Review of the Lelo Ora, a cunnilingus simulator

Le Lelo Ora, the latest vibrator created by the Swedish brand, is presented as a “cunnilingus simulator”. The Sqweel, a sort of cunni mill for the pussy, already claimed that title… But I tested this gadget equipped with a string of pink rotating tongues, and I can’t say it convinced me.

The cunni is a sexual act that requires a little subtlety. The prospect of a machine actually capable of performing one therefore seems rather incongruous. But progress never stops, and I had to see the Ora up close – and, above all, use it – to find out what it was like.

I therefore contacted Lelo, which agreed to provide me with the Ora for this review.

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Sextoy packaging

As for the Ora’s packaging, there’s nothing surprising, but Lelo lives up to its quality standards. The sex toy arrived in a nice cardboard box, similar to the boxes of the brand’s other sex toys. This box is quite small.

A satin storage case is included. You can tuck the sex toy in there without any problem, and with a little squeeze, the charger fits too.

Sextoy look

The Lelo Ora is in the shape of a thick disc, about 8 centimetres in diameter, and 4 cm thick.

It comes in three colours : dark blue (“Midnight Blue”), purple (“Deep Rose”) and black (“Black”).

 

The centre of the disc is metallic in colour and has an oval hole that serves as a handle.

The rim is made of soft silicone, with a small flattened surface. This flat surface is the part used to stimulate the clitoris. The controls are also located on the rim of the disc.

On the flattened area, a small bump on the silicone surface, which suggests the presence of a small something under the silicone layer. When the sex toy is switched on, depending on the mode, this appendage moves in a circular way. It serves as a tiny tongue, charged with the fateful mission : performing cunnilingus. If you read the term “bump” later in this review, that is what I am talking about.

This bump, then, is tiny (about 5 millimetres in diameter, and barely a few millimetres thick), and only moves in circles or arcs of circles, depending on the mode. Nothing to do with the size or mobility of a partner’s tongue.

The finish is impeccable, with no visible flaws.

Texture and materials

The Lelo Ora is made of medical-grade silicone and ABS plastic, two materials that present no risk to the body.

The central part (the sex toy’s “handle”) is made of ABS plastic, while the rim, comprising the stimulating zone and the controls, is made of very soft medical silicone. On the part you apply to the clitoris, the silicone texture is very strange : it is only a thin layer, a kind of “skin”, under which you can feel empty space, and the bump that serves as the vibrator’s “tongue”. The surface of the rest of the object’s rim is rigid.

As for the “bump” itself, I couldn’t say whether it’s a little squishy or whether it’s mounted on a kind of spring, but either way you can manage to push it in a bit by pressing on it. I googled a bit to try to find pictures of the Ora taken apart, but it seems no one has yet been willing to commit such a sacrilege.

Powering the Lelo Ora

The Ora is rechargeable. Its charger is the same as the one for other small recent Lelo models that plug into the mains, with a tiny, unobtrusive mains adapter and a proprietary connector.

The advertised charging time is 2 hours, for one hour of use, which is quite reasonable. I haven’t timed it, but, by eye, it seems like a fair estimate; we haven’t had any battery issues so far.

It is advertised as waterproof. So far, I haven’t managed to finish off a waterproof Lelo by means of vigorous washing with plenty of water and tossing it around in the shower (a few traces of oxidation in the Smart Wand Large’s charging port, but it still holds up very well nonetheless).

The Lelo Ora’s controls

The Lelo Ora has three buttons, quite self-explanatory : a “+”, a “-” and a button decorated with two arrows biting each other’s tails.

• To turn on the sex toy, you perform a long press on “+”.
• The button with two arrows then lets you switch to the next mode, and triggers “Intense” mode if you press and hold it (I will come back to this point in the following paragraph).
• You turn off the device by pressing and holding the “-” button.

The Lelo Ora’s modes

Lelo’s Ora has 10 modes, combining bump movements and vibrations.

The bump can either turn in circles or travel along arcs of circles.

As for the vibrations, they can be continuous, absent, pulsing (more or less quickly), in waves, or random.

The vibrations are adjustable in intensity (with the “+” and “-” buttons, therefore), while the bump’s speed does not vary.

Little bonus: the “Intense” mode, which is accessed by pressing and holding the central button, gives a boost to the vibration power, which instantly becomes 30% stronger, according to the official description of the Ora. I couldn’t say how accurate that percentage is, but either way this sudden increase in power is clearly noticeable.

Handling

The handling is pleasant : practical and comfortable. You can hold the device firmly by placing a few fingers in the handle, while keeping the thumb near the control buttons.

The Lelo Ora’s effectiveness

In “cunni” mode only (no vibrations, then), if you don’t place the sex toy perfectly, you can barely feel it. By adjusting the Ora’s position well, you can perceive something passing back and forth over the clit; the sensation is interesting and original, but it is far from ecstasy.

I tried to concentrate on the sensation to analyse it better. The bump traces circles a few centimetres in diameter (or arcs of circles, but turning around the same trajectory), and a clit is still rather small.

With the Ora placed so that the bump’s trajectory meets my clitoris, if I were to put my clitoris’s thoughts into words, in slow motion, it goes : “Ooh, that looks cool, am I going to get a cunni?” (the moment the bump passes over my clit) and a quarter of a second later “What, that’s it?” (the rest of the trajectory), and so on, on loop… I think that if the ORA’s “tongue” traced a slightly narrower trajectory, its effect would be noticeably more intense.

In short, as for the circular movement of the licking bump, in practice, if this is supposed to resemble cunnilingus (or cunnilinctus, as you prefer), it is a cunni that isn’t really convincing… The tip of the tongue feeling a bit lazy, maybe…

Fortunately, the vibrations are there to make up for the far-from-astounding effectiveness of the cunni bump. Well, they aren’t the most powerful vibrations in the world, but they are enough to reach orgasm, if you work at it a bit, that said. It is a bit frustrating.

Conclusion on the Lelo Ora

The good points:

• The quality and design: it is pretty, its look is carefully finished in every detail and it seems solid.
• The Intense mode is a very good idea. Being able to instantly boost the intensity is always appreciated, for example at the moment you want to reach orgasm.
• The bump-tongue provides original sensations that might evoke a sample of cunni…

The bad points:

• … But its cunni-style stimulation is not effective enough. Indeed, the bump doesn’t meet the clit often enough… And in the end, it doesn’t really resemble a cunni, or rather, a botched cunni.
• I would have appreciated more powerful vibrations. They leave me a little hungry.

The mini-tongue bump concept is a good idea, but it would deserve to be developed further.

For cunnilingus simulation, the starting points are good, but the result is disappointing. It would take very little for the Lelo Ora to be super-cool. If the “licking” bump’s trajectory traced a smaller circle, it would pass by the clit more frequently, and I think it could much more closely resemble a successful cunni. But as it stands, it is not quite there, unfortunately.

The Ora is nonetheless a pleasant-looking vibrator, with good build quality.

In short : interesting concept, but to be improved. I hope Lelo will soon release an Ora 2.

For another opinion on the Lelo Ora, you can also read what Coyotte thinks on the forum.

 

 

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