Lelo Ora 2

December 18th, 2014

Ora 2
$159 from SheVibe

Let me just start with this “Fuck the haters.”

Seriously. Fuck the haters.

Lelo’s Ora “oral sex simulators” won’t work for everyone. But I like it. And I think some of you will, too. So I’m going to write a review heralding the positives because someone has to do it. And I, brave sex toy review readers, am that someone.

I don’t want to sing blind praises. There is some fair criticism of Ora 2 and what Lelo has been doing lately.

Yes, it’s dumb for the second version of a toy to come out less than a year after the original. Lelo should have tested more and come out with this instead of the original Ora, which I felt lukewarm about at best. It may very well be that Lelo is focusing on quantity over quality lately, but I liked few toys of theirs, even when they took longer to release them. The ratio seems about the same. So whatever.

No, I don’t think that hole in the design is awesome and I never have. It barely fits two fingers, and even then, they’re not in a position for the rest of my hand to operate the toy or apply pressure the way I like. And this silly plastic ring is like a magnet for the kind of shit that you should only see in a petri dish, I am sure.

Yes, Lelo’s packaging is only impressive the first half dozen times around. It’s almost completely useless after I take a toy out of the box, and I’m sick of ripping the damned foam innards to shreds to recycle it.

And, no, Lelo didn’t know what they were doing with that stupid banker toy. Like, what the fuck, guys?

But Ora 2 is an improvement over the original, whether that original was tested enough or not. While the original was a good idea and an improvement on toys like Sasi, which had already attempted to simulate oral sex for a woman (and a toy that I liked.. while it worked), it wasn’t good enough in real life that I could recommend it, especially at its high price tag.

Lelo has changed very little with the Ora 2. Size and shape are essentially identical. They’re probably using the same molds for many of the parts. But the company has increase the size of the rolling ball that provides the clitoral stimulation and made it protrude more, which equals greater and more consistent contact.

And I like it. It feels closest to receiving oral than any other toy. It makes me feel a little less shitty about boys who break my heart and being single and fuck-less. Because, hey, this feels pretty good. At least I have this.

There’s another change that I find to be an improvement, and that’s Lelo’s SenseTouch technology. After pressing the button to activate it for 5 seconds, the toy will respond to how hard you press it against your skin. It’s really sensitive, which is a boon. You can barely brush your skin, and it turns on. If you’re like me and you enjoy grinding against things, this will crank it up to maximum. If you have the right body type, you could hold this in between your thighs for hands-free stimulation, although you won’t get precise control this way.

I guess this was a feature of the Smart Wand, and I didn’t notice. Oops. But it makes much more sense with how I use Ora.  The general design of the mobile ball and how it’s situated within this vibrator also work for pressure and grinding, which are my favorite parts of oral, by the way. It creates a little platform against my vulva, and I can grind until I’m panting and cumming and covered in sweat.

Maybe that’s not for you, though. If you want to use a separate toy internally at the same time, you’ll probably find Ora to be bulky. Indeed, the shape could be improved. As I mentioned, the hole doesn’t make sense functionally. It’s more about form. My hands still wind up cramping because of this. Bummer.

The vibrators that go with Ora 2 aren’t anything like the Hitachi, but considering the source, they’re fairly deep and strong enough. Acceptable. Better than the Smart Wand with its gigantic size.

I am worried that the battery life is a little low. Because I like Ora 2 so much, I’ve been using it for around the full hour per session, which means I will have to charge it every time. Get on that, Lelo.

And I’d like the track the ball moves on to be smaller and tighter. I’d get more direct clitoral stimulation while holding Ora 2 in place if this was the case.

Really, though, the improvements that Lelo has focused on make a serious difference. Perhaps the Ora 3 will be perfect if Lelo ever makes it. For now, I’m happy enough for Ora 2, and I seriously recommend you give it a shot if..

  • You liked Ora but would have liked some of these improvements
  • You enjoy oral sex
  • Pressure and grinding are important to your masturbation style

Maybe you’ll want to wait for a sale, because $160 – $180 is certainly a lot for a toy that you may not love. You can get a free $15 SheVibe gift card if you purchase $125 right now, however.

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Sqweel Go

April 25th, 2014

I suppose it’s not a rarity at all that I review two toys with similar functions in a row. However, both the Sqweel Go and Lelo’s Ora intend to be oral sex simulators, and there aren’t that many of them around. Both of them are basically revamps of existing technology, and Lovehoney has gone through a couple iterations of the original, which I reviewed many years ago. I wasn’t a huge fan, and neither were many women who tried it.

There are a few design tweaks between the Sqweel Go and the last one that I’ve used. There’s still a rotating wheel of silicone “tongues,” but the encasement is much smaller with the Sqweel Go. It’s not going to fight for space with my vulva! There’s a much smaller space to grab, but I don’t generally find this to be a problem. Lovehoney has also incorporated a single push button to cycle through the 6 settings. The button is big and raised and easy to find in the dark.

When it comes to the Sqweel Go, it seems like less really is more. The Sqweel Go  is intended to be the portable version of this oral sex simulator, but I think Lovehoney really should have started with this size to begin with. A problem that I and maybe women had with the original was that it was so big as to be clunky, and it fought for space with our vulvas. Because the tongues and the entire unit are smaller, it fits between my labia, especially if I push them apart.

At just a few inches in length, this is portable, but you’ll want to grab the USB cable before your trip. My Sqweel Go arrived charged, which was nice. I haven’t had to charge it yet, but your mileage will vary depending upon which setting you use it on. The Sqweel Go is

The tongues themselves are still soft silicone. Remember how the original was not made of silicone? The Sqweel Go survives the flame test. Smooth plastic — white or purple — replaces the black case, too. There’s no cover, which might be a hindrance for travel. You also can’t remove the spinning wheel for cleaning. So far, I haven’t found this to be a problem. The wheel is smaller an extends less “far” into the toy. You can soap it up and rinse with water while pushing the wheel around or simply turning the toy on to rinse. I think I prefer this. It involves no taking apart, which was annoying. This one is also waterproof. Though, I don’t think you’d get much sensation under water.

The sensation is quite similar to the original, but the smaller tongues means there’s less time between tongues. More contact equals more sensation. I approve. The smaller size fits better with my personal anatomy, and while this still doesn’t feel like a real tongue on my clit, it does feel good when it’s lubed up. The additional settings, are more interesting, and I can more easily tell between them. The settings are:

  • Slow
  • Medium
  • Fast
  • Short short long spin
  • short medium long longer spin
  • Rapid/short spins moving to pulsation

I think I like the new speeds and the pulsations are interesting. Although, the last setting feels quite a bit like the steady settings. The Sqweel Go also has a bit of an annoying wine that I could do without.

However, the Sqweel Go suffers from the same drawback this time around — no pun intended — as it did the first time. I cannot apply pressure. Well, I can apply some, and it doesn’t stop as easily as the original, but I can’t grind against it the way I would a normal vibrator, a person’s face or leg or even the Lelo Ora. I’m not even sure how Lovehoney could continue with this design while adding that. I think it just might be impossible. This ultimately places the Sqweel Go in the category of “warm-up toy” but because I don’t use toys for warm up — it’s all or nothing — I can’t see myself breaking it out of the toy box often.

 

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Lelo Ora

April 18th, 2014

Lelo Ora
$169 from Lelo

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I love oral sex. Now, you’d figure that’s a given, but I have met many women who say they can take it or leave it. I’m told that I should accept this as their preference, but it is not mine. I like the feeling of tongues, which can be pointed and hard or broad and soft, against my clit and between the folds of my labia. Oral sex is awesome, and I hold my breath, almost afraid to break the spell, as I wait for whoever is between my legs to make contact with my body and claim it in the name their tongue.

Yes, I know this is fucking cheesy, but there is nothing quite like oral sex, which will invariably end with me grabbing the back of your head and grinding my cunt against you until I come if you’re done at least a halfway decent job and if I want to get off.

So the idea that a toy mimics oral sex is something like the holy grail for me. It has to provide pinpoint sensation like the tip of a tongue. It has to be something I can get pressure from through grinding. And, no, I don’t want a disembodied head. At least, not for orgasmic purposes. To put it bluntly, an oral sex simulator has big shoes to fill, and no one’s gotten it quite right yet.

However, Lelo wants us to forget that others have tried and in quite similar ways to the Ora. You see, this little vibrator is basically the SaSi by JeJoue with a few refinements and a small size. I actually like the change in size, functions, and build, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the idea is not new.

Oral Sex.. from a Toy?

Like I said. This toy is quite similar to SaSi. So the Ora is a round-ish toy with one flatter end where the ball is. The oral sex part comes from a rotating “marble” or ball bearing beneath a thin and flexible layer of silicone. When you press this against you, it’s supposed to feel like oral sex. When the ball moves, it pushes the silicone up out of the little valley where the ball mechanism is situated, and the ball itself extends a little higher than the sides of the valley.

The rest of the toy is covered with taut silicone and is very similar to many of Lelo’s other toys. It reminds me an awful lot of Alia, but it’s definitely bigger. This is good. Alia was too small to insert your fingers to grasp, but Ora works just fine.

There are three buttons, the same as the Insignia line, embossed into the silicone. Let me say straight out that I hate these buttons. My fingertips might not be very sensitive, but I can never differentiate between the buttons to find the one I want, so I always have to pull the toy away from me and change it. I don’t like toys that do this. The Form 6 is similar but the buttons are further apart, which means I can figure out which is which. Lelo really needs to ditch this three-button-in-silicone design. Like now.

The buttons work in an interesting way. The + and – buttons do exactly what you think. The center button cycles through settings, but it also increases vibration strength if you hold it for 3 seconds. After doing this, you get a steady vibration boost kind of like the Boss. The difference between the boost and not boost is noticeable, both to my ears and clit. In fact, the boost actually feels deeper and stronger. The boost stays on if you turn the toy off and back on again. I think this is a bummer. It’s like toys that start on High. Why would you do this to us, why, Lelo?!

The settings are as follows

Ora's protruding ball

Ora’s protruding ball

  • Vibration, ball moves in a circle
  • Ball moves in a circle with no vibration
  • Ball moves in back and forth U motion
  • Ball moves in U motion, vibes pulse
  • Vibes pulse, balls moves in circle
  • Ball moves in back-and-forth C shape (to the side), vibration repeats a slow escalation
  • Vibes do the same escalation, ball moves in a circle
  • Balls moves in C shape, vibration does an escalation + pulsation pattern
  • Ball moves in circle, vibes escalate and pulse
  • Ball moves in circle, long pulse

Unlike the Sasi, Ora allows you to have both the movement of the ball and vibration. There’s a setting where just the ball moves, but you don’t have to pick or choose. You can have both. The downside is that whenever vibration is on, the ball’s movement is a little less intense. This is to be expected and could possibly be minimized with a larger ball. Read more on that below.

So, I like the boosted vibration, but I actually like some of settings, which might very well be a first for me. I always, always, always discounted silly pulsation and escalation, but the later settings with an interesting pattern combination both feel good, and during the vibration’s pause, I can focus on the movement of the ball. This is pretty much a first for me. I do tend to return to steady vibes during orgasm time, but that’s about it.

Because the Ora is more narrow, it fits between my labia better and I get more direct contact with the ball. SaSi was kind of a letdown when it came to this. I had to hold my labia out of the way. The ball being in the “dimple” means that the rigid shell meets my labia, and this provides the pressure that I like. Yes, I can ultimately grind against the Ora, and I got off with it this way.

SaSi also couldn’t take a lot of pressure. While placing more pressure on the ball used in Ora is going to slow it down and you’ll hear it strain, I couldn’t force it to completely stop with my hand while I was trying. Of course, I imagine this stress would make the toy wear out faster, but it’s good that you can get a little pressure without the enjoyment coming to a screeching halt.

Speaking of audible noise. You’ve got both a mechanical wine due to the ball bearing and the sound of vibration. This is louder than a bullet vibe and Siri, for example. But it’s definitely not the loudest toy I own.

Room for Improvement?

There’s no doubt that Ora does this better than any other toy I’ve had. But it’s also not something you’d confuse with a real, human mouth and tongue. The mobile ball beneath the thin layer of soft silicone just doesn’t protrude enough. It could be a little larger, given the shape and size of Ora. or Lelo could go back to the drawing board and come up with something a little larger for a much larger toy. Either way, I’d love for it to extend past the edge of Ora and make better contact with my vulva.

Even with lube, the texture isn’t exactly human. A heating element might change things. I don’t think this is particularly realistic, given the size of Ora, but it’s a thought.

I don’t necessarily love the rounded shape on the other side. Perhaps it wouldn’t bother me as much if the buttons were easier to find and differentiate. It doesn’t cramp up my hands as much as most, but keeping my fingers inside the loop doesn’t feel natural, either.

The Standard Spiel

Yes, this is made of silicone. Use high-quality silicone or water-based lube. Wash with soap and water. Be careful of the charging port. There’s nothing to cover it and while technology works wonders, I’m still wary of open ports. Plug it in and charge for a couple hours to power it. Silicone picks up lint, as you can clearly see in my photos. It comes with Lelo’s box, warranty, and a storage pouch.

Final Thoughts

Essentially, this toy is less-than-perfect but allows me orgasm and enjoy sensations. That doesn’t typically happen. Orgasms are hard work. They’re about release, not pleasure. I can get both with Ora. It’s not necessarily easy, but it happens.

I think Ora will get a fair bit of use from me, but I will likely keep reaching for my old stand-bys when I want to get off quickly.

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Sqweel

November 29th, 2009

Sqweel

Sqweel
£34.99 (approx. $57.63) from LoveHoney

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

The Sqweel is not a vibrator; rather, it is a sex toy meant to simulate oral sex to stimulate the clitoris or other parts of the body. It has been touted as “revolutionary”; in fact, the hype around its release was tremendous and it would be hard for any toy to live up to that. Still, the intentionally mysterious website was spread from Twitter to Twitterite like a virus, and I was among the many who submitted my e-mail to find out just what this toy with a whirligig logo is. Of course, I never got the e-mail so the release went unnoticed until I saw reviews of it posted on Twitter. I was thrilled when I asked to review it, and the folks at LoveHoney said “yes.” So here’s the low down, Adriana style.

The Sqweel toy is encased in silky black plastic. This is great for a couple of reasons: it’s protected from lint and other toys and is easy to travel with, should you so desire. The shape is generally clammy and the indentations (which can serve as finger holds a bit) add to that effect. An arrow on either side indicates that squeezing and pulling up the top cover pops it off to expose a series of 10 soft tongues which spin on an axle. This is not unlike a tape dispenser but the action has been compared to chainsaws and Hellraiser, the latter by my husband. I found it to be much less intimidating, maybe good for a first timer if you understand the function.

Sqweel

Even if you do, getting to know the piece can still be intimidating because it’s so unique. Once you pop off the top and locate the button on the bottom, it begins to make more sense, however. Also, the included pamphlet with this toy is actually very helpful and well done. It actually focuses on this one toy, unlike those one-size-fits-all pamphlets that big companies give with every single toy (although it’s not much help if you tend to ignore these books d=). Once comfortable with the Sqweel, it’s easy to use. One slide button goes from “Off” and makes stops at “Lo,” “Medium” and “High.” That’s three speeds if you weren’t keeping up – powered by 3 AAA batteries which are actually included! There is a small battery cover that slides off the bottom where batteries are easily inserted. Hold the toy upside down over whatever area you want to be stimulated, and voila.

Sqweel

Er, sorta. The first thing I noticed is the incredible whine as the tongues rotate. I would almost say it does squeal. It, not me. That’s bad. Of course, as you increase settings, so does the whine. This means it’s not very discreet, and folks might get curious why you have a knife sharpening in your bedroom.. but maybe they won’t ask for fear of retaliation. And even if discretion isn’t your thing, I found myself highly annoyed. Maybe you won’t notice if you’re the type who masturbates to music or moans like crazy during a session and it’ll drive you crazy – in the good way – or maybe it will drive you up the wall like it did me. The particular sound was just too much for me to take at times.

Sqweel

The other big issue around the Sqweel is its learning curve. I feel like I would have to masturbate with only this toy for months before I would get anywhere near orgasm and even then, it’s a long shot. As someone who prefers the quick pay off and pressure, this toy just isn’t going to cut it. That doesn’t mean it’s not interesting or doesn’t feel good – because it does, but it will probably never be more of a warm-up toy for me – but those tongues are just too soft to really mimic oral sex. I would have to agree with Epiphora that the spinning feels more like an attack of silicone tongues and none of the speeds really suit my needs; they all feel quite unlike oral sex. The tongue is a muscle and can apply much more pressure than the Sqweel ever could because, as soon as you press it tighter against the flesh, the spinning stops. The Sqweel has to be held an arm’s length away so the tongues just barely touch the clit. This means you have to make damned sure nothing is on the way so be prepared to hold those lips aside.

Sqweel

One thing that can also severely detract from the Sqweel experience is not using enough or any lube. For some reason, I just forgot, but the feeling of dry tongues against the clit is even more awkward than that of the toy working exactly how its meant. On LoveHoney’s site, there is a video instructing you to squirt lube into your hand and then let the toy spin so the tongues can “lap” it up. It’s a reasonable decent, if not messy technique. The included information says to use water based lube which clued me in that the tongues are at least partially silicone. In fact, I put it through the flame test which resulted in a deformed tip of the tongue. From this, I conclude that the Sqweel’s tongues are, in fact, TPR Silicone. It’s toward the higher end of the spectrum and I certainly don’t mind using it, despite some porosity. I just wish that was explicitly stated somewhere.

Sqweel

I would say be prepared for mess with the Sqweel and be prepared to spend some time cleaning it up. The tongues spread lube everywhere. Lube gets inside the case. The outside of the case gets covered in lube. The case is probably the easiest to clean; just use a damp cloth. There is a front panel that twists and pops off so the tongues can be taken out. Both of those pieces can be washed with soap and water. The instructions also say to wipe inside with a damp cloth. I wouldn’t risk soap and water, like I do with some toys. Unfortunately, the nooks and crannies in the case, and on the font panel and cover are numerous. this seems a little short-sighted to me, but maybe I just don’t like having to clean things with Q-tips. Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything is dry before putting all the pieces of the Sqweel back together. Moistness in en enclosed area does no good.

So my final call on the Sqweel? As Epiphora said, incredibly innovative. Kudos to LoveHoney for bringing this winner of their design a sex toy contest to fruition. Props for the generally sound design and cute presentation. But as a practical oral sex simulator or even a sex toy that will get any sort of orgasmic reaction out of me? I’m not sure this reinvention of the wheel is a winner. It’s so hard for me to come up with constructive criticism because this idea is just so out of the box. Maybe firmer tongues, of differing sizes. Maybe add vibration or allow the tongues some side-to-side movement. Yet, I can’t really guarantee any of these changes would do the trick for me. Maybe the idea itself is more novel than sound. Maybe, I’ll try again in a few months.

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