The We-Vibe Tango is “an upgrade to the standard bullet

Our vibrator buying guide for beginners: How to choose a sex toy

“It’s really a great option because it has Smart Silence, so when it’s touching your body, it turns on and then when you pull it away from your body, it turns off,” says Amrich. The best wand vibrators can be used for solo or partnered time and deliver deep, rumbling sensations that can feel seriously mind-blowing on external body parts. They’re really popular for using on the clitoris, but you can also try them on nipples, penises, butts, or anywhere else you want to feel a nice buzz. And BTW , you may see some wand vibes labeled as “personal massagers,” but not all massage devices are the same—a percussive one (like the Theragun) shouldn’t be used everywhere. “Discovering what helps you orgasm contributes to your sexual confidence and boosts your sexual desire, which is great for yourself as well as sex with your partner,” says sex and relationship expert Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, Ph.D. When choosing a sex toy for solo play, she says to try to get toys that offer various types of stimulation.

This was another case where it felt like the toy’s function was a little at the mercy of its design. Much like the Cherry, if you’re looking for something that offers a lot of different options, you won’t get bored with the Strawberry, either. There are eight vibration patterns that can be combined with eight suction settings, so you can get a pretty wild range and combination of experiences. Sex toys are one of those things that should be fun to engage with—fun is, for the most part, the point!

So we spoke with experts and tested some for ourselves to find the best wand vibrators around. This dual-action couples massager is so high-tech, it’s as if it were sent to us from the year 3000 by benevolent, sex-savvy innovators who have totally nailed the whole simultaneous orgasm thing. The Duo can pleasure both partners at once with its two motors, multiple vibrating patterns and a wireless remote that helps operate the toy by coordinating with the user’s hand movements. Check out the Lelo site for detailed instructions on how to get the most pleasure out of the massager. It uses built-in sensors to see how your body responds to it in real time, and offers insight on what kind of stimulation works best for your sexual pleasure via a companion app.

But staring across the room at the new Godin Connaisseur MJ, glowing in soft spring sunlight, I kept thinking about two very classic American guitar companies. Martin and Rickenbacker are famous for very different things, and one of them rarely made acoustic instruments. But check out the Godin’s sunburst finish—it sure reminds me of Rickenbackerfireglo. The herringbone-patterned purling evokes that found on a D-28 as well as Rickenbacker’s checkerboard binding. There are practical reasons that this Godin feels like an alternate-universe offspring from the two American companies—most notably the super-satisfying playability.

In fact, there are a bunch of different kinds of vibrators out there—and it’s sensible to understand each kind before selecting one (or a few) to spend money on. According to their website, the Doxy Original Massager is 30 percent more powerful than Hitachi’s wand. Its large head and buttons make it easy to maneuver and change settings. I can’t test for whether the Doxy is exactly 30 percent more powerful, but it nonetheless had the same “foolproof orgasm” vibes — literally and figuratively — as other wands. Yes, the Womanizer is a suction toy, meaning it’s not this writer’s favorite.

As the partner of a person with a penis (try saying that five times fast!), this toy is one of my absolute faves on this list, because of how well it combines with blowjobs and handjobs. You can use the toy around the base of a dick while you or your partner stimulates the rest of it viberator, adding some intensity into an already-intense experience. It’s a smart pick for anyone who travels a lot, too, because it’s much more compact than a lot of other options on this list, and even has a travel lock function so it won’t go berserk in your suitcase mid-trek.

Either wash your sex toys after use with soap and water and wipe down with a flannel. Where some are more than happy to talk about sex toys with their friends and partner, others still view them as a taboo subject. There’s no shame in either school of thought, but for the curious, it’s important to know what’s what. While the Magic Wand (above) works just fine on its own for penises and vulvas alike, you may as well throw this attachment into your cart along with the wand if you want your (or someone else’s) dick to be enveloped in vibration. I love using this toy on partners because of the intensity of the ridged and beaded texture on the inside; it’s fun to watch someone react to it as I stroke it up and down with the vibration turned on. Brad Garrison, a registered psychotherapist and relationship issues specialist, recommends this for guys who want a toy that’s straightforward and easy to use.

Movies were invented in 1890, and by 1891, pornography was being filmed. During the 1920s, vibrators began showing up in stag films, which stripped the devices of their disguise and quickly made them socially unacceptable. Vibrator advertisements disappeared from the consumer media, and vibrators were hard to find well into the 1970s. That changed when feminism emerged right around the time that Hitachi introduced its Magic Wand, still the world’s most popular vibrator.

Rabbit vibrators are the sex toy definition of great in theory, forgettable in practice. That’s because as nice as dual stimulation sounds, actually finding a toy that is sized in a way that it actually reaches enough inside you and your clit at the same time is not as easy as you’d think. And that’s not even getting into the fact that merely sticking a few inches of vibrator inside of you doesn’t necessarily give the stimulation you’d hope for. The We-Vibe Tango is “an upgrade to the standard bullet vibrator,” as Mashable culture reporter Anna Iovine puts it. Ditching the batteries allows this bullet vibe to achieve deep, rumbly vibrations, despite being small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Unlike the typical rounded edge, the lipstick-slanted edge of this bullet vibe allows for more stimulating options — the vibe’s three speeds and five patterns also help in this department.