by @Ian_Chimp, 01 Aug 2019
Desire Luxury App Controlled Rechargeable Knicker Vibrator
The Vibrator:
The vibrator itself is very similar to the Desire knicker vibrator with the handheld remote; it’s got a great battery run-time (2 hour charge for 2 hours play), 8 modes with 12 intensities, it’s waterproof, really easy to clean, and has similar power and patterns to a lot of the other Desire toys. It also comes with a soft storage pouch which is lockable (though doesn’t come with a padlock). It didn’t come with knickers, but using your own is much better as you’ll definitely know they’ll fit.
It’s an attractive looking toy that’s shaped bit like a bike saddle with a raised contour underneath, which is good for directing the power to the right places. It’s very smooth and sleek, and comes in the signature Desire purple, which we find very desirable. It’s also discreet and lightweight and very comfortable to wear. It’s easily held in place with a tight-ish pair of knickers, or a pair of jeans, and is good sitting or standing.
It can actually be used without the app if you’re desperate. You can click through the modes using the single button on the top of the toy, but there’s no way to adjust the intensity of each mode this way. They’re all set to ‘max’ though, so you can get by in a pinch.
Personally we didn’t find it ‘whisper-quiet’. At home or in the bedroom it’s absolutely fine and can easily be muffled by a duvet and a closed door, but if we were going to take it out and about I’d want a decent bit of background noise (more ‘busy pub’ than ‘quiet restaurant’). I could definitely hear Mrs Chimp’s crotch buzzing from a few feet away when we tested it out with the tv on.
The App:
Easy to download and set up. It’s functional and quite intuitive. It’s also got quite a low-key app icon which doesn’t blare out ‘sex toy app’ from your phone screen - and there’s nothing more innocuous than swiping on a smartphone, so controlling it in public would be super discreet. There are two main settings: Solo (local control using Bluetooth) and Partner (distance control using the internet).
Adding a partner is easy; simply type their Desire user name into the ‘Add Partner’ box and it’ll send them an invite to accept. And it’s also designed to have multiple partners, if you’re lucky enough to have more than one person to play with. Once you’re both buddied up you then gain access to the chat function, with video call, audio call, and gallery options - plus the ability to ‘control partner’. I immediately clicked on it and demanded a cup of tea be brought to me, but it turns out it’s to control the toy not the actual partner, so bear that in mind.
There’s also a disconnect button so you can regain control any time you want. The control screen is the same for both solo and partner. It’s a simple screen with a representation of the current pattern in graph form, with arrows left and right to scroll through the modes, and you swipe up and down to increase/decrease the intensity.
The modes aren’t looped so you have to swipe back through them once you reach the end (but the intensity stays the same while flipping between modes). I would have preferred the pattern names or numbers on there somewhere to make it easier to describe which one to select over the chat function (describing, ‘um, the jagged one. With slanted triangles. No. The other one. No. The other other one’ was a bit tricky).
We had no issue with it dropping connection from either local or distance control. It did seem to auto-disconnect if I left my phone on the side for a bit and let the screen go to sleep, but I changed my screen settings and that seemed to sort it out.
It also connected fine while in place too, the jeans didn’t seem to affect it at all, which was really convenient. I’d have like to be able to programme a few patterns and speeds into a sort of playlist, but failing that you can use the Favourites feature as a bit of a workaround. It only seems to allow saving a particular mode at a certain intensity, but if you save a few you can use them as a sort of ‘jump to’ function and mix it up a bit rather than having to skip through the other patterns while scrolling.
In Use:
Vibration-wise it fits in well with the rest of the Desire range. Mrs Chimp wouldn’t mind the vibes to be a little stronger, but she is more of a fan of the Mantric frequencies. It’s a great teasing and warm up toy, which is perfect if she’s in the bedroom and I’m downstairs with the intention of joining her before she’s finished.
Personally I think its main strength is the distance/partner control, which we both thought was a huge amount of fun and are currently thinking about all the new situations we’d like to try it out in.
If you’re looking for a long distance toy with the quality and reliability of a Desire toy then I’d certainly recommend this.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pros: Good connection, great battery, very comfortable.
Cons: Would have liked more customisable options in the app.
Bottom Line: A good first entry into app-controlled toys and long-distance fun.
(We’ve tried a couple of app toys since, and I’d probably knock a star off this now to make space for giving the others the 5/5)
Linked Reviews: We-Vibe Chorus | We-Vibe Gala