I’ve had my eye on the PalmPower Recharge since shortly after it was released as I was looking for a replacement for my trusty Mystic Wand, and had the following criteria:
- No larger or heavier than the Mystic Wand – has to be good to travel with
- A range of intensities (hopefully one that is stronger than I personally use, so that it’ll work better for my partners)
- Able to use head attachments
- Rechargeable
- No more than $150
- A wand
I had tried a series of vibrators that fit the above requirements to varying degrees – We Vibe Nova, Salsa and Touch, Doxy Original Massager, Tantus Rumble, Dame Eva, Vi-Do BAM, three Satisfyers (the 2, Pro Penguin, and Pro 2) and Wahl’s All Body Massager. Some of these I liked, others I didn’t, but the ones I liked still didn’t fulfill my requirements well enough for me to replace my Mystic Wand.
Then along came Betty’s Toy Box, one of my sponsors for Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit 2017. Part of their sponsorship included sending me the PalmPower Recharge as well as two of its attachments (Palm Dual and Palm Below). It arrived when I was unable to receive internal stimulation due to surgery, and WHAM. Suddenly orgasms were easily obtained. The only other vibrator that was able to get me off quasi-easily without internal stimulation was the Vi-Do BAM, but the PalmPower not only managed to get me off easily, in a way that is quite challenging for me, but it also checked the other boxes I was looking to check (Definitely not complaining about the BAM, I love it!).
It is very small; 7.5″ long and 5″ circumference at its widest point. It’s light; approximately 0.34 lb. It gets shockingly strong and rumbly. There’s a wide array of attachments. It charges with a USB plugin and comes with a 40″ charging cord. Betty’s Toy Box sells it for $69.99.
That’s six strong check marks!
When using a vibrator, I typically am able to orgasm once, require a break from clitoral stimulation for a bit, then I can go again, then (repeat). With the Recharge, I don’t have that problem. The first time I used it, I orgasmed 6 times in an 11-minute span. The second time I got 9 in 17 minutes. Each time I used it, I was floored by the number I got (normally I get 1-3). Not only did I get an astounding number, and quickly, but each was was strong. My masturbation has literally never felt like it does when I use the Recharge, it’s amazing.
That said, a high number of orgasms or strong orgasms are not the only important part of masturbation, or toy usage.
With the Recharge, the battery lasts up to 1 hour 10 minutes (though will shut off quicker if it overheats – such as if you use it between your body and the mattress). The charging port is located in the base of the toy and the handle is slender and gently curved to get to the on/off button.
Here we reach my first problem with the Recharge.
It has one button. I’m so sick of vibes with just one button, but the Recharge‘s annoys me even more than most.
Why? Because you click to turn on and off. You click and hold to turn up the intensity. But sometimes you click and hold but not quite long enough when you’re trying to turn it up and instead it turns off. There’s no way to turn it down without fully turning it off. And, since you have to press and hold to increase the intensity, it’s easy to offshoot the speed you’re going for.
Seriously though, I have accidentally turned this vibe off mid-use more than any other vibe I’ve tried.
Also, there’s a travel lock on the vibrator, which is great! But it’s activated by pressing the same damn button as you press to use it, and since that button is already so annoying, I’ve accidentally locked the damn thing mid use when attempting to turn it back on. For the love of orgasms, just please give me a second button.
Okay, so my hatred for the button is established. Moving on.
The head of the toy! The wonderful, compact, powerful head!
The PalmPower Recharge comes with a pink silicone head cover. This can be replaced with any of their replacement heads! Betty’s Toy Box sent me the Palm Duo and the Palm Below, which I will talk about later on in this review.
I…mostly like the head. The way their covers attach is utterly perplexing to me though, and not intuitive at all. It has a “lock” to keep the cap from coming off accidentally during use. This is great in theory, but in practice it result in the caps going on incorrectly when I try. Especially if I try when my fingers have lube or cum. What you do is you place the head on the vibrator and then rotate the cap until the cap is mostly flat against the vibrator, and then push down on all sides of the cap to ensure it is secured.
Vibrations
So I’ve talked a lot about this toy but very little about the actual vibrations. Which are (arguably), the most important part of a vibrator.
You know that they are rumbly and have a wide range of intensity, but what does this actually mean?
On the lowest setting, the Recharge’s power is equivalent to the Rumble‘s lowest setting. On the highest, it is comparable to the Doxy original‘s high setting. Unlike the Doxy original, the PalmPower has a hard silicone cap instead of a very squishy medical-grade PVC one, which make the vibrations feel even more intense, in my opinion.
On it’s lowest settings, the PalmPower Recharge has a lot of vibrations in the handle. As the vibrator’s intensity increases, the vibrations move from handle to head – there seems to be a specific point as it’s switching to the highest setting where the vibrations shift out of the handle almost completely.
While not silent, this is a semi-discrete vibrator even on high. The strongest vibration on the Recharge is definitely quieter than the lowest vibration on the Doxy. I’m able to use the PalmPower Recharge on me on the highest setting for much longer without getting numb than I am with the Doxy, which is part of why I’m able to have so many more orgasms with this vibrator (averaging 1.5 minutes between orgasms, in case you were curious).
Looking at this toy or feeling it in your hand, it’s easy to dismiss it as obviously not having the capabilities to be a powerhouse based on the small stature. We have learned that strong vibrators, especially wands, are large (like the Magic Wand or Doxy). So the strength of the Recharge stands out even more as we aren’t expecting it from a wand of that size.
Attachments
I have always wanted to use attachments for a vibrator. I picked the Palm Below and Palm Dual because, out of all the ones that Betty’s Toy Box sells, those seemed as though they would work best for my body configuration.
The verdict?
Palm Dual: Well that’s not where any part of my 2.5 inch clit is. That’s also not where my g-spot is. Can I thrust? Noooope, not really. How are the vibrations? Completely useless, as it isn’t connecting to any part that I like vibrations unless I hold it at a god-awful angle.
Palm Below: Oh! We have managed to connect to my g-spot with this one! Can I thrust? A bit, yeah! How are the vibrations? They don’t travel through the silicone as well as I’d like. As it is, the majority of the vibrations are in the same spot as they are with the original cap. Which makes me want to leave the vibrator still and not thrust it. Which makes the gspot part kind of boring (to me) and it also means I can’t use the vibrator on my clit the way that I want to because I can’t move the toy as much. Sigh.
The Verdict?
There are several things about this toy that I honestly just hate. Yet despite that, the PalmPower Recharge became my new favourite and go-to vibrator, even from the first use. Despite the parts that I strongly dislike about it, I still fucking love this vibrator so much. I would love to see a re-release version that has two buttons and a less annoying cap lock (I typed “caps lock” about 50 times before getting that right). But even with those major problems, I still love this toy so much.
You can buy the vibrator and the two attachments from Betty’s Toy Box, who graciously sponsored this post! All opinions are my own, and no affiliate links were used in this post.
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