an attractive glossy finish. The display and power button are trimmed with copper-colored edging. It’s also waterproof and IPX7 rated so you can take it with you into the shower.

In the box you will find a Planck 01 cleaning pen, two interchangeable cleaning heads, a cable and a USB wireless charging base. The base glows when the brush is charging. You can even use this light as a night light.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Put the Planck 01 on the base and it will fully charge in 3.5 hours – perhaps even a little less in my tests. If you’re used to a brush that takes 12 hours to charge, that’s a huge plus.

The Planck 01 claims a battery life of 28 days. It lasted just over three weeks in testing, but I brushed longer than the dentist recommended, two minutes twice a day.

It doesn’t come with a travel case, which is a pity. With a long battery life, this is the perfect travel brush.

There are other features that make the Planck 01 stand out from the rest. First, it’s a full color LCD screen that displays the date and time when you pick it up. You can choose from eight screen themes – some also show the local temperature and sunset time.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

There are two buttons on the handle. There is an on/off button and a second that allows you to choose between six brushing modes that are displayed on the screen: clean, white, sensitive, comfort (second gentle program) and therapy (for gum care). As you brush, you can increase or decrease the intensity, which is another great feature.

There’s also an adaptive mode that claims to learn how you brush your teeth and adapt to your technique. Does it? What I can say is that it noticeably changes frequency as you move it around your mouth.

During brushing, a two-minute timer is displayed on the screen, and when it stops, a map of your teeth is displayed with the brushing coverage achieved.

Foundry

You can also see the battery life and expected tip life on the screen. This is a lot of useful information, but there is also less useful information. For example, I have been using the brush for over a month. At the end of each session, three columns are displayed labeled Reach, Duration, and Stress.

It seems that if you brush your teeth well, the reach and duration bars should be at the maximum level, but what is the ideal level of stress? What exactly does this streak mean and how should I use this information to take better care of my teeth?

And that’s before we get to the application data.

Ecover App

• Required for setup
• The data is too detailed
• The app also includes brush customization options.

You will need to use the app at least during setup as you cannot access all settings on the brush handle itself.

There’s an extremely annoying beep that you’ll probably want to turn off, and you can only do that within the app (although if you like it, you’ll be happy to hear that there are five annoying beep options you can explore).

In addition, you will need an app to change the theme of the screen and choose the hand you brush your teeth with (important for displaying the mouth).

You can also change the default brushing duration and mark up the mouth map to show sensitive areas, braces, root canal work, and teeth with potential for caries that the Planck 01 is likely to brush more gently.

Foundry

Brushing feedback is displayed in the form of radar charts and line graphs. It’s not really that “at a glance” information display that lets you know that you’re brushing too hard or that you’re constantly skipping the area at the back of your mouth.

The data is divided into several categories: duration, coverage, amplitude, time interval (standard brushing time), and strength. There’s a lot going on here, it’s not very user friendly, and I don’t know how to apply the information in the amplitude or force charts to improve my brushing.

Performance

• Mechanically silent but whining
• Excellent cleaning performance
• No traditional pressure sensor

Mechanically, the Planck 01 is a quiet brush (Evowera says the noise level is below 48dBA), but it makes a high-pitched squeal when cleaning, which for some may be more annoying than a noisy motor.

But it effectively cleans the teeth and leaves a feeling of cleanliness. And the intensity range means you can comb your teeth properly. Everyone should be able to find a cleaning routine that suits them and customize it to suit their daily needs.

As I mentioned earlier, the screen on the handle also shows the brush coverage achieved. I’m not entirely sure about its high accuracy, but overall I think this feature has helped me be more mindful of brushing my teeth.

There’s a lot going on with the Planck 01, which is why it’s disappointing that it lacks one key feature: an easy-to-read real-time pressure sensor that alerts you if you’re pushing too hard while brushing.

Price and availability

The Planck 01 is available in black or white for $179.99 on Amazon in the US and comes with three additional interchangeable heads. It costs £149.99 in the UK and you can also get it in black or white.

Another cost item to consider is the cost of replacement brush heads. It is expensive. In the US, they cost $29.99 for a pack of three in black or white.

At the time of writing in the UK they cost £22.99 for a pack of three if you choose white (nearly £7 each) or £18.30 for three (over £6 each) if you want black. We have no idea why one color costs more than another.

Evowera says in some promotional materials that you can use other brands of attachments, although this is not allowed on the website. I have tried and can confirm that the Philips Sonicare brush heads fit the handle (although there is a large gap between the handle and the head) and the brush works fine, although the brushing feedback may be broken. So Sonicare’s all-in-one brush heads can save you some money over time.

Verdict

As far as its intellectual functions go, it’s a case of information overload. Simple feedback would be more helpful to most people than detailed charts. In addition, some additional features are not needed. Do I need a toothbrush to get weather information? Or keep track of my menstrual cycle (which, judging by the site, can also)? No, I do not know.

However, this is a well-made, efficient sonic toothbrush. Its brushing performance is excellent, and the choice of modes and intensity settings is useful. And to top it all off, fast charging and long battery life are great features.

To learn more about your electric toothbrush buying options and see which brushes we recommend, check out our roundup of the best electric toothbrushes we’ve tested.