For many years, battery vibrators were manufactured only as novelty toys. That meant that they tended to break easily and weren’t designed with sexual anatomy or pleasure in mind. Manufacturers generally didn’t understand how people actually used their products and they knew that people would be too embarrassed to try to return a defective item, so they had little incentive to improve their designs.
From the very beginning, Good Vibrations would replace defective items and passed feedback along to the manufacturers, which helped them develop better designs. We also encouraged smaller companies to create toys that our customers were asking for. As more women became sex toy purchasers, a shift that we helped inspire, manufacturers discovered that women weren’t nearly as shy about giving feedback and demanding better quality products.
In the last several years, we’ve seen more premium vibrator companies enter the market. These models tend to be much more durable, quieter, and reliable. Many of them are also rechargeable and offer multiple functions or vibration patterns! Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re the only choice and the less expensive models are a great way to experiment with sex toys. But if you love vibrators and you’re looking for something new, check out some of our favorites, from makers like Fun Factory, Je Joue, and LELO.