Vibease Review: A High Tech, App-Controlled Vibrator

Here we go with another vibrator that works hands-free! If you’ve read my review of the Eva II by Dame Products, you’ll know that I have a love-hate relationship with hands-free vibrators. They sound great in theory and can definitely get the job done, but generally don’t cooperate with my anatomy.

Enter (pun kind of intended) the Vibease. The Vibease is primarily marketed as a wearable, app-controlled vibrator.

It’s small, about palm sized, and silicone covered with a hook-like nub at the end. This nub is designed to sit flush against the external part of the clit. This design choice wasn’t particularly helpful for me and I’ll explain why a bit later. It’s fairly basic design-wise, with two buttons at the base for power and switching the speed.

The vibrations are incredibly muted even at the higher intensities, so this isn’t something you’d want to pull out if you’re in a rush or just want to get the job done. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that a lot of the time, masturbating is just a means to an end and we disconnect ourselves from the actual act in pursuit of orgasm. That isn’t always a bad thing, let me say.

But the Vibease is supposed to encourage a more sensual, intentional approach to masturbation which can be a welcome change of pace.

Because part of the fantasy the Vibease sells is about the ability to use it in a wherever, whenever kind of situation, the small size and low-key vibrations are definitely marked in the “pros” column in that regard. But just how wearable is it? Does the app actually work?

Feature 1: The App

VIbease control screen within the app. Moving the bubbles up, down, left, or right changes the speed and intensity of the vibrations.

The Vibease app (available on the App Store and Google Play) is truly the bread and butter of this product. Sync your Vibease to the app via Bluetooth and you can control it, give control of it to someone else, and listen to downloadable Erotica Audiobooks that sync vibrations with the pace of the story.

While the audiobooks are a unique feature, they didn’t do much for me as I’m not the biggest fan of erotica in general - I much prefer visual stimulation.

The bigger issue for me though, is that selection of books was very white and seemed pretty basic. I didn’t see much diversity on the covers of each audiobook, which leads me to believe that the content is written for an audience that I’m not part of.

This is unfortunate, because I would’ve felt inclined to at least give an audiobook a try if the selection was more representative. I don’t know the process for developing or submitting audiobooks for inclusion within the Vibease database, but this seems like a fairly avoidable oversight.

Options within a chat in the app.

There’s a bit of a learning curve with using the chat and control features of the app, though. There aren’t too many directions or help guides, so be ready for a bit of trial and error.

I used the app to give control of my Vibease to my partner while he was in Chicago on a work trip and it worked like a charm after we figured it all out.

Within the chat section of the app, there are options to do things like voice call, video chat, and even send voice memos to make the experience more dynamic.

Feature 2: Wearability

Where something like the Eva II is designed to be used with a partner, the Vibease is meant to be used on your own. This toy is not at all practical for partnered activity because it’s SLIPPERY. There’s also nothing that can actually hold it in place, except for a hand or someone else’s pelvis. Maybe labia if they’re long enough, but that is definitely not factored into the design.

But the Vibease knows it isn’t the most compatible for physically partnered play. In fact, that’s where it shines through the use of the app that allows someone else to control it. The person in control can use it to tease the wearer throughout the day, during a meal, really whenever they want to. And it’s quiet enough to make that feasible.

For me though, putting it in my underwear and trying to use it like a traditional panty vibrator just didn’t work. The biggest problem is that it won’t sit right against my body, so it always required manual assistance and repositioning for me to actually get off.

The nub that’s supposed to lie against the clit would just press against part of my clitoral hood which caused uncomfortable pressure for me, so I would turn it upside down and put the nub further down, on my actual clit.

This also meant that putting it in my underwear didn’t work because it would just kind of slide around the part of my vulva between the apex of my labia majora and actual clit. Positioning aside though, I couldn’t get enough pressure from the Vibease when it was in the right position and I would try to use it hands free by clenching my thighs together.

So while it wasn’t exactly a monumental failure, the Vibease fell short for me in a lot of respects. Every vibrator isn’t compatible with every body, and I don’t want to imply that the Vibease is inferior just because it wasn’t the right one for ME.

I quite enjoyed my experience with the Vibease overall because it made me slow down and really focus on what I was trying to do instead of speed to the finish line. The app is pretty robust and decently user friendly, and it is impressive to have such a high level of control over the vibrations I want. I’d suggest it to anyone looking to step into sex tech and interested in taking distance play to a new level.

Want one for yourself? You can get your own Vibease here!

Coat Hangers and Staircases

This post is inspired by the super stringent abortion bills making their way through the Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, and Louisiana legislatures (that I’m aware of as of now), and the well-meaning but misinformed takes about the cis white male boogeyman who’s to blame for this attack on women’s* rights. [*I’m a firm believer that abortion restrictions impact people of all genders, not just women, as there are people who are able to get pregnant that are not women and to reduce reproductive rights issues to women’s issues erases them.] My politics related to abortion rights and reproduction more broadly operate under a reproductive justice lens, a framework developed in 1994 by Women of Color seeking to advance conversations about the “Women’s Rights Movement” beyond the interests of cis white middle-class white women.

I just really wanted an excuse to use this.

My frustration at this discourse led to me writing this twitter thread. My overall point was that the abortion debate has always been bolstered by women, normally cis white women, who support anti-choice measures and politicians because it ultimately serves their interest of protecting white supremacy and by extension their role within it. To lay the blame squarely on cis men absolves these women of their responsibility, and much like the 53% of white women who voted for Trump, their role in supporting white supremacist patriarchy cannot be ignored. The author of the Alabama legislation and governor of Alabama are both white women, which you wouldn’t know without some digging because the only images we’ve seen of politicians in Alabama since this first became news are the 25 white men who voted for this bill.

What is the recourse when identity politics fails? If these women have shown that they have no qualms supporting legislation that actively supports white supremacy and harms other women, why continue to frame the conversation exclusively around men? This conversation can go all the way back to slavery, when white women were frequently more abusive towards female enslaved people and their children than their husbands were. White women have always supported white supremacy because it serves their interests, and leaves them as the pinnacle of womanhood with a level of social protection no other group can even compare to — not even white men.

White women historically weaponize this wherever possible, because they continue to benefit. So excuse me for not getting all up in arms because these “backwards” southern white men are trying to take my rights away. If we want to dig a little deeper into the abortion conversation specifically, Reproductive Justice frameworks go beyond having the choice to have an abortion and actually be able to access one— abortions are INCREDIBLY expensive, even if you can “access” one on a literal level.

The double gut punch of this is the reactions of people who aren’t from the South. I don’t even know where to begin with this. Y’all know I’m from Louisiana, and being from the South runs in my blood. I’m immensely proud of where I come from, and to see it reduced to memes about southern people being uneducated or comment threads full of dozens of people unapologetically saying how much they enjoy ragging on the South because it refuses to do better hurts me to my core. What’s always forgotten in these conversations is Northern hypocrisy towards the South because they’re neglecting their own legacies of discrimination and (lasting) segregation. You know where the most segregated cities in the country are located? Overwhelmingly, not the South.

Also missing from these conversations is a lack of historical context for northern elitism and racism that impacts how people feel towards the South. The stereotypical Southerner is not an uneducated white redneck, it’s most likely a Black person, as Black people make up the overwhelming majority of the population in the South. Feeling that these rednecks will be punished for their own stupidity in voting for conservative politicians is not only flawed, it’s dangerous because it neglects the reality that already marginalized populations will now face additional barriers to care.

Calling for industries and businesses to boycott these states to prove a point does nothing but harm the most vulnerable populations in these states. If economies start tanking because businesses leave, poor, multiply marginalized people will bear the biggest burdens of these impacts. But of course, it’s a lot easier to blame the poor white Southern archetype who deserves this for voting for conservative politicians, than to consider the poor rural Black and brown folks who will feel this the most.

And that’s without touching the cissexism of the discourse! People way smarter than me have broken this down in depth like here, but the gist of this is that people who are not cisgender women are capable of becoming pregnant and by extension capable of having abortions. Now, if the previous sentence doesn’t seem legit to you because “all people with uteruses are women”, then boy do I have some news for you. I’d take this as an opportunity to learn more about identity. Erasing trans and/or non-binary people from the conversation about abortion access and rights only makes it that much harder for them to access this kind of care.

So yes, this news is incredibly frustrating and heartbreaking to have to deal with. For those of us who support access, it’s an uphill battle. But a good place to start is supporting the work of organizations that are on the ground every day doing this work.

These abortion laws are all a ploy (albeit a very expensive and time consuming one) to get Roe v. Wade back in front of the Supreme Court and hopefully strike it down. While this may be obvious to some of us, it’s not part of the mainstream conversations about these laws because the internet is too busy pointing fingers and assigning blame without looking at next steps and ways to support the people who will be impacted by these restrictions. Below, I’ve listed some resources as a starting point for donating or providing other kinds of support during this fight. The list isn’t exhaustive, but thinking about some tangible ways to help keeps me from spiraling into a ball of anxiety so I figured it would be useful to others. Leave a comment or tweet me with other suggestions!

Help folks who can’t afford abortions: National Network of Abortion Funds

Donate to Black-led, Reproductive Justice organizations in the South:

Women with a Vision

SisterSong

SisterLove

If you have the ability, volunteer to be a local clinic escort!

Dame Products' Eva II: Weird Look, BIG Impact

I’m not a product reviewer. If anything, I kind of avoid reviewing toys because it’s pretty easy to be pigeonholed into just doing reviews instead of talking about sex/sexuality more broadly, which is my main interest. But sometimes opportunities present themselves. Enter Dame Products and my new obsession: the Eva II (use code “SEXOLOGYBAE” at checkout for 10% off any order!)

In the box itself, you get the Eva II (made from body-safe silicone!), its charging pod and cord, as well as instructions, a carrying pouch, and a sticker.

The first thing that stood out to me about the Eva II is its look. At first glance it looks like a futuristic bug or a home decoration accessory, but that’s part of its magic. The Eva II’s aesthetic reflects its primary goal as a vibrator for vulva-havers who want something to use with a partner. I think this makes it unique in the realm of “couple’s toys”, since those tend to be handheld and the Eva II is intended to be completely hands free.

I tried it in a few different positions under different conditions to test its ability to stay in place, which is one of its bigger selling points. I’m part of the majority of vagina-havers who cannot orgasm from penetration alone (CW: gendered discussions of genitals), so I was excited to use something that would give me clitoral stimulation during penetrative sex when I used it with my partner without necessarily needing my hands. I was skeptical, but the Eva II delivered for the most part.

The small button on the top is used to turn it on and cycle through the 3 strength settings, and a fourth push turns it off. There’s only one vibration pattern. The speeds have quite massive power jumps, but the middle setting worked best for me as someone who prefers a more concentrated buzz.

The small wings are what make this a hands-free product, as they’re meant to tuck underneath the labia majora (you can move the labia minora around the other side of the wings for a more snug fit, if your anatomy allows). The actual vibrator is meant to sit on the outside of the vulva, wherever feels best to the user. You can also position it upside down for a different sensation (it wouldn’t stay for me in this position but bodies are different).

Eva II, resting snugly in its charging case.

I kept my expectations low for its ability to stay in place during use, but I was pleasantly surprised. That being said, this product isn’t magic, so the more slippery things get the more likely it is to slide around. It also won’t stay in place well in positions that place your legs far apart, since it has nothing to hold on to. The biggest point of frustration for me with the Eva is that it can be hard to regulate the pressure when using it, which makes or breaks my ability to orgasm.

For me, it shines best when used in partnered positions that keep bodies closer together, which helps keep the vibrations concentrated where I need them. Using it alone meant that I had to use my hands to keep it in place and regulate the pressure since there’s nothing to keep it in place.

Overall, the Eva II is a great product for anyone, coupled or otherwise, who’s interested in trying out something hands-free that still has a lot of power. The uses are endless, since it uses your own body to stay put, which adds a bit of creativity to both solo sessions and good times with someone else.