This is our guide on how we rate our toys for noisiness and why quiet is not always best.
No one wants a super-loud vibrator, but any product with a motor will never be completely silent (despite what some vibrator packaging claims). If your vibe requires batteries or power from the electricity supply, it will make some sound, even if it's just the slightest hum.
Is the sound a vibe makes important to you? Do you live with family? Have thin walls? Kids in the next room?
On each product page, below the product description, you'll find the toy's Tech Spec. The Tech Spec is where you'll find the practical knowledge you might need to make an informed decision about your new toy.
We sound test each vibrator at full power with an accurate digital decibel meter and group it into one of the following categories:
Vibrator Volume
• Almost Silent - Vibrators rated as 'almost silent' are very quiet. On a low frequency, they're unlikely to be heard from outside the duvet.
•Quiet - This group of vibes have a slight hum but isn't audible from across the room.
•Medium - These vibrators are similar to a mobile phone vibrating; unlikely to be heard from the next room.
• Loud (But Worth It!)-This group of sex toys makes a vibrating noise that may be faintly audible from the next room. Our recommendation for these vibes is: Turn up the music and enjoy that power!
Please don't take these vibrator volume ratings at absolute face value; after all, some folks have thicker duvets and walls than others!
Rather than give you a random numerical sound scoring, we figure it's better to give you some sense of the sound a vibrator will make, so that you know exactly what to expect when you excitedly rip open that package from Sh!
