For those of us with penises and who are also into sextoys, there are usually two different types of them.
I’m referring to sextoys, of course—and not what you happen to have stashed in your slacks.
There are sleeves and what I like to call “anything but sleeves.” And for the former, arguably the top of the heap is the Max 2 from Lovense: a pleasurable, versatile, and gloriously interactive (i.e., “smart”) device all but guaranteed to make you feel all kinds of good.
And also from Lovense is their Gush, which, as they correctly say, is their “Flexible & Hands-free Glans Massager” as well as a toy I’ve come to, if not love, then certainly lust after.
This begs the question: if I had to put these fine examples of penile sextech craftsmanship, which of the two would I say does the most excellent job of stimulating my appendage?
So let’s take a deep dive into Lovense’s Max 2 and the Gush and, along the way, consider their various benefits and their drawbacks, if they have any, concluding with my final verdict on which you should buy.
All about Lovense’s Max 2
It’s for not one or two or several good reasons why the Max 2 is widely felt to be the pinnacle of sleeve masturbators.
Leading with Lovense’s dedication to building a sextoy that doesn’t stop at merely vibrating or takes the lower road of skipping any motorized functions at all to instead employ a notably high-powered mechanism to provide a wide assortment of sensations—including contracting around the shaft of the penis and adjusting, compliments of a handy little valve on the base of the unit, how much it sucks.
Lovense also didn’t skimp on the sleeve part of their amazing sleeve vibrator. By using a combination of well-thought-out texturing and sensually pleasing materials, they’ve given us a variety of wholly different sensations to discover—putting the Max 2 very close to the endlessly elusive goal of feeling, not just as good but perhaps even better than the real thing.
And since it’s a Lovense toy, it comes chock full of teledildonic smarts. I know what you might be thinking, as these days it feels like every sexual device is doing the same—and unfortunately, it seems too many times like the companies making them avoided putting any serious brainpower into making sure they actually work.
But Lovense did, and their products do—fabulously, wonderful, and arousingly!
Which is the reason I keep yelling from the rooftops about why Lovense should be considered the absolute benchmark when it comes to sex tech integration and interactivity.
Their Lovense Remote app, available for Android or iPhones, and as a PC or Apple desktop version, is insanely well designed and a real pleasure to use, from connecting a toy to it via Bluetooth, linking two or more of them together, creating your own vibrate or similar arousing sensations playlists and (if you want) putting then out there for others to enjoy, feeling as well as seeing the action in special adult videos or taking a trip to the otherworldly erotic vistas of Wild Life or the insanely realistic Mirror Life—which was developed with Lovense to work as well as possible with their products … and so on.
Back to hardware, if you don’t like the sleeve it comes with, you can swap it out for any of the others Lovense sells. This mechanic also makes the Max 2 insanely easy to clean by removing the sleeve from the unit, giving it a gentle wash with mild antibacterial soap, rinsing with warm water, drying thoroughly—and (ta-da) you’re done.
The Max 2 is 9.05 inches long and 3.33 wide—and as its motors and other mechanisms are tucked to the side, this is nearly its entire insertable length. Something that’s probably making a few of you breathe a sigh of relief as there’s nothing quite as disappointing as a sextoy that’s too short to enjoy.
The Max 2 comes with the unit itself, a USB charging cable, and a user’s manual. On a full, two-hour charge, it should go for one and a half hours though this will likely depend on what you’re doing with it.
The Max 2 has three pre-installed power levels, the same number adjusting how tight it gets, and four vibration patterns. When wirelessly connected to the Lovense Remote app, you have many more options and even finer control of things like intensity and contractions.
Let’s talk about the Lovense Gush
On the opposite side of penile-pleasuring products are those designed to work with good, old-fashioned, handy-handy manual masturbation.
Or not, as in the case of the Lovense’s Gush. See if you can follow me here; the Gush is a somewhat larger than palm-sized device sporting a pair of asymmetrical extensions designed to help it grip around the head or shaft of a penis.
And if it’s not tight enough, it comes with a stretchy band to loop around the toy to increase its tightness.
With it or not, you also have the option to put it on and leave it be—which is my way of saying the Gush 100% exceeds at completely hands-off arousal stimulation—or, if you druther, with an appropriate amount of non-silicone reactive lube you can stroke yourself with it.
All of this is flat-out amazing because, with a Gush, it’s like you have four or more sextoys rolled up in one: with or without the band, hands-on or hands-free, using the Lovense Remote app or not … the options keep going and going and going.
And as it also works exceedingly well with Lovense Remote, you can put all of its technological goodness to work—whatever features of the app you want to use.
The Gush is 3.39 inches from stem to stern and is 2.05 inches wide, with the section contacting your penis 1.26 inches of its total length.
Made of body-safe silicone with a very small amount of ABS plastic, the Gush is waterproof and a fantastic addition to bath or shower time sexual antics. Just don’t take it to the beach or a hot tub as either will damage it faster than you can say “that wasn’t a smart thing to do.”
With your Gush and its Optional Band, you’ll additionally receive a bag to store it in, a magnetic charging cable, User Manual, and Quick Start Guide.
The Gush has three pre-installed intensity levels and an additional four vibration patterns, though yet again, you can do loads more if you link it to the Lovense Remote app.
What the Gush and the Max 2 have in common
In a word, diddly squat. Okay, okay, that’s not exactly true. Both toys were engineered for penis stimulation, and there’s the option to use each with the Lovense Remote app or their set built-in controls.
And I shouldn’t have to mention the Gush and Max 2 are from Lovense, a company I completely understand if you think I own stock in, what with how often I praised their insightful design, superb engineering, and insanely great app programming skills.
But the reality is in all my years of reviewing sextoys—and beyond that playing with them—Lovense really has never let me down.
What’s the Gush and the Max 2 don’t have in common
Aside from sharing the same engineering and being built to satisfy penis owners, these toys don’t have a lot in common with one another.
If I had to define their differences, it’d be the Max 2 strives for a far more immersive experience since it’s designed to stimulate the entire length of a penis-owners’… well, penis.
So while it can be used like a non-powered sleeve masturbator to get the full effect, most people will probably instead opt for sliding themselves into it then laying back to enjoy the ride.
Likewise, you can have (ahem) “loads” of fun with the Gush sans hands—or use them if that’s what you want.
Pros of Lovense Gush over Lovense Max 2
Up against each other, the Gush wins points for its versatility: with or without the optional band, manually or not, Lovense Remote, or its own controls, and then every combination of these plus whatever else you can imagine.
For example, I pleasantly discovered by sliding the Gush down a bit, you can use it during penetrative sex—made all the better if you can align it, so its vibrations reach your partner as well.
And that’s the tip of the penile iceberg, as more than likely there’s a phonebook long list of other methods to put it to exciting use.
Pros of Lovense Max 2 over Lovense Gush
In all fairness, if allowing a sextoy have its way with you rather than working with it to get where you want to sexually go, the Max 2 is probably a safer bet.
Not only that, it provides a more extensive all-over feel, unlike the Gush, which is built to only stimulate a somewhat small section of the penis at a time.
The verdict
Two amazing toys from one fantastic company: the Gush and the Max 2, equally reflecting Lovense’s quality manufacturing, brilliant design work—even more pleasurable when coupled with all the sextech brainy sweetness that’s their Remote app.
In the end, which you should consider buying hinges on the penile erotic stimulations you find arousing. Be it the Max 2’s complete immersion or the ability to use your hands or not with the Gush, it all comes down to your personal preferences.
Personally, I slightly tilt towards the Gush as I prefer to enhance rather than replace how I masturbate—that and I get off on discovering all the kinky tricks I can do with it.
But this is my and only my opinion, so you should make your own mind up about which of these two toys speaks more towards turning you on.
However, rest assured that you can’t go wrong with either the Gush or the Max 2 they’re from Lovense—which is the highest praise I can give any sextoy.
