Jopen Intensity - vaginal exerciser by Jopen - review by Antipova

While it may look a little bizarre or prototype-ey, the Jopen Intensity is pioneering in such an innovative realm of pleasure that, once you feel it, you'll forgive its ugly-duckling appearance. Intensity combines customizable girth and classic multi-level dual vibration with electrical stimulation---and this revolutionary combination really does blend the best of all worlds.

Intensity is designed as a combination electrostimulation device and a traditional dual stimulator for women. To begin your experience, there are internal vibrations delivered through the shaft, and clitoral vibrations delivered through a triple-tipped stimulator in concert. When you're aroused, you may choose to inflate the shaft to fill your body to your ideal fulness. When the contacts are in place against the walls of your vagina, you can begin the electrostimulation.

Intensity is billed as a kegel exerciser, but it's also a fountain of pleasure. As the electrical pulses stimulate the pelvic floor muscles, your muscles respond by contracting exactly as they contract during orgasm. Intensity's electrical pulses allow a strong orgasm that can literally last as long as you want it to. While the initial arousal from the vibrations and some mental build-up is necessary to begin the orgasm, once it begins it can last as long as you continue the electrical stimulation.

Jopen recommends that Intensity should not be used anally, and that it should be avoided by those with pacemakers and those who are pregnant.

As a marriage of medical technology and sex toy joy, naturally Intensity is made of fine body-safe materials. Unlike many manufacturers, Jopen lists the materials of all their components: the shaft and clitoral stimulator are made of silicone, the handle is made with ABS plastic with a silicone coating, the stimulation contacts are made of stainless steel, and the inflation release valve and battery cap are made of ABS plastic. Each of these materials is odor-free, non-porous, and free of latex, phthalates, or any other potential irritants.

Intensity's lavender-pink silicone is quite smooth, with just a hint of drag along the shaft, and somewhat more drag across the control panel and handle for ease of grip. The shaft is not flexible below the electrodes, but it is quite soft and can be easily bent above the electrodes, where there are no internal parts to hold it rigid. The shaft is ribbed to allow the silicone to inflate, making Intensity able to be a perfect fit for your body, no matter your favorite size. There is a firm g-spot bump just under the front electrode enabling a bit of g-spot pressure even when the shaft is inflated. This bump also houses the internal vibrator.

As I'm holding and using Intensity, I'm more and more impressed with how they seem to have thought of everything. The design was conceived---"let's combine a rabbit vibe with an electrical stimulator that can cause the kegels to go straight into orgasm mode." Of course, for electrical stimulation to work, the stainless steel plates need to be in good contact with the front and back vaginal wall. Women come in all sizes---so Intensity became an inflatable vibe, with customizable girth so that it's the best fit for your body. When fully inflated, the shaft doesn't apply much pressure, so a firm g-spot bump to house the shaft's vibrator was added (it enhances the experience for those who use the shaft in the slimmest mode, as well).

Though requiring 4 AAA batteries and an inflation pump takes up a fair bit of room, Jopen was able to fit everything in relatively elegantly. The four batteries all slip in end-to-end between the control interface and the inflation bulb (my watch-hand thumb is on the bulb in the picture). I had worried that Intensity would be awkwardly balanced, but since so much of the handle is only air, it can be held quite gracefully. I tip the farthest curl up so that I can easily see and use the control panel, and my hand doesn't tire of holding it. After several uses, I noticed that not only is the curl extremely ergonomic for hand-held use, but it is the perfect shape to be pressed into place with your heel if you've butterfly-folded your legs.



The shaft itself is 4.5" in circumference around the electrodes when unexpanded. It can be inflated incrementally and deflated to infinite levels, and I'm not sure how far it can safely be inflated---the circumference around the electrodes was 6.125" at the most I felt comfortable inflating it without worrying about the silicone. This should accommodate a very broad swath of women.



The clitoral stimulator does a good job of appealing to as many bodies as possible---though clitoral spacing is variable, Jopen has used a triple-tipped clitoral stimulator in the hopes that the shorter front ear will massage the clits of closely-spaced women, while the two longer ears will keep further-spaced women pleased. I believe this should work best for women whose clits are 15-40mm above their urethra, though women who are more closely spaced than this may be successful by 'riding up' in the shaft a bit.

Judging from pictures of Intensity, I had expected it to feel "prototype-ey," but it really does feel finished. Apart from a mild vertical seam and thin silicone edges overlapping the margins of the electrodes, Intensity looks well-put-together. It also feels very sturdy, though when it is inflated the shaft can bobble back and forth on its mount. I would recommend only inflating it while it's inserted and for cleaning.

Intensity's controls are set up extremely intuitively. After inserting the shaft, the lone power button is pressed. Vibration intensity is changed up and down through 5 levels using the V (up) and V (down) buttons. The vibrations range from a moderate level 3 to extremely strong---I have a sensitive clit, but anything higher than the first setting is too powerful for me. The vibrations are somewhere between rumbly and buzzy, but they do not numb, nor do they travel to the hand. Unfortunately, the clit stimulator is rather loud on the higher settings, though it is somewhat more quiet when pressed against a body and under a blanket. A radio may still be preferred to cover the sound.

When you're suitably aroused, the shaft can be inflated using the little bubble under the control panel. If you've inflated too far, you can release air using the black quick-release button just above the inflation bulb.

When you're feeling ready, add the electrostimulation to the mix using the S (up) and S (down) buttons. There are 10 levels of electrostimulation, and there's quite a wide range. A central LED lets you monitor your progress. The first two levels I can't feel, and the third produces a small twitch. The fourth, though, sends my muscles into their orgasm pattern. As long as I'm mentally stimulated first, at the touch of a button, my body is orgasming. And it keeps on, and on, as long as I want! A never ending orgasm, on demand! I tried to advance through the levels, but as of right now I can't handle the sixth. No matter your kegel strength and responsiveness, apparently, there will be a level of electrostimulation for you.

Because Intensity is inflatable, it is not waterproof. It should be cleaned carefully with mild soap and water (applied by a damp cloth) or with toy wipes. Silicone may be sterilized with a 10% bleach solution, but again, only applied via a cloth.

Only water-based lubricants should be used with Intensity. You may also choose to use some of the included (2oz) Electrode Gel that is included with the set. Electrode Gel is made in the USA of Reverse Osmosis water, Humectant polymers (acrylic acid/cellulose polymer), propyl paraben and methyl paraben in bacteriostatic concentration, FD&C Blue #2, and FD&C Yellow #5. It is odorless, but has a taste similar to Orajel. I have not noticed any difference in electrostimulation when I'm using the Electrode Gel, but it may be helpful for women with less natural lubrication.

I plan to store Intensity in its box, as it is a somewhat awkward 12" in total length, and extremely precious to me.

You'll want to have 4 AAA batteries on hand when you own Intensity---they'll bring you a lot of joy. Jopen opted to make Intensity battery-powered so that it could be more affordable. Much of the current cost of Intensity is in the circuitry and electrostimulation, and to add a powerful battery would have pushed the price out of the reach of many. Luckily, the AAA batteries have a very long life---I have not yet felt a decrease in power after about 4 hours of (noncontinuous!) use.

Jopen's Intensity is shipped in a tasteful pink and white slip-box carrying a few choice words about what you'll discover when you open it. This packaging is also the first time I was made aware that Intensity was "designed, tested, perfected, and manufactured in the USA," as was the electrode gel. This slip-box can be discarded and inside is a sturdy purple cardboard box lined with a black velvet-flocked foam insert, with cutouts for instructions, the included Electrode Gel, and the Intensity itself. While the package isn't dripping in luxury, it is functional and sturdy enough to use for long-term storage. Intensity arrives shrink-wrapped within the foam cutout, as well.

The instructions, offered in multiple languages, are concise but efficient. The user is told to insert the 4 AAA batteries which will power Intensity, to apply lube and electrode gel, and then to insert Intensity, then inflate it, then turn on the electric stimulations. You're cautioned to turn off the electrical pulses and deflate the shaft before removing Intensity from your body, and while the instructions aren't clear whether this is for your benefit or for the vibe's, for some reason when the electrodes are against your pubic bone, rather than deeper inside you, the electrostimulation quickly feels painful. So be sure you've inserted Intensity fully if the electrostimulation is on.

Finally, the instructions caution that pregnant women and women with pacemakers should not use Intensity.

Jopen have designed Intensity to provide the same electrical pulses as a (much more expensive) medical device (such as Utah Medical's "Liberty") used in physical therapy for the rehabilitation of women who suffer from weak pelvic floors (characterized by both urinary incontinence and sexual disfunction). While a quick survey of literature on the subject shows that electrostimulation achieves best results when used in concert with other strengthening methods (like standard kegel exercises), and while many studies have been smaller-sample-size clinical trials, the positive effect of electrostimulation applied to the pelvic floor muscles seems to be worth getting excited about.

Jopen proudly provides a link to this abstract on their webpage, and the question "Can Stronger Pelvic Muscle Floor Improve Sexual Function" is answered by respected urogynecologists saying that their research agrees with common anecdotal evidence: orgasm and arousal function are related to pelvic floor muscle function.

Will Intensity actually strengthen your muscles? I haven't had mine long enough to say, but according to literature on the topic, combined with regular kegels, electrostimulation can be beneficial.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "data," and my results might not match yours. When I received Intensity, I was traveling for the holidays, so I seized the opportunity to do a small test. I did not tell my partner I had gotten a new "toy." I used Intensity twice daily for three days, then took one day off, and then (once I was reunited with my partner) used Intensity once a day and had only anal sex or outercourse with my partner. Once a full week had passed, I suggested we have vaginal sex. In this short-and-sweet session, he exclaimed "You're so tight today!" twice, and "You feel amazing today," once, and the fact that those aren't common compliments at all, and the fact that he repeated himself, make me pretty surprisingly pleased with my little experiment.

More important to me, though---whether or not it's strengthening my muscles---it feels like a never-ending orgasm. If this is exercise, I've never been so excited to break a sweat.

When I first heard of Intensity, I remembered those shocking hot potato games that we'd occasionally start to play on field trip buses, and then quickly give up playing by the rules and just shock each other's nipples. "If they could give you a feeling like that, inside your vagina, I'd sign right up," I thought to myself.

It's actually even better than that. All the reviews Jopen's featured so far just kind of consist of women stammering "wow" over and over. I hope I can be a bit more specific---basically, when you're beginning your session, you use Intensity as you would a regular rabbit vibe. Once you're enjoying yourself, you can turn on the electrostimulation. Its pulses... you know how they can touch an electrode to part of a CNS, and immediately the patient's leg will jump? It's the same thing, without anybody messing with my brain. The pulse instantly stimulates my muscles, and they respond---and the pulses are timed so that my muscles are moving in exactly the same way as they move when I orgasm. Actually, the pulses are longer in duration (I show this in my video review) than the natural contractions of my muscles during orgasm, so the orgasm feels longer and more drawn-out and ultimately very satisfying. So my entire session feels like a never ending orgasm. I have never finished a session and had my body feel so intensely satisfied. I've been sleeping incredibly deeply since using Intensity, as well.

Or you can just check my text history: "Oh my gawd they mailed me an instant orgasm machine. I may never leave my room." and "It's like my entire session is one never ending orgasm. I have never collapsed so fulfilled."

I remember hearing a story about researchers who had rigged up a button which mice could press to give themselves instant orgasms. All of the mice neglected their previous pursuits and glued themselves to their buttons. Luckily I've got a little more presence of mind than a lab mouse, but you have no idea how much strength of will was required to set down my Intensity to write this review.