Philips Sonicare vs BU
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Philips Sonicare
Improve your brushing technique with personalized feedback and guidance. Connect your smart toothbrush to track habits, receive insights, and ensure complete oral hygiene for a healthier mouth and confident smile.
- Personalized brushing insights
- Real-time guided brushing
- SenseIQ technology adaptation
- Mouth mapping and guidance
- Brushing habit tracking
- Automatic brush head reordering
- Apple Health integration
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Do you remember when you learned to brush? Neither do we! It turns out, most people don’t brush properly. If you’ve ever wondered how well you’re brushing or if you’re reaching every spot, the Philips Sonicare app is here to help. The app brings more clarity, more confidence and more personal insights into your routine. When you connect your Sonicare toothbrush, you’ll unlock personalized coaching designed to help you strengthen your habits and brighten your smile. Please note you must have a connected toothbrush to use the app. By connecting to the app, you’ll also receive the latest updates to your brushing experience. Our most advanced toothbrush – the Next-Generation Sonicare DiamondClean 9900 Prestige – harmonizes with the app, creating an experience that’s smart and supportive, including: - Real-time guided brushing that helps you feel confident every session - SenseIQ technology that senses and adapts to you - Auto-sync so your brushing data stays updated, even when your phone’s not around Your Sonicare app experience will vary depending on which toothbrush you own and where you live: PREMIUM - Next-Generation DiamondClean 9900 Prestige, Next-Generation DiamondClean 9500, Next-Generation DiamondClean 9000, Next-Generation DiamondClean 8700, Next-Generation DiamondClean 8500, Next-Generation DiamondClean 8000 and DiamondClean Prestige 9900 — SenseIQ, mouth map, personalized guidance and tips. ADVANCED - DiamondClean Smart and FlexCare Platinum Connected – mouth map with position guidance and missed area notifications. ESSENTIAL - Sonicare 6500, Sonicare 7100, DiamondClean 9000 and ExpertClean - SmarTimer and brushing guides. In the Sonicare app: Brushing check-in You will receive an assessment of your technique after the first time you brush your teeth. This will provide a starting point to track improvements to your oral health routine over time. Real-time brushing guidance The Sonicare app checks your habits, like if you’re reaching all areas of your mouth, how long you brush or how much pressure you’re using, and coaches you with tailored advice. This coaching helps to ensure consistent, complete coverage, every time you brush. Dental Diary The Dental Diary helps you track all your oral health habits in one place – brushing, flossing, tongue cleaning, and mouth rinsing – so you can spot trends and build a consistent routine. Brushing Streak The Brushing Streak feature helps motivate you to brush at least twice daily – morning and night – as recommended by dentists to prevent plaque buildup. Dashboard The Dashboard syncs with your Sonicare toothbrush to collect and display your brushing habits. You receive an easy-to-read report with insights to help support and improve your oral health. Brush head monitoring Automatically know when it’s time to replace your brush head. Bristles wear out and start losing effectiveness after about three months, so having a fresh replacement ensures the best cleaning. Automatic brush head reordering service Always have a fresh brush head when you need one. As the Sonicare app checks your brush head’s usage, the reordering service reminds you when you need a replacement, and can automatically place an order so it arrives just in time. The brush head smart reordering service is available in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Japan. Connect with Apple Health When you link the Sonicare app to the Apple Health app, you can track your brushing habits along with the rest of your health data.
BU
Control your Thermomasseur bath's hydro-thermo massage, heated seating, chromatherapy, and drying cycles directly from your mobile device. This app offers a convenient way to manage all therapy options for a personalized spa experience at home.
- Navigate therapy options
- Activate Hydro-thermo Massage®
- Set heated backrest/headrest temperature
- Select chromatherapy colors
- Program drying cycle
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With BainUltra’s BU-Touch control application, you can navigate through all your therapy options from your mobile phone or tablet. BU-Touch offers a more convenient way of setting all the functions and therapy options offered with the Thermomasseur bath: - Activate Hydro-thermo Massage® - Set heated backrest & headrest temperature - Select colors for chromatherapy - Program the drying cycle
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Philips Sonicare at 4.8 against BU's 1.5. Philips Sonicare also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 22 months) and ratings volume (57K vs 18). BU's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Philips Sonicare holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Philips Sonicare has 57K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of Philips Sonicare's written reviews are positive against 10% of BU's.
Philips Sonicare ships an update every 2 months, BU every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Philips Sonicare | BU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (57K ratings) — better | 1.5 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.6% of reviews — better | 10.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 57K — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 22 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Philips | Bains Ultra Inc |
Customer experience
Philips Sonicare
BU
Bugs and requests
Philips Sonicare
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes when connecting to toothbrush
- App fails to recognize brushing in certain areas
- App loses connection to toothbrush frequently
- Firmware updates cause app to stop working
- App doesn't sync brushing history accurately
Requested features
5 requests- Add Apple Watch integration
- Allow customization of brushing settings
- Improve app responsiveness and stability
- Provide better feedback on missed brushing areas
- Enable offline brushing data tracking
BU
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Philips Sonicare
No in-app purchases
BU
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Philips Sonicare free?
Is BU free?
Which has better reviews, Philips Sonicare or BU?
Do Philips Sonicare or BU have ads?
Which is updated more often, Philips Sonicare or BU?
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