Lelo

Review: Lelo Enigma

Kate Sloan

I never know what to expect when a new Lelo toy launches.

Will it be a cissexist and elitist nightmare, like the Pino, their “cock ring for bankers”? Will it be a baffling controversy, like their decision to hire a known domestic abuser as the spokesman for their infamously structurally unsound condoms? Will it injure people’s clits, like their Sona? Or will it be good?

Lelo toys really are a crapshoot these days. For every new one that I like, there tends to be at least one new release that I’m… substantially less fond of. So you can see why I was intrigued by, but simultaneously wary of, their new dual-stimulation toy, the Enigma. My friends at Mindful were kind enough to send me one, and I put it to the test.

 

The Enigma is one of Lelo’s most visually appealing toys in years. It doesn’t look like a Super Mario character or something from Christian Grey’s nightstand; it comes in black or a deep shade of rose, and both colorways have a panel of iridescent pink/purple plating that lends the toy a nifty space-age aesthetic.

The Enigma is Lelo’s attempt at a category of toy that seems popular these days: pressure-wave stimulation focused on the clit, paired with an internal arm that vibrates against the G-spot. This combination is purported to help create blended orgasms through stimulation of the entire clitoris, internal and external. I’m a big fan of holistic clit stim (as opposed to stimulation that focuses only on the tip or visible portion of the clit), so I was curious how well this toy would work for me.

As with many dual-stimulation toys, you can’t easily use the Enigma’s two parts separately. If, for example, you wanted to warm yourself up with clitoral stimulation before inserting the G-spot portion of the toy, you could tuck the vibrating part between your legs to get it out of the way while the toy’s “mouth” attended to your clit, but in that position the vibrating arm starts to stray into butt territory, which you may or may not want. I found I was able to flip the toy around the other way, so that the vibrating arm presses into my external G-spot, which feels nice while I’m getting myself turned on – but if you’re looking for a toy that can be either a clit stimulator or a G-spot vibrator, you’ll have to look elsewhere, because this one is unavoidably both at once.

Part of the annoyance in trying to use the toy’s functions separately is that they can’t be controlled separately. When the toy is on, both of its functions are on; when you turn up the intensity on one, you’re turning it up on the other simultaneously. I’m not a fan of dual-stim toys that work this way, because I often find myself wanting (for example) gentle clit stimulation coupled with more intense G-spot vibration, or I may at times prefer patterns on my G-spot and steady sensation on my clit.

It’s annoying that a toy retailing for $189 doesn’t have the fairly common feature of allowing each of its functions to be controlled independently. Part of me wonders if this choice was actually made in order to keep the cost down – Lelo’s other dual-stimulation toys retail for as much as $249 – but, frankly, other sex toy companies have been able to implement this feature at lower price points, so I don’t think that’s much of an excuse. (The We-Vibe Nova 2 costs $149. I’ve seen vibes as cheap as $40 that had this feature.)

 

But aside from that main gripe, I don’t have many bad things to say about the Enigma. Using it for the first time, I immediately noticed that it seemed better-designed than many other Lelo toys in terms of how it fits human anatomy (mine, anyway). The flexible neck allows for a greater variability of distance between a user’s clit and vaginal opening, and the G-spot arm is curved such that it finds my spot with hardly any finagling.

The “mouth” on the clitoral portion isn’t as generously-sized as that of my favorite Lelo pressure-wave toy, the Sila, but it’s still large enough that I didn’t feel like it was over-focusing on the sensitive tip of my clit like these types of toys often do. I wish its “lips” were more rounded-off or flat, though, rather than having an abrupt edge that sometimes feels slightly uncomfortable against my delicate clit.

For me, the Enigma delivered the blended orgasms it promised. It’s powerful and rumbly enough that I never wondered if I’d be able to achieve orgasm with it; I knew from the start that I would, which is rare for me when testing new toys. Once it’s anchored in place against my clit and G-spot, the Enigma stays put pretty well even when used hands-free; I can get off with it easily with some well-timed pelvic clenches and some potent sexual fantasies or porn to excite my mind.

The toy has various patterns, and you can control the intensity of each pattern. I’m normally not much of a patterns fan but these ones are acceptable – there’s not much space in between the pulses and waves, so they actually build my arousal rather than stopping it cold. Patterned vibrations on my G-spot also create the sensation of movement, making the Enigma’s relatively small G-spot arm feel ever-so-slightly more like a cock is fucking me.

My orgasms with this toy are similar to the ones I experience with most pressure-wave toys – sometimes almost painfully intense, but sometimes more in the neighborhood of “wait, was that an orgasm?” However, the addition of G-spot vibration makes the latter type less frequent for me. Orgasms with this toy are satisfying, but the sensation is quite odd if you’re not used to it (and even sometimes if you are). This is why I tend to recommend people try a cheaper a pressure-wave toy, like the Satisfyer Pro 2, before deciding if they want a fancier one.

 

The Lelo Enigma is waterproof and well-constructed. Its control panel is easy to understand, except that it sometimes takes more than one press of a button to get it to actually do anything (a common problem with Lelo toys). It’s a gorgeous, high-quality toy that mostly lives up to its high price point – except for not being able to control the components separately from one another.

If you’re looking for a dual-stim toy that combines pressure waves with G-spot vibration, I think it’s hard to go past the Enigma. I’ve tried several toys in this category over the past year or two and this is definitely the nicest, rumbliest, and most pleasurable one I’ve tried. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work for you, because pressure-wave toys are odd and dual-stimulation toys are notoriously anatomy-dependent – but I think it’s relatively unparalleled in its category.

I don’t know what mystery the Enigma’s name refers to, but it’s solved at least one: the mystery of why Lelo is still such a popular sex toy brand, despite all their various missteps. Quite simply, they make good toys… occasionally.

 

Thanks to my friends at Mindful for sending me this product to try! This post was sponsored, meaning that I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

Reviews: We-Vibe Tango X, Satisfyer Curvy 3+, & Lelo Smart Wand 2

Kate Sloan

I was sent these three toys recently while researching some pieces for the Insider about the best sex toys for couples and long-distance play. Here’s what I thought of each!

We-Vibe Tango X

I’ve long been loud about how much I love the original We-Vibe Tango. It has most of the qualities I’d ever want in a clitoral vibe: small, rumbly, powerful, firm, versatile, quiet, and waterproof. But it was missing a few key features – namely, it lacked a travel lock, had only one button you had to use to scroll through all 8 modes, and had a notoriously bad battery that was finicky as hell to charge and would tend to die completely after 1-3 years of use. Hence me owning several Tangos in my time.

The new Tango X has fixed all of those issues: We-Vibe added buttons for navigating between settings, provided a travel-lock option, and equipped the toy with a better battery that charges more easily. They also added an ergonomic silicone finger grip, something I hadn’t known I wanted but that makes the toy a lot easier for me to use on bad hand pain days.

The vibe is just as rumbly and strong as it ever was, albeit with more steady vibration settings to choose from so the jumps between settings don’t feel as abrupt as they used to. The addition of extra buttons, in particular, makes this toy much less annoying to use during partnered sex, because I don’t have to scroll through aaaaall the settings to get back to my fave, thus interrupting the action with some ill-timed vibration patterns. I’ve used the Tango X with my partner several times now and it is even more intuitive and well-suited to partnered-sex applications than it used to be, plus it remains a trusted choice for masturbation, whether I’m pairing it with a dildo or using the Tango X on its own.

I find it impressive that We-Vibe managed to keep the Tango X relatively affordable – $75 at time of writing – despite all these upgrades. (Canadians, that’s about $99 for us.) It remains an absolute staple in my toy collection, and because it has such rumbly and variable vibrations, I think it’d make a great gift for any vulva-possessing person in your life who has expressed wanting a clitoral vibrator but doesn’t quite know what to look for. Bravo, We-Vibe – bravo!

Satisfyer Curvy 3+

This ultra-sleek pressure-wave toy looks to me like something a grown-up Regina George might use. It’s cool, modern, and ergonomic as hell.

I was interested in the Curvy 3+ because Satisfyer gave me its predecessor, the Curvy 2+, back at ANME, and I loved it more than I expected to. The softly rounded edges of the “mouth” made it more comfortable around my clit than a lot of its pointier-edged counterparts, it had a broad range of settings and patterns, and its shape and matte silicone made it easy to hold onto, even when lube got involved. The “handle” end also vibrates and is insertable, incase you want to switch back and forth between clit stimulation and G-spot vibration – great if you’re travelling and don’t have access to other toys, I guess – but I didn’t end up using that feature much because, well, I own many, many dildos that feel better than the Curvy 2+’s handle.

That said, after trying the updated 3+ version, I actually prefer the earlier one! The 3+ has a flatter design that feels less sexy and more clinical in my hand somehow, and consequently its insertable end is also slimmer and less satisfying; it pokes my G-spot rather than filling me up. Most crucially, the “mouth” of the 3+ is smaller, shallower, and has less rounded-off edges, whereas the 2+ has a mouth that’s a good 0.1″ wider and 0.2″ deeper – which may not sound like much, but can make a big difference for a clitoral pressure-wave toy. I can fit a significant amount of my hooded clit into the Curvy 2+, but pretty much only the tip will comfortably fit into the 3+ and generally I have to pull back my hood a bit (yowch!) to even accomplish that much. The 2+’s mouth also has those gently rounded edges that make it much comfier to use, even when I’m pressing the toy firmly against my body.

Satisfyer’s app functionality is worth mentioning here, because it’s really fucking good. Like Lovense toys, Satisfyer toys connect quickly to their corresponding app and are super responsive when you’re controlling them that way. My partner and I have found my Satisfyer Curvy 2+ useful when we’re 500 miles apart but they want to “go down on me”; short of hiring a cunnilingually gifted sex worker and whispering instructions into their ear via audio call, the Satisfyer app is the closest my partner can get to performing oral on me when they can’t actually put their mouth on me.

While I’m sure some people will appreciate the aesthetic updates and functional differences of the Satisfyer Curvy 3+ versus its predecessors in the Curvy line, it’s the Curvy 2+ that has captured my heart (and my clit’s heart, if it had one), and that’s the one I’ll be reaching for more often in the future.

Lelo Smart Wand 2

Obligatory caveats about Lelo: ethically, they are… not great. They hired a domestic abuser as their spokesperson despite abuse survivors’ outcries against this, produced condoms that seem like a health hazard, sued We-Vibe in a vindictive act of patent-trolling, and released a sex toy excusively for male bankers (????), among other things.

While I do think their products have had a sharp decline in quality over the past decade or so, their Smart Wand line is a rare diamond in the rough, IMO – albeit with some problems of its own. I loved my original Smart Wand, although later it betrayed me by dying after only a year. No matter what I did to try to recharge and revive it, it was simply dead, dead, dead. I was just outside of Lelo’s 1-year warranty period so the best they would’ve done for me is provide me with a 50% discount code to buy another one, which – given how quickly the first one had perished – seemed risky and futile.

When I was at ANME in early 2020, I saw a new version of the Smart Wand on display which was bright turquoise (or “aqua,” according to Lelo). This exact shade is one of my favorite colors ever – in fact, I’m currently typing on a computer whose hard-shell case and keyboard cover are both the same color as my Smart Wand 2 – so I ached for it on those grounds alone. Later I asked Lelo for one, and it is just as glorious a hue as I remembered.

I’m not actually sure what’s different about the Smart Wand 2 versus the original Smart Wand; it’s been too long for me to remember and Lelo’s product copy is annoyingly unclear on this point. I do know that a lot of people reported mechanical issues with the original Smart Wand, most notably that sometimes the vibrations would jump around erratically, suddenly ramping up to a high setting or dropping to a low setting without users’ consent. This glitch was mostly reported as happening on the toy’s highest settings – and unfortunately, some reviewers say the Smart Wand 2 has the same issue.

I personally haven’t experienced this glitch, and didn’t experience it with the original Smart Wand, which suggests to me that maybe I use this vibe differently than the folks who noticed this problem. Pressure is often a culprit when vibes glitch out, but I’ve experimented with various amounts of pressure while using the Smart Wand 2 and still haven’t encountered that particular glitch (though I do notice that the vibe tends to get a bit weaker when you press it into your body, as often happens with vibrators). 🤷🏻‍♀️ Your mileage may vary, and purchase at your own risk!

I actually kind of love the Smart Wand 2, I’m somewhat ashamed to say. It’s gorgeous, smooth, and glamorous. Its handle has an ergonomic curved shape that I find useful when I massage my neck and shoulders with it. It’s reasonably quiet for a wand vibe, especially on the lower end of its intensity levels, and gets very strong and rumbly when you want it to. It’s also 100% waterproof, something that used to not matter as much to me in wand vibes but that matters enormously to me now that I live with chronic pain and thus do some of my best relaxin’ and wankin’ in the tub.

But despite all its glamour and strength, the Smart Wand 2 does have some problems. The buttons annoy me at least once every time I use it; Lelo has a bad habit of designing toys with buttons that somehow seem both oversensitive and undersensitive, sometimes requiring multiple presses to go to the next setting and sometimes skipping a few settings with just one press. I also find that the “+,” “–,” and “pattern” buttons are pretty indiscernible from one another when you’ve got your eyes closed or are using the toy in the dark, so I’ve accidentally started a vibration pattern many times when I meant to hit the “+” button instead, potentially ruining or losing my impending orgasm.

I’m also not especially fond of the rounded head. It works well for muscle massage, but one of the reasons I love my Magic Wand Rechargeable is that it has a more squarish shape so I can use its head’s edges/”corners” to produce a more focused, pinpointed sensation on my clit than the broad roundness the Smart Wand 2 allows for. However, if you like all-over vulva vibration, that won’t be an issue for you.

The Lelo Smart Wand 2 costs a whopping $199, and as stunning and seductive as it is, I don’t think it’s really worth that amount of money, especially when you can get a more dependable Magic Wand Rechargeable for just $130, or We-Vibe’s Wand (which is fully waterproof like the Smart Wand) for $170. The Smart Wand 2 reminds me of a beautiful but erratic socialite – and while that kind of person is fun to spend a night with once in a while, generally I’d rather come home to a reliable sweetheart like my Magic Wand.

 

Thanks to We-Vibe, Satisfyer, and Lelo for sending me these toys to try! Have you used any of these? What did you think?

Review: Lelo Sila

Kate Sloan

Sometimes when I get high, I start rambling about clitoral politics.

“Clitoral politics, huh?” my spouse said, half-suspicious and half-amused, when I brought up this phrase during a recent intoxicated soliloquy.

“Yes. Let me explain,” I said, and I did. See, I’d been reading Kink earlier that week, which is a book of short stories about sex, power, sensuality, etc. written by famous authors who mostly are not known for lewd work. One of those authors is Roxane Gay, who I admire very much – and notably, at one point in her story, she used the phrase “base of my clit” to describe the particular pleasure point where her protagonist was being stimulated. This made me very happy.

As previously discussed, when it comes to clitoral stimulation, indirectness is my jam – and when it comes to oral sex in particular, full-mouth stimulation (as opposed to surface-level tongue-flicking) is my preference. Although my clit is average-sized, these methods necessitate an understanding of the clitoris as a three-dimensional structure. The glans of a penis isn’t the whole penis, and the glans of a clitoris isn’t the whole clitoris. Even setting aside the huge portion of the clitoris that is buried inside the body, even the external portion of the clit has a head, a shaft, and – yes – a base. (Thanks, Roxane. You are thought-provoking as ever.)

I hopped onto Google and searched some phrases relevant to this line of thinking. When I saw that the phrase “shaft of my clit” brought up only 3 pages of results, and that one of those results was a sex toy review on my own blog, I knew I needed to talk more about this stuff. When I invoke the phrase “clitoral politics,” what I mean, mostly, is the sociocultural import of discussing the clitoris as a three-dimensional object, as a major source of pleasure and orgasms, and as a structure more complex and worthy of study than the vast majority of mainstream sex publications even hint at.

This brings me to the Lelo Sila. Like many sex toy enthusiasts, I have a love/hate relationship with Lelo that has leaned harder on the “hate” side of the spectrum in recent years. Their structurally problematic condoms, needlessly sky-high prices, and baffling decision to hire a known domestic abuser as their spokesperson have all made me wary of them. But they made the Sila, and, well… on at least the topic of clitoral politics, the Sila and I seem to be aligned with one another.

The Sila is yet another toy that uses “sonic waves.” Every company that makes one of these toys seems to have a different name for them; Satisfyer uses “air-pulse technology,” Womanizer prefers “pleasure air technology,” and Dame favors “pressure wave technology.” These toymakers usually claim that their take on the technology in question is somehow unique, and I don’t have the mechanical knowledge necessary to confirm or dispute that. I can tell you that even as a seasoned sex toy reviewer, I often have trouble discerning and describing the differences between these toys’ sensations. There are definitely some pressure-wave toys I like better than some others, but I often have trouble explaining why, even though it is my literal job to do so. They just don’t seem to vary as much from toy to toy, sensation-wise, as, say, dildos or butt plugs can.

Dat mouth, tho

The Lelo Sila is different, though, because of the way it is shaped. It has a very wide “mouth” for this type of toy, because it is designed to envelop not just the tip of the clit, but the external clit in its entirety. “Build your sexual experience with [the Sila’s] softer, deeper, and overall bigger mouth that will give you complete satisfaction from top to bottom,” Lelo says in the toy’s marketing copy, and (uncommonly for sex toy marketing copy) they’re actually right: the Sila’s opening is wide and deep enough to enclose my clit all the way down to its base. (Ooh, that phallic language is making me nervous to type out. That’s how I know I need to keep typing it!)

Toys designed for cis women don’t generally do this. Maybe there’s a perception that we won’t enjoy this type of stimulation, because it’s too blowjob-esque. The qualities I’m extolling here are many of the same ones that make the Sila a potentially great toy for transmasculine folks with testosterone-induced bottom growth. But cis women can enjoy that type of stimulation too – and enjoy it, I do.

The Sila’s mouth also has a wide, flat silicone ring encircling it – its “lips,” if you will – which presses against the space between my outer and inner labia when my clit’s inside the toy. This has the effect of stimulating not only my labia but also the deeper, buried “legs” of my clit that lie under the surface in that area. (The flat ring also enables the Sila to maintain a better suction seal around my clit, a chronic problem with this type of toy, especially when I close my thighs tight around it.) What results is a much more full-bodied, satisfying sensation than the typical clit stimulator would ever be able to provide.

Some of my sex toy reviewer friends – including Rae at TheNotice.net, who also reviewed this toy – have noted that the Sila isn’t as powerful as they would prefer. I only ever seem to use the first 3-5 of its 8 speeds, though, because the deep rumbly sensation of the toy stimulating my entire clitoral shaft is apparently enough to get me off even without a ton of power behind it. (I guess this is also why I adore the Eroscillator, which thrums my internal clitoris marvelously but has been decried by many other sex toy reviewers as not powerful enough.) I would agree that this toy is probably not the ideal thing if you’re a fan of, say, super strong wand vibrators, or intense direct clit stimulation. But it’s not wimpy, either, and gets me off with a speed and ease that many other pressure-wave toys could only dream of.

A major elephant in the room here is that the Lelo Sila costs $169 (nice) in the U.S., and $219-229 in Canada. A friend recently asked me if she should buy a Sila, having never tried a pressure-wave toy before, and I strongly cautioned her against it – because if you’ve never put one of these things on your clit, you can’t really know for certain if you’ll like it, and I wouldn’t want anyone to waste $150+ on a toy they might never use again. My advice would be to start with a much cheaper toy from this category, like the Satisfyer Pro 2 ($50). If you try one, and enjoy the sensation but wish the toy’s mouth was wider and deeper, then you’ll probably dig the Sila.

Notably, my orgasms with pressure-wave toys are different than my orgasms with other toys, and not always in a good way. There’s something about the novelty and speediness of the sensation that sometimes causes me to have a small, shitty orgasm all of a sudden, before I’m able to even realize what’s happening and dial back the stimulation. It reminds me of porn bloopers I’ve seen where a cis male performer comes sooner than he’s expecting to, unable to hold it back. That idea turns me on a lot in porn, but for myself, I’d rather have a more deliberate and more intense orgasm, even if it takes more time and effort. A lot of my orgasms with the Sila have been of the “Wait, was that an orgasm?” variety, despite how good the toy feels up to that point. It’s really weird and probably has to do with the indirectness of the “touchless” sensation.

I’ve had good orgasms with pressure-wave toys; they’re just less common for me than they are with vibrators and oscillators, for whatever reason. But even when I’m just using the Lelo Sila as a warm-up toy, planning to finish myself off with my hand or another toy later on, it still feels pretty damn excellent. I can take it in the bath, or use it hands-free while reading erotica, or fantasize about incredible oral sex while it’s pressed against me. It does something that no other toy I’ve tried has done: stimulates my entire external clit, from base to tip. It may not be transformative, as far as clitoral politics go, but it’s a start.

 

Thanks to Lelo for sending me this toy to try! You can get one at SheVibe ($169.00) or Peepshow ($169.99).

The Most Exciting New Sex Toys I Saw at ANME

Kate Sloan

Last weekend in Burbank, California, I attended my first ANME Founders, a tradeshow where sex toy manufacturers hobnob with retailers and media-makers while showing off their latest flashy toys. It was an exhausting trip – me and Bex were there drumming up interest for a forthcoming publishing project we’re working on – but the toys excited me nonetheless. Here are my faves that I saw…

California Exotics has a new line of bullets coming out called Glam. They are shiny and pretty, but – as anyone who’s read (or written) a lot of sex toy reviews could tell you – that doesn’t always mean a product is good-quality or can make you come.

However, when I picked up this bullet and turned it on, I said, “Whoa!” It was way rumblier than I was expecting. It also comes in a gorgeous turquoisey-blue. I’ll be impatiently refreshing the CalEx website until they release this little beaut.

Likewise, Dame has also released a new bullet. It’s called the Zee, and it is bright blue, USB-rechargeable, and decently rumbly (it’s comparable to their Kip clitoral vibrator which I reviewed recently). It’s cool to see this company expanding their catalogue so colorfully, and putting effort into making sure their motors are great.

I was heartened to see that many companies are now offering vibes that are easy to grip between your fingers, like the Blush Novelties Noje B6. As someone with a chronic pain disorder that often manifests as soreness, stiffness, and/or weakness in my hands, I appreciate having options that don’t require me to (literally) white-knuckle my way through hand pain in order to get off.

The folks at Clone-a-Willy have created a vulva-focused version of their flagship product: you can cast a mold of your bits and attach them to a Fleshlight-esque sleeve. A lot of people ask me whether there’ll ever be something similar for the inside of the vagina, but the folks at Clone-a-Willy told me that would be invasive and scientifically difficult – I would imagine because of the way the vag flattens in on itself when not “in use.” But this product is a perfectly serviceable substitute, and frankly I think my partner, for one, would be plenty happy owning a fuckable facsimile of my bits!

In a stroke of true genius, a company called CellMate has introduced an app-controllable chastity device. It’s ideal for people who like to do solo chastity play as well as folks who prefer to do it with a partner acting as their “keyholder.”

I suspect this product is also geared toward pro dommes (including those who only interact with clients online), since a sales rep told me one person can control up to 50 devices from their app at a time! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love the ingenuity of kinksters.

Finally: maybe this is old news – I wouldn’t know, because I barely follow Lelo anymore, now that they’ve fucked up so many times that I kinda feel gross even using their toys – but Lelo now makes a beauteous turquoise version of their large Smart Wand. I loved mine when I owned one, but the battery completely died after less than two years. If they’ve updated this toy’s inner workings so the battery lasts longer and the toy doesn’t have weird mechanical defects, that could be intriguing… if not for the fact that they still haven’t answered for their various past missteps. SIGH.

What upcoming sex toys are you excited about?

Review: Lelo Loki

Kate Sloan
Photos by mb – thank you, mb!

Being a service sub, I relish opportunities to shower my dominant in gifts – but being a freelance writer, I don’t always have the financial resources to make this happen (to say the least). So I was happy when Betty’s Toy Box sent me a Lelo Loki for my partner to try. I suspected he would love it, and he did!

Prior to acquiring the Loki, he had a Lelo Billy, which is pretty but has never been updated to have one of Lelo’s much rumblier 2nd-generation motors like some of their other toys have. The Billy’s diameter is also on the slimmer side – 1.37 inches – and he’s been preferring slightly larger penetration lately. Its minimal curve, too, leaves something to be desired.

The Loki, by comparison, boasts a 1.5-inch diameter, a more extreme curve for hitting the prostate, a better flared base, and a stronger and rumblier motor. It’s an upgrade in every way, so long as you can contend with the size.

The Loki is basically a butt-friendly version of the much-revered Lelo Mona 2, its G-spot-focused cousin. Frankly you could use either toy for either purpose, so long as you were careful not to let the Mona slip too far inside you during anal play – but it is nice to have an anal-specific toy when that’s what you’re in the mood for. The Loki’s curve also means it could hit the G-spot through the vaginal wall when used anally, if that’s the anatomy you’re working with.

My partner likes a lot of things about the Loki: the pretty blue color, the excellent motor, the many varying speeds, the prostate-targeting shape, the travel lock, the silky silicone, and the size, which he describes as “really, really perfect: don’t need a lot of warmup but feels full.”

His complaints about the toy are as follows: Some of the pulsing settings are too annoyingly unpredictable to be pleasurable. There are visible seams on both the handle and the insertable part of the toy, which are ugly and potentially hard to clean. The charging cable is too short, and is – for some reason – beige, which really doesn’t jive with the otherwise sleek aesthetic of the toy and its accoutrements. The toy rotates easily during use. It’s difficult to tell what each button does simply by feel, so he has to look at them while adjusting the toy’s speed. And button-pressing is consistently finicky on this toy: the buttons will light up when clicked but the setting won’t always change, which is an issue I’ve also experienced with the Doxy and can confirm is very annoying.

Overall, though, m’dude is very happy with his Lelo Loki. He says it’s become his favorite vibrating anal toy. He’ll frequently plug it in before we start having phone sex so it’ll be ready for him whenever he wants to use it – and I love hearing how hard he comes when it’s in his ass. Lelo certainly has their problems, from poorly-designed toys to weirdly exclusive toys to ethical abominations, but when they try to make vibrators that are simple and simply good, they often succeed. Now if only they would develop their entire product line and marketing strategy as thoughtfully and well as they developed the Loki.

 

Thanks to Betty’s Toy Box for hooking us up with a Lelo Loki to try!