Review: Lelo Sila Sonic Clitoral Massager

What makes the Lelo Sila so unique?

Honestly? For me, what makes the Lelo Sila so unique is half aesthetics and half design.

When you by a luxury sex toy (and I fully recommend that you should, if you can afford it), you enter a new class of products. There’s a huge jump in quality between $40-ish toys and $80+ toys. In cheaper vibrators, you’ll typically see buzzier vibrations, lower-quality materials, and a separate battery cost. In more expensive ones, you can expect waterproof bodies covered in velvety silicone, deeper vibrations, and USB rechargeable batteries. 

I’ll talk more about other air pulse toys in the next section of this Lelo Sila review, but what you really need to know is that, on the whole, these products are all largely the same. There isn’t as much variation in air pulse toys as their is in vibration-based ones—at least, so far.

What initially drew me to the Lelo Sila is its wide, flat “mouth.” I like the stimulation in most air pulse toys, but my one complaint is always that their opening is too pointed. It can make this type of toy more difficult to use, creating an intense sensation that’s easily broken by tipping your hand a little bit too much. My hope for the Lelo Sila was that its wide mouth would make it easier to balance the toy during use… And its supremely gorgeous design was just the cherry on top. My reluctance to feature Lelo on theNotice was overtaken by my hope that the Sila would be easier to use for disabled bodies; ones with things like nerve pain and joint damage.

(Ones like mine.)

Lelo Sila review: What’s in the box?

What you get from the Lelo Sila

While I still have my misgivings about Lelo, it’s been four years since my original post. Since then, Lelo has changed their branding to include more queer folx, more models of colour (especially BIPOC), and more bodies of different sizes.

Perhaps this is all just in the wake of Black Lives Matter (and the dates on their Instagram timeline do seem to suggest this), but I’m glad that sex & wellness brands are finally making an effort. So, before I continue, I’d like to say that yes: they could be doing more, and I hope that they will do more. In this post, however, I’d like to focus on a toy that is marketed as being unique in its category, and therefore one that hopefully helps reach more bodies in the world.

The Lelo Sila is small and velvety, with a silicone body and plastic gold plating. Its controls are hard to locate during use, but are beautiful and easy to press. It’s also easy to charge, with a waterproof plug (I think it’s a male coaxial power connector to USB) that won’t pop off in your drawer.

(It’s so, so beautiful.)

Lelo created the Sila around the idea of soft, gentle clitoral stimulation that would spread through a person’s entire erogenous area, and I think they hit the nail on the head. The Sila’s wide mouth gives it a gentleness that other air pulse vibrators do not have, and it seems to somehow pair air pulsations with vibrations, spreading the sensation gently across a wider zone. Its two hour charge time lasts for up to two hours, with eight vibration patterns an a 60 Hz rotation frequency.

Comparision: The Lelo Sila vs the Womanizer Premium and We-Vibe Melt

The Lelo Sila is a beautiful toy. I’m happy to report that its wide mouth and restrained motor really do help spread sensations deeper into your body, but I found that they were just a little bit too restrained for me — it was tough to get where I was headed. The Sila was easier to balance and gentler to manage (thank goodness) than the We-Vibe Melt; however, its round shape kind of makes it feel like you’re having a sex with a nautilus shell.

I get the appeal of a pretty, circular sex toy, but to put it frankly, using the Sila during front-to-front partnered play is impossible. Trying to discern its controls without looking at them is even worse.

I can see the Sila being good for others who struggle to balance clitoral air pulse toys, and it seems like an interesting way to bridge the gap between the small and large heads offered on toys like the Womanizer Premium. Its pairing of air pulsations + vibrations means that breaking the seal around your erogenous zone isn’t as big of a deal as it is in other toys, so it could definitely be a help for people with tremors and muscle weakness. (Huzzah!)

I enjoyed the Lelo Sila, but its bonkers price tag ($269 USD SRP; $169 USD/$225 CAD at SheVibe) means that you’re paying for a premium toy and not necessarily getting the most premium experience. When compared with other air pulse toys, I preferred the Womanizer Premium to the Sila. The Womanizer Premium is more convenient for partnered play, has a wider range of sensations on both ends, and is much, much quieter. 

The verdict of this Lelo Sila review

I had hoped that the Lelo Sila would bring something altogether new to my life: an ergonomically-designed air pulse toy with a wide mouth, a flat base, and a fresh, fibro-friendly experience. It fell short of this dream, but it’s a decent toy nonetheless.

Look! At! That! Mainstream! Inclusive! Language!!!

Writing a Lilo Sila review also gave me the opportunity to touch base with a brand I haven’t been on speaking terms with in years, and I’m happy to be able to say that even Lelo is making changes to the way that they market their brand. While they still have a long way to go when it comes to highlighting a better variety of voices and bodies, this toy (marketed for clitoral use, with no mentions in the copy of “women,” “her pleasure,” etc) has come a long way from the Pinot (marketed “exclusively for bankers” — gag.)

The winner of this review is not the Sila, though it’s a very decent air pulse toy. Instead, it’s the pleasure industry on the whole. When even the most problematic companies are making an effort to create a better, safer, more inclusive space for their consumers, we all win.

Availability: Available with discreet shipping for $269 USD at Lelo, who sent this product sample in for review; $219 CAD at PinkCherry.ca (on sale for $175 CAD at time of publication); $169 USD/$225 CAD at SheVibe. Permanent. Available in three colours.

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Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were submitted for editorial consideration only, as well as affiliate links that help keep theNotice running. My opinions, salty as they are, are my own!