Smart Wand medium - massager by LELO - review by Dangerous Lilly

Perhaps pandering to the Brookstone crowd, Lelo firmly markets this as a massage wand, not a "Pleasure Object"....but we all know better. Used as the packaging intends will give you a decent, but not awesome, body massager. As a sex toy this is a travel-friendly version of the "Wand" vibrator style; easy to hold, not too heavy, and surprisingly waterproof. Lelo is trying to make a high-class version of the wand vibrator for those who feel that the Hitachi is too ugly and the Mystic Wand is inelegant. It certainly is the most expensive, at nearly double the cost of the Mystic Wand - the former record holder for the highest priced wand vibrator.

Following in the footsteps of their pretty-but-dumb Insignia styling, the Smart Wand is mostly silicone. The portion of the handle that appears to be metal is simply coated plastic. In their other vibrators, the demarcation line between the plastic and silicone has been a trap for fluids and lube but this is pretty far down the handle. One thing about the Smart Wand that IS an improvement over the Mystic Wand is that the head and neck are completely smooth, no ridges. While the Mystic Wand offered the novelty of a non-porous silicone covering over the head and neck, the ridges in that proved difficult for cleaning.

The silicone is typical Lelo silicone - a skin of silicone over a vibrator and the silicone is treated with their standard Silicone Soft Touch. Lelo's silicone is FDA-approved food-grade silicone; non-porous and all that good stuff.

Lightweight. Sleek. Modern. Ergonomic. These are all accurate descriptors of the Lelo Smart Wand. The faux-metal plastic portion on the handle does add something to the design, yet it has no function. The head of the Smart Wand is great - completely seamless silicone with no annoying ridges. The head is small; it is the same size as the Acuvibe Mini. The head is quite a bit smaller than the Mystic Wand. The slight curve to the handle makes it easy and comfortable to hold. I always enjoy a sex toy that has a curve to the handle.

The Smart Wand Medium is great for travel or for those who don't like the larger head that is common in many wand vibrators. Since the closest comparison, size-wise, is the Mystic Wand I'll reference the weights of those. Mystic Wand Rechargeable is 8.75 ounces while the Smart Wand is 5.5 ounces.

This really doesn't scream "sex toy".....yet in a way it does. Because who would buy a fancy body wand massager when they could get a Wahl, Hitachi or Acuvibe for a lot less and those actually ARE meant to be body massagers. There would be no doubt in the minds of most people that your Hitachi is a back massager. The Smart Wand? Eh. Whoever sees it will just think you have a lot of disposable income.

I've noticed that currently there is a promotion where you can get the Gee Whiz or other attachments - these will be too big for the Smart Wand Medium.

The buttons are a little irritating, since they are located closer to the head than the plastic handle. When using this as either sex toy or massager, I naturally grip the faux-metal section. Even in the usage photos on the box, this is how the model holds it. Yet the buttons are far up and out of your natural reach. The button closest to the handle is the "minus" button, then the function, then the plus. I've accidentally changed the function a few times.

In terms of vibration intensity, I'd had a feeling that this wouldn't knock it out of the park. Lelo is famous for producing high-end vibrators with motors that range from weak and buzzy to moderate. High speed on the Smart Wand is equal to Low on the Mystic Wand, either battery op or rechargeable version. However, the Smart Wand is a lot quieter than the Mystic Wand (and therefore any other wand vibrator). While I would never label it as "whisper quiet", it is pretty quiet. I'd also say that High Speed on the Smart Wand is about equal to High on the Lelo Mona, but just a little bit deeper of a vibration. Maybe even just a hair more powerful than Mona, but not much more than that.

The special feature to the Smart Wand is the Sense Touch Technology. You don't have to have this activated; you can just use this normally if you want. With the Sense Touch function turned on the vibrator will "idle" at the lowest speed. It will, within a second or two of skin contact, ramp up to high. I had expected something a little more grand; perhaps an increase in speed that correlated to the pressure applied to the head. This isn't the case, though, and should you not want to go straight to the top speed this setting won't be for you. I haven't yet figured out the draw to the Sense Touch function because it's not like the vibrator turns off when you pull it away from your body; that could be useful.
It seems that lightly dragging it over your skin in a true massage fashion will not bring it up to High (as the manual states) but instead will switch up the speed randomly. If it is applied somewhere where there is skin pressure/contact over a broader area (i.e. using it as a clitoral vibrator) then it will go straight to High. If you do not like High then according to the manual you can bring the top speed down by pressing the - button. Again, this seems like more effort than is necessary for such a setting. It takes 3-5 seconds for the Smart Wand to recognize that there has been a change when it is in Sense Touch mode.

There are 8 settings; 7 of them pulsing patterns. You can use these patterns in normal mode or Sense Touch mode. If you accidentally hit the Function button, then you must either cycle through all of the patterns or press the - button until it turns off completely. When you turn it back on it will default to straight vibrations. To enter into Sense Touch mode, you press and hold the Function button for 3-5 seconds. The lights behind the buttons will now constantly flash; in normal mode the lights behind the buttons only light up when a button is pressed.

Lelo says that this is completely waterproof. Just like their Tor II cockring, it has a completely exposed charging port. This confuses most seasoned reviewers, as we are accustomed to seeing covered-up charging ports. Even the Mystic Wand Rechargeable has a plug over the charging port, yet it is only splashproof.

You can sometimes get away with pairing a high-quality Silicone lube with a high-quality Silicone sex toy, but I'm not recommending it in this case. I applied some Wet Synergy (a hybrid mix of water and silicone) and while nothing major happened, there was a very slight change to the material (I only tested it on there for a few seconds). I think it may be because the Smart Wand has even more of the Silicone Soft Touch applied to make the silicone skin even more silky smooth, and the silicone of the Soft Touch mixed with the silicone of the lube is not a good pairing.

Despite it being waterproof, you can't boil the Smart Wand to clean it. Just use soap and water; if you really need it, use a gentle toy cleaner, but NO RUBBING ALCOHOL.

I've not needed lube with the Smart Wand, especially when using is as a body massager. It is THAT silky smooth; there is absolutely no drag to it. It won't collect lint; in fact when I was taking my pictures, cat fur kept floating onto the Wand and I could just blow it off.

Lelo packaging is fairly standard; pretty cardboard outer box, sturdy and subtle inner box great for storage, manual, warranty, charger and pouch. The only way that the packaging for the Smart Wand differs is that the inner box is white. I can't tell you how many black Lelo boxes I have sitting around, so the white box was a bit of a surprise (and it wasn't made to match the wand, mine is black). My only real complaint with the box is that unlike previous Lelo boxes where the inner portion that hold the toy can easily be removed, this seems to be glued fast. This makes it a wee bit difficult to get out the satin bag, manual, etc. And I don't like ruining the sturdy box by ripping out the inside piece.

The outer box does not give away that this is a sex toy. It is just like every other massager out there; it shows a model using it on her shoulders, her legs, etc. It talks only about the health benefits of vibrating your muscles (I don't get that, personally, it feels too "1950's Vibra-Slim Belt" to me).

This would definitely make a great gift. It feels very Executive and Posh.

The Hitachi is not the best looking sex toy (because it wasn't meant to be one). The Founding Fathers, if you will, of massager-cum-vibrators are all very medicinal and practical looking (Wahl, Acuvibe, Hitachi). The more recently made "yes we're making a sex toy" wand vibrators keep the theme of the originals but they use color schemes that feel more sex-toy-ish. Yet they're still not very elegant; the Fairy Wands are almost childish and the Mystic Wands are minimalist yet middle class. The Smart Wand is definitely elegant and that is the main draw to the entire Insignia line. As stupid as that design is on the Isla/Soraya/Alia, as irritating as it is on the Tiani/Oden/Lyla....it works with the Smart Wand. On the Smart Wand, it's all about looks and thankfully the plastic portion won't be anywhere near bodily fluids for the most part.

However, as pretty as this is I would still recommend the Mystic Wand because function trumps design for me. The Sense Touch feature does not add enough to the use to make up for the average vibration intensity or the higher-than-average price tag.

*yawn*
I'm disappointed. I will say that it's not as bad as I first anticipated but Lelo seems to be incapable of producing a motor with any real, true power to it. That being said, plenty of women will find the vibration intensity to be satisfactory. The vibrations are more rumbly than buzzy which aids in the vibration intensity being more pleasing to most than not. But don't most of us flock to wand vibrators because they have MOAR POWER?? You won't find that here.

If anyone has any further questions on this that I didn't cover or explain well enough, please ask! I appreciate comments that contribute to the quality of the review and will respond!