iTap vibe - traditional vibrator by Cal Exotics - review by Purple Foxglove

The iTap vibe by Cal Exotics features new "touch activated" technology, which I'll go into later. So let's first talk about the boring stuff. iTap is a traditional vibe, at 7.25 inches long (5.75 of those inches insertable) and 3.25 inches around (about the size of a quarter) it isn't particularly "large" or "small." The tip of the shaft tapers a bit, which makes penetration a breeze and pinpoints the clit nicely.

Regarding anal play, the base is a tiny bit bigger/wider than the shaft, but I'm not sure I'd call it an "enlarged base" and thus safe for butt love. Obviously you know your body best, so be safe and proceed with caution.

Made of plastic, with a "Velvet-Cote" finish that feels soft and drags gently along the skin. Your lube of choice (be it water or silicone) isn't going to harm your iTap and you don't have to implement selective storage, plastic isn't a catalyst for laboratory-like reactions in your toybox. Plastic can't be sterilized though, so if you are going to share with others, or if you decide to play vaginally and anally with this toy, it should be covered with a condom first. Mild soap and water to wash, but it isn't waterproof so be careful with how much water you get around the battery compartment.

Which brings us to the battery compartment, which is my only major complaint about the iTap. 2AA batteries (NOT INCLUDED) fit snugly into the clear plastic...tray? To explain my initial confusion: There is a round plastic layer inside of this compartment, and it appears to be a battery tray of sorts. So with very little effort I tugged it out. This is not, in fact, a battery tray. Do not pull it out. If you do, the metal strips that travel inside the length of the toy, and make it vibrate, also come out. It's really tough to get them back in where they're supposed to be and you could potentially destroy the toy this way. I'm surprised at how careless this design flaw is, but there you go. Maybe the plastic component's ease of removal was an accident unique to the toy sent to me.

Moving further down the toy, the touch sensitive base. First of all, really cool idea. It works well too, once the batteries are in, the iTap is entirely touch controlled. I will now attempt to describe the settings, and how to get to them.

(1st tap) a fluttery solid vibration
(2nd tap) firm solid vibration
(3rd tap) buz-buz-buuzzz-buz buz
(4th tap) buz-buz-buz-buz-buz
(5th tap) BUZ-buz-BUZ-buz
(6th tap) OFF

As far as I can tell, there is no instant shut off to the iTap and you have to cycle through all the settings with a series of taps to turn it off. And sometimes I can't even get it to turn on. Of course, those issues could have something to do with the innards that I pulled outwards. You can't lock the tap function either, so if you don't want some random touch to send it a buzzin' you'd better take the batteries out when you're done.

As far as noise is concerned, it's pretty buzzy. Not Hitachi level sound, but I can definitely hear it at an arms length, and even under a down comforter, I can hear a faint rumble from across the room. A door would definitely muffle the noise, especially with background noise (TV, radio, etc) but if you're in a dorm, or have thin walls, you probably aren't going to reach for this one often.

So while the iTap is a good idea, it loses pleasure points for being loud, not having an instant shut off, and for being somewhat unreliable in general. However, it is pretty new technology, and a basic toy that provides sufficient vibrations.