pressure wave technology

Review: Sohimi Sucking Clitoris Stimulator & Wand Massager

Kate Sloan

I feel like I’ve reviewed approximately one zillion pressure-wave toys as of late… and I sort of have. But, encouragingly for this once-tiny category of sex toy, each one I’ve reviewed recently has been pretty different. There used to be very little variety in pressure-wave land, but now you can get tons of different takes on this same basic idea.

Today I’m reviewing the Sohimi Sucking Clitoris Stimulator & Wand Massager, which I think needs a much snappier name, like perhaps the Suck ‘n’ Buzz, or the Beyond Wand. (Okay, no one should hire me as a sex toy namer. That much is clear.)

This petite pink rechargeable wand vibrator has a classic wand head at one end, and a clitoral suction nozzle at the other end. At first I was confused about why anyone would want this, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. Vibration and pressure waves are the two major modes of clitoral stimulation that the sex toy industry offers these days; it’s a cool idea to package them both in one toy, so that regardless of which one you’re in the mood for, you’ll have both at the ready. Or you can start with one and switch to the other mid-session, something I often do.

The pressure-wave functionality of this toy is… not my favorite. The nozzle isn’t as tiny as that of the Sohimi Hedgehog, but is still pretty small, so it’ll probably only stimulate the very tip of your clit. It starts out very mild – which I appreciate, since suction toys can often feel wayyy too intense toward the beginning of a session – and gets much stronger as you cycle through its 7 suction modes. But rather than feeling rumbly and rhythmic, these pressure waves start to just feel like buzzy vibration as I turn up their intensity – so eventually they just numb the tip of my clit and don’t feel like much of anything. Boo.

The vibration component of this toy is much more compelling to me. It’s a weird blend of buzzy and rumbly. I’m sure it’s not ideal for everyone, but it surprised me with how much it felt like “the best of both worlds”: it contains some of the deep, delightful thrumming I associate with rumbly vibration, but also has that surface-level, buzzy edge that can sometimes push me into an orgasm. The orgasms I have with this toy are, indeed, very intense, and come on surprisingly fast.

It’s strong from the get-go, strong enough that I have to spend a good few minutes moving it around my outer labia and thighs before I’m warmed-up enough to put it on my clit. The vibrations get a bit buzzier as they get stronger, but it’s still nowhere near the shitty, desensitizing sensation I get from most inexpensive wands of this one’s ilk.

The powerful vibrations are, I think, especially well-suited for transmitting through something, like underwear or even another sex toy. I used this vibe on my partner’s cock cage while they were in chastity, for example, and the sensation traveled through the cage loud and clear.

There are only three steady speeds, followed by a handful of patterns. I do wish there were more steady modes available, since they’re what I use almost exclusively, but this annoyance is easily mitigated by just moving the vibe around on my vulva. The same speed can feel very intense when it’s on my clit and much less intense when it’s on my labia (of course), and I use this strategy to make the vibe’s limitations work for me.

Unfortunately this toy is suuuuper loud, despite its marketing copy claiming that it is quiet. (I don’t know why so many sex toy manufacturers insist on saying their demonstrably loud toys are actually nearly silent. If someone is shopping for a quiet toy, it’s generally because they need a quiet toy, due to their living situation. Companies should not lie about this!) It actually makes a somewhat ugly, grinding sound. The noise eases up a bit when I press the toy against my body – or when I use it in the bath, which is doable because it’s fully waterproof – but it’s still loud enough to be heard through a closed door.

One neat thing about this toy is that you can enable both the suction mode and the vibration at the same time – so, theoretically, you could use it with a partner, like a double-ended dildo except for external stimulation only. (Well, I guess you could try to insert the wand head into your vagina, but I wouldn’t recommend it.)

For its $35 price tag, I think you could do a whole lot worse than the Sohimi Sucking Clitoris Stimulator & Wand Massager. Its vibrations are significantly more powerful than what you’d typically find in a vibrator at this price point, and I like that you can switch between suction and vibration at will for a more varied masturbation session. If you have the cash, I’d recommend you just get two separate toys that do their jobs very well (and much more quietly than this one), like perhaps the Satisfyer Pro 2 and Bodywand Midnight, which would run you about $90 total. But I know many people’s budgets are tight right now, and to that end, I think the Sohimi Sucking Clitoris Stimulator & Wand Massager is a pretty cool product if you want big vibrations in a small package, with a side of clitoral suction. Just don’t expect to be able to hear your sexytimes playlist over the roar of the vibe.

 

Thanks to Sohimi for sending me this toy! This review was sponsored, which means I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

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).

Review: Sohimi Hedgehog Vibrating Clitoral Sucker

Kate Sloan

Remember when the original Womanizer came out and was prohibitively expensive? This often happens when new sex toy technology is introduced into the market. First, it’s rare and pricey; then, gradually, it becomes more common and more affordable. Some of the reasons for this aren’t great (companies yoinking each other’s ideas and designs; the greedy capitalistic overemphasis on the bottom line), but on the plus side, this phenomenon allows the average person to experience types of pleasure that would have been financially inaccessible to them just a few years before. Yay!

I bring this up because the Sohimi Hedgehog vibrating clitoral sucker only costs $23 at the time that I’m writing this, which I think is pretty neat – especially given the prices of comparable clitoral pressure-wave toys, like the Satisfyer Penguin ($40) and VeDO Suki ($61). But is the Hedgehog worth paying $23 for? Let’s discuss…

I love that they called this toy the Hedgehog (at least, its instruction manual does; it has a much more generic name on Sohimi’s website), because it really does look like one, sans spikes. Where the spikes would go, there is instead a panel of ridged hard plastic, which is super helpful when you’re trying to keep a good grip on this toy in the bath, or with lubey hands.

This toy is, unfortunately, really loud. Maybe not as disruptively loud as an actual hedgehog, but definitely loud enough that I felt weird about using it in the bedroom with the door closed while my spouse was on a work call in the living room. Like most pressure-wave toys, it quiets down significantly once you put it on your clit, but it’s still distractingly loud at all times when it’s on.

Aside from that, my main problem with this toy is its tiny nozzle. This is very much a matter of taste, and of anatomy. It’s literally about one-quarter the size of the nozzle on the new Lelo Sila (which does, admittedly, have a bigger-than-average nozzle for this type of toy). I have found, in my adventures, that I prefer a bigger nozzle for pressure-wave toys, not because my clit is huge (it’s average to perhaps slightly above average), but because I like my clit to be covered by my clitoral hood when it’s being stimulated, and that’s not usually possible with smaller nozzles, which require me to pull back my hood so I can place the toy’s “mouth” around the very tip of my clit. As such, with the Hedgehog, I have to choose between putting my super-sensitive, exposed clit into its minuscule hole, and getting very little suction (if any) because the toy can’t form a seal properly around my clit and its hood.

If you know your clit is on the smaller side (which I realize is a difficult thing to know, since clit size is not discussed nearly as much, or in nearly as much detail, as penis size), you might prefer a small-nozzled toy like this one, mostly because the sides will touch your clit more directly than a bigger-nozzled toy so you’ll be able to feel more of the vibrations that are coupled with pressure waves here. But if you mainly enjoy the pressure waves (and the suction effect they create) and care less about vibration, I think a bigger nozzle would also be fine.

Other than this fatal flaw (for my particular body), I think this is a pretty cool toy. I love how small, portable, and cute it is. I love that it charges magnetically and can be taken in the bath or shower. The nozzle has gentler, more rounded-off edges than some of these toys do, which makes it comfortable, rather than pokey, when applied to my bits. The vibrations and suction feel decently rumbly and “bass-y,” and I enjoy them on my nipples if not on my clit. But the loudness and the restrictively small nozzle mean I won’t reach for the Sohimi Hedgehog nearly as often as I’ll reach for something quieter and more pleasurable, like another Sohimi toy I’ve previously reviewed here.

Sure is cute, though.

 

This post was sponsored, which means I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

Review: Sohimi Clitoral Sucking Vibrator

Kate Sloan

In preparing to write this review, I went and looked up the Sohimi Clitoral Sucking Vibrator on the company’s website, and was shocked – SHOCKED! – to see they’re only charging $36 for it. (Less, if you catch them on a sale day.) Why did this shock me? Well, this toy is rechargeable, made of body-safe silicone, and an innovative multi-tasker, the likes of which a company like Lelo could crank out and charge $180+ for, easy. Damn, Sohimi. I’m impressed.

As with many toys I get sent to review, I didn’t have much choice about which product from the company’s catalogue I would be sent, and I wouldn’t have necessarily picked this one if they’d let me choose. But that’s because I wouldn’t have understood, just from looking at it, what it actually does.

This incompletely-named “clitoral sucking vibrator” does three things, only two of which are mentioned in its moniker. It’s shaped like an uppercase “J,” with a vibrating shaft meant for vaginal penetration on one end and a clit-sucking pressure wave stimulator on the other. But in the middle is something really neat: a G-spot-targeting bump that, when activated, trembles quickly like a partner intensely come-hithering to make you squirt. Sohimi calls this a 3-in-1 toy and they are not fucking around when they say that.

Of the three functions, the vibration is the least interesting to me, both because I already own a zillion vibrators and because these particular vibrations are pretty buzzy. But the other two functions, especially when used in tandem, are tantalizing. The light clitoral suction produced by pressure-wave technology is a very “treble-y” sensation, high-pitched and pinpointed sometimes to the point of being cloying, but here it is tempered by the comparative “bassiness” of that rumbling G-spot stimulator. The thrumming slows down quite a bit when inserted vaginally, as the motor works hard to fight against my restrictive flesh, but I can definitely still register it. When I use both functions in concert, both these crucial buttons get pushed so directly that a “whoa, I’m gonna come!” feeling creeps up faster than expected. I don’t even need to turn the vibrations on, and they’re so buzzy that I usually don’t.

I love that each of the three functions can be controlled independently; it makes me feel like I’m constructing my own customized masterpiece at a salad bar. Each function has multiple speeds/patterns which you can cycle through by pressing its respective button. This is a quality I always miss in dual-stimulation (or triple-stimulation) toys when it’s not present. My clit and G-spot usually want different things at different moments, so it’s nice to have granular control over what setting each component is on at any given time.

I’m not totally on board with the clitoral suction aspect of this toy, because it doles out a sharper, stronger sensation than many similar toys, and my clit is a sensitive baby. Adding lube helps, but nonetheless, I find myself staying on the lowest speeds because the rest get way too intense way too quickly. If you’re not a fan of pressure wave stimulation, this toy isn’t gonna convert you, the way something more nuanced like a high-end Womanizer might.

The design of this toy is such that you basically have to insert the vaginal arm in order to use any part of it; the shaft doesn’t comfortably bend enough to allow you to use the clitoral portion on its own, should you want to. This definitely limits the usefulness of the toy, as does the fact that (characteristically of dual-stim toys) it has to fit your anatomy or it won’t work. I normally have issues lining up dual-stim toys so that both my G-spot and my clit are getting the amount of attention they want, with the correct angle/positioning for each, but this toy happens to fit my body well in that way. The shaft has some give, but not a ton.

I also noticed that I have a tendency to accidentally bump buttons when I try to thrust with this toy, because of where the control panel is placed. But I think it’s not really meant to be thrusted, so maybe this wouldn’t bother most users.

This is one of those toys I’d only grab when I was craving something very specific – in this case, intense clit stim paired with profound G-spot stim – but that’s actually a craving I have fairly often. The Sohimi Clitoral Sucking Vibrator does what it does quite well, with the exception of vibration, and it’s also probably one of the most luxe-looking vibes you could get at its price point. A decent, rechargeable triple-stimulation toy for $36 is nothing to sneeze at, and I’m glad I gave this one a shot!

 

This review was sponsored. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

Review: Biird Obii

Kate Sloan

Picture yourself as Cinderella, or Snow White, or another of those Disney princesses who enlist woodland creatures to do their bidding. Picture the sun cresting over the horizon, beams of light beginning to stream into your quaint forest cottage. Picture a pink cartoon bird landing on your windowsill and chirping, “Would you like an orgasm?” That’s kind of the whole vibe (so to speak) of the adorable Biird Obii.

Made to look like a stylized little bird, the Obii is a rechargeable vibrator that also offers “pressure wave” stimulation, the technology originally developed (as far as I know) by Womanizer and later utilized by other companies like Satisfyer and Lelo. New phenomena in the realm of clitoral stimulation don’t come along too often, so it’s no surprise that so many sex toy reviewers and sex writers have effused about the wonders of pressure waves – they really are pretty cool. They work by way of a tiny panel inside the toy’s nozzle that moves back and forth to create rhythmic suction/pressure around your clit, if you can get a good enough seal. This makes the sensation essentially “touchless” in a way that vibrators are not, so some people report more intense orgasms and shorter refractory periods with this type of toy.

The control panel on the bottom of the Obii – thoughtfully labeled, with buttons that are easy to press but hard to accidentally press, hooray – allows you to flip between the toy’s 4 vibration modes (3 steady speeds + 1 pulsing pattern) and its 3 pressure-wave intensities. You can use one at a time or turn them both on if you like your clit-sucking with a side of vibration.

The problem is, the vibrations on this toy are… sad. Like, “weak” or “disappointing” are not even the right words; when I turned on the vibrations for the first time, I felt like saying out loud to the toy, “Oh, honey…” They’re meager, they’re buzzy as hell, and they’re buried so deeply in the toy that I can’t even discern where the motor is or which part of the vibe I’m supposed to press against my clit, since all positionings feel equally numbing and underwhelming. If you are looking for a vibrator – or you’re curious about pressure wave toys but want to be able to use yours as a vibrator incase it turns out you don’t like pressure waves – then definitely look elsewhere. The power and resonance of the Obii’s vibrations are literally on par with one of those single-use bullets sold alongside Trojan condoms in fluorescently-lit drugstore aisles.

But what makes the Obii interesting and remarkable isn’t the vibration, it’s the pressure waves. And those are actually pretty swell. The waves this toy creates feel stronger and, for lack of a better word, “rumblier” than those I’ve experienced from some others. While reaching orgasm is always a slow process for me with this type of toy, because it focuses so intensely on the exposed tip of my clit and thus risks overstimulating me easily, they are nonetheless very much within reach when I’m using this toy. I wish there were more than 3 settings, because my clit is a sensitive little flower and I like gradation, but the existing settings are plenty good enough to get me off. And incase you’ve never had a pressure-wave orgasm, I’ll reiterate here: they really are different from orgasms with a vibrator, or orgasms achieved via just about any other means. They’re kinda like… if your clit was a dick, and you were getting a blowjob from a robot, but the robot only knew how to suck the head of your dick and not the shaft, but it was really good at that. (Bam. Another brilliant sex toy reviewer metaphor. 😂 I’m good at my job sometimes, I swear.)

An issue with the Obii, which some other reviewers who I deeply respect have pointed out, is that the nozzle is unusually small for a toy of this type, and that the moving panel inside the nozzle is abnormally close to the opening. What this means is that people with bigger clits will likely have a hard time using the Obii comfortably. I have asked a couple partners of mine over the years whether my clit is small, average, or large (yes, dating me is quite an adventure), and both of them said it was average or perhaps slightly larger than average, and I found this toy comfortable and inoffensive – but your mileage may vary. (It’s annoying that culturally we don’t talk about clits nearly as much as we talk about dicks, and so we don’t have an understanding of what an “average-sized” clit would look like, but also, maybe that’s a blessing in disguise. There’s already enough vagina-shame in the world; let’s not start comparing and competing with regards to clit size!)

The Obii won the Red Dot design award, and it’s easy to see why, from an aesthetic standpoint: it’s very pretty. I actually love how cute it is, and I think it would make you happy if you’re one of those people whose experience is genuinely improved when the sex toy you’re using is #AestheticGoals. It also doubles as a bedside lamp when placed on its cradle to charge; it casts a dim, warm glow that would be ideal for sexytimes (although, you know, the light would go off whenever you grabbed the Obii to use it). The silicone used all over the toy is wonderfully soft and silky in my hand, though it’s also one of the foremost lint magnets in my entire sex toy collection.

The silkiness of the silicone also poses problems during use. I can’t maintain a solid grip on the toy for long unless I squeeze it past the point of comfort (which, as someone with chronic pain in my hands and elsewhere, I’m especially disinclined to do). The ridges on the side of the toy seem like they could help with grippiness, but in practice they don’t actually help much. This also points to one of the problems with making a “design-y” sex toy: just because a shape looks pretty doesn’t mean it’ll feel good in someone’s hand or against someone’s body. While testing the Obii I often found myself reminiscing fondly on more ergonomically-shaped pressure wave toys like the Satisfyer Penguin.

All of that said, though… I can’t deny that I like pressure wave stimulation, in a “forced orgasm” kind of way, because it’s more intense and more direct than the stimulation I typically pursue – and I also can’t deny that the Biird Obii is pretty damn good at that type of stimulation. At one point while I was testing it, I watched a video on YouPorn of a domme holding a wand vibe against a penis pump in which her sub’s cock was trapped, and it occurred to me that the stimulation of pressure wave toys is similar to what I imagine that would feel like: mild and muffled vibration paired with insistent suction. It’s a very effective combo on my clit and on the clits of many other people. The Biird Obii may not be the perfect manifestation of this type of toy, but it’s cute as hell, smooth and soft, and surprisingly satisfying – so I say, as long as your clit is on the small-to-average side, have at it.

 

Thanks to Biird for sending me the Obii to try! This review was sponsored, which means that I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.