The Gigi is a stiff, rigid g-spot vibrator with a wide, fat head. The vibrations travel well throughout the bulk of the head, not focusing in any one spot. It'd be great for someone who needs broad stimulation. It can be used as a clitoral vibrator, with the shape of the head being surprisingly good for this- I especially found that the hook right underneath the head felt amazing when pulled up over my clit.

For me, the vibrations of the Gigi were too mild when used externally for me to get off, but they were just right when used internally. The mixture of patterns and the ability to choose the strength of the patterns made it a wonderful toy for foreplay. I found that the fat head and the curved handle made it comfortable to use for clitoral stimulation during doggy-style, which is another plus.

The short length of the Gigi means that unless you have a shallow g-spot, thrusting with this toy isn't going to work. If you only need vibration or rubbing to get off, then the Gigi is for you- but if you're like me and need the thrusts, the Gigi is about two inches too short to really get the job done.

The Gigi is a mixture of plastic and silicone. The insertable shaft is firm and stiff, with the motor located near the fat head. The silicone feels more like it's shrouding a hard inner toy than like it's pure silicone. It has the same lack of give to it as my Mimi, which makes it great for g-spot stimulation.

The texture of the silicone is somewhere between velvety and satiny. I like touching it and often find myself picking up the toy just to stroke over the shaft. It feels good against the lips and slides over the body with a faint hint of drag. There's enough grab to it that I do prefer to use a lubricant when using it for clitoral stimulation.

In contrast to the shaft, the plastic handle of the Gigi feels- and I hesitate to say it about a Lelo product- cheap. There's no weight in it, and the lack of balance to the toy makes me always feel like I'm somehow going to break the handle. The best way I can put it is that the handle feels hollow. The plastic is slippery, and even the faintest amount of lubricant or vaginal fluid is going to make it hard to hold onto.

Design for me is where the Gigi suffers, and it's frustrating because this toy is so close to being exactly what I want.

The shape and angle of the head is fantastic. The angle the head is set on the shaft makes for a taper that allows for easy insertion, and the hook on the back of the head drags firmly over the g-spot for toe-curling stimulation. The firm shaft means that I don't have to worry about things bending out of shape, and the way the vibrations travel all the way through the fat head means that I will feel it every time.

That, however, is where my love-affair with the design of the Gigi ends for one main reason: it's too short.

If this toy were about two inches longer, I'd love it. It'd be perfect and I'd never let it go. My vagina would propose to it and the two would run away for an orgasmic getaway in the Cayman islands.

But unfortunately, it's not.

For me, when it comes to a g-spot toy, I need to thrust. I need the feel of it moving inside me, the harshness of nailing against that spot, and the fleeting fullness of having it all the way in only to pull back out.

The Gigi, for me, didn't allow that.

If you look at the Gigi, you can see that the shaft ends with a flush metal band, and then the plastic handle flares out from there. What you can't see without putting it into use is exactly how easy it is to have that handle slip inside you. There's nothing in the shape to keep it from doing so. If the handle weren't so difficult to hold onto when slippery with lube and vaginal fluid it might be different, but I found myself losing my grip on the smooth plastic and then finding the toy buried up to the control panel.

This wouldn't be such a big worry to me if it weren't for the fact that the Gigi isn't waterproof or even splashproof. Every time I use it, the handle ends up drenching wet. I haven't squirted before, but I think that a person who does would feel even more uncomfortable with that aspect of this toy.

The Gigi advertises having seven different speeds, but I didn't find this to be the case in practice. As best I can figure it, hitting the plus or minus button edges the motor up depending on how long you hold it down. If I punch it in short bursts, I can end up hitting it nine+ times, increasing in speed each time. If I hold it down, the opposite happens.

This is good in practice, because it means that you can set the vibration exactly where you want it, but it left me scratching my head and peering at the manual in confusion until I figured out what was going on.

The controls are relatively easy to use. The plus and minus buttons control the vibration speed, where the up and down buttons control the patterns. One plus to the Gigi is that you can control the intensity of the vibration of each pattern, which I appreciated.

For me, though, the patterns that the Gigi offers are underwhelming. There's not enough emphasis on periods of high buzzing for me to be able to get off on them clitoraly, and when inserted vaginally, I sometimes find that the patterns actually start to make me feel dizzy and nauseous. I think this might in part be because I get very easily motion sick, but it doesn't inspire me to use the patterns internally.

Where I do appreciate them, though, is in foreplay. If I'm completely unaroused, cycling through the different patterns against my labia on a lower speed can get me started getting interested. They're also pleasant for easing sore muscles. The firm, fat head of the Gigi spreads the vibrations around well, so I can set the head against a sore spot and let the pulses ease some of the tension out.

When using the toy, I found the control pad to be annoying. There's nowhere to grip the toy- the most natural position puts your thumb firmly over the pad. This wouldn't be a problem if the buttons were harder to hit, but they're not. For me, I found myself constantly jarring the vibration down or onto a pattern when I was starting to really get into it. It makes for a frustrating experience, and I often end up just setting it on a speed, shoving it in, and going to town on my clit with another vibrator.

I did appreciate how long of a charge the Gigi holds- up to two hours of battery life- and I haven't had it die on me mid-session. What I don't appreciate is that the light on the Gigi flashes when charging. It's constantly distracting, and I have to tuck it away somewhere that I can't see it or it'll drive me crazy.

As far as noise, the Gigi is pretty quiet. I wouldn't worry about using it unless someone else is actually in the room with you. To me the patterns seemed more noticeable audibly than the straight-out buzzing.

The Gigi has a shaft cloaked in silicone and a plastic handle. It's neither waterproof nor splash proof, so you'll want to be careful when cleaning it. I personally use a barely-damp soapy cloth, then wipe it down with water. You won't want to submerge the shaft of this when cleaning it.

Be especially careful of the charging port.

For me, I found that the Gigi ended up soaked after use from tip to tip. This made cleaning a bit of a pain, because the indentations in the control panel would hold onto vaginal fluids and lubricant. There are also seams on above and below the metal band and on the plastic handle. These could pose a long-term issue with cleaning.

Make sure that you only use water-based lubes with the silicone shaft, and store it away from your other toys.

The packaging of the Gigi wasn't something that I'd call discreet. The outer box clearly pictured the toy, and it was obvious that it was a sex toy.

The inner box, though, more than made up for it. Lelo is known for their packaging for a reason, and it shows. The solid box came with a compartment perfectly fitted to the Gigi, made of stiff plastic. It's a tray and box I'd be comfortable using in the long term.

One note, though- I had difficulty finding the number to activate the 1 year warranty. Check the backs of the manuals included to find it, so that you don't spend fifteen minutes searching through different languages like I did.

Occasionally I'll grab the Gigi and try to get a few decent strokes out, but the combined frustrations always have me going back to using it as a passive internal vibe. There's so much about this toy that I love, but every time I come back to it, the frustrations outweigh the positives.