La marque Fun Factory categorises its sextoys by “generation”. Some models are carried over from one generation to the next, with notable improvements in terms of quality and power. Toys evolve fast…
This year, it is the Generation 5 that is being born, with more than promising new products. We have a few to test, and are going to start with a well-known specimen: the Patchy Paul, this cute little vibro-caterpillar, which, once again, has moved up a level.
Here is the test of the Patchy Paul G5 by Fun Factory.
Sextoy packaging
No major innovation on the packaging front. Fun Factory has stuck to its habits, with a cardboard box, polka-dotted.
A USB cable for charging the toy is provided.
Look of the Fun Factory Patchy Paul G5
The Patchy Paul is a cheerful, plump and smiling caterpillar. And, rest assured, extremely stylish. It’s a cartoonised character one would expect to come across in the world of Barbapapa, not one of those buggers that come and eat your tomato plants the moment you turn your back.
As far as looks go, it hasn’t changed much since its previous version: Paul is still as plump and glad to be useful as ever, its handle still has a hole in which you can slip a finger to hold it firmly.
Only the buttons have really had their look revisited. In fact, on the generation 4 model, the three buttons were white and fairly discreet, while the G5 version follows the Stronic style in terms of controls. You have a “+” and a “-” with a gold background, and a big “Fun” button, nice and red. It draws more attention, which is rather nice.
The Patchy Paul is available in three colours: fuchsia, pink and green. We received the pink model from Passage du Désir, and Fun Factory then sent us the green version in a surprise parcel… Hence the duplicate, which had the merit of allowing us to compare the two colours…. For once, I believe I prefer the pink (the green still reminds me, to my taste, a bit too much of the colour of those nasty creatures). We will publish some photos soon to make the comparison.
Texture and material
The Patchy Paul G5 is, like its previous versions and almost all Fun Factory toys, made of 100% medical silicone for its insertable part. Its handle is made of rigid plastic.
It is soft and flexible, you can twist it without any problem in all directions and, an important detail when applying it to the clit: its head is all soft.
The silicone surface is very smooth, but tends to “stick”: a texture found in many Fun Factory toys, which means not skimping on lubricant.
Power supply of the Fun Factory Patchy Paul G5
The Patchy Paul is recharged with the supplied cable. On one end, it’s a standard USB connector, which you plug into a USB port or into the adapter part of a smartphone charger, and on the other end, it’s the “Click & Charge” already present on the G4 vibrators.
A small detail of no great importance, the handle has two metal “poles” on which the charger attaches magnetically (whereas with the G4 version, you would attach the charger magnetically pretty much anywhere on the handle, and sometimes, it didn’t hold very well).
I didn’t time the charging times, let alone the usage times, but as with the Fun Factory G4 sextoys, the battery is brilliant: it lasts a long time, and doesn’t discharge by itself while the toy isn’t being used. This second point is fairly rare (so far, we’ve only noticed it with Fun Factory and the G-Vibe), and extremely practical, because when you finally decide to take a sextoy out of its drawer after leaving it alone for a few weeks, it’s rather disappointing if it’s only to watch it charge.
Controls and vibration modes
Three buttons, therefore, with a fairly intuitive operation. The “Fun” button turns the sextoy on and off, while the “+” and the “-” let you navigate between the vibration modes (there is no distinction between changing the type of vibrations and changing the intensity; each proposed variant is considered a new mode). In total, there are 12 vibration programmes: 6 constant modes, of different powers, and 6 fancy modes.
The three buttons are within thumb reach, while another finger, placed in the handle hole, keeps the sextoy on its axis, and the rest of the hand directs it.
I quite like this simple and intuitive operation, except for one detail…
The ergonomic flaw
Imagine the scene: I start stroking myself, and, as the excitement rises, I want the stimulation to become more intense. So I press the “+” button to increase the vibration power. Then, as the temperature rises, knowing that I can get stronger vibrations, I press again, and I keep re-pressing, paying less and less attention to my thumb’s actions, which compulsively mashes the button. When, suddenly, one press too many (the fourth after turning it on, to be exact): from super strong vibrations, I find myself suddenly facing a mode in which the vibrations vary in a “sawtooth”, and are much weaker…
It’s somewhat frustrating. Granted, all I have to do is press the “-” key to go back to the previous mode, but that was enough to kill the mood, making me miss an orgasm. Perhaps it would have been better to place, for example, the “fancy” modes on the “-” button side, and leave only the constant vibrations on the “+” side.
Right, this drawback remains anecdotal, and you quickly get used to not pressing the “+” more than three times, unless you actually want to access the fancy modes.
It is also worth noting that the Patchy Paul G5 has, like its predecessor, a “travel lock”, a key combination allowing it to be locked to avoid it turning on by mistake in case of pressure on its buttons (particularly during transport).
Effectiveness of the Fun Factory Patchy Paul G5
Vibration power
To be honest, some Fun Factory G4 vibrators were still missing a little something in terms of vibration power, particularly as regards clitoral stimulation. A little extra boost, which, at times, would have been welcome.
With the Patchy Paul G5, I’m served: the vibrations pack a punch! For a vibrator of this size, the most intense level is properly strong. Fun Factory boasts that the vibrations are evenly distributed along the length, and I feared that would imply a drop in power. It’s not the case: if, in practice, it vibrates a teeny-tiny bit less strongly at the soft tip of the sextoy, this difference in intensity remains almost imperceptible, and at full power, the vibrations are properly strong and propagate deeply.
On the clit side
On the clit side: it’s Patchy Paul’s soft snout that gets to work. It’s all soft and it vibrates strongly, the perfect combination for reaching orgasm quite quickly, and starting again immediately.
For vaginal penetration
For vaginal penetration, let’s start with the caveat: Paul is a big consumer of lubricant. Between its texture and the caterpillar’s “rings”, you’d better have a good bottle on hand. Once this question is resolved, let’s now move on to its qualities.
First thing: insertion is progressive. The Patchy Paul increases in diameter along its length, ring after ring, going from a very modest width to a more imposing piece, which allows you to vary, depending on mood and desire, the type of stimulation provided. Another good point, the flexibility of the vibrator makes its use comfortable whatever the position.
And finally (and above all), the plump head of the Patchy Paul comes to stimulate my G-spot. It’s not a very intense stimulation like with the Orchidée or the Njoy Pure Wand, it’s softer, but it’s effective, and all the more so when you set the vibrations to full.
Conclusion on the Fun Factory Patchy Paul G5
The good points:
- The Patchy Paul vibrates hard, very hard.
- Its all-soft snout is perfect for stimulating the clitoris…
- And thanks to its orientation, it also comes to stimulate the G-spot when the sextoy is inserted.
- Good manufacturing quality, including, among other things, a healthy material and a brilliant battery.
The bad points:
- If I had my choice, I wouldn’t have placed the vibration modes in that order. But it’s only a detail.
The Fun Factory Patchy Paul is a great little vibrator, all soft without pretension. Despite appearances, it knows how to be formidably effective, both for clitoral and vaginal stimulation.
Note finale du test
Les plus
- Vibrates really hard
- Soft snout
- Effective G-spot stimulation
- Healthy material
- Long-lasting battery
Les moins
- The mode order, if you must find a fault
