At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Slim, well-designed brush head
- Two-minute brushing timer and quadrant alerts
- Month-long battery life and USB charging
Cons
- No pressure sensor
- No shaver socket charging option
- No smart features
Our Verdict
This is an excellent electric toothbrush for its price point, lacking only a pressure sensor. If there’s a teenager in your life who you’d like to encourage to brush their teeth better, this would be a great Christmas present, especially as it comes in a number of attractive colours and special editions.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$59.99
Best Prices Today: Ordo Sonic Lite
$44.99
Ordo is a UK-based dental care brand that’s been around for less than a decade but has made a mark for itself designing affordable electric toothbrushes with a contemporary look and high-quality features.
We tested the Ordo Sonic+ brush back in 2021 and liked it a lot. However, at £49.99/$99.99, it wasn’t quite competitive enough to get an effusive recommendation. But since then, the brand has brought prices down and brought out new designs.
Most recently, we tested the rechargeable £14.99 Ordo Sonic Edge, which is a phenomenally good electric toothbrush for its price point, and comes in a variety of bright colourways that make it perfect for gifting.
In this review, we’re looking at the Sonic Lite, which has an RRP of £34.99/$59.99 but is currently available for £24.99/$44.99. Again, it’s a great price for an electric toothbrush, but what do you get for your money? I tested it for a month to find out.
Design and Build
- Two brushing modes
- IPX7 waterproof
- Several colour options and special editions
In the box, you’ll get a brush handle, USB charging cable (as with most tech these days, you’ll need to supply your own plug), a travel cap, and a single toothbrush head. Replacement heads cost £5 from Ordo but at the time of writing, they’re down to £2.99 each, which significantly undercuts rivals. Unlike Oral-B, you can get brush heads that match the colour of your brush handle too, instead of only black or white.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The Ordo Sonic Lite is a light, slim brush that fits nicely in the hand. It weighs only 100g, significantly less than competing models. The Oral-B iO10, for example, weighs almost a third more at 139g.
It has a slender neck and brush head, which most people will find enables them to clean all the way to the tricky bits at the back of their mouth. Look from the side and you’ll see the bristles form a ‘W’ shape, for better contact with the teeth. Altogether, it’s thoughtfully designed.
The bristles are in a long oval formation, with a silicone polishing post embedded in the centre to help with surface stains. The brush doesn’t have a pressure sensor but I did find that the silicone post helped me to judge how hard I was brushing, as it provides more resistance than bristles alone.
The Sonic Lite will remember your preferred brushing mode and return to it when you switch it on
Still, if the bristles on your toothbrush tend to part in the middle before long, it’s a sign that you brush too hard. You should opt for an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor to protect your gums and tooth enamel.
There’s a single button to operate the brush: it’s easy to use. Short press it for the sensitive mode, long press for the regular cleaning mode – the indicator lights will let you see which mode you’re in.
Ordo suggests that you start with the sensitive mode if you’ve moving from a manual brush and switch up when you’re ready. A nice feature is that the Sonic Lite will remember your preferred brushing mode and return to it when you turn it on.
The Sonic Lite is IPX7 waterproof, meaning that it can be submerged in up to one metre of water for 30 minutes without damage, although it’s not rated against dust incursion. This does mean, however, that you can use it in the shower.
It comes in a number of attractive colours: stone, sage, petal, lavender, sky and snow. There are also special edition models including a Squishmallow theme, plus Wicked tie-ins: there’s an emerald-green Elphaba model and a lilac Glinda brush, which is the one I’m testing in this review.
These would make especially great Christmas presents, especially as there are matching novelty travel caps for the brushes to add a bit more flair: a Squishmallow cat figure, a witch’s hat and Glinda’s pink bubble. Sadly, these have to be bought separately (they’re £7.99 from Ordo, and aren’t currently in stock).
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Performance and Features
- Two-minute brushing timer
- Over a month of battery life
- USB charging
The Sonic Lite has a dentist-approved two-minute brushing timer, to ensure you clean for long enough. After two minutes it stops, which will help you to get the most of the battery life. In addition, every 30 seconds during brushing, the vibrations will pause to signal to you to move on to the next quadrant of your mouth.
I’ve been using the Sonic Lite for a month without needing to charge it
During testing, I used the regular cleaning mode and was pleasantly surprised by how effective it felt. It has 35,000 sonic pulses per minute, which is well within effective sonic range.
plenty of budget-friendly brushes have vibrations that are too gentle for most people, but I didn’t find that to be the case. Conversely, the sensitive mode should be gentle enough for anyone. It’s also quiet in use.
One of its best features is its battery life. If you use it for four minutes a day, Ordo reckons you can get over five weeks of use between charges. I can confirm that I’ve been using the Sonic Lite for a month without needing to charge it.
When it does need to be plugged in, an indicator light on the handle will flash red. Plug it in and it’ll light up in red to show you it’s charging. Charging takes around four hours and the indicator light glows green when it’s ready.
Charging is also incredibly handy. Pop open the cap on the base to access the USB charging port and plug it straight in. Charging via a shaver socket isn’t possible – but for me, that’s not an issue. But I do have colleagues who prefer that and if you feel the same, I’d recommend an Oral-B. You can see our top Oral-B recommendations for options.
Price and Availability
In the UK, Ordo Sonic Lite has an RRP of £34.99 but it’s currently on sale for £29.99 from Ordo and Amazon. Other retailers, including Boots, are charging slightly more but may be worth checking if you’re looking for a specific model.
At these prices, the Sonic Lite would make an excellent Christmas present. If it’s a bit spendy for a stocking, check out the £14.99 Ordo Sonic Edge, which is currently on sale for £9.99 in many colour options, although the Wicked-themed brushes are pricier.
In the US, its MSRP is $59.99, but you can buy it from Amazon for $44.99. This isn’t quite such a good deal and you may find that the special editions aren’t available in the US.
For more wallet-friendly options, see our round-up of the best budget electric toothbrushes.
Should you buy the Ordo Sonic Lite?
This is a well-made electric toothbrush that feels much higher quality than you’d expect from its price point. Its vibration strength is well calibrated and its brush head design should ensure a good clean. Its battery life is also impressive.
You won’t be able to charge it via a shaver socket and there are no smart features – but I don’t consider that to be an issue. The only thing that’s really lacking is a pressure sensor. But if you can live without that and can snap one up on sale, I think you’ll be getting a bargain.
