Tushy, the witty bidet brand you’ve probably seen all over your social media, has made a name for itself with its easy-to-use bidet attachment perfect for beginners. But now the brand has released a new bidet that’s a huge step up from the bidet attachments you know and love, both in terms of features and price.
The Tushy Ace is an electric bidet that fully replaces your existing toilet seat and boasts a heated set, unlimited warm water, an adjustable self-cleaning nozzle, a dryer and even a remote control. Coming in at $599, it’s definitely an investment (and much more expensive than Tushy’s previous models, which hover around $100). To help you figure out if it’s worth taking the plunge, we tried the Ace out for ourselves.
Before we dive too deep into the Tushy Ace, it’s important to double check that your toilet is compatible. (Who knew there were so many types of toilet seats out there?) You can check if the Ace will fit your toilet on Tushy’s website here.
With a heated seat, warm water, a dryer and even a remote control, the Tushy Ace is the high-end bidet you’ve been waiting for.
A deep dive into the features
The Tushy Ace’s heated seat, warm water and built-in dryer are absolute game changers from the original Tushy Classic, which we tested after the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020. We loved the Classic, but the Ace’s new features, adjustability and intuitive remote are all welcome upgrades. After installing the bidet (more on that later), you’ll be able to run a rear wash as well as a front wash, both with five levels of adjustability for both water pressure and angle. And after experiencing the Ace’s spray, we can confirm it’s much more comfortable than the one on the Tushy attachments. Plus, on top of providing a more comfortable clean, the Ace is also more effective, thanks to an oscillating power wash that’s activated by pressing the rear or front wash button twice.
There are five water temperature settings on the Tushy Ace, and with an internal coiled heating system, you’ll get unlimited warm water the second you start spraying. That’s a much better experience than the Tushy Spa, which takes hot water from the pipe under your sink instead of heating the water up itself. We’ve tested the Spa too and found that if your sink water takes a while to warm up, you’ll have the same issue with the stream from your bidet. The Tushy Ace, on the other hand, sprays warm water nearly instantly.
For a little insight, the big driver of price in bidets at this level is the way it warms the water. Some bidets have a built-in tank that only keeps a limited amount of water warm, and others, like the Tushy Ace, have an internal system that heats the water as it runs through the bidet, meaning you’ll get a warm stream for as long as you need.
To compare, the Bio Bidet Bliss BB-2000 ($699; amazon.com) and the Brondell Swash 1400 ($649; brondell.com) both also feature an internal heating system, giving you an unlimited supply of hot water. But if you don’t want to spend as much but still want hot water, a bidet with a heating tank is a good option. We’ve tried the Brondell Swash LE89 and Swash LE99, both of which use a tank and provide a comfortable, efficient clean. The Swash LE89 ($289.99; brondell.com) has the same basic functions as the Tushy Ace (although with a limited amount of warm water), but all of its controls are on a side arm. We didn’t think the arm was too much of a pain to use, but if you love the idea of a remote and still want a cheaper bidet, the Swash LE99 ($309.99; brondell.com) is nearly identical to the LE89 but with a remote and user profiles, which let you save your preferred settings.
The Tushy Ace also comes with a heated seat — again with five temperature settings — and, to be honest, the warm seat felt a little weird at first. Previously, the only reason for a toasty toilet seat was that someone else had just used it, which is a somewhat unpleasant association. But after a few uses, the sensation of a heated seat became downright enjoyable, and will probably only get better once the weather gets colder.
Finally, we’ve arrived at the dryer, which is hands down the best upgrade from the original Tushy. Brands always claim that using their bidet will reduce your toilet paper usage, but in our experience that wasn’t always necessarily the case. Oftentimes there’s still a lot of water to pat dry after a spray, and we’d end up using about the same amount of toilet paper anyway. However, the Tushy Ace’s dryer makes that issue a thing of the past. Once you’re done with your spray, simply tap the dryer button to start a drying cycle, which you can end at any time by pressing the “stop” button. With five temperature settings, it’s not only comfortable, but it actually works well enough to drastically cut down the amount of toilet paper you use.
Installing the Tushy Ace
Installation is a huge factor when it comes to bidets because, not so surprisingly, most people don’t really interact with the plumbing of their toilet that often. However, Tushy has always claimed to be one of the easiest bidets to attach to your toilet, and when we tested the Classic that definitely rang true. Tushy has maintained that ease of installation in the new Tushy Ace — just ensure your toilet is compatible, as previously mentioned, and that there’s a three-prong outlet less than 3 feet away.
Putting the Tushy Ace on our toilet only took about 30 minutes, and that time was mostly spent trying to line up the hose to our toilet tank’s connection — which is stuffed in a corner of our bathroom and basically impossible to see (you’ve got to love New York City apartments!).
Overall, installing the Ace is an incredibly simple process. You turn off the water connection, flush your toilet to drain the tank and take your toilet seat off just like you would when installing the Tushy Classic. The water connections are generally easy to screw on as long as your space isn’t too cramped, and attaching the bidet to your toilet requires a simple mount that fits right over the holes on your toilet. We have a top-mount toilet and have had to purchase additional washers to mount other bidets correctly. The Tushy Ace, however, comes with its own screws, so whether you have a top-mount or regular toilet, mounting the bidet doesn’t require any additional materials.
After slowly turning the water back on and ensuring that none of your connections leak, you can plug in your Tushy Ace and you’re ready to go. Even though it’s easy to install, you should still carefully read the instructions beforehand.
Our installation went smoothly, but you should make sure to check in on your bidet. After about an hour or so, we noticed one of the connections was leaking and had started to flood our bathroom. All we had to do was realign the hose and screw it on tighter, but it’s definitely a good idea to check yours after the fact to prevent any flooding.
Is the Tushy Ace worth it?
There’s no doubt that the Tushy Ace is a huge improvement over the Tushy Classic and the Tushy Spa. If you want a high-end bidet, the Tushy Ace is a solid option at $599, and even though that’s a much higher price tag than Tushy’s previous models, the Ace’s features line up with other bidets that are around the same price.
If you’re ready to splurge on a high-end yet simple-to-use bidet, you won’t be disappointed with the Tushy Ace electric bidet. Once you experience the endless warm water, heated seat, remote control, adjustability and dryer, you’ll be wondering how you could ever use anything less.