review: MANTA from Fun Factory
the manta: is it special? is it good? is it worth $139.99? (yes, yes, and yes)
MANTA by Fun Factory
Intended Purpose: Marketed as a "penis" focused vibrating stroker
Cost: $139.99 (Fun Factory website price)
Material: Silicone with hard plastic handle
Motor: Rechargeable with magnetic charging USB cable. Fun Factory lists a 6-8 hour charging time for 40-120 minutes of battery life depending on power settings used. My Manta is about a year and a half old and its charging/battery time are still in line with Fun Factory's estimates.
Waterproof: Submersible under water
Lubes: Water or oil lube, no silicone lube
Clean: Wash in warm water with hand soap. This is a silicone that will attract all the lint, dust, and hair in your house.
Colors: "Deep sea" blue, "moss" green, and black
Here's a fun fact: I'm always a little grumpy when an expensive "luxury" vibe actually does it for me. The thing is that I think there are a few select "luxury" brands and their higher-priced products that recieve the vast majority of attention from media (take a look at Buzzfeed or HuffPost, it's like the same three companies in every recommendation list), sex toy reviewers (can I say "influencers"?), and "boutique" sex toy retail. Obviously in the grand scheme of the world this isn't the biggest issue facing humanity but I do think this focus on the ~~~nice~~~ brands can present consumers with a skewed vision of the market leading them to miss out on some really excellent vibes that are actually more affordable. At this point I've got such a stick up my ass about it that whenever I find myself enjoying a vibe that costs more than $50 I feel a bit reluctant to admit it, as if I'm betraying my faith in lower priced toys. However, if there's one higher end company that I'm willing to let myself get excited about it's gonna be Fun Factory, the German company whose designs, solid warranties, and reliable manufacturing actually seem to justify their price. With the MANTA they've put out yet another expensive toy that I have to admit that I love.
Broadly I break vibrators specifically marketed for cocks into two categories: vibrating masturbation sleeves (essentially your average masturbation sleeve with a vibrator added on) and vibrating strokers, the category for the MANTA. Vibrating strokers typically have some sort of curve or "wings" that are designed to cradle the dick. Now historically I've found vibrating strokers to be boring as shit but the MANTA? Well I like the MANTA and I think it's all thanks to a few notable design choices that set the MANTA apart from other vibrating strokers.
from left to right: MANTA (Fun Factory), PULSE SOLO ESSENTIAL (Hot Octopuss), Element MS (Sir Richard’s)
While the MANTA does use a central motor with two wings like the vibrating strokers from Sir Richard's, Hot Octopuss, and Apollo, it distinguishes itself from these other strokers by using narrower wings and a more compact body. The other winged vibrating strokers feel more like imitations of masturbation sleeves with a body that runs along the length of the shaft and wide wings. style vibe a choice that I think makes the vibrations feel diffused along the surface area of the toy with the wings more of a distraction than anything else for me.
In general the MANTA feels like Fun Factor is referencing a more traditional vibrator where the motor doesn't need to send the vibrations throughout all that surface area. While the wings of the MANTA do pick up some of the vibrations, I think their wing design helps the vibrations from becoming too diffused as it spreads out into them. The wings are firm and with the cradle at the head of the MANTA they work to keep the vibrator in place on the rounded surface of my glans' sweet spot (I like it on the frenulum).
I want to really draw attention the MANTA's dick cradling abilities: Most of my favorite external vibrators were designed and marketed for (cis) women and they often have a rounded head that can easily slip off the rounded head of my dick. With the MANTA I get to have an external vibe that's targeted like my usual external vibrators but because it's designed to work with the shape of a dick I don't have to deal with the frustration of trying to hold it in place.
Fun Factory suggests a few different ways to use the MANTA, including using it as a stroking toy by running it up and down the shaft of the cock. To help with stroking the inside of the wings are textured with shallow ridges designed to hold lube and keep things slippery when rubbing the MANTA's dry silicone head along skin (the silicone is particularly drag-y so it makes sense that you might want lube here). Stroking isn't the most interesting thing for me, but in the interest of scientific pursuit I did give it a few tries and it seems like it could work for people who enjoy that kind of thing. I prefer using the MANTA by simply holding it firmly against the bottom side of my glans or laying down on it missionary style with my hips pressing down on the bed to hold the MANTA in place on my cock.
As for the vibrations the MANTA has the strong motor with deep vibes that I expect from Fun Factory. I'm big into powerful vibes so more often than not I just use a vibrator's highest power/strength settings. Yet with the MANTA I'm not only into their middle and highest strength settings: I sometimes use the lowest setting. Fun Factory does a decent range of low to high strength settings with at least a touch of rumbliness throughout but people who like only the lightest sensation from their vibrator may find themselves overwhelmed before they even get to the middle strength setting.
The promotional material for the MANTA advertises six strength settings along with six pulsing patterns. Honestly I'm not entirely sure I can identify the exact settings they're referring to. When I try to count the different settings I can easily identify four steady strength settings but then we move into it a lot of different pulse patterns that blend together at which point I get bored and give up on counting. The motor is like really rumbly so maybe some of the settings that I think are pulse patterns are just the throttle of the motor? Either way I'm not complaining.
Final note on the settings: Normally I skip pulse patterns but the MANTA does fall into that rare category of vibrators whose pulse patterns I actually find myself using, although mostly when I'm in the mood to be teased and denied.
Along with their familiar motor, Fun Factory also gave the MANTA their usual button layout. The bright red "fun button" turns it on or off (to turn it on you do have to hold the button for a few seconds which helps it from accidentally turning on when jostled in your suitcase or sex toy drawer) and cycling through the settings is easy with the plus and minus buttons.
Something that I don't think I realized until working on this review is that the buttons are also charging indicators. As the MANTA charges the buttons will progressively switch from a flickering light to a solid one, letting you know how charged it is. If you want to get the maximum amount of battery life then you can wait until all three buttons are lit up but if you just need ten or twenty minutes of vibrations then you only need to wait for the first button to turn solid (this is based on my experience as a woman with uh basically no impulse control.)
The fact that the MANTA is marketed for (cis) men may deter some from approaching it, and while I understand that uneasiness I will say that their actual packaging is as close to non-gendered as sex toy packaging gets, although the same can't be said for their promotional materials. For people like myself who aren't cis men but do use sex toys marketed to cis men we probably already have some experience dealing with the complicated emotions that come from this kind of cisgender-focused marketing. (Note: I really thought I had saved the packaging and apparently I didn't! So no photos of the packaging to demonstrate my point. Just believe me I guess.)
Obviously I'm into the MANTA but is this toy worth the $139.99? This is as close to a full out "yes" that you'll get from me on any expensive sex toy. I'm not going to say, "oh fuck yes you've got to run out and get it, it's worth every penny," because this is a substantial amount of money to spend on a vibrator that not everyone will love (no sex toy is universal and anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something, princess). I am willing to say that Fun Factory has my trust when it comes to investment toys that will last for longer than a year. My MANTA is going on two years or so and it hasn't had any notable loss of strength or battery life yet. In the worst case scenario they do offer a solid 2-year warranty if you still have your proof of purchase.
Normally I like to have comparable products in a lower price range when speaking positively about a pricey toy so I feel weird admitting I don't have any experience with anything similar, although the Big Gay Review did enjoy the SATISFYER MEN WAND (yes I know, Satisfyer Men Wand is a hilariously bad name), which is a somewhat similar design for around $55.
VERDICT: If you're looking for a nice strong vibrator that's designed for dicks and you're comfortable investing $139.99 then the MANTA from Fun Factory is worth checking out
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xoxo girltrash
disclaimer note thing: I received my MANTA as a gift for personal use, not for review.