First things first; what's the difference between an electric toothbrush and a sonic toothbrush?

Essentially, one rotates while the other vibrates. So instead of mercilessly scouring your teeth with a circular head, sonic toothbrushes vibrate the plaque away and this is generally considered to be much more effective.

These days you can get pretty carried away with toothbrush technology. Paired with an app (yes - after all, what isn't these days?) you can track your brushing habits and even perfect your technique.

Overkill? Perhaps.

While Oclean does offer smart, blutooth-connected devices, it also has a less over-the-top option that can still help you make dramatic improvements to the way you brush.

The Oclean X Lite is smart - both in its abilities and the way it looks. Available in white or electric blue, it has a matte finish which I definitely prefer over more glossy toothbrushes I've tried previously. Glossy also means slippery and slippery is never something you want in the bathroom.

Interestingly, unlike other rechargeable toothbrushes I've used in the past, the X Lite doesn't come with its own wireless charging cradle. Instead, you flip open a waterproof compartment at the base to reveal a USB-C charging port. Although there's no charger included in the packet, most people would have one somewhere so in many ways this is a more universal and convenient way of charging. There is a charging cable included but it's very short so I'm not sure how useful it is.

The good news is the X Lite has quite a large battery so a single charge will last up to 40 days.

You can monitor charging progress on the large, colour screen and it's this screen that really sets the X Lite apart from other toothbrushes.

Thanks to its 6-axis gyroscope sensor, the X Lite tracks your brushing over the left, right, upper, lower, inside and out areas of your teeth and it can tell if you have cleaned each of those eight sections thoroughly. If you have, you'll hear a short, congratulatory ringtone and a sparkly set of chompers appears on screen to let you know what a good job you've done.

On the other hand, if you've merely "brushed over" a section or two, the screen shows you which area you've missed and you can then follow up with some targeted supplementary brushing. This is more or less how other bluetooth-connected brushes I've used work but they all relied on an app on my phone to guide me through my brushing routine. The X Lite's built-in screen is a much less cumbersome way of doing pretty much the same thing.

Like other electric brushes, the X Lite pauses for a split-second after every thirty to remind you to move on to the next area. This is a bit confusing though because the total time allocated to three of the five brushing routines is two-and-a-half minutes, which doesn't really divide into eight very evenly.

Those five brushing modes are; Daily Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, Whitening Cleaning, Massage Soothing and Sensitivity Gum Care. I feel like I'm a Deep Cleaning kind of a guy, which scores four out of five stars on Oclean's intensity scale.

The brush head itself is a little larger than I'm used to - it's a DuPont Diamond brush head apparently. I guess if anyone knows how to make bristles, it's the paint people. Its twin curve or "W-shape" design is supposed to be a better fit against your teeth and I like the fact there's a tongue-cleaner on the back because I feel that's an area that's often neglected. I've also been reliably informed that a clean tongue is the key to nice, fresh breath. So there you go.

Oclean uses something it refers to as "Patented Maglev Power" to make the head vibrate at up to 72,000 movements per minute, which is definitely more than I could manage manually. The only other time I've heard the term "Maglev" was when I caught the train from Shanghai Airport into the city. That was also extremely fast.

So there's a lot of tech bundled into this toothbrush and I have to say, it's refreshing not having to consult an app on my phone every time I clean my teeth. In saying that, I'm not sure it's worth the NZ$259.00 it was originally launched at back in April. Perhaps its New Zealand retailer, Shaver Shop has agreed, as they've currently slashed the price to NZ$99.00 which feels more in line with competing products from other brands.

There's no doubt this brush is smart and yes, my teeth feel clean but without a charger, a travel case or even a spare brush head included, there's only so much I'm prepared to pay.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Oclean X Lite.