Womanizer Premium Eco Review
What’s that? A more eco-friendly rendition of one of my all time favourite sex toys? Sign me up!
Womanizer Premium Eco
Womanizer have taken their flagship product, the Premium, and produced a version ditching as much plastic as possible while keeping the features I love. The Premium Eco features Womanizer’s ever popular, totally dreamy Pleasure Air Technology which uses gentle puffs of air to stimulate the clitoris without direct contact.
The Premium Eco is the same size and shape of the Premium, but opts for an outer shell made from Biolene, a bio-based and apparently biodegradable alternative to ABS plastic. Where possible, the toy is made from recyclable components, can be fully disassembled for this and even features a rechargeable battery which can be replaced by the user (after around 300 charges), which prolongs the lifespan of the rest of the unit. Usually when a sex toy’s rechargeable battery dies, the entire toy needs to be disposed of and replaced, so I would really like to see this catch on, both from a waste and cost perspective. The Premium Eco still uses the same silicone stimulator heads as the rest of the toys in the range.
Presentation
The packaging and presentation of the Premium Eco has a kind of rustic aesthetic going on to tie in with the whole “eco” theme.
All packaging is made from recycled materials and there is no plastic to be found! Instead of the clear plastic viewing window seen in most of their packaging, Womanizer have opted for an outer sleeve with a picture of the toy and some pretty foliage to accompany some blurb about the product’s planet friendly properties.
Inside the main brown cardboard box, you get the toy, which is already contained within its unbleached cotton storage bag, a quick start guide and more thorough instruction manual, a USB charging cable, which is a lot shorter than usual to save waste, and a second silicone head.
I love the choice of cotton for the bag instead of the usual polyester, and I much prefer the shorter charging cable as its a lot tidier. The beige and pink colour scheme also makes it easy to pick from the sprawling mess of black and white cables I’ve amassed over the years!
Appearance
So. I’m going to be a bit petty here.
Pink sex toys are a bug bear of mine, for the simple fact that they are so common. I don’t personally hate the colour, I just think it’s horribly overused.
Of all the colours Womanizer could have picked for the Premium Eco, I cannot for the life of me understand why they’ve chosen pink. It isn’t even a particularly pleasant shade and I think it cheapens the overall appearance.
Considering the whole “eco” theme, I can’t help but fantasise about all the other possibilities that would have made more sense. A pretty shade of mint? Or perhaps a sophisticated muted olive green? Maybe even a delicate peach… just anything but bloody pink!
/rant
While on the topic of its looks, I’m going to just say it: I don’t care for the Biolene outer shell. I know this material is the primary selling point for the Premium Eco, and again this is probably very subjective, but I just don’t vibe with the overall finish.
It feels just like regular ABS – a bit cheap. The very prominent seams (which are not present on the sleek, silicone coated Premium) are another bummer. I appreciate they are there so the unit can be disassembled by the user, but I think they make the toy look less sturdy, and (again) therefore cheaper, than it really is.
Functions
The Premium Eco’s functions are stripped back to leave just the necessities. The AutoPilot mode has been done away with completely, as has the separate power button and three LED lights which indicate battery level which are all present on the regular Premium.
What’s left is a simple 2 button + and – interface to turn the toy on, off and increase/decrease intensity, and a single LED light to indicate the status of the battery. Not a bell or whistle in sight.
Thankfully, the Premium Eco has kept the stand out feature of the original: Smart Silence Technology. When the toy is powered on, it only activates when in close contact with the body, and then switches to standby mode when moved away. It’s genius. If you prefer to be a stealthy wanker or, like me, find fumbling to turn a noisy toy off post orgasm irritating and a mood killer, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without this feature!
My experience
In use, the Premium Eco feels almost identical to the Premium.
It starts at a whisper, gets a bit noisy around the fifth setting and then positively roars when at its highest intensity – this is why I love Smart Silence so much! The lower settings feel like soft suction and powerful upper settings have a rumbly quality which produces a sort of tapping sensation which awakens the internal clitoral structure, leading to deeper feeling and longer orgasms. Drool.
Comparing the two side by side, I feel like my Premium Eco has a slightly crisper, aggressive edge to its stimulation, which makes its lower settings feel minutely more powerful. I suspect this to be more down to my original Premium being a bit more well-loved rather than a difference in technology.
Reliability wise, I have had my Premium Eco unexpectedly appear to drain its battery in storage. So far this has been a one off event, but one I feel is noteworthy, owing to the replaceable battery being one of the toy’s unique selling points. I also miss the three LED battery indicator system on the regular Premium.
So, sensation and noise wise, very little has changed. If you like air pulse clitoral toys, the Premium and Premium Eco are certainly where it’s at! My clit will no longer settle for less.
The takeaway
Why pick the Premium Eco over the Premium when the price is the same*?
Well this depends entirely on how much you subscribe to the Premium Eco’s actual eco capabilities and whether you can see yourself actually changing the battery or dismantling it for recycling… if you can even find somewhere that will recycle it!
The toy is great, but only worth it if you REALLY believe in this.
The whole thing is a nice idea and I would love to see more research invested and more plastic alternatives and easily recyclable materials used within the sex toy industry, but at this point I’m still sceptical as to how this will work in practice. It’s a bit too good to be true. Realistically, when they die, the vast majority of units are going to end up in the regular trash like any other toy.
The original Premium has the additional Autopilot mode and is fully waterproof which I personally would prefer to have when investing the best part of £170 in a single product!
*Womanizer have just released the Premium 2 which features an improved Autopilot and and extra 2 settings of intensity and retails for the same as the Premium Eco. My official ruling would be to buy that one!
Update: 22/06/2022:
Six months in and I just wanted to update – the battery life of the Premium Eco is poor. It isn’t obvious when its battery is low as it just has the one LED which is not visible in use, so it has died on me one too many times now. If it is not used regularly, the battery completely drains in storage within a couple of weeks.
Even if you’re the most devout eco-warrior out there, this green-washed product is one to skip.
Womanizer Premium Eco RRP: £169*
Tech Specs:
- Charging time: 120 minutes
- Run time: 240 minutes* (see update above)
- Features: 12 intensities, Smart Silence Technology
- Materials: Biolene shell with changeable silicone head (multiple sizes)
- Splashproof
- USB rechargeable
Pros:
- More eco-conscious production and materials than usual
- Replaceable battery theoretically prolongs overall lifespan of the toy
- Body-safe materials
- Feels just as good as the Womanizer Premium
- Still has the brilliant Smart Silence function
- Shorter USB charging cable is more convenient
- Nice cotton storage bag
- 5 year warranty
Cons:
- While designed to be recyclable, it may be hard to find to find facilities that can actually recycle it!
- Realistically, most will end up in the regular trash
- Not fully waterproof, so not suitable for use under water
- The colour
- The Biolene shell doesn’t feel very robust
- Expensive, and the same price as the new updated Womanizer Premium 2
Buy the Premium Eco (£169) & Premium 2 (£169) direct from Womanizer
Or find the Premium Eco (£169.99) & Premium 2 (£169.99) at Lovehoney (UK)
Remember you can save 10% at Lovehoney (UK) with code HONEYX10
This product was gifted in my personal life and I had no obligation to write this review, I just wanted to!
This post is not sponsored, but affiliate links have been used throughout – please consider purchasing through them to support the blog!
*RRPs accurate at the time of writing.
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