Handy 2 Pro First Impressions (Bad Design and Durability)

Review
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Good:

  • Increased speed and power (makes script movement smoother)
  • Can handle faster top speeds
  • Increased length
  • Onboarding app was smooth

Bad:

  • Placement of buttons/menu, stroker strap orientation, and mounting holes make no sense
  • Not ergonomic to hold for handheld
  • No logical mounting orientation for sitting in a chair
  • Mounting holes are cheap, and are already very loose after first use. Seems like they will break soon

Overall, the backwards design choices really kill the potential this had. It’s not comfortable to hold handheld, and there is no comfortable mounting position for this either.

Mount holes are placed at the worst possible locations that make it impossible to mount logically. For instance, the hole on the bottom makes no sense as that would be too close to oneself and dig into the body.

Mount holes is already too loose from one use, as I imagine the female hole is too shallow, and also made of cheap material that is being expanded due to the unnecessary amount of vibration caused by the illogical mount hole locations chosen, which don’t properly support the device.

A mount hole on top of the device would have made more sense, rather than on the bottom.

Swapping the stroker strap position from behind to in front of the device makes the device physically impossible to mount low enough and have clearance when using a chair.

It’s baffling how badly this was designed, and how little it was apparently tested for these common use cases, as well as mounting options.

In order to mount it the traditional way like the Handy 1, where the controls face oneself, it’d require an extra long mount arm, which would then reduce stability even more, and create even more vibration.

The poor design and mounting issues is not immediately clear, and is hard to imagine from only imagining it from the store page images. More people can chime in as more orders arrive, as I imagine this is going to be a common and hot issue.

The design choices are so bad they should really stop producing this immediately, and work on a revision, especially, with how the mounting holes are of low quality, are already very loose, and seem like they’d break within a week or two of use.

I hope I’ve painted the picture of how poor interface design along with a bad mount design leads to instability, which leads to increased vibration of the unit, which leads to the mount hole weakening and breaking.

Not to mention, having the stroker side be facing the user leaves the metal shaft and insides of the device exposed due to the bad design choice, where lube and fluids will enter over time to inevitably break the device.

They could not have designed this any worse. As I said earlier, they just need to go back to the drawing board with this one.

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Thanks for the review. If everything stays on schedule, I hope to receive mine near the end of October. I’m a chair user too, but I don’t mount mine like most. I use a Stanley desk vice grip attached to the edge of my desk and mounted upside down. This puts the sleeve in a horizontal orientation. I don’t really have access to the controls so no loss for me there. I’m hoping to still be able to mount the new Handy without changing my setup too much.

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I’ve been a Handy user for about 2.5 years now, and honestly, it’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. What really makes it a 10/10 (actually, an 11/10 for me) are the hands-free options. When I first saw the design and the official mounts on their website, I was skeptical. But early on, I picked up the Handy with the Stanley mount (the yellow clamp) after seeing it in a video or forum post, and that made all the difference.

The Stanley mount works perfectly for setting it up on a desk for hands-free use. Without it, I probably would’ve returned the Handy. Holding it is fine, but the hands-free setup is what makes it amazing.

Another thing I really appreciate is that it doesn’t rely on a battery, you just plug it in and it’s instantly ready to go. Back when I bought mine (and honestly still today), most toys can’t even be used while charging, which is a big letdown. The Handy being fully plug and play is perfect for my use case, since I don’t really care about portability. Since I wouldn’t use it without the stanley anyway.

That said, with the way the controls are positioned on the new model, I’m not sure if it will work with the Stanley mount in the same way, though I could be wrong.

For now, I think I’ll be sticking with my Handy 1. It’s still going strong, but I might pick up another one just in case mine ever breaks.

It looks like the Handy 2’s hands-free capability just isn’t there, which honestly makes the product worthless in my opinion, no offense. If they don’t fix this, I think it could be a big mistake, because I would never use mine without the Stanley mount. At this point, they should really consider collaborating with Stanley, or at least making an official clamp-style hands-free option. I’ve been using mine with the Stanley since the very beginning, and there’s been no damage, dents, or even signs of wear on my Handy from the clamp.

Best futures (My opinion):

  1. Long-lasting / stable hands-free options Handy 1 maybe 2
  2. Plug-and-play (works while charging) Handy 1 and 2
  3. Scripts for syncing Handy 1 and 2
  4. Able to use quickshots (Fleshlight) Handy 1 and 2
  5. ajustiable stroke length/speed Handy 1 and 2
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If you open the handy app you can make the strokes reversed so you can use the mounting holes at the top instead of using them at the bottom. Controls and the LED matrix can be reversed as well.

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I’m really confused how the OP missed this. Seems like it solves almost all of the complaints (other than the handheld issues)

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The mounting holes is something I have noticed as well. I talked to someone on the handy discord to get them to make a 3d printed hands free cup. It makes no sense to me that the mounting holes are at the bottom - but we don’t have to use them.

However, in their defense, when you use it with the mounting hole, you’re supposed to invert the direction in the app, and turn the device upside down. I just think that might change how “deep” the device can go. Maybe it’s better, maybe it’s not.

I am not worried at all about the other things, as I never use it handheld. Always mounted in a mic arm in bed. I don’t understand what you mean by the strap position being changed. Perhaps you’re using it the wrong way?

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Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. While we would of course prefer only positive reviews, constructive feedback like yours is very valuable for us.

Thread inserts
If the thread inserts are falling out, please contact support@thehandy.com with photos. You will receive a replacement. We are monitoring this issue carefully. The material selection and production process should provide a strong bond, but it’s possible that something went wrong in units from the first batch. Images from users help us diagnose and correct the issue.

Mounting holes
The placement is the result of several design trade-offs. Adding holes on multiple sides makes the product harder to mold, less ergonomic to hold by hand, and less “store-friendly” in appearance. We therefore chose bottom mounting as the compromise.

That said, the device is designed to also be used upside down. Simply reverse the motor direction in the onboarding app and the device will function normally. With firmware 4.0.19, you can also flip the button layout and LED orientation. It seems a lot of your frustrations can be solved with a click of a button:-)

Fluids
The Handy is IP-rated. It should not be used in the shower, but incidental fluid exposure will not break the device.

Keep testing and let us know if you have more insights.

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I use the Stanley vice grip for my Handy 1 as well, as it was the most secure and stable mounting option compared to the hands free cup which broke and made the device itself vibrate and move too much.

I will share some pictures and or clips later to compare and illustrate the issues imentioned in my original post more clearly

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Side holes are the excelent place to allow you to install better grips, which you could have provided with the device itself. Its a huge quality of life improvement to have such grips.

There is a reason why the fleshlight launch sees heavily marketed clones (like the leten machine), which if you look for it on pornhub has plenty of videos presented.
Yet the handy has no clones, or they arent represented on PH at all.

That to me indicates that the handy design itself is inferior. If it was good, it would be cloned.

The only reason the handy1 was succesfull was its pure power, which at that time was unique, but the extra power the handy2 provides is far less impressive since you can be sure most people either already know the handy1 and can compare it, or they simply have no reference point at all, so wont be impressed as much.

There is a reason you see most videos with a handy placed in a handsfree situation, its just not convenient at all in handheld mode. Yet for the leten, this does not seem to be a problem at all, and you dont see videos of people hacking in some handheld mode.

And note: the grips dont need to be complex at all, just basic ones can already do the job. Maybe you can also provide an alternative one which for example has buttons integraded for a bit of extra money. This can realy make the device more convenient in use.

Plenty of people cant easily use it in handsfree mode.

And if its realy a problem, you can still decide to fill the holes with some simple stopper. These should barely cost anything at all.

And store friendly… You can surely show the device with basic grips attached, if fleshlight and leten can show this:

051f7cf8-03a3-4974-a190-4dc4e7d65f29.CR0,0,970,600_PT0_SX970_V1_-461634652
051f7cf8-03a3-4974-a190-4dc4e7d65f29.CR0,0,970,600_PT0_SX970_V1_-461634652970Ă—600 174 KB

It shows a huge convenience to hold it. Rather than having people wonder how to hold the device.
Seriously, the value of being able to hold it properly is a huge benefit marketing wise.

Its like showing a phone commercial, but nobody is calling with it, vs a commercial where someone is calling with it. While both can get a result going, the one with calling is going to get better sales, because people see a lot better how the phone actualy is.

Handfree might be superior, but a lot of people will not be in a situation where they can easily mount it.

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Adding my first impressions here instead of starting a new thread. Used it once and had a good first experience.

The good:

  • Quieter than Handy 1
  • Increased stroke length
  • The mounting holes

The bad:

  • The location of mounting holes which is right next to the usb-c. I use it in reverse which works but with my mounting setup it interferes with the charger.
  • Cannot upgrade to firmware 4.0.18, says update failed, and other versions seem buggy. Tried multiple times, downgrading to different versions and back up but no luck.
  • The strap is short. Will use my old pro strap so I can strap sleeves of different sizes.
  • It vibrates slightly while moving slowly, which makes it feel slightly less immersive
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I owned a Fleshlight Launch. Mine broke after a few months. Fleshlight shipped my replacement to my old address and I never got it resolved. But ignoring my personal experience with the company, the design is awful and the power is awful. If people are cloning it that isn’t because of superiority - it is likely because Fleshlight is a massive brand. Or because the Launch is easy to build and copy.

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How slowly does it move when it gives vibrations? Do you have any idea?

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Well, i was actualy comparing to the quickshot launch version specfificly, the fleshlight one has always been weak due to fleshlights being heavy. Now i dont know how strong that is exactly, but that doesnt realy matter much for this argument.

Regardless of power (which is what made the handy 1 what it was). its form factor is much easier to hold. Being of similar weight, imagine if that same handy engine was used in it.

Thats the point i was trying to make.

And thats probably why the leten is beating the fleshlight version, it looks more powerful (and probably is).

I realy think they can improve the handy on this end, even if they make an entire adapter that can hold the handy as if it such device. But on that end, i think it would have made that part better if it could be screwed on.

Ofcourse, the first iteration of the handy 2 doesnt real need this (it never was marketed as such device so there is no kickstarter complaining going on anyway), but it can surely be an improvement later on.

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I appreciate the time you’ve just taken to point out your list of concerns. Where mounting is concerned, I am MacGuyver by all rights. The og handy arm mount was a letdown to me bc it was too light duty, and the locking mechanisms in place at each pivot point did not secure to my liking. The cup portion of that mount is solid, and a true survivor just like the handy itself. however, I ditched all of the above for a camera lense bracket mount from amazon, and adapter that to a 75x75/100x100 vesa mount type (the same mounting option for the vast majority of pc monitors and small televisions) and this allowed me to try out desk clamp monitor arms, quick release vesa mounting options, in vehicle mounting options etc. The in vehicle arm is similar to the original hands free setup, but has much more reach and strength. My favorite setup for at home use is a 1’ thick piece of UHMW, roughly 18x36 inches which easily slides under the mattress, and a very adjustable swing arm style vesa pipe mounting arm which securely clamps to it. The UHMW is easy to find as a “cutting board” and now i only need one allen wrench for the elevation change of sitting up or laying flat in bed. I still await my handy 2 pro, but will certainly outfit it with a rear central vesa mount, and will utilize each and every mounting hole present to hopefully minimize the shaking. The buddy system will certainly alleviate stress from each threaded hole and minimize unwanted movement. If this is still a fail, then i wil make a wraparound clamp. IDC what it looks like as much as functionality, as displaying my masturbator on the mantle at family gatherings is not on the to-do list. Welding and fabrication are details of my everyday life, so mounting will be simple to tackle. The Handy team was quick with their response and I appreciate that as well. It was very informative and seemed to solve most of your concerns. My suggestion to the company echoes one other, but i request that they create and sell a bracket which integrates into a common/adaptable configuration such as VESA 75x75. This will tackle the needs of many, providing access to a world of desk clamps, arm mounts etc. for the maximum in range/stability for even the least mechanically inclined of customers.

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What does the display name show up as on wifi networks?

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Eeek… let’s hope it’s just a bad batch.

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Tried using the device upside down and backwards to mount using the bottom hole in the original Handy 1 position and orientation for chair use.

The charging port is facing me and the controls are both upside down and to the right side. It really sucks the controls are upside down and also out of view as well as hard to reach ergonomically.

Suffice to say, this is far from ideal and it really should have been designed differently to have the controls in front so it’s in view and can be pressed with either hand.

The backside mount hole is very loose but the bottom one seems to be holding up better than the other.

Still stand by my first impression as those points still apply.

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I think the intent was that the “invert postion” switch in the app would also flip the led screen but it currently doesnt do that, I was told on discord it would be fixed in the next firmware update.

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@Howard150812
HandyAlexander mentioned that earlier in the thread.

@cozyblanket
Won’t solve physical shortcomings, but controls being upside down should at least be addressed.

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They could honestly just make some type of a pillow you can strap the Handy2 onto so you could use it on the bed or something. Maybe Handy could partner with Abdulisquitehandy to make some of those attachments that go at the end of the handy. I quite like a belt-based setup where I can wear the handy and stand up or sit, but it can move slightly out of place, so something more stationary could be better.

@SomeoneRandom
I mean, honestly a two-handed grip attachment like this that the Handy could be mounted onto from the top would be pretty cool. It would also diffuse the machine’s movement/vibrations into the arm handles and end up feeling a bit better and smoother.

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