Apex Thrusting & Vibrating Prostate Massager: review

Apex Thrusting & Vibrating Prostate Massager at a glance

NS Novelties sells this product under the name Renegade Apex, while several Swedish shops list it as Apex Thrusting & Vibrating Prostate Massager. It’s the same item: the manufacturer’s specification box shows UPC 657447108372 and item number NSN-1101-79, and the same barcode appears on all seven Swedish shops’ versions of the product. It’s worth knowing already here, because the name clash makes price comparisons difficult to do otherwise.

The construction is a prostate massager with two types of movement in the same housing. The insertion part makes mechanical impacts—the manufacturer calls it thrusting and has printed the word THRUST with arrows up and down directly on the packaging—while the outward-facing arm sits against the perineum and vibrates. Control is from a wireless remote control that is included. The manufacturer lists six speeds and eight functions, dimensions of 4.06 × 1.54 × 5.59 inches, i.e. about 103 × 39 × 142 millimeters, and a weight of 288 grams. The product is sold in a single color, gray, and in a single size.

What makes this product interesting to review is that it sits at a price point where this technology is normally not found. Seven Swedish shops sell it for between 695 and 989 SEK, and six of them had it in stock at the price check. A mechanical thrusting function with a wireless remote control for under seven hundred kronor is unusual. The price also shows up in what the manufacturer chooses not to publish, and this review takes that part seriously.

What thrusting is, and how it differs from vibration

Vibration and thrusting are two completely different things mechanically, and the difference explains why this type of product feels different from a regular anal vibrator. A vibrator contains a motor with an unbalanced weight, or a linear motor, which makes the entire housing shake at a high frequency and with a very short range of motion. Stimulation is therefore a shaking effect that is transmitted through the material.

A thrust mechanism works the opposite way, with low frequency and long travel. A motor drives a rod or an eccentric that pushes the insertion part back and forth along its own axis. It is movement on a millimeter- or centimeter scale instead of a shaking, and it mimics a penetrating motion rather than a massage. The manufacturer describes the function as precise thrusts, and the packaging shows the direction of movement with a double arrow along the grooved insertion part.

What can be established is that Apex combines both principles in the same product: thrusts internally against the prostate and vibration externally against the perineum. It is also the combination that Mshop describes in its product text, where they call the movement mechanical rather than manual—the point is that you don’t need to hold and move the product yourself. How far the thrust movement’s stroke length is in millimeters the manufacturer does not publish, and that information is missing at all seven stores. It is one of the most important figures for a thrust product, and the fact that it isn’t there is in itself a message.

Prostate and perineum — what the two parts do

The manufacturer describes the product as designed for stimulation of both the prostate and the testicles. In practice, it consists of two parts that work on different locations at the same time. The insertion part is grooved in the upper half and tapers toward a flange at the bottom. The second part is a bent, tapering arm that points forward from the flange and rests against the perineum—that is, the area between the scrotum and the anus opening.

The point of the two contact surfaces is that the stimulation becomes both internal and external without you needing two products or two hands. It’s the same basic idea as in We-Vibes and Lelos prostate massagers, but the solution here is simpler: the outer arm is fixed and cannot be adjusted in angle, unlike for example the Lelo Hugo 2 where the entire product is designed so it can be angled. What that means in practice is that the fit either matches your anatomy or it doesn’t, and there is no setting that compensates.

Renegade Apex or Renegade The Handyman?

NS Novelties has two closely related products in the Renegade series that are sold in the same price range in Sweden and are easy to mix up, not least because the stores use different names for them.

• Renegade Apex — the model this text is about. UPC 657447108372, item number NSN-1101-79, weight 288 grams. Thrusting insertion part and vibrating perineum arm, six speeds and eight functions, wireless remote control.
• Renegade The Handyman — UPC 657447108365, item number NSN-1101-69, weight 336 grams. Same thrusting insertion part and the same six speeds and eight functions, but with a penis ring integrated into the construction instead of a pure perineum arm.

So the difference isn’t the level of technology, but what the outer part is intended for. Apex is a pure prostate and perineum product. Handyman is the same technology built in so that it also works as a penis ring. Both are sold from 695 SEK in Sweden, which makes the choice purely a matter of function and not a matter of price.

Material and build quality: silicone on the outside, ABS on the inside

The material issue is the only characteristic of an intimate product that can’t be compensated for through experience or care, and for an anal product it matters even more than usual. The manufacturer’s specification box states a single word: Silicone. The front of the packaging is more precise and lists Silicone/ABS, and all the Swedish stores that state the materials list silicone and ABS plastic as well.

What “body-safe silicone” means in practice

Silicone is a non-porous material. A non-porous surface can be cleaned, because there are no microscopic cavities where residue can get trapped. That is the single most important property of a material that’s meant to sit against mucous membrane, and that’s why the material declaration weighs more heavily than almost all other lines in a specification. In addition, the anal mucous membrane doesn’t produce its own moisture and tolerates mechanical impact worse than vaginal mucous membrane, which makes both the material choice and the lubricant more important here than in any other product category.

The split between silicone and ABS is, by itself, completely normal for a product with moving parts. The impact mechanism requires a hard, dimensionally stable inner shell that a soft silicone body can’t provide, which is why the mechanism is in ABS while the surface that contacts the body is silicone. Mshop describes the same split and adds that the surface is completely smooth without texture on the lower part. The manufacturer’s own product image also shows that the flange has a black section on the underside—meaning a visible seam between the silicone and the plastic part.

That seam deserves a note. Every transition between two materials is a joint where residue can collect and where water can seep in if the seal is poor. On a product with a movable insertion part, there’s also a second critical point: where the movable part goes down into the housing. That’s the hardest point to seal on the entire product, and it’s also the reason the water-tightness issue later in the text isn’t just a formality.

Phthalates, BPA, and latex—the declaration that’s missing

Phthalates are a group of softeners used to make plastic, especially flexible PVC, pliable. Kemikalieinspektionen describes them as substances that can affect the hormone system and make reproduction more difficult, and several of them are therefore restricted or banned within the EU in a large number of products. This specific product category is a recurring subject of supervision because it contains flexible plastic against skin and mucous membrane.

NS Novelties does not publish any declaration about phthalates, BPA, or latex for Renegade Apex, neither on the product page, in the specification box, nor on the front of the packaging. What’s stated is the wording “body-safe silicone,” which is a marketing term without a definition. This is a clear difference compared to, for example, Womanizer and Lelo, which write out the absence of phthalates in plain text on their product pages. Blush Me states the material as high-quality silicone in its feature table, which also doesn’t say anything about plasticizers.

How serious it is depends on how you read it. Silicone does not require phthalate plasticizers to become soft—the softness comes from the polymer’s own structure—and a product sold within the EU is covered by the EU’s chemical regulations regardless of what the manufacturer writes. But the fact that the information is missing means that you’re buying based on trust instead of based on a declaration, and that is a real difference compared with the more expensive brands. If you’re allergic to latex, there is also no information at all to go on.

Measurements and weight: three different measurement details for the same item number

The manufacturer states the product’s dimensions in tum: 4,06 × 1,54 × 5,59. Converted, that becomes about 103 × 39 × 142 millimeter. The included remote control is stated as 1,1 × 1,54 × 3,15 tum, so approximately 28 × 39 × 80 millimeter, and the packaging as 1,93 × 5,94 × 8,82 tum, approximately 49 × 151 × 224 millimeter. The weight is stated as 288 gram.

This is where the first real contradiction between the sources arises, and it’s worth presenting directly. Blush Me, SexleksakerOutlet, and Vuxen give the dimensions as 14,2 × 3,9 × 10,3 centimeter, which are exactly the manufacturer’s figures converted to centimeter. Taboo and Lekosmek instead state 14,5 × 5,4 × 10,3 centimeter for the same barcode, meaning a width of 5,4 centimeter instead of 3,9. That figure doesn’t match the manufacturer’s 1,54 tum, and since the manufacturer weighs more than the shops, the 39 millimeter value is the one that applies. Where 5,4 comes from isn’t shown on Taboos or Lekosmeks pages.

The weight information is inconsistent in the same way. The manufacturer states 288 gram. Taboo states 200 gram for the same barcode. The difference of 88 gram is too large to be a rounding, and none of the sources specifies whether the number refers to the product alone or the entire delivery including the remote control and cable. Count on the manufacturer’s 288 gram, but treat it as an information point with no stated measurement method.

For comparison, Lelo Hugo 2 weighs 121 gram and NS Novelties’ own Renegade The Handyman weighs 336 gram. So Apex is in the heavier half of the category, which is expected: a thrust mechanism requires more motor and more mechanics than a pure vibrator, and that shows right in the weight.

How far is it inserted? Insertable length and diameter

This is the single most important figure for anyone buying an anal product, and the manufacturer’s specification box leaves the Insertable Dimensions field empty with a dash. NS Novelties therefore publishes no insertable size at all.

The shops fill the gap, and they do it differently. Blush Me states an insertable length of 11.80 centimeters and a largest diameter of 3.90 centimeters, and Vuxen lists the same penetrated size of 11.8 × 3.9 centimeters. That seems reasonable: the total length is 14.2 centimeters, and a flange and a base take up the rest. Mshop, on the other hand, lists the largest diameter as 3.4 centimeters and calls 14.2 centimeters the insertion length — the latter is clearly the total length and not the insertable part, because the entire product cannot be inserted into a product with a flange.

What can be established with reasonable certainty is this: barely twelve centimeters of insertable length and a largest diameter somewhere between 3.4 and 3.9 centimeters, with the two resellers that reproduce the manufacturer’s own width information of 3.9 as the most credible. A diameter around 3.9 centimeters is not a beginner size. For comparison, Lelo lists an insertable length of 72 millimeters for Hugo 2 — Apex is therefore significantly longer than a typical prostate massager, which is explained by the fact that a thrust mechanism needs length in order to be able to move.

Six speeds, eight functions, and a remote control with two buttons

The manufacturer lists six speeds and eight functions. Mshop specifies the same information as six thrust speeds and eight vibration patterns, which is the only source that breaks down the numbers for each motor. That’s a reasonable reading of the design: the thrust mechanism has speed steps, and the vibration part has patterns. The manufacturer itself only writes 6 speeds / 8 functions without saying which number belongs to which part, and there is no manual published on nsnovelties.com to check the matter.

What this means in practice is that you should expect 6 × 8 possible combinations if the two motors are controlled independently of each other, and fourteen modes in total if they are controlled together. Which of these applies is not shown by any published source. This isn’t a minor detail: the difference between being able to run powerful thrusts with weak vibration and having to raise both at the same time is big in this product category.

The remote control: two buttons, and what is not published

The remote control is included and measures 28 × 39 × 80 millimeters according to the manufacturer. The manufacturer’s own product image shows how it is built: an oval casing in the same gray plastic as the product, a red indicator light at the top, and a black button panel with two buttons — one labeled with plus and a pause-like double dash, and one labeled with minus. So it’s an intentionally simple interface: step up, step down.

What isn’t published about the remote control is more extensive than what is published. Neither the manufacturer nor any of the seven stores states the remote control’s range, which radio technology it uses, whether it is paired from the factory, or whether it is powered by a replaceable button-cell battery or a built-in rechargeable. The same applies to the question of whether the remote control is waterproof—and it’s a question that matters, because a remote control that comes along with a shower is the part that breaks first. Treat it as not waterproof until something else is shown.

The practical advantage of the remote control specifically for this product is, on the other hand, obvious. A prostate massager sits in a place where you can’t see the buttons, and where you also preferably want both hands free. Being able to switch modes without fumbling for a button on the product is a real advantage, and the ability to hand over control to someone else is the whole point of a wireless solution instead of buttons on the unit.

The base, the perineum arm, and why the flange is crucial

The single most important safety detail on an anal product is that it can’t slide in completely. The manufacturer’s product image shows a wide, flat flange at the bottom of the insertion part, and a long perineum arm that protrudes forward from the same base. In practice, it’s two restraints: the flange catches right outside the sphincter, and the arm also prevents the product from being twisted or pulled in lengthwise.

Mshop describes the same thing and adds that the base sits against the perineum and keeps the toy in place regardless of whether you lie down, sit, or stand. It’s a store claim and not a claim from the manufacturer, but it matches what the picture shows. The rule applies no matter the product: never buy an anal product without a clearly defined flange—or an equally clearly defined handle.

A caveat also applies. A thrusting product exerts force on the body in the lengthwise direction, unlike a vibrating one, which stays still. That sets higher requirements for the flange to truly be in contact—and that’s also why size matters: barely twelve centimeters of insertable length with a mechanism that moves isn’t a product for someone who is completely new to anal stimulation. Mshop says the same thing plainly and recommends that beginners start with something narrower without movement.

Water resistance: IPX7, IPX5, or nothing at all?

Here lies the biggest contradiction in the entire material, and it’s too important to be hidden in a specifications line. NS Novelties states no enclosure rating for the Renegade Apex, neither on the product page, in the specifications box, nor on the packaging. The stores, however, list three different things: Blush Me, SexleksakerOutlet, and Vuxen write IPX7, Taboo writes IPx5, and Mshop writes that the product is 100 percent waterproof without stating any class at all.

What the difference between IPX5 and IPX7 means

The two ratings come from the international standard IEC 60529 and mean completely different things. IPX5 means that the product is tested against water jets from a nozzle from all directions—so it can handle showering and rinsing off, but not submersion. IPX7 means that the product is tested for submersion in water to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes—so, a bathtub.

When two shops say the opposite and the manufacturer is silent, there is only one defensible conclusion: treat the product as rinseable but not bathable. Rinse it off under the tap, but don’t soak it. This is especially warranted for this particular design, because a movable insertion part involves a penetration through the casing, which is significantly harder to seal than a completely closed product. Anyone who really wants to be able to bathe with their prostate massager should buy a model where the manufacturer themselves states the rating class.

Cleaning, lubricant, and storage

Rinse the product in lukewarm water after each use and use fragrance-free soap or a cleaning product intended for intimate products. Be especially careful around the seam between the insertion part and the housing—that’s where residue collects on a product with a moving part. Let it air-dry before putting it away, and don’t store it in direct contact with other silicone products, because different silicone blends can react with each other and become sticky over time.

The manufacturer explicitly states that the product is compatible with all lubricants. That’s an unusual claim, and it should be read with reservations: silicone-based lubricant on a silicone surface normally breaks down the surface over time and makes it porous, and a porous surface can no longer be cleaned properly. The recommendation here is water-based lubricant regardless of what the packaging says—it works every time, costs nothing extra, and can’t damage the material.

Anal use also requires more lubricant than most people expect, because the body doesn’t produce its own moisture there. Expect to top up during use. On a product with mechanical shock movement, that’s even more true than usual: the friction doesn’t come only from insertion, but from a movement that continues the whole time.

Battery and charging: 50 minutes of runtime on 120 minutes of charging

The manufacturer’s specification box states just one word about the battery: Rechargeable. The field for the number of batteries is set to zero, which means no loose batteries are included. Runtime, charging time, battery type, and capacity are not published by NS Novelties.

Four of the Swedish stores fill in the gap with the same information, and it is consistent: 120 minutes of charging time gives 50 minutes of intensive use. Blush Me, SexleksakerOutlet, and Vuxen state it verbatim in the same way, and Lekosmek formulates the same as a runtime of up to 50 minutes after 120 minutes of charging. The fact that four stores state identical figures suggests they come from the same supplier documentation, but that does not make them manufacturer statements — and they should be read as a store claim.

Fifty minutes of runtime is short. Lelo states up to an hour for the Hugo 2, and it has no impact mechanism to drive it. That a product with mechanical motion draws more power than a pure vibrator is to be expected: a motor that moves mass back and forth does significantly more work than one that shakes an unbalanced weight. The ratio between 120 minutes of charging and 50 minutes of operation — meaning more than twice as long charging time as usage time — is, however, worse than in most comparable products.

How is the Apex massager charged?

Blush Me states the charging type is USB, and Vuxen writes USB rechargeable. Which type of connector is on the product — a magnetic charging pin, USB-C, or micro-USB — is not published by either the manufacturer or any of the seven stores, and that also applies if a charging cable is included in the package. The manufacturer’s included delivery contents are not listed anywhere.

That flap is more important than it sounds, for two reasons. The first is that a magnetic charging cable is product-specific: if you lose it, no regular cable will work. The second is that NS Novelties explicitly states in its FAQ that they do not sell spare parts. So a lost or broken charging cable is not something you resolve with the manufacturer, regardless of what connector it is.

The capacity that no one publishes

The battery’s capacity in mAh and its voltage are not published by the manufacturer, and neither by any of the seven stores. It is worth noting because competitors do publish it: Lelo lists 420 mAh and 3.7 volts for the Hugo 2, along with charging current 500 mA at 5.0 volts. Without the capacity, you cannot convert runtime into power consumption, and you cannot assess how heavily the cell is loaded by the impact motor.

What generally applies to lithium batteries also applies here: capacity drops with the number of charging cycles, and the product does best when it is charged regularly rather than being stored completely discharged. Since the manufacturer neither sells spare parts nor states that the battery is replaceable, the product is in practice used up once the cell is. With a runtime of 50 minutes from the start, it is a shorter path to that point than with a product that starts at four hours.

Apex compared with the alternatives

Three comparisons are relevant: versus NS Novelties’ own sister model, versus a premium product with a fully published specification, and versus the app-controlled part of the category. All technical information below comes from each manufacturer’s own specifications, and all prices come from the shops’ product flows on July 29, 2026.

Against NS Novelties Renegade The Handyman — same price, different outer part

The Renegade The Handyman costs from 695 SEK, i.e. exactly the same as Apex. It has six speeds and eight functions, the same wireless remote control, the same insertable striking part, and the same combination of materials. The difference is what sits outside the body: on Apex there’s a perineum arm, and on the Handyman there’s a penis ring.

Weight also differs. The manufacturer lists 288 grams for Apex and 336 grams for Handyman, i.e. 48 grams more. Both products share the same lack of published information: no enclosure rating from the manufacturer, no battery capacity, no sound level, no insert dimensions, and no phthalate declaration. So if you’re choosing between them, it’s not the data that decides—it’s the function: do you want a penis ring included in the construction or not?

Against Lelo Hugo 2 — 236 SEK more for published data

Lelo Hugo 2 costs from 931 SEK, i.e. 236 SEK more than Apex at its lowest. It’s a small price difference for two products built on completely different premises.

Hugo 2 measures 104 × 107 × 41 millimeters, has an insertable length of 72 millimeters, and weighs 121 grams. The material is listed as body-friendly silicone and ABS plastic. The battery is listed as lithium-ion 420 mAh at 3.7 volts, charging time up to two hours at 5.0 volts and 500 mA, and operating time up to one hour. The warranty is two years, with a ten-year quality guarantee afterward. The product is described by the manufacturer as 100 percent waterproof.

The differences that actually matter: Apex has a mechanical striking function that Hugo 2 completely lacks, and Apex is substantially longer internally—just under twelve centimeters versus seven. Hugo 2, on the other hand, has a complete, published specification from the manufacturer for every point where NS Novelties is silent, double the warranty period, and a published battery capacity. If you want striking functionality, there’s no way around Apex at this price point. If you want a product where every number can be verified, Hugo 2 is worth the money.

Against Lovense Edge 2 — 400 SEK more for app control

Lovense Edge 2 costs from 1 095 SEK, i.e. 400 SEK more than Apex. Lovense markets it as an adjustable, app-controlled prostate massager with dual motors, and that describes the difference versus Apex pretty well: two motors in both cases, but control via phone instead of via a physical remote control, and an adjustable insert angle instead of a fixed one.

Apex has no app control at all, and that is not necessarily a drawback. A two-button remote control works without an account, without updates, and without Bluetooth pairing, and it does not stop working the day the manufacturer shuts down its app. What Apex, on the other hand, cannot do is remote control over the internet, custom patterns, or syncing with sound—this is exactly the functionality that accounts for the entire difference in price. And what the Edge 2 cannot do is to thrust.

Price range: 695 to 989 SEK at seven stores

Seven Swedish stores sell the item with EAN 657447108372. The cheapest are Blush Me and SexleksakerOutlet at 695 SEK each, and the most expensive is Mshop at 989 SEK. It is a difference of 294 SEK or 42 percent for exactly the same item number, the same color, and the same packaging.

The inventory situation is unusually good for this category. Six of the seven stores had the product in stock during the price check—it was only Sexonic, at 788 SEK, that lacked it. That means the cheapest store is also one of the ones that can actually deliver, which is not always the case when the price spread is large.

The price spread is not because any store sells a different variant. The product is only available in one color and one size, and all seven stores list it either under EAN 657447108372 or under their own item number linked to the same item. So it’s the stores’ own margin setting—and this is exactly the situation where it pays off the most to compare before you pay. At the same time, check shipping costs: several of the stores offer free shipping only above an order amount that is higher than the product’s price, which can eat up some of the difference between the cheapest options.

Who is Apex for—and who is it not for?

It’s for you if you want a mechanical thrust function and not just vibration, and if you don’t want to pay a thousand kronor for it. That’s the product’s real argument: the combination of a thrusting insert, a vibrating perineum arm, and a wireless remote control is almost nonexistent under seven hundred kronor. It also fits you who prefer a physical remote control over an app, and you who want to be able to hand over control to a partner without handing over your phone.

It’s not for you if you’re new to anal stimulation. A barely 12-centimeter insert length with a maximum diameter of around 3.9 centimeters and a mechanism that moves is a product that assumes some experience. It’s also not for you if you want to be able to bathe with the product, because the manufacturer does not state any ingress protection rating, and the stores contradict each other. And it’s not for you if you require published figures before buying: battery capacity, sound level, insert dimensions, charging connection, stroke length, and phthalate declarations are all missing from the manufacturer’s materials.

One more thing belongs in the decision. A battery life of fifty minutes on a charge time of 120 minutes is short, and combined with the fact that the manufacturer does not sell spare parts, it is harder to judge the product’s expected lifespan than for a brand that publishes battery data and sells charging cables separately. At this price point, it is a reasonable trade-off—but it should be a deliberate one.

Warranty, complaints, and the right of withdrawal

NS Novelties offers a one-year manufacturer’s warranty from the date of purchase against defects and lack of function during normal use. The terms are unambiguous and worth reading before you count on them: the warranty provides replacement and never a refund; the defective item must be sent back before a replacement product is sent out; and the customer pays for the shipping there themselves. The address is NS Novelties’ premises in Vancouver in the state of Washington, USA. The manufacturer pays the shipping for the replacement product but not for the return.

In practice, that means that a Swedish buyer rarely has any use for the manufacturer’s warranty. Sending a defective product to the USA at your own expense normally costs more than a significant part of the product’s price. NS Novelties’ FAQ also explicitly refers back to the place of purchase for a refund and states that no spare parts are sold.

What always applies, on the other hand, are your statutory rights, and they are directed at the Swedish retailer, not at the manufacturer in the USA. Under the Swedish Consumer Sales Act (konsumentköplagen), you have three years’ right to complain about defects in the goods—that is, three times as long as NS Novelties’ own warranty—and you make your complaint to the store you bought from. With distance purchases, you also have a right of withdrawal for fourteen days under the Act on Distance Contracts and Contracts Outside Business Premises (lagen om distansavtal och avtal utanför affärslokaler). Be aware that in practice the right of withdrawal is limited for hygiene items that have been taken out of a sealed package—however, the right to complain about defects always applies. If you have questions about what applies in your case, Konsumentverket guides you via Hallå konsument.