rechargeable vibrator

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: Sohimi Mini Tongue Vibrator

Kate Sloan

The sex toy industry has been trying for many years to produce something that feels like cunnilingus. While certain toys have managed to replicate an aspect of good oral, like the rhythmic sucking of a Satisfyer or the tongue-flicking of a Sqweel, none have really been able to mimic the whole sensation of receiving good head. I think that’s because it’s very person-dependent and anatomy-dependent, and usually involves a mix of sucking and stroking that toys are just not capable of yet.

That said, though – some of these toys still feel pretty damn good, even if they don’t exactly feel like oral sex.

Sohimi sent me their Mini Tongue Vibrator, and I was skeptical, but intrigued. Could a tiny silicone tongue really get me off? Could the motor of a $16 sex toy get me off in any configuration, for that matter?

I had been burned (proverbially speaking) by cheap tongue-shaped vibrators before. Usually they’re just made to look like a tongue, but don’t actually move like one or feel like one at all – they feel like vibration. This toy is a bit different, though: the tongue actually does move back and forth a little, albeit very fast, so it creates a sensation that’s much more akin to tapping or oscillation than vibration. In practice, this means that it doesn’t cause numbness as quickly as many vibrators do, and the rumbling seems to extend more deeply into my internal clit. Definitely a good thing!

I would strongly recommend using a ton of lube with this toy, because no one likes a dry tongue (except maybe Ellie Kemper in that one comedy video). Water-based lube is probably your best bet because the toy is silicone, but you’ll likely need to reapply (or reactivate the lube with a little water) periodically when it dries out.

Soft silicone “petals” form a ring around the tongue which is supposed to be able to create a suction effect if you press it against your vulva, with the tongue in the centre against your clit. I suspected this would not work for my body, and I was right – I prefer indirect clitoral stimulation so I tend to hold the tongue against the side or hood of my clit instead of directly on the head, like this method requires. However, I do enjoy the feeling of having my entire clit enveloped, at least psychologically if not physically.

Sohimi’s website says this toy is “super quiet without noise. You cannot be heard at close range by anyone when using this tongue vibrator,” and that’s just laughably untrue. It’s a loud toy; most flappy-tongue toys are loud, due to the nature of their mechanics. It’s loud enough to be heard clearly from across the room and faintly through a closed door. It does quiet down a bit when pressed against flesh, but not enough that I’d call it a quiet toy by any means.

As with many toys of this type, this one slows down a bit when you press it against your body – but unlike a lot of other toys for which this is true, the Sohimi one’s motor doesn’t struggle or overheat when this happens. As a result, I feel free to experiment with applying different amounts of pressure to achieve different intensities of tongue-flapping. More pressure = slower, rumblier flicks; less pressure = faster, buzzier, more aggressive flicks.

It’s cool to have that level of control, because this toy only has 3 steady settings. All the other ones are patterns, and I just can’t bring myself to care about patterns – I’m a steady-speed girl all the way. Offbeat rhythms are sometimes cool when an actual tongue does them, but with a robot tongue like this one, irregular intervals of vibration just distract and annoy me instead of turning me on.

While I was surprised by how powerful this toy is for its tiny size, I don’t think it’s quite strong enough to get me off. Either that or the highest speed is just too distractingly loud for me to reach orgasm with it. But I gotta say, I still think this toy feels really good and really unique, and that there are a lot of people who would enjoy it. It doesn’t numb my clit like most vibrators in its price range, it’s super portable, and I love its flowery aesthetic. With its mere $16 price tag (at time of writing), the Sohimi Mini Tongue Vibrator is probably the best oral sex simulacrum you’re gonna find for under $50. I wish it was quieter, but hey… real oral sex can be noisy too. 😉

 

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: 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: Gvibe Gjack 2 & Gpop 2

Kate Sloan

The older I get, the worse my chronic pain gets – and the worse my chronic pain gets, the more I appreciate sex toys like the Gvibe Gjack 2.

I don’t know why more sex toy companies don’t implement looped handles like the one on this toy. Fun Factory, Lelo, and a few others have done so, but it’s definitely not as common as handles with no clear “grabbing point,” which force you to figure out on your own the most comfortable/least painful way to hold them for your particular body.

The handle on the Gjack 2, on the other hand, is designed with incredible thoughtfulness. I can slide my thumb easily through the open loop, and press against its farthest edge with minimal effort when I want to thrust the toy in and out. This feature is great for able-bodied people, too, because it gives you some extra leverage when you’re thrusting. My partner noted that of our collections, this is one of the most ergonomic toys to fuck me with; they can thrust and angle the toy as needed, with ease.

The Gjack 2 is a penetrative vibrator, but honestly, it could’ve (should’ve?) just been a dildo instead. Its vibrations, while decently powerful, are pretty buzzy and kind of loud. I’ve most often used this toy without even turning the vibrations on, and oddly enough, I think that’s the best-feeling way to use it.

It’s made of a material called Bioskin™, and if you know anything about the sex toy industry, you probably know that trademarked toy materials are usually a bad sign. 9 times out of 10, materials with names like CyberSkin™ or BioFlesh™ are just some version of jelly or thermoplastic elastomer – i.e. porous at best, toxic at worst. But according to blogger Phallophile, who contacted Gvibe to inquire about Bioskin, the material is actually a thin silicone veneer on top of a memory foam-esque material. If true, this is a smart solution for the problem sex toy makers have long faced: making toys that feel squishy like real flesh, but aren’t going to give customers chemical burns in their orifices.

(FYI, I asked a friend who is knowledgeable about sex toy science what the odds are that Bioskin is actually a safe material to use; the answer was that any nasty chemicals that could be [but aren’t necessarily] present in the foam would be able to leak through the silicone, but only in greatly decreased and diluted amounts, and that the risk of this happening would likelier be greater from “the bed you’re wanking in” than from a vibrator. The more you know…!)

Indeed, the Bioskin on my Gjack 2 feels smooth to the touch, like silicone, but has a squish more reminiscent of a foam mattress topper. That squish becomes really important when you insert the toy, because it’s covered in ridges all along its 5.5″ insertable length – ridges that would be way too intense, were they rendered in standard silicone. The squishiness makes them much easier to take, though I still feel a distinctive “popping” sensation when each one glides past my pubic bone. Notably, though, the material seems to muffle the toy’s vibrations, as does my mere flesh, so if you like powerful vibrations on your internal erogenous zones, this may miss the mark for you.

The toy’s cocklike head has the most squish of all, which would be a definite boon if your cervix is especially sensitive to pain. However, in testing this toy, I was reminded that my A-spot prefers firm touch. The nearly straight shape of the shaft contributes to the overall “meh”-ness of how the Gjack feels. It’s more like a cloud than a battering ram when it’s inside me, which I know is somebody’s jam, even if it’s not exactly mine.

To me, the most exciting thing about this toy is what it feels like to orgasm around something so spongy. It’s a unique sensation I know many people would love – but for me personally, this toy just doesn’t have enough “oomph” to totally wreck me the way something big and firm like the Eleven or Double Trouble can.

I was sort of hoping Gvibe would send me their Gbulb, an apparently powerful external vibrator that’s shaped like – wait for it – a lightbulb. (?!?) But instead, the second toy they sent me was the Gpop 2, a cute little vibrator designed to be unisex. (IMO, most vibrators are unisex, but it’s nice when a company acknowledges this outright!) This one has a looped handle too – yay! – and is shaped such that you could use it anally, vaginally, or externally, so it’s super versatile.

Because it’s made of silicone rather than Bioskin, the Gpop transmits vibrations much better than the Gjack. This toy rumbles and thrums beautifully, with way more power than you would expect for its diminutive 4.9″x1.1″ size, and feels fantastic on my G-spot and clit alike. The shaft is quite bendy, so if you like to press hard with your vibrators then you may find you can’t get as much pressure as you would prefer with the Gpop, but this feature also makes the toy more comfortable for anal insertion than your average vibrator.

I thought I would prefer the Gjack 2 because it looks more like the types of toys I tend to enjoy, but actually the smaller, rumblier Gpop 2 ended up being my favorite. I love its portability – in addition to being petite, it has a travel lock – and its combination of firm silicone and strong vibrations means it can get me off much more easily than the squishier, buzzier Gjack. At just $66, the Gpop is definitely one of the best vibes I’ve tried for its price point. I’m always thrilled to see more companies like Gvibe making colorful, waterproof, body-safe, relatively affordable sex toys, and I’m glad I got to try these ones!

 

This review was sponsored. 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.