Toy Review – The Next by Womanizer
I didn’t think I’d be reviewing any more of the typical Womanizer products for a while yet, as many of what’s come out of the last couple years have just been minor upgrades to older models (like new colors) or “new” models that are missing certain features of older, more expensive versions. I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel, and it can be exhausting to watch brands keep churning out “new” products that are just-barely altered old products, seemingly for the sole purpose of being able to say they are continually launching something “new.” Womanizer has a solid group of products available (even though I don’t like most of them, I can recognize lots of other people do) and it feels silly to keep trying to stay on top of the innovation pedestal while not really doing anything that is actually new.
Then they launched the Womanizer Next – a toy that does actually bring something previously-unseen to the table. Thank goodness.
Table of Contents
The Features
The Womanizer Next employs the same general oblong body shape as the Classic, the Classic 2, the Premium, the Premium 2, the Premium Eco… probably some now-discontinued models in between… while perhaps becoming a big thicker/heftier than some of those other options. It comes with the usual two nozzle choices – one having an ever-so-slightly larger opening, thinner rim, and deeper cavity than the other. We’ve got the magnetic charging pins at the end of the handle, followed by the power button. About halfway down the handle is the button for the newest feature – depth control (or “Climax Control” – per Womanizer) with three LED indicator lights above it. Next comes the stacked pair of decrease and increase intensity/speed buttons, and then the Womanizer logo embossment. On the inside of the handle is another new-ish button for what Womanizer calls Autopilot.
The new depth control function has three settings, and is meant to adjust the “depth” to which you feel the air pulses aimed at your clit. I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea how it works or what exactly it’s actually doing. Womanizer’s ad copy uses a lot of talk about “3D Pleasure Air“…which answers no questions whatsoever. It’s got something to do with a new type of motor, but how that motor differs from the old ones I can’t explain.
The new-ish feature of Autopilot is Womanizer’s take on randomized controls. Unlike most major toys on the market today, this one has no patterns! There are three randomized settings that each utilize all three depths, but break the speed/intensity levels into 1-6, 6-11, and 9-14. Pressing the Autopilot button will cause the toy to vibrate twice to let you know you’ve engaged that feature. Short presses offer another double-vibrate to let you know you’ve changed the setting. Another long-press will return a double-vibrate to let you know you’ve turned it off and gone back to the steady settings.
The Womanizer Next also incorporates their “Smart Silence” tech that pauses the toy when it loses contact with your skin, and the “Afterglow” feature that returns the toy to its lowest setting by long-pressing the decrease button.
Toy Care
The Womanizer Next is fully waterproof, which means that it can be used in the bath, shower, pool, etc and can also be fully submerged for optimal cleaning. Because the Next is made of silicone, it is considered non-porous and body-safe. For regular cleaning some mild hand or body soap and warm water will do the trick, taking extra care around the detail seams and inside the nozzle. For periodic sanitization maintenance, the Next can be washed with soap and water and then soaked in a 10% bleach solution before being rinsed off again. Because of the internal motors the Womanizer Next should not be boiled or dishwashed like non-mechanical silicone.
The Experience
I’ll run through my experience with the Womanizer Next in the order I listed the features. First, we have the nozzles – these shapes are very different than the nozzles on the Pro40 and Duos (the two models I actually love) and don’t usually work that well for me in the first place, but I also struggle to tell much of a difference between the two in-use. I personally don’t feel like they offer such a notable difference that it would wreck my world if I were to lose one and have to resort to using the other. For other folks with different clitoral situations they may make a world of difference. I have historically not liked any of the Womanizer models of this shape, and I’d really love to find out one day if the issue is strictly in the nozzles or if the Pro40/Duo motors are also significantly different in some way.
I’m thrilled with the separate increase and decrease buttons, though I tend to hit the wrong one at lot. When I’m holding the Womanizer Next in-use, the decrease button is at the “top” which feels sort of counter-intuitive to me. When I want to turn something up…my fingers gravitate towards the button that is up. Not the biggest issue in the world, just a weird detail for me.
I don’t love the plastic metal stripe through the middle of the handle, only because from a tactile perspective I get lost in it while feeling my way up the handle from the intensity buttons to the depth control button. Again, not the biggest issue in the world, I just don’t love it.
The depth control is honestly a very intriguing and worthy new feature. On the lowest depth setting and the lower intensity/speeds, the sensation is barely a whisper across my clit. Knowing how power-hungry I normally am, that may sound like a downfall instead of a perk, but the Next’s soft pulses are a far cry from the weak buzzy vibrations of other toys. At the slowest speeds they feel like gentle taps rather than something continuously moving across my skin without offering enough pressure (the way bad vibes and crappier air-pulse toys do.) I’m not normally one for the whole “foreplay” or trying to “tease” myself when I’m solo masturbating, but this new depth feature actually makes taking some time for a warm-up interesting to my nervous system. The tiny taps feel like they’re literally saying “hey….hey wake up!” to my skin, and my body responds without having to be jarred into attention like it usually does with a toy already turned up to the max.
While the Next boasts a whopping 14 speed/intensity settings, I unfortunately don’t feel like I can take advantage of them to the fullest. Somewhere in the middle, they start to feel like vibration, and I start to lose that sensation of distinct, deep, individual taps from each pulse. The Womanizer Next does a fantastic job of making me really want to have an orgasm with the lower depth and intensity settings, but once I start to ramp up the power we veer off into the issues I have with all the other models of this shape – the sensations are too on-the-surface and buzzy. I can reliably orgasm with the Next at least half of the time I try, but needing to switch to my trusty Pro40 for possibly the other 50% of my attempts to masturbate doesn’t allow the Next to receive a perfect grade from me. When it works, it works, and I like it enough to keep trying it, but this isn’t my “one toy on a desert island” option.
I’ve completely ignored the Autopilot feature in the other toys I’ve had it with, because if half of the settings were already not going to come even close to being pleasurable enough for me, I sure wasn’t going to allow the toy to randomly jump through them while I was struggling to cum. I generally do not like a lot of back and forth variation, I want to just steadily increase the functions until I hit climax, and then be able to incrementally lower them again. I gave the Autopilot a shot with the Next because of the new depth features. The low tapping sensations can almost be mistaken for the genuinely spontaneous movements of a real human, rather than a machine that was programmed to behave erratically. I still don’t want to use the Autopilot through my whole session, because I will inevitably wind up with ruined orgasms from the toy switching gears at exactly the wrong second, but it wasn’t terrible to play around with. I would be much more willing to use the Autopilot function if I could set it so that when I turn it off and flip back to steady pulses, those didn’t start at the very lowest settings – ideally I’d be using the Autopilot to get right to the edge of orgasm – which would be while it was functioning at a high/fast pulsing setting, and then seamlessly flip over to the steady pulses setting at that same intensity so that I was able to maintain momentum. Getting tossed back to the very beginning of intensities kills any hope of an orgasm I had in an instant, so I really only enjoy playing around with the Autopilot function for a minute or two before deciding it’s time to get serious and have to turn it off.
The Smart Silence and Afterglow functions have never been something I’ve cared about. Depending on lube usage/wetness, the Smart Silence can get a little glitchy in its ability to detect skin contact, and I am also never using a sex toy in an instance where something bad would happen if I were not able to immediately make my toy stop working – I don’t have kids or roommates or anyone who might be barging in on me at a bad time. The Afterglow feature is the exact opposite of what I want the end of my orgasm to look like – I want to hit the decrease button and gently lower myself back down, not plummet from the highest setting to the lowest one in a blink.
One big thing to mention about the Womanizer Next, is their claims of being “Whisper Quiet”, “Nearly Silent”, and then “Noiseless.” This is probably the first time I’ve seen these words and truly thought “okay, I’ll let you get away with it.” So often (even from Womanizer) claims of “whisper quiet” are nothing close, so I am always very skeptical. Yes, especially on the lowest settings, you honestly may not even be able to tell that the Next is running – it’s so quiet. It is however still not completely silent or entirely without noise – whisper quiet and nearly silent….fine. Noiseless? No, and I don’t think that will ever actually exist in a machine. I’ve found that pressing it firmly against my hand and turning it all the way up, it is indeed extreeeeeemmly quiet – easily the quietest toy I’ve ever encountered – but it sounds very different pressed against my clit. How much noise yours makes is I think going to depend on the “seal” you’re getting through the nozzle and how hard you’re holding it against you, as well as how much fluid is present, as that usually causes some sloppy gurgling sounds any time you shift just a bit or create a tiny air gap between the nozzle and skin. My Pro40 sounds half like an ancient tractor backfiring, half like a vacuum trying to suck up a puddle – which is not sexy, at all, and possibly a sign that I need to replace it – so the audible difference the Womanizer Next makes is astronomical.
Should You Buy This?
Probably! After a long string of Womanizer models that did nothing to impress me, I am so excited to say I actually quite like the Next, and I think the added features make it worth the try. If you already have one of the similar shapes and are happy with it, then I believe your biggest deciding factors on whether or not to upgrade are going to be the depth control and noise reduction. If your current model is getting you by just fine and you don’t have 200+ bucks lying around for a sex toy upgrade, I wouldn’t try to persuade you that the new features are SO good you HAVE to have them, but if you’re not greatly satisfied with the toy you have, or you don’t have one at all and are trying to figure out which Womanizer to go with, then I’d very strongly urge you to consider the Next. Every single other Womanizer I’ve tried besides the Pro40 and Duo have gone into a box of toys that I never pick up again after I’m done reviewing….the Next is staying out – that’s how impressed I am with it.
Big thanks to Womanizer for sending me the Next to review – You can purchase yours at these links
