Babes Network Summary
- Videos: 1,357
- Pornstars: 774
- Bonus Sites: 5
- Last Updated: August 19, 2024
Quick Navigation
- - About Babes Network
- - Content Breakdown by Categories
- - First Impressions & User Navigation
- - Video Player & Streaming Experience
- - Video & Audio Quality
- - Porn Content & Performers
- - Bonus Sites
- - Conclusion
- - Sites Like Babes Network
#1. About Babes Network
That’s a solid name, worthy of a million bucks, too. It was a surprise to learn that Babes is one of the most accessed sites inside MindGeek’s portfolio, preceded only by RealityKings and Brazzers. It’s all about glamour, hardcore porn, and beautiful models.
Babes brand has been around since 2012 and already experienced a few transitional periods. The latest came in 2019 and with a stronger focus on the hardcore porn part. Most of us know the Babes website due to multiple cross-promotions but never had an opportunity to join it. Let’s change that today.
#2. Content Breakdown by Categories
Here’s the quickest way to access the porn content situation on Babes network.
The paid area has only nine categories, while non-logged-in users see 16. That makes no sense and is confusing.
#3. First Impressions & User Navigation
Babes Network makes a solid first impression with its minimalistic design, video thumbnails that beg to be clicked, and even beautiful banners. Of course, one could argue that its layout is getting old, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. All visitors care about are logical decisions that show content first; that’s it.
Your senses are teased with eight of the latest Babes scenes and eight more below. These come filtered as “top-rated this year.” You can glimpse those by moving your mouse over any thumbnail, but that’s it. Trailers are, unfortunately, locked behind a paywall and require Babes membership. It's not the first network that now follows this path.
Maybe some “researchers” figured out that people were masturbating to trailers and cut them off for the rest of us. At the bottom is a recently active model list, and you have full permission to view them all.
#3a. Content Filters
Using filters for content discovery isn’t rocket science; even guests can access these features. Hit the top right corner button, and their redesigned filtration system is listening. I wouldn’t call it perfect and prefer the older design, but that’s the downside of the modern web. Things get too complex just for the sake of it.
Babes visitors can sort videos by release date, most viewed titles, or top-rated content. Afterward, narrowing it down is easy as you select the date range from any time, from last week, last month, to last year. If you push things even further, a specific site or pornstar can be selected (when viewing scenes) or even a category.
I’ve always found it’s much easier to find your favorite pornstar and browse their scenes from there. Alternatively, if you have no preference and see the specific category, filtering can be enabled by category, too. Either by hitting the categories area, which isn’t the greatest and has a limited number of categories or by pushing a filter button. Here, Babes lists all the possible categories, and you can select from specific kinks like “doggystyle” to places and settings, let’s say, “kitchen.”
Since Babes doesn’t have thousands of videos, some categories will only return one or two videos. Also, I don’t think someone has properly tagged all the videos. For example, using the same “kitchen” keyword search box returned 85 results (some don’t even have a kitchen), while a scene-specific search provided a single consequence of “Kitchen Fun.” Then, I used their tag for the kitchen, resulting in 61 scenes. Filtering for all, but the main kinks are all over the place.
#4. Video Player & Streaming Experience
If you’re already accustomed to the MindGeek video player from sites like Mofos, Brazzers or Reality Kings, then the story ends here. Unfortunately, there’s nothing different on Babes Network. By default, it will still play at the highest audio volume setting and won’t allow you to save your preferences. In other words, refresh the page, and it’s back to “auto” streaming quality and annoying volume levels.
Paying members get access to trailers, scenes, and picture galleries. I have no idea who still browses through static pictures, but here you go. Unlike Mofos, Babes Network video seek bar features instant thumbnails, which is a godsent feature for most of you. It eliminates a lot of guessing and, more importantly, enables us to quickly check the scene without any lag buffering or loading issues. Sadly, videos don’t have the timeline feature
The bottom buttons have the typical functions for liking, disliking, favoriting, and watching the video later. Those who pay extra cash can also download any scene. It is HTML5 and not Adobe Flash player, meaning a pop-out video player if you desire.
There’s no quality difference between a streamed 1080p video and a downloaded one, and let’s start with that! That's probably the most asked question on everyone’s mind, and you aren’t losing precious bits with any option.
Speeds are decent good; it took around a second or two to buffer any part of a Full HD video, which, while not instant, isn’t horrible. Of course, it helps to have those thumbnails, eliminating most of the clicking unless you’re sure where to land. Other than that, I still prefer my own media player.
#4a. Download Options (22-Minute Video)
Following other sites, Babes Network will charge you $9.99 / month extra to download their videos. Why would anyone do that? Blame privacy, their greed, or who knows. It’s still terrible for consumers. I’ve reached close to 37 MB/s when downloading videos and didn’t notice any throttling afterward. At least you have that.
- Medium - 320p - (235 MB)
- High - 480p - (258 MB)
- HD - 720p - (484 MB)
- Full HD - 1080p (1.05 GB)
#4b. Streaming Options
- Auto, 320p, 480p, 720p, 1080p
#5. Video & Audio Quality
- HD - 720p (2800 to 3100 kbps)
- Full HD - 1080p (6000 to 6600 kbps)
There’s a certain aesthetic about Babes dot com scenes that I like. Whatever camera equipment they use or whoever is operating a camera, it’s a job well done. With a higher-than-average 1080p bit rate, videos look sharp and crisp. I swear there are worse-looking 4K scenes from budget porn sites.
Regarding Ultra Full HD content, Babes has yet to implement such quality. It’s still fine on up to 27” PC displays and more than enough for phones and tablets. I’d like to imagine that many couples get these memberships to spice up their sex life and watch all videos on TV. In that case, Babes Network is okay, but not as fun as studios that do erotica in 4K.
Even if you take older scenes with erotic lighting (dimmed yellow lights with candles), there’s no noise or trashy quality gremlins. The difference between Babes and other sites is natural lighting, which means no studio lights. As a result, pornstars have a slightly yellow tone from all the lights and whatnot. That’s how sensual content works. It’s not Instagram yellow, though; see our sample content below. In other words, there aren’t any traces of artificial lighting; it’s like real life. That’s positive and negative at once.
Audio quality ranges from 150 to 170 kbps, the average for any professional adult movie studio. Guess we’re all used to having 320 kbps music, but that’s the thing. This is not music. The same bitrates Apple to all resolutions, so there's no difference whether it’s 320p or 1080p. I wish they used identical bitrates (audio and video) for all their videos, but they wouldn’t be all over the place. Maybe bum it up to 192 kbps just for the sake of it.
#6. Porn Content & Performers
Following the sensual content template, Babe's videos start with relaxing music and narration on top. Next, you have pornstars talking about their fantasies, kinks, etc. However, these are as short as 30 to 60 seconds and then switch to foreplay plus sex. I would much prefer longer introductions that create a setting, indulging you into a fantasy a little bit more.
Speaking of a perfect build-up, I want to discuss my favorite category, “Babes Unleashed,” which is no longer updated. Despite less than ten videos, the content is top-notch with slow movements, sensual music, and settings with intros lasting over a minute. The latest scene from a year ago had a pornstar’s car break down, leading to pure ecstasy in the shower. Be sure to watch the trailer, at least! Women there look like beautiful amateurs without fake tits or other nonsense. Even girl-on-girl fantasies look stunning; it’s like these performers love one another. Personally, that’s my favorite part of Babes Network. Sad to see it go.
Another one is for office sex fantasies, and it’s like any other porn site, just slower. Horny secretary, pussy thirsty boss, and then they fuck. The last update for that was in 2017. What keeps receiving updates, though, is a category for stepmom’s sex lessons. It’s just what you expect, with mood-setting Babe's intros.
Despite the “Elegant Anal” name, there’s nothing elegant about that. Women choking on cock, guys talking “yes, yes,” and spewing more hardcore porn trash talk. It might have music for the intro and pretend it’s erotica, but it’s nothing like that now. Don’t get me wrong, these people fuck good, and if it wasn’t for the Babes name, we’d be all over the scenes. However, I did expect more erotica and slow porn type of content. They need to stop with these confusing names.
Performers, on the other hand, do wonders and seem to have fun. Be it casual sex, anal, choking, or whatever. Depending on the site, you either roll with professional pornstars that fuck till they collapse or a crowd of slower types. Those who don’t rush let the mood take over and poke the hole for a minute or two before switching positions. It did not get boring, and that’s all you care about.
#6a. Update Frequency
The update cycle might work for couples that don’t watch porn together that often. However, a single update every three days is not the greatest for regular mortals.
#6b. Porn Directors
I am still determining who the producers or directors of Babes Network videos are. This info is not available on-site.
#6c. Pornstars
No offense to some models, but what does your mind associate babes keyword with? Youthful, energetic, and stunning-looking women. Correct? That’s not always the case with these pornstars, Lena Paul, for example, or Sarah Vandella looks past her prime, and I have no idea why she’s even here; the same applies to a few other performers.
The average age of a female pornstar on Babes is around 25 years old at the time of filming. That’s good. Yet, most of them don’t scream babe to me. Some solid talent is still present. They perform exceptionally well as amateurs have long been removed from the site’s repertoire. I think it’s not for the better.
Male performers are mostly from other MindGeek sites, superb guys like Manuel Ferrara, one of my favorites. He blends in well and works for the setting. You've seen some if you’ve been on any of the previous sites. Babes Network does have male pornstars that aren’t as known, from black guys to casual Caucasian-looking dudes. Whether that’s how you want them to play is your own decision.
If you catch my drift, I prefer Babe's older videos (from Babes Unleashed) with less stellar performances but a more “real love” feel. It’s commercial porn that works on all but erotica sites. Babes is a hardcore glamour site, but page titles say otherwise. You have keywords like sensual, erotic scenes, HD erotica, etc. It’s like they have no idea what Babe’s identity is.
#8. Bonus Sites
Out of the five bonus sites, three are actively updated. Babes Unleashed has not been updated since 2018, and Office Obsession has not had new content since late 2017.
#9. Conclusion
If it wasn’t for the content change since 2019, I’d have no trouble recommending Babes as a softcore porn site. While many beautiful scenes will turn every male or female on, a new direction doesn’t cut it for me. It's primarily due to the no longer updated bonus site that was erotica first.
I feel like Babes lost its identity in late 2019. Now you get videos similar in style to those of Brazzers or RealityKings, just in much lower quantities. I would not bother with this one unless these other sites have already stuffed you full. In other words, don’t trust other reviews and tweak your expectations accordingly. This is more of a “slightly sensual” hardcore porn site now, not a home for softer glamcore movies.
