rechargeable vibrator

Review: Jimmyjane Form 2

Kate Sloan

Before I was a sex toy reviewer, I lusted passionately after everything Jimmyjane. I was especially curious about the Form 2, and my desire was inflamed even more when I saw that Gala Darling called the Form 2 “the best, best, best sex toy [she has] ever encountered.”

The Form 2 is a waterproof, rechargeable clitoral vibrator shaped like a pair of bunny ears or an extracted tooth. It comes in your choice of hot pink or “slate,” a dark grey color. It charges magnetically via a little dock that you can sit it on when it’s not in use. It’s covered in high-quality silicone and the bottom is stainless steel. In other words: ka-ching! This toy is luxe as hell. If it is your dream to feel like Donald Trump every time you masturbate, then you’ve arrived.

The magic of the Form 2 is in its dual motors. See, each ear has its own motor, so when you lay the toy vertically on your clit, each side gets its own dose of stimulation. I found this difficult to adjust to; normally I get off by having the top of my clit stimulated, through the hood, so stimulation of the sides felt a bit foreign. I remedied this by nestling my clit so the hood touches the valley in between the ears, which feels awesome and gets me off every single time.

But back to those dual motors… The Form 2 has some run-of-the-mill patterns, including constant vibration and short pulsations, but the winner, by a mile, is the oscillation mode. In this mode, the vibrations shift back and forth rhythmically between the two ears, and – as others have noted – it feels kind of like oral sex. Actually, I think it feels closer to oral than toys which try to feel like oral. Ever since I discovered this mode, I haven’t used the others at all, because it’s perfect.

The vibrations of the Form 2 are surprisingly strong and rumbly for how small it is. In fact, sometimes the lowest speed feels like too much when I first start using it – but then I just warm myself up by running the ears lightly over my labia and vaginal opening, and it all works out in the end.

It would be unethical of me to write a review of the Form 2 without mentioning what Epiphora calls its “fatal flaw”. Look around at almost any review of this toy and you’ll see mention of it: apparently sometimes the toy becomes very loud and the vibrations shift into the base, making it unusable. I’ve used my Form 2 many times and I’ve never encountered this glitch, but lots of people have reported it, so I feel it’s important to mention. This toy is expensive as hell and there’s no guarantee that it won’t act up (though it does come with a nice three-year warranty).

The Form 2 has become, easily, one of my very favorite clitoral vibes. It’s stronger and more pinpointed than the Lelo Siri and has better modes than the We-Vibe Tango – but it’s also more expensive and potentially less reliable than either of those toys, so take that into consideration.

Review: Lelo Lyla 2

Kate Sloan

I had no intention of checking out Lelo’s newly updated Insignia SenseMotion toys, because my experience with the original Tiani had been so mediocre. But then I was offered the Lyla 2 to review, and, well… I just can’t turn down free Lelo.

It worked out pretty well, in the end, because the updates Lelo has made to the SenseMotion toys are actually useful, not just for show.

The Lyla is a remote-controlled egg vibrator. It has a sturdy retrieval cord, so you can insert it vaginally with no concerns. As with the other SenseMotion toys, the accompanying remote is a small disk which is very chic-looking but comes with a host of inconveniences. For instance: it requires batteries, which sort of defeats the purpose of the Lyla being rechargeable, and in order to get the batteries in there, you have to use this annoying-ass “key” to get the chamber open.

Plus, the remote vibrates right along with the egg, which I’m sure Lelo thinks is an innovative and useful feature, but which actually just irritates me in almost every situation I’d ever use this toy. You can turn off the remote’s vibrations… in most of the toy’s modes. Not all.

As you can see, most of my gripes are about the toy’s remote rather than the toy itself – and that’s because the egg is pretty great. Its shape reminds me a lot of Lelo’s brilliant Siri vibe; rather than being entirely rounded, it’s got a soft “point” on the underside which sort of helps it to dig into my clit. This results in the vibrations feeling like they penetrate deeper into my clit, rather than just dancing on the surface.

One of the “new and improved” features of these updated SenseMotion toys is that the vibrations are supposed to be stronger. I would damn well hope so, considering how laughably weak my original Tiani was. And indeed, my Lyla 2 is stronger. It’s still weaker than I’d prefer – I find myself wishing there were maybe two or three more settings at the high end – but it can still get me off, so whateva. (Power queens beware: look elsewhere. Though, you probably knew that already. After all, it is Lelo.)

The other major update to this toy is that it supposedly has better wireless strength. This does seem to be true, but there’s still pretty significant delays sometimes: my boyfriend may change the remote’s setting from across the room and it can take several seconds for that change to be reflected in the egg. I’d say Lyla is leaps and bounds better than the other wireless remote-controlled vibes on the market, but it still isn’t perfect. Maybe it just isn’t reasonable to expect a company to ever get the technology right on this one.

I actually prefer the Lyla as a solo clit toy. True, you can’t use a dildo with it, because one hand has to hold the egg while the other holds the remote, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make sometimes. The SenseMotion mode, wherein tilting the remote to different angles produces gradually increasing vibration strengths, is easier and more intuitive than manually pressing a vibrator’s buttons – so when I want a simple and quick clitoral orgasm, I like using the Lyla. It’s also completely waterproof, and is fun for bathtime hijinks.

I don’t know how I feel about recommending the Lelo Lyla 2 to folks. It costs $139, which is expensive even for Lelo, and it’s not a perfect or versatile toy. But if you really, really want a remote-controlled vibe of the highest caliber, Lyla’s the one you’re looking for.

Review: Lelo Siri

Kate Sloan

I’m a Lelo fangirl. (What sex toy reviewer isn’t, though?) My first-ever luxury sex toy was the Nea; it served me well until I discovered stronger, rumblier vibes and decided to give my unsatisfying Nea away to a friend. I also own the Mia, Mona, Tiani, and Ella, all of which are, if not great, then at least beautiful and luxurious.

My latest Lelo acquisition is the Siri, and it is – dare I say it? – maybe my favorite of the bunch.

When Lelo first launched Siri, they marketed it as the strongest vibrator they had ever made. They’re not exactly known for the power of their toys, but this was still an intriguing claim. Could there finally be a toy that truly possessed the holy duality of power and glamor?

Yes. It exists. And it’s spectacular.

The Siri comes in three colors: red, pink, and purple. I picked red, because there are enough pink and purple vibrators out there, dammit. It’s really sweet-looking; it’s often been said that Lelo’s products look like what would happen if Apple tried to take on the sex toy market (funny, given the whole “Siri” thing), and this is certainly true of Siri. It’s made of smooth, shiny ABS plastic, and the part that’ll be touching your vulva is covered in a layer of silky silicone.

As with most Lelo toys, it has four buttons: two of them control the intensity of the vibrations, and the other two control the modes, which range from standard pulses and waves to a really weird song-like pattern that goes all over the place. I like the modes, but it’s annoying that they don’t loop around once you get to the last one – you have to scroll back through them if you want to get to the first one again.

All the times that I’ve picked up a Siri in a sex shop and felt its vibrations, I’ve thought, “Yeah, this is strong, but it’s not that strong.” It didn’t seem likely to rock my world. But the shape of the Siri, and the way the vibrations are located at the surface rather than being buried inside, make all the difference. This is how efficiently these vibrations are placed: I’ve never needed to use the highest setting of this toy. I seem to always get off around setting 6 or 7, rather than going all the way up to 10. Amazing.

When testing the Siri, I spent a lot of time mentally comparing it to the We-Vibe Tango, my other favorite clitoral vibe. The Tango is definitely much stronger and rumblier, but all that power is concentrated into only four possible speeds. Many times, I’ve moved up to the next speed on the Tango and found that it felt too strong. I got overstimulated and needed to back off. The Siri’s settings move up much more gradually, so I can get exactly as much power as I need at any given moment; no more, no less. (The Tango is absolutely the better choice if you’re a Hitachi girl, though.)

The only real downside to the Siri is that it’s not waterproof. It’s not even splashproof. This is a tragedy. Lelo recently re-designed some of their line to be completely waterproof, and I’m really hoping that Siri gets a similar overhaul. It’s disappointing that a toy so expensive would be so lacking in this way.

But overall? I’m in love with Siri. It has charmed the hell out of my clit. It’s small, strong, quiet, intuitive, ergonomic, beautiful, reliable, and portable. I wish I could kiss the Lelo design team, because they really know what’s up.