Sexy Biz: Durex, Lifestyles, and Trojan lead in Consumer Reports condom test

November 5, 12:52 PMSex & Relationships ExaminerSarah Estrella

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Consumer Reports tested 15,000 condoms for its most recent report, representing 20 models from different brands. The most reliable? While all of the condoms tested met minimum reliability standard requirements for volume and pressure, there were four different models from Trojan, two from Lifestyles, and one from Durex that all had perfect scores, including Consumer Reports' most stringent strength measure, in which condoms are filled with 25 litres of liquid.

Durex Performax – the number one ranked condom in the Consumer Reports test – contains benzocaine, a mild numbing ingredient used for climax control. Some people swear by it, but my own partner and I have agreed to steer clear of any numbing agents for various reasons, so we're considering #2 on the Consumer Reports list as the best bet: Lifestyles Ultra-Sensitive Lubricated, and, since we like the Durex brand, I'll mention that #8 on the list, Durex Extra Sensitive, is our favorite of the top 10 recommended by Consumer Reports. Lifestyles Warming Pleasure condoms come in at #3, with a perfect score, and the Lifestyles Ultra Thin Lubricated rounds out the top ten list with a score of 96 out of 100.

Trojan fared the best overall of the brands tested, with four models receiving perfect scores – Her Pleasure Ecstasy, Magnum Lubricated, Ultra Ribbed Ecstasy, and Ultra Thin – and a fifth, Trojan Enz, making the top ten cut at #9. See the slideshow below for a look at the Top 10 condoms.

Other brands tested include Beyond Seven, One, Kimono, and Night Light. The glow in the dark Night Light condom fared the worst, with a score of 38 out of 100. The Kimono Micro Thin, previously a favorite for my partner and I (partly since we can buy them at the natural foods store we shop at), comes in at #16 with a disappointing score of 85 out of 100, thanks to dings in the reliability and leakage tests. 

Here's a video clip of Consumer Reports' testing procedure, and a note from Associate Editor Jamie Kopf Hirsh, via blogs.consumerreports.org:

I get a lot of interesting reactions when I tell friends I’m covering our tests of condoms. Their excitement wanes a little when I say we don’t test condoms by personally trying them out. But they tend to be quite impressed by the scope and scale of what we put the humble latex sleeves through in our labs—as well as the sheer number of condoms we buy to ensure our sample sizes are large enough to draw statistically valid conclusions.