Review of the Lelo Ina Wave rabbit vibrator

L’Ina Wave and the Mona Wave from Lelo are two vibrators that nod their heads to stimulate the G-spot. I tested the Mona Wave on this blog a few weeks ago. And now it’s the rabbit’s turn: the Ina Wave is up for testing.

“Pff, vibrations are so 2012!”… At any rate, that’s what a few sex toy brands seem to be saying, with varying degrees of success in their experiments.

While Fun Factory has started pulsing with its Stronic range, Lelo has chosen to bet on undulations, with sex toys that wriggle. Following the rather unconvincing Ida and Tara, strange couples’ sex toys with an arm that rotates on itself, the Wave range appeared, with undulating remakes of the sensational Ina and Mona.

Here’s my review of Lelo’s Ina Wave vibrator.

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Sex toy packaging

The Ina Wave comes in a lovely two-layer box made of thick cardboard.

 

A fabric storage pouch is also included.

What the Ina Wave looks like

The visual differences between the Ina Wave and the Ina 2 are more or less the same as those between its cousin, the Mona Wave, and its predecessor, the Mona 2.

• The handle of the sex toy is no longer made of ABS plastic, but of very soft silicone.
• The buttons are more discreet, tucked away beneath the silicone. Only the power button has a pronounced raised shape, which is easy to find with your fingertip. The other buttons are just their logos engraved on the surface.

As for colours, there are three shades available: plum, cherry and ocean blue. It’s a little disappointing that the apple green and orange of the Ina 2 have been discontinued.

Texture and materials

The Lelo Ina Wave is entirely covered in a very soft silicone coating with a peach-skin feel.

The Lelo Ina Wave and Mona Wave

With the motor off, the insertable part (which will “undulate” once the sex toy is switched on) is rigid, while the flexibility of the “rabbit” part is limited. You can tilt it slightly in any direction, but you soon feel resistance.

Powering the Lelo Ina Wave

Like its predecessors, the Ina Wave is rechargeable. The charger is the same as ever and is compatible with the brand’s other sex toys (except the large Smart Wand).

The claimed battery life is two hours, with a one-hour charge… I haven’t timed it, but that estimate seems realistic to me.

Ina Wave controls

The power button is a circular recess, around which a “plus”, a “minus” and “two arrows” are engraved.

The controls are fairly intuitive, although, because they aren’t raised, they’re harder to find “blind” with your fingertip than those on the Ina 2:

• The big round button switches the device on and off.
• The “+” and “-” buttons adjust the intensity.
• The arrows let you move between the modes.

As you can see in this photo, the buttons on the sex toy are hardly visible…

It’s worth noting that when you switch the sex toy back on after turning it off, it resumes in the mode you left it in, and that the modes don’t “loop” (after the last one, you don’t go back to the first). A nice little detail, which lets you get back on track without having to wait for the mood to deflate like a soufflé if, in the heat of the moment, you accidentally press the round button.

Vibration modes

There are ten modes. If I list them one by one, you’ll get bored… So let’s sum them up.

The ten modes combine one specific action from the vaginal arm with another from the clitoral arm:

• The arm that goes into the vagina can vibrate (steadily or with varying intensity), undulate, or stay still.
• The clitoral arm can vibrate or stay still.

Vibrator noise level

The Ina Wave is noticeably noisier than its predecessors. The vibrations are fairly quiet, but the undulations make a really unpleasant noise. The volume isn’t all that high, but you’d expect that sort of background noise in a dentist’s surgery rather than during a sexy intimate moment.

How effective is the Ina Wave?

I’ve read lots of extremely enthusiastic reviews of the Ina Wave’s effectiveness… Sadly, I’m more ambivalent.

The classic vibration modes

The “classic” modes, without undulations, are really nice. The vibrations are less powerful than those of the Ina 2, a hard-to-justify step backwards, but they’re powerful enough to feel good and bring you to orgasm… Let’s say they’re more on a par with the original Ina. So, very good, but a little less so than the Ina 2…

The sex toy’s undulations

As for the undulations, I’m still perplexed. The “big” arm of the sex toy, which you insert into the vagina, rocks back and forth in an attempt to press against the G-spot.

It’s original, certainly… The movement of the two arms does bring to mind gestures a human might make with their fingers… But how can I put it… If the Ina Wave were a lover, I’d say it was keen and full of good intentions, but… really not very good at it.

At times, it’s frustrating: it almost stimulates in just the right way, but doesn’t press at the right pace or hard enough (the pace of the undulations is constant and can’t be adjusted)… And at times, it pinches a bit, which is just unpleasant. Unless you hold the handle really firmly, the pressure generated by the undulations is sometimes felt around the G-spot, which is the intended effect, and sometimes around the clit, giving you the uncomfortable sensation of having your pussy pinched.

Hey, little vibrator, what are you doing? My cunt isn’t a stress ball. And stop pressing on my clit like that, you’re too stiff. Seriously, you really do seem like a clumsy, distracted human who keeps at it with such enthusiasm that you end up getting annoying.

By sticking with the modes that combine undulations from the larger part with clitoral vibrations—in other words, stopping myself from telling the Ina Wave to sod off and grabbing a more ordinary vibrator—I eventually manage to orgasm, but I’m left a little unsatisfied. And that’s mainly thanks to the vibrations from the clitoral tip: in the two modes where the little tip doesn’t vibrate, it’s a no-go.

Conclusion on the Lelo Ina Wave

The good points:

• The excellent quality you’d expect from Lelo sex toys (pure silicone, elegant appearance, neat finishing, etc.).
• The stimulation it provides is original and resembles what a human might do with their fingers.

The bad points:

• I don’t like the sensations produced by the Ina Wave’s undulations. It’s frustrating, and at times it pinches.
• It’s expensive.

 

I’m not saying the Ina Wave won’t work for you. If you read (or listen to) reviews of it online, it seems to have gone down well with lots of testers.

But as far as I’m concerned, the stimulation it provides doesn’t work for me. There are interesting possibilities to explore here, but in my opinion, it’s not quite there yet.

For the undulations to be truly satisfying, you’d need to be able to adjust their pace as you like (faster rhythms, please!) and their amplitude. If the brand brings out a new version of the Ina Wave, I’d really like to test it, because I think there’s something good in the concept… But for now, the Ina Wave is likely to spend more time on a shelf (because it is pretty, so there’s that…) than between my legs: I’ll stick with the Ina 2.

Buy it from espaceplaisir