Suri toothbrushes are “designed for life.” That’s a big claim to make; can any one product really go the distance and last you an entire lifetime? I was intrigued by the brand’s promise and got my hands on the Suri 2.0 electric toothbrush. I’ve spent just two weeks with the brush so far and I’m here to discuss my experiences with it, positive and negative. (And complain about my old toothbrush in the process.)
In short, I think it’s great. I’m not the only person at Tom’s Guide who loves the Suri 2.0 — we gave it a 4.5-star rating in our Suri 2.0 review and we rank it as the best electric toothbrush you can buy right now.
Suri puts my old toothbrush to shame
Above is a picture of my old electric toothbrush. Gross, I know. And is this is after I'd spent several minutes cleaning it.
I am not a model for dental hygiene. I forget to floss, I snack between meals and I don’t rinse my mouth out every time I finish drinking my coffee. So my toothbrush has to do a lot of heavy lifting to keep my mouth clean.
I got scolded by my dentist around a year ago for not using an electric toothbrush. I didn’t want to buy a new one, so I dug around in a cabinet until I found this one — an old one no one had been using. I’ll hold my hands up and admit it, it wasn’t the best decision I could have made. But I stuck with it anyway.
The old toothbrush sucked. I’m actually angry that I put up with it for so long.
Here’s why I hated it so much:
- It was heavy, bulky, and loud
- Its battery life was terrible
- The level of charge affected its cleaning performance
Those problems were bad enough, but the thing I hated the most about it was that it was hard to keep clean. The hollow head got full of toothpaste every time I used it. Every time I left it to dry all the toothpaste would drip down and leave a ring behind, no matter how much I tried to rinse it out.
Could Suri come to the rescue? I needn’t have worried; it solved every problem with my old toothbrush and did more besides.
Your new favorite part of the day
The Suri 2.0 sets expectations high. “Your new favorite part of the day” is written on the side of the box it shipped to me in. Would I go that far? Not quite, but I definitely think the Suri 2.0 is an amazing product.
First of all, the Suri 2.0 deserves a ton of points for aesthetics. It’s the best-looking electric toothbrush I’ve ever seen, period. It’s sleek, modern, and even chic. In other words, you can put it in just about any bathroom and it’ll be the coolest thing in there. There are six different colors to choose from, and they all look great.
The form factor is also excellent. The base is small, lightweight, and comfortable to hold. The aluminium feels soft to the touch and is easy to wipe clean. The only thing I can hold against it visually is that I don’t love the large gap between the head and the base, but more aeration to make sure water drains away properly is a good thing.
I also love the Suri 2.0’s large brush heads. The bristles cover more surface area than my old, round-headed electric toothbrush. That means I need to move my hand around less to cover my whole mouth. Excellent for efficiency.
In terms of the clean, there’s no contest. The Suri 2.0 is miles better than my old electric toothbrush or any manual toothbrush I’ve ever used. I experienced no pain, no bleeding gums and it was easy to clean previously difficult spots in my mouth.
I’ve charged the toothbrush once and its battery has been going strong for over two weeks. Critically, the cleaning performance is exactly the same as it was when it came off the charging base — no slowdown here.
The toothbrush also has a two-minute timer, and it automatically shuts off once the two minutes are up. So if you want to brush for longer, you’ll need to switch it back on again. I like the automatic shutoff — sometimes I forget whether or not I’ve been brushing for long enough, even though my old toothbrush pulsed to indicate two minutes were up. With the auto shutoff, there’s no question.
Not everything is perfect
I had one weird issue during my testing of the Suri 2.0. I stuck the brush head into a near-empty tube of toothpaste that I’d cut open to avoid wasting any. Then, while I brushed my teeth, the brush started pulsing intermittently (beyond the usual 30-second pulses to indicate you should move to the next part of your mouth.) I theorize that the toothpaste was too crammed into the brush and was activating the pressure sensor, but it was strange. The next time I brushed, I applied toothpaste the usual way and the problem stopped.
I also have mixed feelings about the case. The case includes a UV cleaning light, which is awesome, and so far it has done a good job stopping my Suri brush from getting as dirty as my old electric toothbrush. The downside is that I prefer to pack light while traveling, and the case adds extra bulk and weight. But to be honest, I’d rather bring a manual toothbrush than an electric one that costs over $130 while traveling.
Plus, don’t get me wrong here, the recyclable heads are amazing. But I was disappointed when I found out the heads have to be sent back to the company to be recycled — it has a minor environmental impact considering the petrol it takes for delivery. I was daydreaming about throwing them on my compost heap, but that’s sadly not the reality we live in yet.
Buying new heads is also a potential headache. You can purchase a subscription and get two heads every six months for £8.95, or pick up a box of three heads for £14.99 as a one-time purchase. I’d rather just purchase a year’s worth of heads in one go, and not sign up for a subscription. (That would be between four and six heads a year, based on Suri’s recommendations.) But there’s no way to choose exactly how many heads you want to buy, only a two-pack subscription every six months or a one-time purchase containing three heads. For now, I can buy replacement heads in-person at Boots since I live in the U.K. — but that might not always be an option. I’ll probably buy a few boxes and make sure I’m stocked up for the years of use that will hopefully come.
Can you really use this thing for life?
Arguably, the most sustainable choice would have been for me to keep using my old electric toothbrush until I couldn’t any more. But Suri is the next best option. To make sure I keep my end of the bargain, I want to use it for as long as possible. But how long will it really last? Obviously, I can’t see into the future, but there are three big things I’m concerned about with this sustainable electric toothbrush.
For starters, the battery is great now, but it doesn’t appear to be replaceable. Eventually, it will wear down, and that will mean throwing out the whole toothbrush and not just the battery.
Secondly, Suri recycles used brush heads now. But if the company ever goes under, I’ll most likely be stuck with ‘em, even though they’re made of natural materials. Buying the heads could also be an issue — even if I stick with the same toothbrush base for life, I could run out of heads and have no way to get more.
Basically, the sustainability of this toothbrush depends somewhat on the company sticking around. That’s why I hope lots more people join the revolution and choose Suri over other brands that aren’t so focused on sustainability.
