reviews

Review: Liv vibrator

As of 2/8/16 This product is no longer available at Babeland

I’m not a vibrator connoisseur, I’ll just go ahead and disclose that right now. I couldn’t really tell you just by turning on a vibrator if it is more or less strong than another one from memory, I find it challenging to give them a number based on how strong their buzzing is. It’s even hard when two of them are right next to each other – unless one is the Hitachi Magic Wand, pretty much, which is of course the Grandmother of all vibrators.

And I do like my Hitachi, I do. It is a fairly standard go-to for quick-and-easy jerk off sessions. My nightcap, if you will.

But …

When my roommate is home, the Hitachi has quite the vroom-vroom-vroom engine that is really not so subtle. Especially at three in the morning when my whole building is quiet.

So I’ve been vaguely searching for a decent vibrator which would be very quiet, but strong enough still to get me off fairly quickly and easily.

I reviewed the Laya Spot vibrator a while back, and that’s been a pretty good one on this quiet-but-powerful scale, but now that the Liv vibrator by Lelo has come along, I haven’t picked up the Laya Spot once.

Liv is smooth. Sleek. It doesn’t hurt that it’s black, and silicone, but the silicone doesn’t really separate from the plastic/electric pieces, so aside from just soap and water I don’t think there’s a way to boil it in order to sterilize it.

It’s got three speeds, and a couple different variations of sensations too, including a short-quick-bursts and longer, rolling pulses. It is not too strong, or too big either, but if you like something easy that can be inserted and that buzzes quite nicely, this may just be perfect for you.

The battery for Liv is rechargeable, which in theory is really great but in practice has proven to be a little bit of a pain in the ass, as it seems to lose its charge fairly easily (or maybe I just get off a whole lot more than I realize?) and the last few times I’ve grabbed for it, it has been dead. It’s dead now, actually, and will take a full two to four hours to recharge, and because I want to finish and get this review up immediately (while I am feeling inspired to do so), I’m not going to describe the pulsing as accurately as I would if the vibrator was pulsing away in my, uh, hand, right now.

So that’s a little annoying. It’s great, though, that there will be no awful AA batteries accidentally leaking battery fluid inside my vibrator – which I have had happen.

The price tag on this little bad boy is kinda high, $109, but it is such a high-quality toy. It’s no silver bullet (which was my go-to vibrator for years, and I would go through one every six months or so. Those suckers just don’t last). I haven’t had it for all that long, but it feels like the kind of technology that is built to last, not to be replaced.

The elegance is particularly lovely. It comes in a very nice box with a little silk bag in which it gets nicely stored – and hey, presentation and packaging counts for something. All the more bonus that it delivers so nicely.

Thanks, Babeland.

Published by Sinclair Sexsmith

Sinclair Sexsmith (they/them) is "the best-known butch erotica writer whose kinky, groundbreaking stories have turned on countless queers" (AfterEllen), who "is in all the books, wins all the awards, speaks at all the panels and readings, knows all the stuff, and writes for all the places" (Autostraddle). ​Their short story collection, Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, was a 2016 finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, and they are the current editor of the Best Lesbian Erotica series. They identify as a white non-binary butch dominant, a survivor, and an introvert, and they live outside Seattle as an uninvited settler on traditional, ancestral, & unceded Snoqualmie land.

24 thoughts on “Review: Liv vibrator”

  1. E loves T says:

    Doesn’t everyone use a condom on their vibrator? Or is that just me? And on my gf’s cocks (Timmy and Jeremiah)… wait, uh, you don’t name yours??? Anyway, it’s a lot easier to keep them clean, and talk about SAFE!!! We’ll never get knocked up!

  2. Pingback: » of Sex and Love
  3. amber says:

    Wonderful review. I love LELO. All of their items are some of my favs. I'm fairly new to your site, so I'm not sure if you'd reviewed the LELO Mia yet, but if you get the chance, do, it's a lovely little purse vibe but it's become a new fav of mine.

    PS. Could you please tell me what font you use on your website? I love it, and I'd like to change mine from boring old arial. Thanks!

  4. Sage says:

    Hello there,

    Came across one of your reviews on babeland and followed it back here. I read a few of your reviews and really appreciated what you had to say. Having benefited from your wisdom and explorations, I figured it was only fair you should benefit from mine as well. I too had been looking for a strong battery operated toy that wasn't absurdly loud. I did look at the Liv and other LELO toys as well, but I went in a different direction instead.

    In your search for a quiet and powerful vibrator did you ever try any of the Little Something line from JimmyJane? Personally I own the Little Chroma and it is wonderful. It has a deep resonating vibration all powered by a single AA battery (trust me I was amazed it's as powerful as it is having owned cheaper vibrators). It is also whisper quiet once fully turned on and goes for hours without losing power. The manufacturer says it will go 16 hours on one battery, I've had it about 2 months now without killing the battery it came with. It is also similar in style to a magic bullet, but isn't a toy I imagine I will ever have to replace (and even if it does break JimmyJane makes a replacement motor for a fraction of the cost of the toy).

    Babeland carries them, so maybe you can request to review it? Anyway, good luck in many future sexcapades.

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