Vibration frequency affects how a wand’s vibrations feel.
Slow, low-frequency, “rumbly” vibrations feel deeper and reach more of the internal clitoral network. Whereas fast, high-frequency, “buzzy” vibrations feel more concentrated at the external region of the clit.
Many people have a strong preference for vibrations landing somewhere along the spectrum from extremely rumbly to extremely buzzy. Since most people prefer rumbly vibrations, we rate these wands higher in our scoring system.
So if you want a very rumbly wand, simply choose one with a high score.
But if you prefer a moderately rumbly or even a buzzy wand, you’ll want to dig into the results of our tests more. A high score does not necessarily indicate a “better” wand vibrator. It indicates a “more rumbly” wand.
For every wand, we measure the vibration frequency of each power level (example below). We share its Frequency vs Power graphs and other useful metrics (Median Frequency and Average Power per Frequency) to help you choose a wand that meets your preferences.
We also provide suggestions if you don’t know your preferences yet.
Note: This article is more dense than usual on our site. If you don’t want to read a lot, and prefer more rumbly wands like most people do – just pick a wand with a high Rumbliness Score in the table below. If you enjoy tons of info, tests, and measurements read on!
Test Results Table
When It Matters
Vibration frequency always matters in the sense that it affects your experience. Our bodies’ cells actually detect and respond to vibrations differently in different frequency ranges. Two equally powerful wands simply feel different if one is high frequency and the other is low frequency.
Some people have a strong preference for vibrations on one side of the frequency spectrum (usually the rumbly side), while others enjoy both.
Some of my favorite vibrators are extremely high-frequency (like the Lovense Hyphy). While other favorites are extremely rumbly like the lower and mid levels of the BMS PalmPower Extreme, Magic Wand Plus, and Magic Wand Rechargeable.
If you have a strong preference, the results of our tests will help you find a good fit.
If you don’t know your preferences, I suggest choosing a wand on the rumbly side since most people prefer that, but not too extreme. Pick a wand with a Median Frequency between 60 and 75 Hz (what we consider the “Moderately Rumbly” range).
The Viben Sultry, Magic Wand Mini, Magic Wand Plus, and Magic Wand Rechargeable would be great choices to start with. Each has lovely, rumbly settings with great power.
What We Mean By Rumbly and Buzzy Vibrations
So you can understand our results, it’s important to know how we define the terms “rumbly” and “buzzy” and understand how we measure vibration frequency.
If you just want to skip to our tests results and recommendations click here.
The term “rumbly” does not have a precise, agreed-upon definition in the sex toy industry. But it’s generally used to describe lower-frequency vibrations which feel deeper. Whereas “buzzy” is generally used to describe higher-frequency vibrations which are more surface-level.
But lower or higher than what?
A frequency one person considers “extremely rumbly” another may consider only “moderately rumbly.” So that our results and language have a consistent, precise meaning we define the frequency ranges like this:
- Extremely Rumbly: Vibration frequency less than or equal to 60 Hz
- Moderately Rumbly: Vibration frequency greater than 60 Hz and less than or equal to 75 Hz
- Neutral: Vibration frequency greater than 75 Hz and less than or equal to 90 Hz
- Moderately Buzzy: Vibration frequency greater than 90 Hz and less than or equal to 105 Hz
- Extremely Buzzy: Vibration frequency greater than or equal to 105 Hz
These ranges are based on my own interpretation of which frequencies feel extremely rumbly and so on. And while I consider a 65 Hz frequency “Moderately Rumbly” you may think it feels “Extremely Rumbly” or “Neutral.” But the purpose of these ranges is to establish consistency – so you can always tell whether a particular wand is more or less rumbly than another.
For every wand, we measure the vibration frequency of all the wand’s power levels. At each power level, we measure the vibration frequency by pressing the wand vibrator to my body, using a mic to record the audio, and using Adobe Audition’s FFT to analyze the frequencies of the wand’s vibrations.
There are actually infinitely many frequencies produced on any power level. But as you can see in the image below of the Doxy Die Cast vibrating on its lowest setting, there is a clear spike near the 35 Hz frequency where most of its energy is concentrated.
This frequency with the maximum amount of energy is what we define as the wand’s “vibration frequency” at that power level. So the Doxy Die Cast’s lowest setting has a frequency of 35 Hz (see image above). We use this frequency as a measure to describe how rumbly or buzzy the wand vibrator feels at that power level using the frequency ranges we defined above.
We used each wand substantially to subjectively verify that when this frequency is lower, the wand truly feels “more rumbly.”
So that you can understand a wand vibrator’s characteristics across its full power range we provide a graph of its power vs frequency at each power setting.
We also provide the Median Frequency for a quick glance at the part of the frequency spectrum where a wand’s power levels are centered. For instance, a wand with a median frequency of 102 Hz (like the Doxy Original below) has its power levels centered around the moderately buzzy range. Although it has some rumbly levels, most of its settings feel buzzy!
Lastly, since the term “rumbly” doesn’t have a precise, agreed-upon definition, when some people describe a vibrator as “rumbly” they may really mean that it’s both low-frequency and has impactful power. They would not consider a 50 Hz vibrator with soft vibrations just as “rumbly” as a 50 Hz vibrator with strong vibrations.
But we describe both these vibrators as “extremely rumbly” because they have the same frequency. We say one is soft (power) and extremely rumbly (frequency <= 60 Hz), and the other is strong and extremely rumbly.
For people who care about both rumbliness and strength, we provide another measure: Average Power Per Frequency.
This score rewards wands that pack solid vibration strength while remaining more rumbly. A wand that is weak scores lower, even if it’s rumbly. Likewise, a wand that is super-powerful, but very buzzy also scores lower.
This metric rewards wands that balance both power and rumbliness.
Our Test Results & Recommendations
Frequency vs Power Graphs
For every wand, we measure the vibration frequency of all the wand’s power levels using the method described above. We also subjectively rate each wand’s vibration power (how intense it feels) on each setting. You can read about our Vibration Power tests here.
Every power level of a wand vibrates at a different frequency. And vibration frequency always increases (becomes buzzier) as you increase the power. If you want to understand more about why that is, this motor manufacturer has an excellent resource on how vibrating motors work.
Since frequency increases when you turn up the power, a wand may be extremely rumbly on low power, but extremely buzzy on high power. Or its frequency may increase more gradually and still feel extremely rumbly even on its highest power.
So that you can understand a wand vibrator’s rumbliness across its full power range we provide a graph of its power vs frequency at each setting. We publish each wand’s graph in its full product review.
These graphs can help you choose a wand with a vibration profile you enjoy.
Below are examples from three wands with very different vibration profiles to show how you can compare wands using these graphs: the Lovense Domi, Doxy Die Cast, and Viben Obsession. They’re plotted on the same graph for easy comparison.
Notice how the Lovense Domi begins at a low power level (0.9 out of 10), and as it increases power it stays quite rumbly. Its top vibration power is 7.7 (out of 10) which is very strong (stronger than I typically use) and is only 64 Hz (moderately rumbly). Every other power level is less than 60 Hz (extremely rumbly).
So the Domi has excellent power range with most of its power levels feeling extremely rumbly.
On the other hand, the Doxy Die Cast begins with a low-power, extremely rumbly setting. But its second power level jumps all the way from a strength of 2.0 to 7.3 and is moderately rumbly (70 Hz). The remaining 5 power levels are all extremely strong and range from neutral (87 Hz) to extremely buzzy (117 Hz) with the top three power levels all in the extremely buzzy range.
So the Doxy Die Cast covers a broad power range and a broad frequency range – but most of its settings are strong and buzzy.
I find the first two power levels on the Doxy Die Cast feel incredible, and I use them often. I almost never use the top 5 levels because I can’t handle that much power at an extremely buzzy frequency. But the first two power levels are enough for me!
Lastly, the Viben Obsession has only three power levels. Its power range only goes from 7.7 to 8.5 so they’re all very strong – no soft power levels! And the frequency ranges from 95 Hz (moderately buzzy) to 137 Hz (extremely buzzy). It begins moderately buzzy and only becomes buzzier from there! No rumbly levels. (This also happens to be one of my least favorite wands).
Choose a wand with settings in your preferred frequency and power range. If you already have a wand and we’ve reviewed it, it may help to compare our graphs of the wand you’re considering to the wand you already own.
Median Frequency
A wand’s Median Vibration Frequency tells us what part of the frequency range (extremely rumbly to extremely buzzy) the wand’s power levels are centered around. This gives a fast idea of what you can generally expect a wand’s vibrations to feel like without needing to dig into its full Frequency vs Power graphs.
It’s also useful for quickly comparing whether one wand will generally feel more or less buzzy than another.
Compare these two wands as an example: the Doxy Die Cast has a median frequency of 102 Hz (moderately buzzy), and the Magic Wand Rechargeable has a median frequency of 59 Hz (extremely rumbly).
This tells us the Magic Wand Rechargeable generally feels more rumbly than the Doxy Die Cast. And when you look at the power vs frequency graphs, you can see that while the Doxy Die Cast has a couple power levels on the rumbly side of the spectrum, most of its power levels are on the buzzy side. Whereas 3 of the 4 Magic Wand Rechargeable settings are on the rumbly side, with its top power still in the neutral range.
Because the median frequency does not take vibration power into account, this metric can also be useful if you prefer softer vibrations – since high power is not rewarded in this metric. A gentle rumbly wand can have a similar median frequency to a powerful rumbly wand.
For instance, consider the Dame Com and Romp Flip’s power vs frequency graphs below. Both wands’ vibration settings are entirely in the extremely rumbly range and each has a similar median frequency (44 Hz and 43 Hz).
So while the Dame Com is stronger than the Romp Flip, their median frequency shows that they’re both similarly rumbly. And while I find the Romp Flip too gentle for me, if you prefer rumbly vibrations but are easily overwhelmed by strength – it may be a good fit for you.
Use the Median Frequency as a way to gauge general rumbliness and buzziness without regard to power. When you find some wands in the frequency range you like, then check out their vibration power and choose the one in your preferred power range.
Average Power Per Frequency
This metric tells us which wands have both strong power and rumbly vibrations.
For instance, the Dame Com scores higher than the Romp Flip even though both wands’ vibration powers are entirely in the extremely rumbly range and their Median Frequencies are similar. The Dame Com scores higher because its power is stronger while remaining just as rumbly as the Romp Flip! So it has more power per amount of rumbliness.
Similarly, even though the Doxy Die Cast is the most powerful wand vibrator we’ve tried (10 out of 10 vibration strength), it scores lower in this metric than the Lovense Domi 2 (7.7 out of 10 vibration strength).
This is because the high powers of the Doxy Die Cast are extremely buzzy. Whereas the Lovense Domi still gets quite strong and remains almost entirely in the extremely rumbly range, even on its high power levels.
If you want both power and rumbliness, choose a wand with a high rating in this metric.
Limitations and Testing Decisions
Our testing process has limitations and potential sources of error that can affect the results.
The biggest limitation with simply using our rumbliness score to choose a wand is that “rumbly” and “buzzy” are not well-defined, precise terms.
So we may consider a wand rumbly that others do not. When some people say “rumbly” they only mean that a vibrator is “low-frequency.” Whereas others use “rumbly” to mean that a vibrator is both “low-frequency” and the vibrations have “impactful power.”
We outline precisely what “rumbly” and “buzzy” mean in the context of our test results here, so the terms always have a precise, useful meaning in our reviews.
Additionally, we provide the Median Frequency (which is based only on frequency) and the Average Power Per Frequency (which incorporates both power and frequency) so that both groups can quickly find helpful information for them.
The biggest potential source of error is that our Frequency vs Power Graphs and our Average Power Per Frequency rating both incorporate vibration power (how intense the vibrations feel). And while we objectively measure vibration frequency (how rumbly or buzzy the vibrations feel), we do not have a way to objectively measure how intense the vibrations feel to a person.
The way a wand interacts with your body to feel intense goes beyond simply measuring the wand’s vibration amplitude and frequency. As a result, we subjectively rate the vibration power, so our power ratings rely on how each wand feels to me. You can read more about how we test and rate vibration power and its limitations here.
Another testing decision we made that can introduce some error is to press the wand to our bodies when measuring vibration frequency, rather than hold them in the open air. When the vibrator is pressed against you, it transfers its energy to your body.
Since it’s losing energy to you by vibrating your body, the vibration frequency is lower than when held in the open air. But we chose this method because the measurements we obtain are more realistic to how the wand actually feels. In actual use, you’re pressing the wand to your body!
But as a result, the measurements are sensitive to how much pressure I apply against my body (though typically only by a couple of Hz). To minimize this sensitivity, I try to keep the pressure applied between different wands as consistent as possible, but surely there are slight variations.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there are quite a few wands with deep, rumbly vibrations from soft power to high power. Ultimately, the choice between rumbly or buzzy vibrations is a personal preference.
If you want as rumbly as you can get, the Lelo Smart Wand 2 (Large) and Lovense Domi are great options.
If you’re not sure of your preferences, most people prefer vibrations on the rumbly side of the spectrum. I suggest choosing a wand with a Median Frequency in the moderately rumbly range: rumbly, but not too extreme. The Viben Sultry, Magic Wand Mini, Magic Wand Plus, and Magic Wand Rechargeable among others are great choices with good power and rumbly vibrations.
