Oral-B Smart 4 4000

This product is listed as 'Discontinued' on Product Review, but I bought it from Shaver Shop in January 2025, so it may be the case that it's been relaunched. Shaver Shop advertise it as having an RRP of $239.99, but it's usually sold at a large discount (ie. when I bought it in January 2025 it was $89, and latest sale price in May 2025 was even… Read more

lower at $69).

[ Good Stuff ]

The motor seems quite strong (at least compared to my previous Oral-B toothbrush) and it's easy to clean. The Smart 4 4000 also has Bluetooth functionality and syncs to my old toothbrush's Oral-B SmartGuide, which is a nice plus, though I trust that feature won't benefit many people.

[ Average Stuff ]

The toothbrush itself is so-so value at its discounted price - however it doesn't really offer anything you can't find in a cheaper Oral-B toothbrush. It's quite loud, which is probably a symptom of the strong motor. Also, it only has one button, which doubles as both the ON/OFF switch and Mode Select, which means the toothbrush must be turned off by holding down the button for 1-2 seconds, which is a bit annoying.

[ Bad Stuff ]

The most disappointing thing about this toothbrush is how quickly the Oral-B branding faded on the front. See photos - within just the first month of use, the branding started to fade, and after two months of use, the branding has almost completely disappeared. My last Oral-B toothbrush lasted me 15 years without something like this happening. To me, it just seems indicative of poor quality control, which is a real shame, considering the RRP suggested it was a premium product.

Has everything you probably need – Oral-B has a huge and confusing range of toothbrushes, from the cheap and basic to extravagantly over-engineered and overpriced. I chose this model as having all the essential features I need at a reasonable cost (but only because it was selling at half price). If you can get this model on sale, I consider it to be good value for money. It comes… Read more ·  1

with a two-year warranty.

These are the most important features to me:

3D CLEANING ACTION You won't find this information on Oral-B's website any more for some reason, but this model cleans at 9,900 oscillations and 45,000 pulsations per minute. The pulsations are what they market as "3D cleaning action" and this is a big point of difference between the lower and higher range models.

The previous reviewer is mistaken in saying this is "just a $24 Oral-B Vitality Precision with some pointless features". The Vitality series and the Pro 100 models only generate 7,600 oscillations per minute and NO pulsations; they do not have 3D cleaning.

If you want a model with 3D cleaning, look at the Pro 2 2000 or the Smart and Genius models. The older Pro 500 and Pro 700 do have 3D cleaning, but at a much lower rate of about 20,000 pulsations per minute, and they have the older NiMH batteries. The Pro 2 2000 and Smart models pulsate at 45,000 per minute and the Genius models slightly faster at 48,000 per minute.

Note that some models include a "3D White" brush head. This has NOTHING TO DO WITH 3D CLEANING so don't buy a "Pro 100 3D White" thinking you're getting 3D cleaning. It's 2D cleaning only, with a fancy name (intentionally confusing, I suspect) for a whitening brush head.

TWO-MINUTE QUADRANT TIMER A two-minute timer is standard across the board, but the cheapest models only mark out a single block of time; it's up to you to figure out how to use your two minutes. The better models, including this one, separate this into four 30-second periods, so you can better control how much time you spend on brushing each quadrant of your mouth.

PRESSURE SENSOR A red light illuminates if you're brushing too hard. Again, the cheaper models miss out on this feature.

LITHIUM-ION BATTERY A Li-ion battery is a big step up from the NiMH batteries used in older and cheaper models. My old Pro 3000 had a NiMH battery that would last less than a week if not charged, and after about a year or so it would barely last a few days, even though I followed Oral-B's recommendation of discharging the battery completely every 6 months. A Li-ion battery should last for two weeks without charging and have a longer lifespan overall.

BRUSH HEAD STORAGE Not everyone needs this, but unless you're living alone or not sharing your brush handle I would think you'd want somewhere to store your brush heads. This model comes with a very nicely designed tray with a flip-top translucent lid to hold four heads, and if you don't need the tray it can be completely detached from the charger. It's a very clever design. As it happens, the charger and storage tray are identical to the ones that came with my old Pro 3000, so I didn't even unpack the new ones.

The following are features I don't consider essential:

CLEANING MODES This model comes with three cleaning modes: Daily Clean, Sensitivity and Whitening. I have no need for anything but full power. The next model up, the Smart 5 5000, adds two more modes for an extra $40 or $50: Gum Care and Deep Clean.

TRAVEL CASE I've never had a problem with just putting the handle and brush heads in a toiletries bag, but if you want a bespoke case, here it is. It's sturdy and includes space for two brush heads, but it looks and feels enormous. Note that it's just a plastic case and doesn't charge your toothbrush and phone like the Genius cases do. Also, this isn't a standard feature, but is included with some retailer packages.

BLUETOOTH AND APP CONNECTIVITY I always regarded this as a useless gimmick, but I have to admit I rather enjoy this feature now. If you can be bothered to bring your smartphone into the bathroom while you brush your teeth, you get an on-screen visual timer and the app keeps track of how often and how long you brush. You can also record whether or not you flossed, cleaned your tongue and rinsed with mouthwash. It's like a fitness app for your teeth, popping up encouraging messages to keep up your "brushing streak" and offering half-hearted attempts at in-brushing entertainment like news clips, facts, quotes and videos (as if you could hear the videos over the noise of the toothbrush).

One thing I really like about the app is that you can use it to customise settings on your brush. For example, you can enable or disable or change the order of the cleaning modes. Since I don't need the Sensitivity and Whitening modes, I disabled them in the app leaving just Daily Clean. This allows me to turn off the brush with a single press of the power button instead of either cycling through all the modes or holding down the power button, a small change that has surprisingly improved my enjoyment of the product.

Finally, a few things to look out for:

DURABILITY I've attached two photos that show the deterioration of the rubber grip on my old Pro 3000, purchased 3 years ago. The Bluetooth, Oral-B and Braun logos have worn off, the surface is flaking and the whole grip has warped and separated from the body of the handle. Since the new toothbrush looks externally identical to the old one apart from the colour, I'm concerned the same may happen a few years down the line.

BEWARE OF FAKE REVIEWS Oral-B brushes have a huge number of positive reviews on their own website and on other sites like Amazon, but many of the reviews were written in return for incentives from the manufacturer. This is sometimes documented and sometimes not, but take all those reviews with a grain of salt.