Mark in MA—October 30, 2025
This review is for the "Shining U" Portable, Handheld, Rechargeable Bidet for Travel. High Pressure with Adaptor, for Women and Men (Purple). I'll start by saying that this is an amazing and convenient little bidet! If you leave your home, you absolutely MUST have one! That should include most people. I have life-long, chronic stomach issues, so the thought of a refreshing water rinse has always been very appealing, but the design of the traditional bidet grossed my out. I've never used one of those, but upon visual inspection, the water source is at the bottom, center of the bowl. That should mean the water shoots straight up. Gravity is the part that grossed me out. Although I've never seen one in use, logic tells me that whatever is being rinsed off, would fall back into the stream of water that is spraying back up at you. There may be some trick I'm not aware of, but this thought always kept me from using a traditional bidet. Instead, I used wipes, which was much better than the dry option alone. Prior to a bidet, the wipes made me feel clean. About 15 years ago, I discovered the kind of bidet you attach under the back of an existing seat. Because this shoots forward - almost horizontally - nothing that falls will go into the stream spraying you. Now THAT made sense to my brain! I was excited about that design, and purchased one immediately after learning of them. If you already use a bidet, you know it doesn't take long to become entirely dependent on that level of clean. Needing to travel a lot, being away from my bidet was an issue for over a decade. Maybe only bidet users will understand this, but after getting used to a bidet, I feel 10 times more dirty, irritated, and itchy when I don't use one, than it used to make me feel before the bidet life. I need to be vague for the sake of politeness, but there is an important detail that makes a bidet more essential for me. With this kind of hygiene, it's a helpful detail to consider for many men (and women)....... I'm quite hairy. Without a bidet, I'm not going to feel comfortable until I take a shower. You get really used to the quick and easy clean up, the lack of irritation, and simply being clean of the byproducts of tissue. Not to mention, I save a lot on tissue and wipes. When using a different bathroom, I still habitually reach for the handle of my bidet. I also still get frustrated (and grossed out) every time it's not there! Then, all I can think about is wanting to go home and shower. About 2 years ago, I discovered someone had designed very small, portable, handheld bidets. It delivers a stream of water at a very similar angle as the ones you attach under the seat, only you do it from the front. That was an exciting day! I ordered one within two minutes of that discovery. Thanks Amazon! As a man, carrying a purse is still not socially acceptable, but because of my tummy issues, a bag is necessary. I found a style of cross-body shoulder bag that is easy/comfortable to carry, and nobody considers it a purse, even though that's exactly what it is. I've used that to carry wipes for years, but it became a great way to carry the portable bidet and a bottle of water, in case a sink isn't convenient when needing the bidet. That old handheld is manual with a hand pump built in. You fill it with water, then pump it about 10-15 times. That builds up pressure so the water can spray out of the nozzle when you press a button. Although it took a little work (and the sound of pumping probably confused at least a few people in public restrooms) it was still such a life changer to have a bidet while traveling. I honestly never considered the concept of an electric handheld bidet, only because it gets filled with water. There are a million things that use electricity in a wet environment, but it still wasn't a feature I was looking for, simply because it never crossed my mind. I already thought the manual version was genius. About 3 months ago, this bidet showed up in my "Recommended Items" on Amazon. Again, I was very excited and ordered it immediately. Having the same convenience of the manual bidet, without needing to pump it, was a great upgrade. I didn't even pay attention to, or consider, the other ways this bidet is an upgrade - until I used it for the first time. This bidet is slightly larger than the manual version, but for reasons I'm happy about. It takes a little room for the electronics and mechanics, so making it the same size would mean there was a lower water capacity. This bidet is also made of a thick, durable plastic, and has a comfortable, lightly rubberized coating so it's not slippery if wet. It also needs to be watertight on the inside and out, because of the electronics. Each of these details adds to the size in some way. I love that this is rechargeable instead of needing to worry about buying batteries or having them die mid-use. This has a battery indicator so you're warned, and I always carry a portable charger with me for my phone. That means there is no concern for me about the battery dying. As a side note, this bidet is so watertight that you can fill it with water, zip it up in the included hard carrying case, then throw it in your bag. It doesn't leak. The manual bidet leaks from the cover. That one is not designed to be transported with water in it. Since this bidet is watertight, you can fill it before you need it, and it's always ready to go. The manual bidet is made of very thin and rigid plastic. If I drop that, it's almost definitely going to break. This bidet would be able to take some abuse. Understandably, the only part you need to be careful of is the arm/nozzle that folds out. That nozzle is thin and hinged, so if the nozzle were folded out, you definitely wouldn't want to drop it on that side. I would expect it to break or detach. It may snap right back in, but I wouldn't find out unless I broke it, which I'm careful not to do. I've dropped this one while the nozzle was closed and there was no damage. However, that was only from a height of about 2 feet. A friend also dropped it down a flight of stairs, but it was in its hard carrying case, so no damage. It should be obvious that I love having this personal care tool, but I'm used to my home bidet which has water pressure as high as I'm willing to tolerate. I could fill myself up if I turned it all the way up! That leaves me very underwhelmed with the water pressure on this bidet. It's fairly mild. There are two power settings for the stream (low and high), but even on high, it's not as strong as I'd like. The manual pump had a little more water pressure. It isn't a big difference, but it's noticeable. The flip side of that argument is that these are fairly small, so there is a limited amount of water. A higher water pressure would mean it runs out of water quickly. I'm not upset about the water pressure, because if it were stronger, a lot of the water would be wasted. It's a trade off that I don't think can be avoided. That brings me to the disadvantage of ANY handheld, portable bidet... They don't hold much water. Being hairy, I need more water than someone without hair, but also prefer to go overboard, just to be sure I'm clean. Unfortunately, unlike using paper, there's no way to know when you're "done" cleaning. Experience and guessing are about the only measures you can use. With my bidet at home having a never ending water supply, even when confident I'm clean, I'll still sit there for 15-20 extra seconds... because why not? With any kind of small, handheld bidet, 15-20 seconds is close to the entire water supply. Knowing that in advance is a required detail if you're going to have the right expectations. If it's not a great day for my tummy, I usually run through the water, and then pause to fill it again. Even if I don't think it will be necessary to use more water, whenever possible, I fill a water bottle before making my way to sit down. That way the extra water is there, if needed. Even if the sink is directly next to you, it's going to be awkward reaching the faucet while seated. I highly recommend this portable bidet, and feel very safe assuming you will be very happy with your purchase. Enjoy being cleaner on the go, with less irritation! Read more
