By The Fleshlight is one of the best selling male sex toys, so combining it with technology to create a completely new experience was a natural extension. The result is the Fleshlight Launch, a venture between Fleshlight and Kiiroo, that promises manual and interactive options (VR or 2D), or can be used in conjunction with other teledildonic devices.
But with a $200/£200 asking price for the Launch (sans-Fleshlight), it’s by no means a cheap purchase for the bedroom, so we’ve put together a full Fleshlight Launch review for you to help you make up your mind.
If you don’t own a Fleshlight already, the version that includes the ‘STU’ (Stamina Training Unit) is currently priced at around £225 ($280 – correct at the time of writing). This is the review model that turned up that we tested – we’ll be adding to this review over time as we test it with new devices and services.
- What Fleshlights can I use with the Launch? The Launch is Compatible with standard size Fleshlight toys, but not the Turbo, Ice, Flight, Go (this will be compatible in the future) and Quickshot models.
It’s compatible with the standard Black, Pearl, Silver, Blue and Gold Fleshlight cases. - How big is the Fleshlight Launch?12.75 inches / 32.3 cm
- How heavy is the Fleshlight Launch?1.478 kg without a Fleshlight inside. Around 2KG with a Fleshlight.
Fleshlight Launch Review: Quick Rating
Fleshlight Launch
Product Name: Fleshlight Launch
Product Description: The Fleshlight Launch is a fully-automatic hands-free masturbator - and currently our highest-rated sextech device for men. With both a manual mode, and an interactive option that syncs with content on your computer or phone, the Fleshlight Launch is a whole lot of fun, even if it is a bit big.
Price: 199
Currency: $
- Ease of Use
- Experience
- Battery
- Innovation
- Value
Probably the best sextech device available for men today
If there was no interactive or VR option for the Launch, it probably wouldn’t quite deliver enough value for that $200 asking price for some people. If you’re happy to watch interactive content too in the future, you won’t be left disappointed.
Overall
4.4User Review
( votes)Pros
- Great experience
- Immersive when used with interactive content
- Offers a genuinely different porn experience
- Strong battery
- Easy to setup and use
Cons
- Large, and therefore indiscreet on size
- Very heavy in comparison to alternatives
FLESHLIGHT LAUNCH REVIEW: DESIGN
The very first thing you’ll probably think when the Launch arrives is damnnn that thing is BIG. And it is. Officially, it measures up at 12.75-inches, and its weight is pretty significant too. No wonder it isn’t listed anywhere (check out below to see the exact weight on the scales) – if you struggle with weight or holding large items, this probably isn’t for you.
Around the base of the Launch is a soft rubber section that presses up against you, and the rest of it, frankly, looks like a huge wine cooler – at least until you put a Fleshlight inside. While it’s an undeniable celebration of hard black plastic, the Launch itself has clearly had a lot of consideration put into its design. Subtle? No, not at all. But not ugly either.
The overall design is given some relief by a silver section that runs around the device – the touch sensitive strip (on each side) are the black ridge you see above it in the image below.
To put a Fleshlight in the Launch base, you just take off the cap and screw it in a couple of times in a clockwise direction. Make sure you get this right, as you probably don’t want it shaking use while you’re using it.
That said, the Launch holds a Fleshlight in place firmly, so there’s no worries once it’s locked in.
FLESHLIGHT LAUNCH REVIEW: GETTING SET UP
Before using the Fleshlight Launch, you should make sure it’s fully charged – there are no battery complaints here, but it’d be disappointing for your first experience to fall flat. It should arrive pre-charged though. Assuming that’s the case, you just need to pop in a Fleshlight, twist it a couple of times clockwise and it’ll lock into place.
Now grab your phone and download Feel Connect for Android or iOS, then follow the steps for pairing your Launch with your phone. You’ll need to do this if you want to use interactive content.
If not, switching on the Launch by holding down the power button for a few seconds will fire it into life. Then hold down the Bluetooth button until the light turns off; once that’s happened, press the button again to activate manual mode.
Once this is complete, swiping up or down the left side of the Launch controls the speed, while the slider on the right controls the length of the stroke.
If you paired with your app and want to watch interactive content, you’re also going to need a free account at FeelMe. Once logged in, hit the Menu button to reveal the All Channels option. Click that, then select FeelMe Free for access to some free full-length test content. There are a few videos here – four, correct at time of writing – that let you see how the interactive porn works with the Fleshlight Launch.
Any more, you’ll have to pay for, which works on a daily rental basis, or by allowing you to subscribe to a single Channel (eg. Badoink for interactive VR content, etc.).
Oh, and don’t forget to lube it before use, whichever mode you choose. Battery life isn’t stated, and depends on the speed of thrust and whether you’re connected to Bluetooth, but it’s a solid hour in our testing.
FLESHLIGHT LAUNCH REVIEW: THE EXPERIENCE
In testing the Fleshlight Launch, we’ve not yet used it with VR content, so we’ll update here once we have. What that leaves is manual mode and interactive content.
Design and setup is all well and good, but the raison d’être of the Fleshlight Launch is the experience, not the aesthetic. And that’s where the Fleshlight Launch has both delivered and missed so far in my testing.
If you want to look at it in the most cynical way possible, it’s a ‘smart’ champagne bucket with a Fleshlight inside that means you don’t have to move your hands. That’s both pretty cynical, and pretty lazy though.
Consequently, for me, the ‘manual’ mode (ie. not interactive content) feels a little pointless. It’s literally replicating what you could do without the Launch just as easily, and with considerably less hassle. Again, this thing is pretty huge.
However, interactive content is a completely different experience to the manual mode, and I could imagine it being even more enjoyable if you were using in conjunction with a partner’s device. You could argue that interactive mode is still replicating an action you could do manually, and it technically is, but because you’re not in control of the length of stroke or the speed, it feels genuinely different.
There is one small glitch, which may be specific to my setup, but when using the Launch (connected to my phone via Bluetooth) and listening to an interactive video through Bluetooth headphones there was a high-pitched whining. Plugging in stopped the noise though.
Exactly how enjoyable each video is depends on an interesting factor – how well the interactive elements have been coded to the content. The moments when the on screen action match the depth and speed of the Launch is when it’s at its most convincing, and fun. Conversely, poor content will hurt the experience, and you’re at the mercy of producers with what they make – right now, it’s all fairly mainstream, as you’d expect for a new niche.
Not having combined the Launch with VR just yet (we’ll update when we have), I can imagine it being an entirely immersive experience, but not one without problems potentially.
Put simply, the Launch is a big device (we mentioned that already, right?) and combined with strapping a VR headset – and maybe even Bluetooth headphones – I’m pretty sure that the overall picture is one that feels a little ridiculous. That’s not really a novelty for male sex toys though, let alone sextech, but you will be hoping no one rings your doorbell.
FLESHLIGHT LAUNCH REVIEW: FINAL THOUGHTS
We’ve not fully run the Fleshlight Launch through its paces yet, but what we’ve seen so far is encouraging – provided you’re happy to keep spending more money on content once you’ve bought the device.
For people considering it purely for use in manual mode, it’s a bit of a reach too far – there’s novelty initially, for sure, but probably not enough to warrant $200. Interactive content is a different story, however.
Noise isn’t a huge factor considering the up-to 180 thrusts per-minute and overall dimensions – working out somewhere around the volume and approximate noise of an inkjet printer being used at home. It certainly wasn’t loud enough to warrant concerns about being too indiscreet.
Yes, it’s large, and yes it’s a little heavy, but provided you have no specific issues with that, it’s not a weight or size you’ll actually notice when you’re using it, and that’s what really matters. It also has the benefit of being wireless, where some of its rivals need mains power while in use.
For interactive content, however, it’s a genuinely new porn watching experience, and considering how much most people have seen nowadays, that’s quite an achievement.
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