The electric toothbrush industry is experiencing a slump: Xiaomi and usmile are fiercely competing with AI black technologies. Can they rely on the children's market to "extend their lives"?
Recently, the Mi Home Children's Electric Toothbrush Pro was launched on Youpin by Xiaomi, priced at 329 yuan.
As the biggest highlight, the new Mi Home children's electric toothbrush is equipped with a color screen, which can display reminder animations such as brushing time, area, speed, and strength, as well as "positive feedback" animations after brushing for 2 minutes. Every 30 seconds, the toothbrush will give a voice reminder to children to change the brushing area.
Image source: Youpin by Xiaomi
Thanks to the built - in six - axis sensor, this Mi Home toothbrush can cooperate with the AI algorithm to monitor the brushing path. When a child misses a tooth area, the corresponding tooth area (6 partitions: upper left, middle upper, upper right, lower right, middle lower, lower left) on the screen will show an orange reminder to brush the missed area. If the brushing speed is too fast (exceeding the speed limit for horizontal brushing), the toothbrush screen will turn red and emit a warning sound, and the body of the toothbrush will also vibrate to remind. When the child's brushing strength is too light or too heavy, the toothbrush can also intelligently sense and analyze the situation, and give reminders through the light ring and voice messages.
The AI algorithm is also applied to the functions of the Mi Home App paired with this toothbrush. Parents can use the Mi Home App to create a dental record for their children, marking missing teeth, cavities, etc. The AI algorithm will customize a brushing plan for the marked areas. The Mi Home App can also track real - time data such as brushing time and coverage rate, and generate a personalized brushing report for children, which is convenient for parents to supervise whether their children miss brushing or fail to clean their teeth thoroughly at any time.
Image source: Youpin by Xiaomi
It can be seen that the Mi Home Children's Electric Toothbrush Pro has really put a lot of effort into functions such as intelligentization and AI, as well as refined and long - term oral management supported by data. However, the biggest problem with this new product is its high price of 329 yuan.
In addition, the Mi Home Children's Electric Toothbrush Pro is only compatible with the Mi Home children's shock - absorbing series brush heads. According to the official suggestion of replacing the brush head every 3 months, the cost of replacing the brush head in a year is 92 yuan.
Children's electric toothbrushes become a new growth pole, and more manufacturers are showing their skills
Data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that since 2021, in terms of sales, the Chinese electric toothbrush market has experienced a stage of accelerated decline (in 2021 and 2022) and weak growth (since 2023).
In 2025, the total online sales volume of electric toothbrushes in China was 22.77 million units, a year - on - year decrease of 10.8%; the sales amount was 5.41 billion yuan, a slight year - on - year decrease of 0.1%.
Image source: Aowei Cloud Network
While the overall electric toothbrush category is experiencing weak growth, the segmented category of children's electric toothbrushes has become a rare bright spot in the entire market.
Data from the LeadLeo Research Institute shows that in 2024, the sales volume of children's electric toothbrushes in China increased by 45% year - on - year, and the proportion increased to 11.5%.
Just like the 329 - yuan Mi Home electric toothbrush, which offers functions such as color screen display, voice reminder, and App brushing report. If it were an adult version, consumers might hesitate, but it's different for the children's version.
China's younger generation of parents attach more importance to personal care, especially oral health, for themselves and their children compared with the previous generation. This has given electric toothbrush brands the greatest development opportunity during the industry transformation period. As children's electric toothbrushes become a new growth pole, more manufacturers are showing their skills.
Compared with Mi Home's focus on screen display, the children's electric toothbrushes currently on sale under the usmile brand mainly feature voice interaction, and even introduce the "bone conduction" technology for this purpose.
Image source: usmile
For the children's user group, the Q20 series currently promoted by usmile all support bone conduction voice guidance. Compared with the speaker external - playing technology, after introducing the bone conduction technology, the toothbrush only makes a sound when it is in contact with the child's tooth surface, avoiding the too - loud sound of traditional external - playing and its impact on others.
Based on the bone conduction technology, the usmile children's electric toothbrush also offers functions such as music playback and voice reminder packs, with different types and styles. The music melody can only be heard when the toothbrush is in contact with the tooth surface (while brushing), and this function setting can guide children to brush their teeth more actively.
When brushing teeth, users may not necessarily see the screen animation display on the toothbrush handle, including the "positive feedback" incentive information; voice reminders and the music playback function based on bone conduction technology are theoretically more helpful in improving children's initiative in brushing teeth.
In addition to the bone conduction technology, the usmile children's electric toothbrush also features a flexible light ring design, which displays information such as brushing progress, missed - area feedback, and a running light ring for encouragement. The Pro version of the usmile Q20 series adds an interactive screen, a monitoring camera design, and an AI personalized tooth - care system. The Q30 series launched by usmile even introduces an AR brushing game on the paired mobile App.
Image source: usmile
Whether it is Mi Home or usmile, the many innovative designs and creative ideas for children's electric toothbrushes have only one fundamental purpose, which is to try their best to guide children to like their products, make parents recognize their product design concepts, and continue to pay for the higher product premium.
Not only children's toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes are undergoing the biggest technological revolution in recent years
The innovations in children's electric toothbrushes in recent years are mainly concentrated in the following points:
1. Equipped with a color screen display to enhance the technological sense of the appearance and the atmosphere of brushing teeth;
2. Support voice reminders, and even introduce bone conduction technology to make users more willing to brush their teeth;
3. Introduce six - axis sensors, monitoring cameras, and AI algorithms to give real - time reminders and correct guidance for brushing actions;
4. Provide App brushing reports and focus on refined oral management supported by data.
It is worth noting that the above innovative functions and technological applications are spreading from children's electric toothbrushes to adult electric toothbrushes. At the same time, the innovation in the adult electric toothbrush category is also accelerating.
In addition to usmile and Mi Home, brands such as Dreame and Laifen have also entered the electric toothbrush market in recent years and launched their flagship products.
At the just - concluded AWE2026, the reporting team of Lei Technology saw the entire range of Dreame's electric toothbrush products at the Dreame exhibition hall, from the flagship X10F intelligent care electric toothbrush, to the E10S/E10F AI intelligent electric toothbrush, and then to the NB01 intelligent - sensing toothbrush.
Among them, the NB01 intelligent - sensing toothbrush attracted the attention of Xiaolei. It is a Dreame electric toothbrush featuring a "keyless" design. Users don't need to make any selections. With a built - in intelligent algorithm, it can automatically match the cleaning mode and adjust the pressure automatically.
Image source: Dreame
As the main selling point, the Dreame NB01 intelligent - sensing toothbrush provides a user experience of "pick up and start brushing, stop when taken away from the mouth". While removing the button design and eliminating the power - on and power - off steps, it also solves the pain point of "toothpaste splashing" during use.
Laifen brought the sweep - vibration electric toothbrush i2 to AWE2026. Compared with the first - generation model, it added titanium - metal and transparent exploration models.
Among them, the i2 transparent exploration model adopts a transparent shell design, allowing users to directly see the internal structural components of the toothbrush handle. Its cool appearance is quite eye - catching. When Xiaolei first saw this toothbrush product, he immediately thought of the flagship - level sweeping robot ROMO P series launched by DJI last year. The addition of the magnetic - positioning wireless charging function is a major plus for the Laifen i2.
Image source: Laifen
It is not difficult to see that after the competition in screen display, voice interaction, scientific brushing, and oral management, with the entry of new players, the electric toothbrush market has also started bold innovations in more fields such as body buttons and handle materials. In a weak market, innovation is the king.
How far are the innovative electric toothbrush models from becoming a big hit?
On platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Xiaolei also saw many users complaining about electric toothbrushes and sharing their experiences of switching back to ordinary toothbrushes.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
From the market trend, this trend is indeed reflected. In 2020, the total online sales volume of electric toothbrushes in China was 46.01 million units; in 2025, it was only 22.77 million units, a sharp decrease of more than half. In contrast, the decline in the sales amount of electric toothbrushes was not as large. In 2025, compared with 2020, the decline was 34%, which also shows that the overall average price of the Chinese electric toothbrush market has been rising in the past few years.
After years of continuous decline in the overall market sales volume, the brands and manufacturers that still remain in the market or are even willing to enter are mainly targeting the mid - to high - end price segments and specific consumer groups, such as children and the middle - class. This has also led to a widening price gap between the flagship products and entry - level products of major domestic brands in the current electric toothbrush market. The phenomenon of consumers who previously used basic (tens of yuan) electric toothbrush products abandoning electric toothbrushes and switching to ordinary toothbrushes has become more and more prominent.
Innovative electric toothbrush models need to find a better balance between price and experience to lower the threshold for more mid - to low - end consumers. Whether it is an electric toothbrush, a smart toothbrush, or an AI toothbrush, they all need to give users a more sufficient reason to upgrade or continue using.
Image source: Mi Home
Currently, many brands claim that "the average brushing time of Chinese people is only 59 seconds, and using our products can achieve a brushing time of 2 to 3 minutes" and "achieve long - term and scientific oral management". Although these concepts are good, it is difficult to strongly stimulate the "return" of the user market in the short term.
Brands such as usmile and Mi Home are fully focusing on the children's electric toothbrush category. They are not only targeting this rapidly growing segmented market but also making long - term plans. After all, today's children will eventually grow up. The longer age - setting for children's electric toothbrushes, such as supporting up to 15 - year - olds and having age - segmented modes (different gear strengths), also provides a more natural connection and transition from children's products to adult products.
During the period of weak overall market demand for electric toothbrushes, major brands and manufacturers are exploring segmented growth tracks such as the children's category and continuously focusing on mid - to high -