Lelo Ina Wave Review
By Carnal Queen.
There’s been much excitement about the release of the Lelo Ina Wave, along with its sibling product the Mona Wave. I usually try to avoid the musings of other reviewers until after I’ve fully tested and put together my own thoughts, but this was unavoidable with the Ina Wave, bloggers have been practically shouting their thoughts and experiences from the rooftops. Reviews have been somewhat mixed …
There’s no mistaking, Lelo are a high-end sex toy manufacturer, and that’s immediately apparent as soon as you lay eyes on the box. The design is simple and sophisticated, consisting of an elegant white based outer box, and a matt black keepsake box inside. Once you lift the lid, you’re greeted by the Lelo Ina Wave, nestled inside a flocked foam insert. The first thing that struck me was that the Ina Wave was smaller than I had envisaged, and it is certainly the smallest ‘rabbit’ style vibrator that I own. That said, it’s perfectly formed, and the silicone is incredibly soft to the touch. I sat there running my hands over it, it’s a very ‘strokable’ toy. Whilst there aren’t any seams to speak of on the main areas of the toy, there is a definite ridge where the white and purple silicone meet. This isn’t an issue though, as the shape and style of the Ina means that it won’t be inserted that far into the body. Inside the box, underneath the fixed insert, you’ll find a charger – it’s not USB which surprised me a little, a sample of Lelo moisturising lubricant, an instruction book, a satin storage bag and a warranty card. The Lelo Ina Wave comes with a 1 year worldwide manufacturing warranty and a 10 year quality guarantee.
Charging the Ina Wave is really simple, there are no fiddly silicone tabs to open as there are on some other toys, there’s a simple open charging port located at the bottom of the toy. Some people may be a little cautious of having an open port on a waterproof toy, but Lelo assure us that it’s sealed internally to make it safe for use in water. I’ve had a few toys now with open charging ports, and have so far not encountered any problems with water damage. Although mine arrived with some charge, I left it charging for the recommended 2 hours to make sure that it was at optimum power. When charging, the LED ‘Lelo’ pulses (it’s on the handle above the control buttons) and when it is fully charged, it remains steadily lit. I like this, it looks very cool!
After my Ina Wave was fully charged, it was time to get on with some testing. I have to say, I was initially quite impressed. It boasts 10 vibration and wave settings (some settings are vibrations only, some are wave movement only, and some are a mixture of both) has two vibration motors, one for internal stimulation, and one for external stimulation, and obviously a motor to allow the Ina Wave to do its much anticipated ‘come hither’ motion. It did seem to pack a punch too, the vibrations seemed to have depth to them and not be too buzzy, and the Wave’s ‘come hither’ movement had extreme definition when activated. I did expect this motor to be a little lacking, and felt that it would surely suffer if put under any resistance – this wasn’t the case. Gripping the head of the Ina quite tightly did nothing to the movement at all, it just kept on going, which surprised me. Apparently the head is angled at the precise 30 degrees needed for perfect G-Spot stimulation – but what if you’re not the perfect woman? I’m fairly sure that we’re all built with subtle differences …
I measured the Ina Wave to be fractionally over 4 and a quarter inches (insertable length) with a girth of 4 and a half inches at the largest point. This will likely be fine for most woman, and not at all daunting, but I’d still recommend the use of a good quality lubricant. Remember, only ever use water based lube with silicone toys to prevent damage, this really is important. As mentioned previously, there’s a sample of Lelo’s lube in the box, so you’re good to go immediately. The controls are simple to operate on the Lelo Ina Wave. The centre button turns the toy on or off, the up and down arrows allow you to select the mode that you like, and the plus and minus buttons control the intensity of the vibrations. It also has a handy travel lock feature, which you activate and deactivate by pressing and holding the plus and minus buttons simultaneously. When cycling through the different modes, you will notice that the ‘come hither’ motion operates at two different speeds, depending on which mode you’re currently on. A memory function allows you to turn the toy on in the exact mode you turned it off on – great for when you’ve found what works for you, no more searching for your favourite!
It’s all going so well isn’t it? Well hold your horses, it’s not all good news I’m afraid. I was hoping that this would be the Lelo toy that had me all excited and raving about its awesomeness, as up to now, I’ve never been wowed by Lelo offerings, but sadly that’s not the case. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good toy, and for sure it will be perfect for some people, but for me, I’d want a lot more than just ‘good’ for £130 …
Lets start with the shape – the main shaft feels good and it is a nice size, but the clitoral arm is just too short to be able to fit me anatomically. I find myself lying there wishing that it actually had rabbit ‘ears’ on the top just to give it a little more length, because sadly, it falls just short of my clitoris. This frustrates me immensely, as most rabbit type vibrators usually overshoot my clit! This part measures around 2 inches on the inside edge, which is around an inch shorter than the clitoral stimulator on Lovehoney’s Happy Rabbit 2 – To hit my sweet spot I need the length to be somewhere in between these two toys. I can make the Ina Wave touch me in the right place, but it involves a little bit of brute force and some contortion, followed by a fear of moving in case it slips away from me. Not ideal is it?
Next problem, the ‘come hither’ movement. Yes, it feels nice, but nice doesn’t get you writhing in waves of pleasure does it? It’s just not quick enough to impact my pleasure. If my partner was rubbing my G-Spot at that speed I’d quickly get frustrated and be asking (read shouting) him to pick up the pace. It feels good, and helps build you up a little, but because it lacks in speed and pressure for me, it’s frustrating and needs more to push me over. No way on this earth that I could orgasm from using that solely, with no clitoral stimulation, and because the vibrations are shying away from reaching my clit, it’s hard work to get to the point of no return. I don’t want to work hard for it! The very definite movement of the main shaft also means that you cannot thrust this toy in and out of your vagina when it’s working at its highest speed, which may seem obvious, but being able to thrust might just give me that extra something to make reaching orgasm that little bit easier. I also found that if I gripped the toy with my vaginal muscles, I could no longer feel the toy moving inside me, instead the movement transferred to outside of my vagina and the handle of the Ina began amusingly waving about between my legs. Obviously keeping a firm hold of the handle will prevent this movement transfer, but it does mean that there will be no hands-free play, which is a shame because the Ina does actually like to stay put in my vagina with no help from me, thanks to the lovely shape of the shaft.
Noise levels are a little higher than some rabbit vibrators I own, the motor controlling the movement has a distinctive noise to it which stands it apart. When on vibrate only modes, the toy is understandably much quieter. I don’t think it’s overly noisy though, and it shouldn’t be a problem for most people. The toy is completely submersible so is great for shower or bath play, and more importantly for me, makes cleaning a breeze. It’s also available in a stunning teal colour, which Lovehoney don’t seem to be stocking, which make me sad because it’s great to see new colours out there! I get really sick of Pink and Purple …
I think that if the distance between your clitoris and your vaginal opening is quite short, you’ll quite possibly love this toy. The vibrations are good, the “come hither’ motion is definitely unique and feels nice, and if it fits your anatomy then you might be on to a winner. Sadly for me, it didn’t quite fit and I found it a little lacking. Maybe I’m just a bit hard to please, but I feel like Lelo were very nearly on to something fantastic, but sadly they just didn’t quite hit the mark. It’s certainly a game changer though, and I think it’s definitely an insight into what the sex toy industry will be offering us in the near future, which undoubtedly excites me!
Lovehoney sent me a Lelo Ina Wave for free in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This has in no way affected my thoughts on the product, all opinions are my own. Affiliate links were used in this post.
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