Being Blacksilk

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free Jimmyjane Hello Touch by Lovehoney in exchange for my honest opinion. Click any image to embiggen.

♦ The Jimmyjane Hello Touch, sold by Lovehoney, is the latest “hot new thing” from sex toy hipsters and bouncy-castle-mongers Jimmyjane. Now, you’ll notice that’s a fairly loaded sentence, so I’ll be honest with you: I asked to test the Hello Touch half because I considered that it might have genuine potential and half because I really hoped that it didn’t.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t. It’s awful, but I suggest you read the rest of this review to find out why, just in case you and I disagree. And because it should be funny.

So, the Hello Touch is a fingertip vibrator comprised of a slim control box, which rests in a stretchy grey wristband, and two vibrating silicone fingerpads attached by a Y-shaped wire to said control box. It comes in a matte box which looks like it was designed by Apple, but still has quite a lot of information on it, even if some of it is lies (“intuitive interface”, “powerful”). There is supposedly more information in the manual, but I found it a bit sparse as it was solely pictorial.

The two of us followed the instructions in the manual to insert the batteries for the first time and we were completely lost. It took us about five minutes to actually manage it and neither of us are exactly stupid.

It probably didn’t help that the Hello Touch runs on AAAAs. Yes, quadruple. What even are those? I’d never heard of them. At least they’re included, because they’re hard to find and not cheap.

The plastic insert in the box that holds both the manuals and the toy is a bit naff, and I wouldn’t use it for storage. Luckily, the Hello Touch comes with a black fabric case for the toy and that would be quite nice if it had another popper to actually keep it closed. As it is, it’s just lopsided and silly and not as secure as I’d like.

It doesn’t need to really be secure, though, because even if you leave the batteries in the Hello Touch, one thing that’s really not going to happen is it turning on by itself. This is because it’s hard enough to actually get it to do that when you’re trying. The buttons on the controller are very unresponsive, leaving me to often have to remove the controller from my wrist to use it. This is not helped by the fact that for some unfathomably stupid reason (likely aesthetics) the buttons aren’t labelled. So without instinctively remembering which is which, you’re not even sure you’re hammering on the right one. I constantly forget which is which.

To make it even more frustrating and poorly designed, there are THREE circles printed onto the grey wristband, but only TWO actual buttons on the controller. That middle “button” is just a useless circle that does nothing other than toy with you.

So, in Jimmyjane’s dream, sometimes a circle means a button and at other times it means bugger all. Because that’s an “intuitive interface”.

“Why are there only two buttons anyway?” You may ask. Because this £45 vibrator has only one speed. ONLY ONE SPEED. That’d be awful for that much money even if that speed wasn’t pathetically weak and buzzy, which it is. The problem is that what vibration there is is significantly dampened by the simple act of actually wearing the fingerpads and touching something. I’m not even sure if I care that the Hello Touch is on. The first time I tried it, I got to my orgasm eventually, but I had to give in and warm up with something better first. On subsequent occasions, I’ve just got bored before I come. I like a bit of power, but I’m not actually all that hard to make come and I certainly don’t often get too bored to orgasm.

As I say, the wearing of the fingerpads suppresses the vibration and actually makes my fingers vibrate more than my clit. If you hate vibrations on your fingers, you’ll hate this. Crush (who hates vibration of all kinds) reckons he could just about stand it if he HAD to and it felt weird even to me. You definitely can’t do Jimmyjane’s suggestion of wearing the Hello Touch on the back of your fingers and turning your fingers into vibrators, as that makes the vibrations even weaker. My clitoris just can’t feel it and the rest of me just doesn’t care. Plus, the silicone straps of the fingerpads get in the way of that idea.

At first, it seems nice to have the vibrations of the Hello Touch follow your fingers (and if the concept worked well, I think I’d really like it) until you realise it doesn’t live up to the concept. You spend most of your time readjusting the pads when they fall half-off your fingertips or they start not sitting right. I found I really wanted my fingertip vibrator to actually sit on the tips of my fingers as much as possible, as opposed to halfway down the pad of the finger. It’s just so unergonomic and the pads are so bulky. I didn’t have space for both pads on my clitoris, especially not if I wanted to move them, and it was very awkward.

To make matters worse, the pad I was using then fell half-off as I came. Which is just not what you want.

Jimmyjane also states that “HELLO TOUCH is the smallest fingertip vibrator available, and the only one optimized for both internal and clitoral stimulation”, but when I tried internal G-spot stimulation, I found the device itself got right in my way. And then one of the pads came off my finger whilst inside me and I had to pull it out like a tampon. Ugh. That is certainly the mental image I want to associate with my orgasm. My juices got all over the pads and pad-straps, including in between the vibrating pod and its holder itself, making it a bitch to clean.

If you think Jimmyjane recommending G-spot use and the pads falling off is bad, check this out: Jimmyjane specifically suggests you put these things up your arse.

Yes, really. They think you can, and should, try anal with these things. That’s just not safe.

That little silicone finger pad that holds the vibrating pod is not actually attached to anything at all. It could easily come off inside your rectum, especially with the obvious addition of lube and rubbing.

You could lose those inside your ass, especially when you consider that the whole thing came off my finger easily in my vagina and all I had were the wires to pull it out. In the arse, one pull like that could lose the silicone finger-straps. Please don’t try this and shame on Jimmyjane for suggesting it.

So, it’s weak and the fingerpads are too bulky for tight spots, come off too easily and are not exactly fun to wear, but at least the wristband itself is OK. It’s about the only part of the Hello Touch that’s comfortable and it’s fairly generously sized without being too baggy. It fits me easily and comfortably, and I’m quite overweight, but it’s not too loose on Crush’s skinnier wrists either. I also quite like the futuristic grey, although that aesthetic is largely ruined by the ugly stitching.

CONCLUSION

The Jimmyjane Hello Touch is a seriously bad toy and an expensive puff of nothing. Its “intuitive interface” is not only unresponsive but also very poorly designed, its “ultra-compact” fingerpads are not comfy, ergonomic or easy to use and keep where you want them. Not only that, the Hello Touch might work OK for gentle caressing and touch, if you like things really gentle (and a bit androidy), but it sure as hell doesn’t work for use on or in the female genitals. I couldn’t try it on Crush, because he hates vibration, but I can’t imagine the finger pads would stay on well during a hand job. And God forbid you put it up your butt.

All that I could forgive if it at least felt good. But it’s buzzy and weak and I cannot believe that the Hello Touch experience was essentially so tedious and pathetic that I got bored of wanking. It’s touted as powerful, but I can tense my arm until my fingers shake and I’m pretty certain I’m a more powerful vibrator than the Hello Touch. ♦