Colgate Hum Toothbrush Review: The Perfect Electric Companion For Your Teeth
Retail Price: $39.99
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When I was younger, I was an avid tooth brusher. I know how that sounds, incredibly peculiar and unbelievable for an eight year old. Brushing teeth never felt like a chore to me and as strange as it sounds, I found it oddly therapeutic. It was part of a daily routine completed at least twice a day and didn’t involve too much brain power other than utilizing some motor skills to move the toothbrush around in my mouth. The added bonus was minimal time and money spent at the dentist’s office. As a result, I have tried almost all of the major electronic toothbrushes that were released in the past decade, including the more coveted Oral-b and Sonicare products.
A New Entry
There’s a lot to be said about the $100 and up Sonicare and Oral-b toothbrushes and to be honest, I still think the overall experience and technology in them are hard to beat. You can think of them like the teeth brushing equivalent to a Rolls Royce or Maserati. But today, we’re talking about an on the whim purchase I recently made while perusing the aisles of my local Sam’s Club. This article is dedicated to the Colgate hum. As of this article’s publication, the Colgate hum is sold in a two-pack at your local Sam’s Club with an additional $30 instant rebate, making the total $69.98 for two smart rechargeable electric toothbrushes with four brush heads and two travel cases. On the Colgate website, the same toothbrush is sold individually at $48.99 for the rechargeable version or $32.49 for the AAA battery variant.
A sucker for good branding, I was instantly enamored with the pastel and vibrant color schemes offered on the Colgate hum. Colors sold include mint green, blue (which I have), purple, and also black. The first thing I noticed about the toothbrush is how lightweight it is. There is a plastic feel to it, making it feel and weigh cheaper than my previous Sonicare electric toothbrush. I immediately thought this would be great for travel, especially since it comes with the travel case that can house additional brush heads too. For the rechargeable version, there’s also a small stand that the toothbrush rests on top of that you plug in to charge. Colgate advertises a 10 day battery life and that is actually pretty accurate for those who brush anywhere from two to three times a day. The handle is fairly ergonomic and simple to maneuver around with. Although this was something I got used to quickly, I felt that the brush heads on the hum felt a little more bristly and harder than what I was used to on other electric toothbrushes.
The Hum uses sonic vibrations to navigate around your teeth for effective cleanliness. There’s three modes for users to choose from: normal, sensitive and deep clean. While I typically use my toothbrush on the normal setting, I have used the deep clean function as well which basically brushes for longer periods of time. There’s only one button on the toothbrush making it simple to use and an aesthetic circular ring that lights up when being used or charged. As someone who has used quite a few different electric toothbrushes, I would argue that the vibrations on the hum feel slightly stronger than other brands, but not different overall. In fact, the most surprising (and best feature) of the toothbrush is actually its app.
A Unique App Experience
To be frank, I originally thought the Colgate Hum app was simply a gimmick. There was no way the toothbrush was that accurate and smart enough to be able to track my usage on a regular basis. But wow did it exceed my expectations. The hum tracks everything from total tooth coverage to time and usage. After downloading the app (available via Apple App Store or Google Play), simply connect your toothbrush via Bluetooth to pair. I highly recommend brushing with the app the first few times, as you can actually see what areas you miss and what percentage of your teeth real estate was covered by your brushing. As you brush, there are tips that will also appear that offer guidance and suggestions to improve your quality of brushing. I was pleasantly surprised as to how accurate and well synced the app works with the Hum. Never have I experienced something like this with toothbrushes double the price.
Of course, you won’t be staring directly at your device while brushing every single time and the novelty of holding my phone simultaneously wore off on me, but that was still ok! The Hum still tracks your movement anytime you brush, even if you are not near your phone. These are counted as offline brushes and will still get synced to your account so you can still see areas missed and coverage for each brushing session. Finally, Colgate attempted to make brushing into a game by allowing you to join challenges and collect points for brushing your teeth. These points can then be used to redeem discounts for replacement heads or other Colgate products in the app.
My New Favorite Toothbrush
It’s very rare that I find a user experience to be quite as delightful as what I have used so far with the Colgate Hum. The app works seamlessly and I love the added bonus of being able to brush to redeem replacement heads when needed. I also found myself often reviewing my brush history to see what areas I tend to miss most (back molars) and am now much more thoughtful of them when I brush my teeth. Even though the Hum feels more plastic than competing brands, this is the only electric toothbrush I’ve used yet that actually teaches me how to become a better tooth brusher. Colgate is even working on future integrations like connection to Apple Health as well via the Apple Watch. Whether you’re in the market for a new toothbrush for yourself or as a gift for the holiday season this year, I am very pleased to recommend the Colgate hum.
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Lida
Always the number cruncher, the former narrative journalist turned data scientist, can’t help but find herself bursting with excitement with each new generation of tech gadgets. After all, predicting future trends is Lida’s forte. Any gadget that survives Lida’s torturous, adult working woman itinerary of over 700 notifications a day deserves praise!