Soocas Neos electric toothbrush review: sonic brush + water jet

It’s rare to see something totally new when it comes to electric toothbrushes. Most of the recently launched electric toothbrushes are upgrades of existing models, with improved features, or more functionality, or more brushing feedback built into their frames.

But the Soocas Neos is the first such brush I’ve seen. It is a sonic electric toothbrush that also cleans your teeth with a jet of water. It has a built-in water tank, so you don’t need a connected water tank. This makes it a great option for people who like water jet flossing, especially if you want a brush you can take with you.

Soocas is an oral and personal care company that, in its own words, focuses on research and development. It has a number of electric toothbrushes, water flossers, and electric shavers available on its website. The Neos aren’t available for purchase yet, but we’ll update this article with links once they are. You can sign up to learn more on the Soocas website.

Design and build

• Much larger than a standard electric toothbrush
• Weighs more than a can of Coke when the tank is full
• USB charging

As you’d expect, given its unusual water jet feature, the Neos is much longer at 29 cm/ 11.4 inches and wider than your average electric toothbrush, with a circumference of nearly 14 cm/ 5.5 inches.

He’s chunky but not impossible to hold, and there’s a textured grip on his back, which helps. Still, its size means you might not be able to store it with your other brushes. It’s too big to fit in my bathroom cabinet unless I remove the brush head.

It weighs a lot more too. The Neos weighs 274g/9.7oz, compared to 135g/4.8oz for the Oral-B iO4. If you put them side by side, you’ll see just how massive the Neos is.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

At the back is a flip-up water tank with a capacity of 100ml/3.3 fl oz. It’s easy to fill from a tap, but when filled with water, it weighs 361g/12.7oz, which is more than a can of Coke.

It has three big buttons that make it work and what they do is by no means immediately obvious. But all of them have a different touch design, which should – in theory – help in use. Beneath the buttons is a column of equally mystifying LEDs initially. Below is a handy battery indicator.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

You can remove the cap at the base of the brush to properly clean the tank and the set comes with a long brush, designed specifically for this purpose.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Also in the box, you’ll get a USB wireless charging station, a thin drawstring travel pouch, and two toothbrush heads. The brush heads are specialized thanks to waterjet, and it’s not yet clear how much replacements will cost.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Soocas claims the Neos has a 30-day battery life. I couldn’t clear it during testing.

Performance

• The water tank lasts about 40 seconds
• Three brushing intensities
• No pressure sensor

When testing a new product, I always like to see how intuitive it is to use, before referring to the manual. In the case of the Neos, there was no manual, so I just started using it.

Long story short, I couldn’t figure out the buttons, water was squirting everywhere, and I resorted to the Soocas website.

In fact, rather than being function buttons, the top two buttons are for different programs. I had guessed that one was for sonic cleaning and the other was for water jet. I was wrong. The larger top button is for a full cleaning program of sonic brushing, followed by brushing and flossing.

The second, smaller button offers a shorter full cleaning mode (approximately 30-50 seconds), with both sonic vibration and water. The duration depends on how long the water has been kept in the tank, which varies depending on the intensity of the water jet.

You can adjust the intensity of the sound vibrations and the water pressure by switching the yellow key at the base. There are three settings for the intensity of the sound vibrations and three for the intensity of the water jet.

It’s extremely simple once you know, I thought as I wiped the toothpaste and water from my eyes.

When using the long program, the dentist-recommended initial two-minute brushing period is interrupted by a change in vibration every thirty seconds, signaling you to move to the next quadrant of your mouth.

After two minutes, there is a longer, louder alert, letting you know the water jet is getting ready. You will then get about 30-50 seconds of flossing before the reservoir is empty.

It would be useful to have a brush-only mode. Although you can turn it off before the water jet starts, or brush with an empty tank, sooner or later you’re going to get doused.

Indeed, the use of the water jet is a rather chaotic process. It’s messier than regular brushing and most likely you or your floor will end up catching some spray. Not the kind of brush you’d want to use when you’re all dressed up to quickly polish your teeth before going out. This means that you will also need a second toothbrush for these occasions.

It’s also far too easy to accidentally press any of the buttons when you’re struggling with its chunky size while brushing. That then means taking the brush out of your mouth to see what you’ve pressed, which is inevitably when you’ll get a squirt of water in your face.

Still, it’s rated IPX8 water resistant, so you can use it in the shower, though we’d suggest not using it in the bath in case you drop it. He should survive a dunk or two, but he won’t if it happens regularly.

The water jet comes from a raised opening in the middle of the toothbrush bristles. In some ways this is a perfect design, as it means you can just brush your teeth as usual and the spray will still be directed in the right direction.

However, the Neos doesn’t have a pressure sensor, so if you’re pressing down too hard when brushing, the only way to find out is to scrape your teeth with the hard plastic of the jet nozzle. It only protrudes slightly – about half the length of the hairs – but for some people this will be too much.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

After using the brush, your teeth will be very clean. It’s also an easy way to incorporate flossing into your regular dental routine. But the brush is much heavier and bulkier than a regular electric toothbrush, so you might find you don’t always reach for it when you should.

Verdict

The Soocas Neos is a great idea and I enjoyed using it. I feel like it’s an effective brush and the water jet action is good for cleaning between teeth. However, since it’s heavy and messy to use, I often found myself reaching for another toothbrush instead.

Buy this if you want a flossing brush for travel or a second brush to encourage you to floss regularly, but don’t throw away your everyday brush just yet.

For more electric toothbrush options and to see our recommendations, check out our roundup of the best electric toothbrushes we’ve tested, the best cheap electric toothbrushes and the best Oral-powered electric toothbrushes. B.