SaSi - vibrator by Je Joue - review by Antipova

Touted as an oral sex simulator, SaSi's a clever little robotic toy that traces patterns across a user's clitoris. Two features of SaSi are completely unique in the sex toy world---a movable ball under a silicone skin circles, flicks, teases and caresses your clit instead of merely vibrating it to climax, and a 'learning' program allows you to customize SaSi's patterns to give a stimulating combination of all your favorite moves while maintaining an element of surprise.

I decided to try SaSi out because I had never had an orgasm from oral stimulation. I wasn't sure how much of this was due to physical parameters, and how much was due to some unexplored mental block---and I wanted to find out. I'd read in a review that one user was able to see how she responded best to SaSi, and then share that information with her partner for an improved oral sex experience, so I looked forward to learning what sort of stimulation my clit appreciated without having to worry about my partner's neck over the course of what promised to be a long process. I did, at the end of the day, discover what I need---but what I need turns out to be something SaSi can't offer, namely pressure.

CONSTRUCTION
Imagine a computer mouse, and then stretch it about an inch or so, and hollow out the bottom. Replace the mouse ball with a slightly smaller ball on an extendable, movable arm. Stretch a 3/8" thick silicone skin over the hollowed part to give the ball a surface to trace against.

The design is simple and effective---SaSi fits nicely in your hand and the buttons are well-located. The only drawback to this design is that the ball's guiding arm is not very efficient---it makes noise as it moves, and if it traces for longer than 20 minutes it will begin to feel hot.

SaSi's silicone belly is smooth with a matte finish, allowing just a gentle bit of friction as it traces across your clit. Silicone is, as always, odor free, hypoallergenic, sterilizable, and completely body-safe. The glossy plastic that forms the button cover is odor free and body safe as well.

CONSTRUCTION CONT'D
The motor driving the arm is not efficient enough to make SaSi a smashing success for me. As it runs, it makes a noise that reminds me of those plastic fishing games with the rotating lake and the fish sequentially opening and closing their mouths. The fact that it generates heat doesn't take away from the pleasant sensation, but it does make me worry about the motor---so I kept my sessions shorter than I wanted to.

My final complaint against SaSi's motor, and the one that ultimately made this toy a disappointment to me, is that it doesn't hold up under pressure. As I used it, I'd find myself really enjoying the pattern it was tracing, and I'd press it harder against my clit. I was able to add a bit of pressure, but just when it was starting to feel good, without fail the motor would bind. If I was pressing SaSi against my clit hard enough to bring a lot of pleasure, the motion would cease. Then I was just rubbing the tip of SaSi against myself, which is not really fundamentally different from masturbating with my fingers.

SaSi is a humdinger of a sex toy, and there's a lot of functionality packed into its five buttons. The ultra-thorough instruction booklet (with enough languages to make you feel like you're at a Tower of Babel Centennial Celebration) tells you everything you need to know---but using SaSi is much more intuitive than the wordy booklet lets on. Wolwin (Je Joue's parent) seems to be much better at designing things than at explaining them. (But that's better than the alternative, right?)

SaSi can be used in either of two modes---one is "learning" mode (red light), the other is "favorites" (green light). In both modes, the controls work identically. Basically, SaSi's ball has eleven patterns that it can trace through the silicone skin of SaSi's underbelly. Tapping the left or right control button lets you go back to the pattern you were just enjoying, or skip ahead to the next one. The ball will trace its patterns at the same rate unless you tell it to speed up or slow down, which you can do by tapping the up or down buttons. The toy can also vibrate, and you cycle through strength and patterns by holding the up or down buttons (as opposed to tapping). The vibration will hum on in the background as the ball continues its merry little task.

Now, for the differences between learning mode and favorites mode. In learning mode, SaSi's ball spends 20 seconds tracing each of the eleven patterns. (You can delay it or speed its progress, of course, if you want, as well as speeding up or slowing down its actual tracing movement.) When you're really feeling the pattern SaSi's tracing, press the middle button to "teach" SaSi that you like this feeling. The current pattern at its current speed will be saved and trotted out for you again in favorites mode.

Favorites mode is a more rudimentary program than I had thought it would be from reading reviews and Je Joue's ad copy. It is simply a list of the last five motion+speeds you "taught" SaSi during training mode. (That is, if you "teach" a sixth, the first one is kicked off the list.) The five selected motions will be traced by SaSi's ball, and, again, you can advance through the patterns faster or slower, as your clit prefers. I was surprised at the simplicity of the program---I think if you gave a classfull of third-year engineering students a week to program a "favorites-learning" toy, maybe a third of the class would come back with a solution like this, and it wouldn't be the top third of the class. But---sometimes the simple solution is the best one, anyway! SaSi's patterns really do feel good. At first I thought I liked learning mode just about equally as much as favorites mode. After testing it out for a few days in a row, though, I noticed that favorites mode really did get me more aroused much more quickly. The element of surprise is exciting, but at the same time you can stop SaSi from surprising you when you like what you've got.

The silicone skin means that the business end of SaSi can be sterilized with a 10% bleach solution, but it should be wiped with care as the seam between the silicone and the plastic button panel is not waterproof.

I'm not sure if SaSi is actually fragile, but because the silicone skin hovers over air for a significant portion of the underbelly, I've been nervous about setting SaSi down anywhere other than on its provided silicone cradle. Waiting on its throne for me to pick it up, it doesn't collect much lint, but can still be wiped before use.

Charge SaSi's lithium ion battery frequently (see the advice in this thread to keep it in good health). The charger is specific to SaSi (it has a very small socket) and has an indicator light.

I'm conflicted about how to rate SaSi. I am very impressed with the efficacy of its 'learning' program, and the patterns it traces are very tantalizing and pleasant. Ultimately, it provides the sensation and the intelligence it promises to.

It even was partially responsible for me discovering why oral doesn't work for me---but it helped me come to that conclusion by lacking what I needed, instead of providing it. Also, I believe my complaint is not standard for most users---I've heard more people disappointed that SaSi can't mimic the sucking part of oral than that it can't apply enough pressure. I think the pressure requirement is why oral in general is less successful for me than for most females---so if you already like oral, maybe SaSi will be able to make you happy.

At the end of the day, if the motor was stronger or more efficient, I think SaSi would be more effective, better constructed, and more worth the price. However, if you know you don't need much suction or pressure, SaSi is definitely a delicious sensation provider and an interesting teacher.