The vibrations are located primarily in the head of the elephant but travel quite adequately down the trunk losing very little of the oomph along the way. The controls are very simple and easy to use - just on and off with no varying control at all. It just has the one level of vibration. It's not noisy hardly at all and I could barely here it while using it, though I did have a regular floor fan on, so this is a very discreet toy. Under the blankets, it can't be heard at all.
I really enjoyed this toy quite a lot - my only complaint is that it didn't have a high enough level of vibration to take me all the way to orgasm, but it works fabulously as a teaser toy to get you going in the right direction. For someone more sensitive than I (I prefer a very strong vibration), this would absolutely be the perfect toy.
Used with my partner, it's a lot of fun because of the level of teasing that is achievable.
Thanks for the review.