These bulky, brash brushes were already dated-looking when they were first sold, their neon plastic bodies clashing with tasteful bathroom backsplashes worldwide. The AA- or AAA-battery–powered Colgate, Arm & Hammer, and Oral-B brushes found on nearly every drugstore shelf are garish and clunky. Yet there are some key differences between the $25 subscription brushes and the sub-$10 brushes, and not just in price. The takeaway: Brushing with the $25+ Quip and a popular, $6 Colgate brush feels roughly the same. We decided to compare the trendy Quip with three similarly priced competitors (from Gleem, Smile Direct Club, and Philips Sonicare), as well as with three drugstore cheapies (from Arm & Hammer, Colgate, and Oral-B), to find the best of the AA- and AAA-battery–powered bunch. And this brush could make sense for travel, should you wish to leave a bulkier Oral-B or Philips Sonicare (and its charger) at home. Still, lots of people love the Quip, particularly because of its streamlined handle, which makes it feel more like a manual brush to hold and store. (We do, however, think the company’s smaller version is a great choice for kids.) For this and other reasons, we don’t recommend the Quip (that sleek, shiny brush, third from the right, above) as an everyday electric toothbrush for most adults. Each refill comes with a new AAA battery, so you can replace that, and slide it all back in.Compared with the rechargeable electric toothbrushes Wirecutter recommends, the AAA-battery–powered Quip produces much weaker vibrations. Quip doesn't say if the battery should expire within the three months, but it's still going strong for me. So, what happens when you get a new brush head from Quip? You bend back the brush head and pull it out, and you pull out the motor and the AAA battery underneath. I've tried to trek my Quip and toothpaste between home and work every day, and found that it creates another chance to make a mistake, leading me to forget it in my bag at night. The Quip website suggests that people brush both between meals and at morning and night. Maybe the big tube is meant to be shared, maybe I wasn't using it enough. Hilburg, though, told me that that size container "would probably be a good amount for three months." Just like with the Quip brush, I didn't feel the need to buy more toothpaste, either, as I hadn't finished their three-month, 4.7-ounce tube of toothpaste. Quip also sells a combined brush head and toothpaste refill package, which ships every three months and costs $10 per refill. However, the packaging on my regular-old Oral-B toothbrush also recommends getting a new toothbrush every three months. I've reached out to Quip to see if they'd consider less frequent brush head subscriptions. Not observing any of these issues in my Quip brush head, I've continued to use it. Hilburg told me that the need for new brushes (or brush heads in this case) won't be the same for all brushes, but depends on how "the bristles hold up over time." She elaborated, noting that if "bristles become crushed, lose their shape or become too floppy they are less effective." The Oral-B Pro 1000 costs the same $45 to start, but it sells you eight replacement heads for $13, which breaks down to $1.63 per head, as opposed to the $5 heads from Quip. Compared with other electric toothbrushes with replaceable heads, though, the Quip is affordable at first, but more expensive down the road.
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