Can Connected Gadgets Create Good Habits?
Sponsored by Philips
There are so many incredible tech products on the market that can help us in ways that we previously would never have thought imaginable. As a technology expert, I test countless tech products from the ordinary to the sublime. These include virtual reality to a pancake making robot. What a vast range!
I want to focus this post on the tech that I’ve found to be the most resourceful and practical through and through.
- Tech with a Purpose: Before I make a purchase, I want to first understand the end benefit of any tech device. One thing that drives me crazy is what I call, “Tech for technology’s sake.” Yeah, that smart fork might sound pretty awesome – but do you really need it and will you really use it? The products and brands that really stand out to me strive solve real, everyday issues and make daily life better.
- Behavior Change: We all have bad habits that we struggle to break. The good news is that we now have technology products designed to positively impact our behavior and help us reach our goals. Take for example the huge book of fitness tracking devices. My Apple watch holds me accountable to hit my fitness and lifestyle goals every day. This includes the amount of calories I have burned as well as activity. One component that I found especially eye-opening was the regular push to make sure you stand and stretch out those limbs! – which can be a challenge as many of us are in front of the computer so much we don’t realize how many sedentary hours go by.
- User friendly: My family and friends are really integral in helping me tech test. If I hand over a gadget to my 7-year-old niece or my not so tech savvy parents, they should be able to figure it out with minimal frustration. In this day and age gadgets aimed to improve our lives should not be coming with a 50 page manual.
One product that offers all three of these key benefits of sound purpose, supporting behavior change and being user friendly is the new Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected power toothbrush. I think like most, I care about my oral health. We are only given one set of adult teeth and we have to maintain them for a lifetime. After I tried Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected once, I was hooked!
It's a mouthful (pun intended), but whoa is it deserving of this distinction within the world of oral health.
- Smart Sensor technology tracks your brushing in real time. You move section by section of your teeth with a timer along with the app’s 3D Mouth Map. If I’m scrubbing too hard or using too much motion I will automatically receive an alert on the screen so I can adjust my technique.
- The brush integrates Bluetooth™ wireless technology to connect to the free Philips Sonicare app for real-time feedback. It also has the ability to store your brushing history and habits in a log on the app so you can track your behavior change over time.
- A smart brush head monitor on the app tells me when I need to swap out my brush head based on my personal usage patterns and lets me purchase directly through the app store.
- To be honest – it wasn’t long before I started getting competitive with my own brushing history! I honestly didn’t realize that there were several key areasthat I was regularly missing. I was kinda grossed out to see the spots I regularly missed which Philips so kindly highlights on the Mouth Map in yellow – ew!
- Most importantly after every single brushing my teeth feel like I just came out of a dentist’s office and yay! I am reassured that I am taking the absolute best care of my teeth on a daily basis.