SURI 1.0 Sonic Electric Toothbrush Review: a sleek, eco-minded brush with a few practical quirks

I’ve been using the SURI 1.0 Sonic Electric Toothbrush with the UV travel case for a few weeks now, swapping it in for my usual Oral-B and a cheap manual brush I keep as backup. I went for it mainly because of the design, the plant-based heads, and the promise of a long battery life. I also travel quite a bit, so the UV case and USB-C charging sounded very practical on paper. I wasn’t looking for some miracle device, just something that cleans well and isn’t a plastic brick.

In practice, it’s a pretty solid toothbrush overall, but it’s not flawless. Some things are genuinely well thought out: the handle feels good in the hand, it’s quieter than my previous sonic brush, and the battery really does last a long time. The cleaning performance is clearly better than a manual brush, and at least on par with other sonics I’ve tried. After brushing, my teeth feel smooth and properly scrubbed, including around the gum line, which is where I usually struggle.

On the other hand, a few details are a bit annoying when you use it every day. The finish on the body chips more easily than I expected for this price, the button area collects gunk fast, and the UV case is less convenient than it sounds because the UV only works when the case is plugged in. Also, when the battery starts to run low, you can feel the power drop, which pushes you to recharge earlier than the brand suggests.

So overall, I’d say it’s a good modern toothbrush with a strong eco and design angle, but not some perfect object. If you care mainly about clean teeth and value, there are cheaper options that do the job just as well. If you like nice-looking gear, want less plastic, and travel a lot, then it starts to make more sense despite the small flaws.

Price-wise, SURI sits in the “premium but not luxury” bracket. It’s more expensive than basic electric brushes from brands like Oral-B or Philips, but cheaper than some of their top-end models with apps and screens. What you’re paying for here is a mix of design, eco messaging, aluminum construction, and the UV travel case. If you just care about clean teeth for the lowest cost, this is not the best deal. A cheaper sonic brush with generic heads will clean almost as well for less money.

Where the value starts to make sense is if you actually care about a few specific things: less plastic, nicer design, and travel convenience. The plant-based, recyclable heads are clearly a plus compared to regular plastic heads, even if it’s not a perfect solution. The aluminum body feels more solid and less disposable than full plastic. The long battery life and USB-C charging are genuinely practical, especially if you’re on the road a lot. In that context, the price feels more justified.

The ongoing cost of replacement heads is not insignificant though. They’re not crazy overpriced, but they’re not cheap either. If you replace them every two months as recommended, it adds up over the year. So you have to be okay with paying a bit extra to support the eco angle and the design. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t care what your toothbrush looks like, you’ll find better value elsewhere.

Overall, I’d call the value “good if it matches your priorities.” If you like well-designed objects, want to reduce plastic a bit, and travel often, it’s a decent package that feels thought through, even with its flaws. If your only criteria are cleaning performance per dollar, then a simpler electric brush will give you similar results for less money, and you’re mostly paying here for the nicer materials and accessories.

The design is clearly one of the main selling points here. The SURI handle is slim, with straight lines and a matte finish that looks good in a modern bathroom. Compared to chunky plastic brushes from Philips or Oral-B, this one looks more like a gadget you’d be fine leaving on the counter. The Winter Fern color I tried is a calm, muted green, not loud or childish. In the hand, the weight is well balanced: light enough that your wrist doesn’t get tired, but not so light that it feels cheap.

However, once you stop just looking at it and actually start using it every day, some cracks appear. The paint or coating on the handle scratches and chips more easily than it should for the price. A couple of small drops in the sink and a bump against the tap already left tiny marks. It’s not falling apart or anything, but if you’re picky about cosmetic wear, you’ll notice it quickly. One Amazon reviewer mentioned using clear nail polish to hide chips, which I can understand after a few weeks of use.

The button design is also a bit of a mixed bag. It’s easy enough to press and you can feel the click, but there’s a gap around it where toothpaste and soap residue collect. After a week, you can see a ring of grime forming if you don’t wipe it down regularly. It’s not the end of the world, but for something that’s supposed to be sleek and minimal, it’s a bit annoying to scrub around a tiny button groove so often.

The magnetic wall mount is a nice idea: you stick it to your tile or mirror and the brush snaps on magnetically. In reality, the adhesive pad could be stronger and slightly bigger. If you’re not careful pulling the brush off, it can fumble, twist, and hit the sink or counter, which again risks chipping the finish. So design-wise, it looks good and feels modern, but the practical details around durability and cleaning could be better thought out for everyday clumsy use.

The battery is one of the strong points here. SURI promises more than 40 days on a single charge, and based on my use (twice a day, 2 minutes each time), that’s pretty realistic. I got just over five weeks before the indicator went low. That’s better than my old Sonicare, which usually needed charging roughly every three weeks. For travel, this is very convenient: you can easily go on a two-week trip without even thinking about bringing the charger if you start with a full battery.

Charging is done via USB-C, which is genuinely handy. No proprietary charger, no weird dock that only works with one cable. You can plug the travel case into a regular USB-C cable and it charges the brush when it’s inside. There’s also the little charging puck, but I quickly stopped using it because the connection is too finicky and the brush doesn’t stand solidly on it. The travel case is simply more practical: lay it flat, pop the brush in, plug it in, done.

The downside, like I mentioned in the effectiveness section, is that the performance drops as the battery gets low. It doesn’t just suddenly die; the vibrations get weaker over the last week or so. That kind of defeats the brand’s advice to wait until the battery is in the red before recharging. In reality, if you care about consistent brushing strength, you’ll probably top it up earlier, maybe around three to four weeks instead of squeezing every last day out of it.

So, yes, the battery life is long and convenient, especially for travel or if you hate having one more device constantly on a charger. Just be aware that the last part of the battery cycle isn’t as strong, so the real “full power” life is a bit shorter than the raw number suggests. Still, compared to many competitor brushes, it’s a solid step up in autonomy and the USB-C charging makes life easier.

The materials are one of the main reasons I tried this brush. The handle is made of aluminum instead of the usual thick plastic, and the heads use a cornstarch-based body with bristles from castor oil. On paper, that’s a nice step away from pure petroleum plastic. In the hand, the aluminum gives the brush a more solid, slightly cooler feel compared to plastic handles. It doesn’t flex, and it feels like it will handle daily use fine, even if the outer coating chips a bit.

The plant-based heads feel similar to regular plastic ones in terms of stiffness and texture. You wouldn’t guess they’re made from cornstarch just by touching them. The bristles are “medium-soft” in my opinion. If you’re used to very soft manual brushes, this will feel firmer at first, like some users mentioned. After a few days, I got used to it, and I didn’t get any gum irritation or bleeding, but I wouldn’t call it ultra-gentle either. I’d place it in the middle: soft enough for daily use, but with a bit of bite.

One thing I do like is the recycling program for the heads. Instead of just throwing them in the trash, you can send them back to SURI. Of course, you have to actually bother to do it, but it’s at least an option. Compared to my old Oral-B plastic heads that just go straight into the bin, this feels slightly less wasteful. Still, it doesn’t magically make them zero impact; it just softens the blow a bit.

In terms of build, nothing feels flimsy. The head locks firmly onto the handle with no wobble, and the whole unit is IPX7 waterproof, so rinsing it under the tap is fine. The main downside on the materials front is still that outer finish being prone to cosmetic damage. Structurally, the brush feels like it will last, but if you’re rough on your stuff, it’ll look used fairly quickly. For an eco-angled product that encourages longer use, I wish the cosmetic durability matched the solid internal build.

From a structural and functional point of view, the SURI feels durable. The aluminum body doesn’t flex, the head connection stays tight, and after several weeks of use plus a couple of drops, everything still works fine. The IPX7 waterproof rating seems accurate; I’ve rinsed it under running water daily and had no issues. The internal motor and electronics don’t show any signs of trouble, no weird noises or random shutoffs.

Where durability is less convincing is in the finish and accessories. The paint/coating on the handle chips more easily than I’d like. Even being reasonably careful, I ended up with small marks from light knocks on the sink and from fumbling it off the wall mount. It’s not falling apart, but it quickly goes from “brand new and sleek” to “clearly used.” If you treat your stuff like glassware, you might avoid it; if you’re normal and occasionally drop things, expect some visual wear.

The button area is another weak spot. Because of the small gap around the button, grime builds up quickly. You can clean it with an old brush head or a small brush and some mild cleaner, but it’s an extra step. Over time, if you don’t stay on top of it, I can see this area looking a bit tired, even if the brush still works fine. It’s a small design choice that makes maintenance more annoying than it needs to be.

The accessories are mixed in terms of durability. The magnetic wall mount itself stays stuck if you apply it properly, but the magnet grip isn’t that strong, so you have to grab the brush carefully or it can twist off and fall. The charging puck feels like an afterthought and doesn’t inspire much confidence; luckily, you don’t really need it if you use the travel case for charging. Overall, I’d say the core device is built to last functionally, but the surface finish and a couple of design details will show their age faster than you might expect for this price range.

Out of the box, the SURI 1.0 feels like a fairly premium kit. You get the aluminum toothbrush handle, one brush head, a slim UV travel case that also doubles as a charger, a small magnetic wall mount, and a puck-style charger. Everything is pretty compact. The case is especially thin compared to bulkier electric toothbrush cases I’ve used before, so it slips into a backpack or suitcase pocket without taking half the space. The USB-C charging is genuinely handy; I can use the same cable as my phone or laptop, which cuts down on cable clutter when I travel.

The brush itself has two modes, a standard and a gentler one, plus a built-in 2-minute timer with pauses every 30 seconds. That’s standard for electric brushes these days, but it’s done well here. You don’t get ten different modes, Bluetooth, or an app, and honestly I don’t miss any of that. It’s a pretty straightforward product: press once for normal, again for gentle, and again to turn it off. If you’re after something simple that just focuses on cleaning, that’s a plus.

One thing worth noting is that you don’t get a ton of extra heads in the box. So you’ll pretty quickly have to accept the cost of replacement heads as part of the deal. SURI leans on the eco angle with plant-based heads and a recycling program, which is good, but it doesn’t change the fact that ongoing cost is there. Also, the included standalone charging puck is basically just to recharge; it doesn’t hold the brush upright reliably, so in real life I ended up using the travel case for charging most of the time.

Overall, the package is focused and quite minimal. If you like lots of accessories and fancy extras, this will feel a bit bare. But if you want a compact, travel-ready setup with fewer bits lying around the sink, this bundle makes sense. Just be aware that some accessories, like the magnetic mount and the puck, look smarter in photos than they feel in day-to-day use.

In terms of pure cleaning, I can’t complain much. Compared to a manual brush, the SURI leaves my teeth noticeably smoother, especially behind the front teeth and around the molars. The sonic vibrations are strong enough to feel like they’re doing real work, but the brush is still quieter than my older Philips Sonicare. After two or three days, I noticed less buildup near the gum line, which is usually where I slack off with a manual brush. So on the basic job of removing plaque, it gets the job done very well.

The 2-minute timer with 30-second pauses is useful. It forces you to spend enough time on each quadrant instead of rushing. I tend to zone out while brushing, so the pauses are a good nudge to move to the next area. There are only two modes: a normal mode and a gentler one. I mostly stay on the normal mode; the gentle one is handy if your gums are sensitive or if you’re just starting with electric brushes, but after a week I didn’t use it much anymore. I never felt like I was missing more modes or apps or pressure sensors.

Where performance dips is when the battery starts running low. During the first weeks on a full charge, the brush feels strong and consistent. But as it approaches the end of the battery cycle, the power noticeably drops. The vibrations feel weaker, and I sometimes had to run an extra cycle to get the same clean feeling. SURI says to wait until the battery indicator goes red before recharging, but realistically you’ll want to charge a bit earlier if you don’t want that softer, half-hearted feeling during the last stretch.

Overall, I’d rate the effectiveness as very solid. It’s not miles ahead of other decent sonic brushes, but it’s clearly better than manual brushing and on par with other mid-to-high range electric options. If your main goal is cleaner teeth and less plaque, it delivers. The only annoyance is that the best performance is during the first part of the battery cycle; after that, you feel it getting a bit lazy until you plug it back in.