Few sex toys have become as ubiquitous as Womanizers’, which are revered by reviewers for their ability to bring users to climax, all without direct contact. In the decade since Womanizer made its debut with their namesake product in 2014, the company has released a whole line-up of products that incorporate its patented Pleasure Air Technology—which uses air to massage and stimulate a user’s clitoris all without touching it. While Womanizer has come to stand for oral-simulating air suction toys, just as Kleenex has for tissues or Botox has for injectables, the brand is officially in the business of making vibrations. That’s right—Womanizer just launched a vibrator aptly dubbed the Womanizer Vibe ($129).

Curious if the Womanizer Vibe holds a torch to the brand’s other products? I was too. So, in the name of investigative journalism, I decided to give the just-launched vibrator a whirl. Read my in-depth review ahead to learn how the new Womanizer vibrator stacks up—plus, just how many seconds (yes, seconds) it took for this toy to help me orgasm.

Womanizer Vibe — $129.00

Colors: 3 | Intensity levels: 10 | Materials: body-safe silicone

Pros: 

• Completely noiseless
• Waterproof
• Rumbly vibrations penetrate deep into the body to draw out pleasure
• Weight and shape allows for hands-free use
• Autopilot feature available for easy use
• Intuitive button design
• Unique pleasure edges enable pin-pointed stimulation

Cons: 

• Not an air-suction toy
• Heavier than other palm vibrators

What to know about The Womanizer Vibe

In shape and size, the Womanizer Vibe is a cross between a classic palm vibrator (like the Dame Pom ($99) or Le Wand Point ($130) and the Womanizer Premium ($150). While the toy is designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, it doesn’t have the standard “computer mouse” shape associated with most lay-on and grinding vibrators.

Additionally, the portion of the toy that makes contact with the vulva is angled downward, similar to the Womanizer Next ($219) or Womanizer Premium. Rather than sporting a nozzle as the brand’s highly effective air stimulation toys do, however, the Womanizer Vibe features what is best described as a “clitoral hook”. The body-side portion of the toy uses a broad, flat surface to stimulate the pubic mound, while a curved cup sends pressure to lips, clitoral hood, and clitoral head, licensed clinical social worker and AASECT-certified sex therapist, Shamyra Howard, Ph.D, CST, LCSW. “The cup essentially creates a pocket for your clit,” she says.

Another feature that sets this external vibrator apart from others is that it isn’t rounded. Instead, “the sides of the toy are outfitted with pleasure edges that allow the Vibe to provide pinpointed stimulation when desired,” says Howard. Depending on the angle you hold the toy, the sensation it provides will be different, she says.

There are a few other features the Womanizer Vibe offers that are worth calling out. The toy is shaped and weighted to be able to stay in place on your vulva when you’re on your back, even without hands. It has 3 unique autopilot modes that are especially useful when your hands are otherwise preoccupied—for instance, stimulating your nipples—as they automatically vary stimulation patterns throughout play explains sexologist Jessica O’Reilly, Ph.D. “This autopilot mode allows you to sit back and enjoy the sensations so that you don’t have to keep your head in the game,” she says.

My Womanizer Vibe review

The first time I got to try the Womanizer vibrator was after the kind of forced celibacy that inevitably accompanies sharing an ultra quaint (read: small) hotel room featuring two side-by-side twin beds with your best friend for a week. As a person who regularly masturbates to destress from the daily demands of deadlines and notifications, I was aching for an orgasm. So, after giving my brand new Womanizer Vibe a quick rinse with sex toy cleaner, I immediately got down to it.

Typically, I take some time to hold a toy in my hand, explore its various settings, and make sure I know how to turn it on and off. But the button design of the Womanizer Vibe is incredibly intuitive; the plus sign button turns the toy on and allows you to move up through the 10 different intensity settings, and the minus sign button turns the toy off and enables you to decrease intensity. Besides all that, I was otherworldly horny and too impatient to give my new pleasure product a proper romancing.

Immediately, I was blown away by how quiet the toy is. Even at the highest intensity—and even when it makes contact with skin—it’s virtually soundless. As a person with a pup who is spooked by the sound vibrations, this noiselessness meant I was allowed to get down without having to simultaneously have to calm down by dog.

The vibrations themselves are also unlike anything I’ve experienced from such a small, quiet toy. Put simply, they’re rumbly AF. As part of the launch of this product, Womanizer created something called UltraWave Technology, which allows the toy to release vibrations that penetrate the erectile tissue of the vulva as deeply as those associated with wand vibrators, without the noise that customarily accustoms the sensation.

Broadly speaking, buzzy vibrations feel annoying against my body, and ultimately numb both my hand and clit before I can climax. Rumbly vibrations, however, really do it for me. So, despite hearing from both Howard and O’Reilly that the product was made to draw out arousal and build users up to orgasm slowly, I came in under 60 seconds.

How the Womanizer Vibe compares to the Womanizer

The Womanizer Vibe and Womanizer air suction products may be made by the same company, but comparing them is like comparing butt plugs and anal beads. Sure, these products may have both been designed to stimulate the same erogenous zone, but the technology they use to do so is so different —direct vibration and pressure in the case of the Vibe and indirect air suction in the case of all the other Womanizer toys currently on the market— that it’s impossible to make broad claims about which is best overall.

Having said that, if you’re just going to invest in just one or the other, “those who really enjoy direct stimulation and external pressure should consider the Womanizer Vibe,” says O’Reilly. I’d also recommend the Womanizer Vibe for those who need a quiet sex toy—such as new parents or those with always-home-roomies—as most air stimulation toys make a slurping or vacuum-esque noise when they make contact with your skin.

On the other hand, those who enjoy the sensation of receptive oral sex or who prefer indirect clitoral stimulation should go with a Womanizer pleasure air product, says O’Reilly. (If cunnilingus is the sensation you’re after, be sure to coat your clit with plenty of water-based lube before turning the toy on). Howard also recommends opting for an air stimulation toy if you’ve never had an orgasm before, but want to. “Due to the intensity, many women report that the Womanizer provides quick, intense, body shaking orgasms” as well as credit the toy for their first-ever climax, she says.

Personally, I plan to keep both my new Womanizer Vibe and ‘ole trusty Womanizer Premium in regular rotation. While both help me reach release faster than you can say “stress release,” the sensation through which they do so is very different. O’Reilly says, “when you own both you can enjoy vibes one day and Pleasure Air another day—or you can use both in one session, of course.”

Investing in both is a good move for those whose vulvovaginal sensitivity is different at different stages of their menstrual cycle, she adds. “Some people prefer indirect Pleasure Air during the early part of their cycle and then switch to more direct vibrations as their period approaches (and during menstruation),” she says. Similarly, “many women start to enjoy more direct stimulation during perimenopause,” she says, and thus would be better suited for the Vibe.

Final thoughts

Between its unique lay-on shape, rumbly vibrations, and noiseless creation, I’d recommend the Womanizer Vibe to anyone looking for an external vibrator. And given that “vibrators are associated with higher levels of desire, sexual response, function, orgasm, and satisfaction,” according to O’Reilly, it’s my opinion that almost everyone should own at least one vibrator—even if air stimulators are your bread and butter.

The only downside of the vibrator is its price. Ringing up at $129, it’s definitely more costly than most external vibrators on the market. Because stress (including financial stress!) has been scientifically proven to interfere with sexual pleasure, going beyond your means for a sex toy will likely backfire.

So, if you’re currently on a budget you’d be wise to opt for another totally soundless external stimulator Your hand. But otherwise? Order up to O.