alt Hacker NewsRe. toothbrush, I have to take the opportunity to give Philips credit for the Sonicare electric toothbrushes they made ~15 years ago. That thing just keeps trucking, it’s incredible. I go on 2 week trips and don’t even bring the charger, and have no worries about it dying.
It must have been crazy overspecced, I expected it to be a 5-year disposable piece of non-serviceable tech.
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Yeah I was going to say, I'm at 20 years on a Sonicare (pushing 25 now that I remember it is 2026, damn...) and it still works fine. Holds a charge long enough that I've never run out on vacation.
Part of the reason is that they used NiMH for the batteries in those (I have 3 that are 20-30 years old some predating the Phillips logo). All of mine still work. The NiMH is good for 1000s of deep cycles. The one from the mid 90s is only good for about 15x 2min brushings. Luckily, you can still get new heads for them!
My first Sonicare eventually died of a battery failure 20 years ago. My second would not die and I was stuck buying the old style heads that were hard to clean. I finally gave in and replaced it just recently. Modern lithium cells last forever in low drain, low duty cycle applications like a toothbrush.
I have a sonicare. great. The travel case it came with is actually an inductive charging case with a USB-A hidden inside ready to be unfurled.
Also, it looses functionality gracefully in that it is still a perfectly serviceable toothbrush even if it is out of battery.
That said, I have never had a Sonicare run out of battery either.
If only Philips would support USB-C for their OneBlade electric razors, instead of a USB-A to proprietary figure 8 barrel plug cable.
Philips knows how to penny pinch. Don't buy the more recent low end models.
Their kid's app has been great.
Counterpoint, mine died after a few years to the point where it would only go a few days between charges. Maybe the BMS wasn't good, because this started happening after it completely died on me on a trip once.
I bought a cheap electric toothbrush from a no-name Chinese company. The battery lasts 6 months on one charge with daily use. It cost about $20. I wouldn't be surprised if it's manufactured by the same factories that make Philips' toothbrushes.
And of course, it charges with USB-C.
Same. I was given one as a gift for graduation college in 2012 and it's still going strong
Ha I thought mine was on the verge of dying after a good few years of use (amazon reviews were all like, yeah it only lasted a two years), so I ordered a new one, but the old one keeps going so I keep the new one in reserve looming over it menacingly, and it just refuses to kick it lol.
Another vote for the Sonicare.
They are good! Although my wife manages to kill hers every few years, I don't think I've ever actually had one die myself. I also have my original UV sanitizing charger unit that I purchased new circa 2009!
I've found that one can buy just new handles on ebay though, without the head and chargers, for only like half the super high retail prices or less, even for the "higher end" models, so I do that every 5-8 years or so if one gets too bad.