Wands and bullets are the two most common external vibrators, and they're often presented as interchangeable options at different price points. They aren't. They're built around opposite priorities, and the right one depends less on budget than on what you want from it.
The short version
A wand is large, powerful, and broad. A bullet is small, precise, and portable. Wands trade discretion for output; bullets trade output for control and convenience.
If you want one sentence: wands are better at intensity, bullets are better at everything logistical.
Power
This is the clearest difference and it comes down to physics rather than quality. Vibration output is a function of motor size and the mass it can drive, and a wand simply has more room for both. A well-made wand produces rumbling, low-frequency vibration you feel through a broad area. A bullet, however good, produces something buzzier and more surface-level.
The distinction people use is rumbly versus buzzy. Rumble comes from larger motors moving more mass at lower frequency and tends to feel deeper. Buzz is higher frequency and stays nearer the surface. Neither is objectively better, but they're different sensations and preference between them is strong and personal.
Cheap wands are the exception worth naming. A wand-shaped product with a small motor gives you the bulk of a wand and the output of a bullet, which is the worst of both. Below about £40 this is common.
Precision
Bullets win here, straightforwardly. A small contact point is easier to place exactly, and small adjustments produce small changes rather than losing the position entirely.
Wands cover a wide area, which is forgiving if you're new to something — you don't need to aim — but limiting if you want something specific. Broad and strong is a different proposition from targeted and moderate.
Wand attachments partly address this, though they add cost and another thing to clean.
Practicality
Bullets are easier in nearly every non-sensation respect.
They're quieter, mostly because there's less motor and less housing to resonate. They're easier to store discreetly. They travel without explanation. They're usable in positions and situations where a wand's size gets in the way, including with a partner, where a wand tends to occupy space rather than fit into it.
Battery life runs the other way. Wands have room for larger cells and typically last through several sessions; bullets often need charging weekly with regular use.
Hand fatigue
Rarely mentioned and worth knowing. Wands are heavier but have a handle designed to be held at a distance from the head, so the weight is manageable and your wrist stays neutral. Bullets are light but held pinched between fingers, close in, which is a more tiring grip over time.
For anything sustained, a wand is usually more comfortable to hold despite weighing several times more. If grip strength or wrist pain is a factor, this can outweigh everything else on the list.
Beyond the obvious use
A wand is a legitimate muscle massager and always has been — the original designs were sold as exactly that. Shoulders, calves, lower back. This isn't a euphemism, it's a genuine second use, and it makes a wand the easier purchase to have sitting in a drawer or explain if found.
A bullet has no such cover story, though it's small enough not to need one.
Price
Bullets start lower and top out lower. A good one sits somewhere around £25 to £50, and beyond that you're paying for design rather than performance.
Wands run higher because the motor and battery cost more to build. Under £40 the compromise is usually in the motor. The £60 to £100 range is where wands generally deliver what they promise.
Choosing
Pick a wand if you want strong, rumbling sensation, if you're new and would rather not aim precisely, if you'd use it for muscle tension too, or if grip comfort matters.
Pick a bullet if you want precision, if quietness is a real constraint, if you travel, if you want something usable with a partner without it dominating, or if you want to spend less.
Plenty of people end up owning both, and they don't overlap much in practice — which is a reasonable indication that they're doing different jobs rather than the same job at different prices.
Whichever you choose, the material and water rating questions apply equally. Body-safe silicone, a published IP rating rather than the word "waterproof", and rechargeable rather than battery-powered.