Syncbot Review: The Best AI Male Masturbator?
There are a lot of strokers out there these days making the market harder to navigate, because each one of them claims to be the closest thing to having real sex.
Many of them offer interactivity and powered masturbation that are light-years beyond what our dads had access to 25 years ago when Fleshlight hit the market for the first time.
The Syncbot, by brand-new player Valor & Toughness, leverages state-of-the-art computer and AI technology alongside a brand-new rubber material that makes it easier than ever to get the sensation you want in the toy you deserve.
A lot of toys claim to change the game for male masturbation. Syncbot might actually deliver. Here’s why.
Valor & Toughness
If this male-oriented sex tech company sounds pretty, well, dramatic, it’s because they are.
VT is based out of Hong Kong, the center of China’s drama and film industry, and also the hub of research and development for China’s technology industry.
The company’s maiden product launched to great fanfare on IndieGoGo in 2021, and product started shipping at the end of 2022.
The company’s product portfolio remains pretty tightly limited around the Syncbot masturbator dock and its support products, and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
What You Get in the Package
When you open the SyncBot box, you get a tall, thermos-like device that is the combined stroker (or “Scabbard”) and robotics module (“Syncraft”), along with a black plastic dongle (“Synchub”) that resembles a Chromecast or other Internet-TV wireless device.
Once you get past this, the package also includes a tube of VT’s Cartridge lube (or eight in the Syncbot Pro package) and a user manual.
The deluxe pro package also includes an extra Scabbard, a Caliper, a plastic lever to make it easier to switch out your Scabbards, and a USB-C charging cable.
The package is pretty impressive for how much it delivers.
VT advertises that the Pro package is available worldwide, except in Brazil and India. The Lite package is available worldwide without restriction.
The Scabbard Stroker Is a Whole New Touch
The revolutionary Scabbard stroker would, itself, be a completely new experience.
Straddling the line between a Fleshlight-style masturbator and a traditional pocket pussy, Scabbard is one of the most intriguing new toys on the market by itself alone.
The new material, trademarked by VT as “Ace-Cream,” advertises that it’s the closest thing to human touch that you’ve ever felt in a stroker – and it delivers on that promise.
Even if Syncbot were the same product as Kiiroo’s PowerBlow (a comparison you’re about to see me make a lot), the Scabbard just feels a little bit better than Kiiroo’s Feel-series toys and would be worth getting on that recommendation alone.
The Syncraft Robotics Module Gives Unparalleled Versatility
One of the biggest pros to the Syncbot device is the robotics sleeve that makes the rest of the device work.
An external module to the base, which comes off either with a minimum of tugging in the lite version or by using the Caliper in the Pro version, the Syncraft is more than just a vacuum module like competitor Kiiroo’s PowerBlow.
Syncraft is integral to the whole device, and it creates multiple sensations. Blowjobs feel different from caresses feel different from vaginal penetration, which feels different from anal penetration.
If you can get a sexual sensation out of your body, there’s a fair chance you can find a synthetic version of it in the Syncraft module.
Improving the safety and security of the robotics module, it is completely sealed with no buttons.
Instead of a button-driven device directly, the AI handles the analysis of the porn while you use a touchpad on the side to control the video on the screen, handling forward, fast-forward, slow, and pause.
The Syncbot Software Is the Key
Syncbot isn’t just about Silicon Valley robotics and an amazing new technology stroker sleeve, it’s also about the complex neural network AI software that makes both of them run.
The Syncbot software is one of the most sophisticated video-matching AI programs currently available.
Syncbot is trained on a wide variety of the pornography available on the Internet, from short clips on Pornhub to long-form Japanese hentai animation (it specifically advertises its hentai compatibility, in fact).
This is pretty much a game-changer in sex toy software.
While the genre-defining Lovense software is still the best for remote person-to-person connection, there’s nothing out there that matches Syncbot’s connectivity to pornographic media.
Compared to FeelMe AI, Kiiroo’s powerful software suite, Syncbot feels like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony stacked up against a three-piece rock band.
Both are amazing experiences, but Syncbot is unquestionably more powerful, nuanced, and technologically sophisticated.
How’s It Work?
Syncbot works on an AI called PornGPT. If that name feels familiar, it’s because it is.
GPT is a Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, a form of AI that uses information it’s already been trained on to generate new information that’s similar to its training pool.
In this case, sensations are programmed into it, and it can create similar sensations based on its analysis of the scene being shown. It’s not perfect – AI has a history of shitting the bed when it’s pushed to do ambiguous things – but it’s one of the best AIs to fit the purpose of matching porn video to sensations in an immersive adult experience.
Hong Kong-based Valor & Toughness has produced one of the strongest GPT-based AIs out there and done it because of porn.
Hentai Support
Ok, so on the highly off chance you’re Amish and just on your Rumspringa, or you’ve been living under a particularly mossy rock since the early 1990s, “Hentai” was originally a term for Japanese pornographic cartoons but has been generalized to mean pornographic cartoons from East Asia (Japan, China, and Korea).
On Reddit, r/Hentai defines “hentai” as “a genre of pornography with Anime or Manga styling,” which obviously would include Western productions as well.
Because it’s animated, hentai provides a particularly good test case for the AI driving Syncbot. And Syncbot excels at it. In fact, it’s designed with Hentai support in mind.
So, if you’re interested in hentai, and a lot of men are for a wide variety of reasons, you can do a heck of a lot worse than Syncbot and its PornGPT AI driver.
SyncBrowser Beta
If you’re also interested in training a next-generation AI with the specific goal of porn, VT has you covered there, too.
Their AI-driven streaming browser, developed in partnership with industry-leading freemium site PornHub, released to Beta on July 15, 2023, making it one of the newest porn browsers available on the Internet.
Since it’s in Beta, users’ data will be used to further develop and refine the AI.
This is an exciting opportunity, but it also comes with some risks, since Hong Kong is in, well, China, which means that your data could come with some backdoor risks.
But if you weren’t interested in risking backdoors you wouldn’t be here now, would you?
FAQs
Which Devices Are Compatible with Syncbot?
As of this writing, Syncbot is only compatible with Windows. Mac compatibility is advertised as “coming by the end of 2023,” with mobile compatibility on the roadmap but not yet implemented.
For the majority of the world’s digital data users who only interface with the Internet through a mobile device, this may be a significant problem that needs rectification sooner than Mac compatibility.
What are the Charging Details for Syncbot?
Syncbot uses a wired USB-C charger as its primary charger. It typically takes about two hours to charge from a wall outlet, significantly longer than this from your PC as a PC’s USB ports are typically lower-powered than a 5-amp transformer and only support trickle charging.
If you’re getting a Syncbot for the first time, resist the urge to use it right out of the box (I know, I know…) and put it right on the charger to fully charge before its first use.
In use, a 2-hour full charge will last SyncBot about an hour and a half.
How do I clean?
Like any other stroker cup, Scabbard can be cleaned with mild soap and water. Because it does use soap in its cleaning, make sure to rinse it thoroughly before you’re done cleaning it.
Let the Scabbard dry completely before you reattach it to the Syncraft. The sleeve will simply slide out of the Scabbard by knocking it gently against a hard object, like a table.
Like any other stroker sleeve, it can be inverted for more thorough cleaning before you reassemble it.
The Syncraft robotics unit is packed full of electronics and is not IPX water intrusion rated. It should be therefore protected from any form of water intrusion.
Water getting into the unit will void the warranty. VT offers a video with comprehensive cleaning instructions.
Anything to know about the Synchub device?
Synchub is a wireless remote connector for the Syncbot device. Because Syncbot is totally electronic, it activates on proximity to an activated Synchub.
For most homes, this means any time Synchub is plugged in, Syncbot is turned on. If you want to preserve your battery life with Syncbot, unplug the Synchub dongle whenever you’re not using it.
What lubricant can I use?
The company considers their Ace-Cream material to be a proprietary trade secret and as such, they’re not giving any specifics about its composition.
Most rubbers are safe to use with a water-based lubricant. Obviously, VT prefers that you’d use their Primer No. 1 lube. If you do or not, that’s probably none of their actual business.
How Does Syncbot Compare to Competitors?
Syncbot competes in a pretty loaded space for male masturbators. The most directly comparable devices are the Lovense Max 2 and Kiiroo PowerBlow + Feel masturbator.
Of the two competing devices, Lovense Max 2 is the more directly competitive. Developed in 2013, Max 2 is one of the premier teledildonic masturbators on the market.
Though originally designed for person-to-person contact, Max 2 has matured into a versatile, well-loved male pleasure device.
Though it doesn’t have the instant recognizability cachet of the female lush masturbator, Max 2 can interface with Lovense’s own porn browser to bring you a similar experience.
Lovense also has the advantage of strong name recognition while VT is just starting out.
PowerBlow + Feel is the budget option here. Weighing in at a much more wallet-friendly price point than either Max or Syncbot, PowerBlow is also a far more self-directed experience.
Its basis is contained in the name: It’s a blowjob simulator, no more and no less. Controlled by button controls on the device, PowerBlow is also broadly compatible with any Feel masturbator toy.
If you’re interested in a blowjob-type masturbator and don’t care about the AI syncing properties, PowerBlow is a perfect option to test the waters with.
Compared to the other two, Syncbot is unquestionably the most technologically sophisticated option of the three.
It’s not as well recognized, but its sleek black looks and sophisticated AI make it a great choice.
Pros
- Controls on the device operate the videos you’re syncing from, making your pleasure a snap. Your focus can be entirely on your experience and not on playing the controls.
- State-of-the-art robotics create real differences in feeling between a blowjob and anal and vaginal penetration.
- New material feels even more lifelike than before.
- Package, especially the pro package, includes amenities that would be cost-plus options on many competitors.
- Highly sensitive AI does a great job of telling the difference between different content.
Cons
- This is one spendy popper.
- The device only comes compatible with one type of stroker and more do not yet appear to be in the works.
- The dongle has to be taken out after every use, so you can’t set and forget in a rear-facing USB port.
- Non-water-resistant robotics module needs to be kept clean of lube and water or it will void the warranty.
So, Do You Want This?
The short answer is this is absolutely one of the top male masturbators on the market today.
If you have a penis and you want to give it pleasure that you’ve never experienced in solo play before, the Syncbot needs to be on your shopping list.
Though they’re obscure, having only one major product on the market, Valor & Toughness has the makings of a major player in the teledildonics world, and the sophistication of their AI-driven masturbator is only going to increase over the coming years.
If you want in on the ground floor of the next revolution in sex tech, Syncbot is your ticket.
I'm Him and she's Her. We are a pair of sex toy aficionados who are proud to guide you step by step in the wonderful world of high-tech and high-quality adult products. If you have any question regarding the items reviewed on the blog, please feel free to drop a message below and we'll be happy to answer as soon as possible! Inquiries: contact(@)williamleclair.com
