It was 2017 when Sona came into the world promising a masturbatory renaissance sparked by sonic waves able to resonate deep into the sublimely perceptive branches of the sole organ entirely devoted to pleasure: the clitoris.
Over two years of propagating orgasmic waves, Sona was acclaimed by hordes of enthusiastic fans and courted by international juries with no less than 2 design awards.
But someone stayed down the wagon of the euphoric clits, listening to the vocalisations of other’s amusement from the sideline benches of the sensitive clits team, unable to enjoy the wonders of Sona.
For people who prefer a rather gentle clit stimulation, Lelo’s massager with the nozzle was simply “too much”, even at the lower intensity. I myself had a tortuous history with Sona that started off with a complicated relationship made of adventurous encounters and revelatory tests that helped me understand how to make my body communicate with Sona [you can find the chronicle of my affair with Sona in the first review].
In order to involve more clitoris in the search of sonic pleasure, Lelo collected feedbacks over these two years and passed them to the team of designers and product developers who came up with a revisited and more adaptive Sona. The result is Sona 2 and already got many clits off the bench.
Lelo Sona 2: what’s new
At first sight, Sona’s curvy body remained the same, smoothly covered in a unique piece of Lelo’s soft silicone. The only externally visible changes are some decorative waves added to the shiny insert in golden ABS on the arched back and the nozzle with a wider and flatter border.
The technology is always the same, that Lelo now calls SenSonic™: Sona toys get their stimulation from multiple oscillations of a membrane inside the nozzle, that generates air waves and produces many suction-and-release effects on the glans of the clitoris. Unlike vibrators, where stimulation spreads through the toy’s surface that gets in direct contact with the area to be stimulated, here the membrane doesn’t get in direct touch with the clitoris and the stimulation spreads through air (‘m referring only to the internal membrane though: the nozzle goes on the vulva and around the clitoris, more or less gently depending on how much pressure you apply). The perceived effect is something completely different compared with what you get from standard vibrators and it’s halfway between suction and the feeling of something knocking on your clit but in a pleasant way rather than annoying. The stimulation feels intense and deeply penetrating from the start.
You can obviously regulate the stimulation intensity but with the first Sona even the lower level felt extremely powerful to the point of becoming unpleasant and unusable on sensitive clits. Sona 2 feels equally intense but more delicate and definitely more bearable. That’s all thanks to two major improvements.
First of all, Sona 2 has a wider range of intensities so that the minimum one is lower than in the first Sona.
The other big change is hidden inside the nozzle: the oscillating membrane was placed deeper so to be farthest from the clit and leave a sort of buffer air space that better distribute the stimulation.
Thanks to these two variations, Sona 2 is suitable for a wider number of clits.
There’s another substantial change that you cannot see but you can hear: Sona 2 is significantly quieter (if you turn up both, Sona’s noise completely cover the noise of Sona 2), also when it gets in touch with your body (the moment when Sona used to produce a loud and not-so-sexy mumbling).
The interface
The 3-buttons interface is visually identical but way smarter in functionality.
Sona 2, like every other Lelo toy, comes locked, so if you want to switch it on right out the box, you either have to charge it or to press and hold the + and – buttons simultaneously to turn the travel lock off (same combo to turn it on).
When Sona 2 is unlocked you can turn it on by either pressing the + or the central button. But, more importantly, you can turn it off only by using the central button. The first Sona switched off by pressing the – button and this meant that you could unintentionally switch off Sona in the middle of your path to pleasure by accidentally indulging a second too much on the – button. In Sona 2, the – button only serves to reduce intensity.
Note that if you want to set the very minimum intensity it’s not enough to rapidly press the – button, instead you have to hold it down (naturally, I found this out after using the Sona 2 at least once and thinking “well, the lowest intensity it’s not that lower”).
The central button is for turning Sona 2 on/off and for selecting one of 12 stimulation patterns (1 steady and 11 combining various rhythms and intensities). And here comes the flaw: when you change pattern, Sona 2 does not maintain idle speed. But instead of shutting off like an old carburettor car, it accelerates like the Doc’s DeLorean travelling at 88 miles per hour. What I mean is that every time you press the central button, the new pattern automatically sets on the highest intensity so, unless that’s the one you were already using, you need to bring it to your desired level by pressing the – button. So either you know which mode you like and select it from the start or it’s better you pull your Sona 2 away from your body, then change mode, then set the desired intensity and finally saddle up again and ride into pleasure.
Another tiny flaw: Sona 2 has no memory. That is, every time you turn it on, it starts from a basic setting with steady stimulation rather than the last used pattern (so if you’re particularly fond of a certain setup, you better keep it in your mind).
It’s always a good idea playing with the buttons to understand how they work before to bring your toy close to your vulva.
Sona 2 vs Sona 2 Cruise
Like Sona, Sona 2 is available in two models: one is the Cruise model and the other, if you trust me, you don’t even consider it. Cruise Control is an ingenious function that activates automatically when you press Sona against your body, so that the motor releases some power to keep the stimulation constant with no pleasure deceleration. The non-Cruise Sona comes without this technology. Forget it.
Use and care
Sona 2 is completely waterproof and submersible, so you can use it both in the shower and in the tub. It’s easy to clean: warm water and neutral or antibacterial soap are enough to keep it clean. You only have to take special care of the nozzle to avoid dust and fluids to nestle in it (you can easily use a cotton swab to keep it clean and dry). In addition, you can spray some sex toy cleaner on the surface of your toy.
Inside the packaging you find a USB cable to recharge Sona 2 and a soft pouch where to store it once it’s clean and dry.
Sona 2 in action
There’s an actual difference between Sona and Sona 2 and you can feel it, especially at lower intensities. This doesn’t mean that Sona 2 is docile and weak. I’m always impressed by how intense and intensely pleasant this kind of stimulation can be from the start. Where intensely pleasant means that Sona 2 is not the kind of toy you use absently while browsing recipes online or sending emojis via whatsapp. On the contrary, it makes you focus on your body and sensations. Sona (in every version) was created for pleasure, period. The flipside is that one person’s “intensely pleasant” is another person’s “uncomfortable”, and this is all bout each one’s sensitivity.
As for me, I consider myself rather sensitive and with the first Sona the initial contact was always a struggling rendezvous that left my clit beaten and dizzy. With Sona 2 (rigorously set to the minimum intensity) there’s still a fleeting moment of stun at the beginning but the clit always finds its way to pleasure quickly. Also this time I tested it over my underwear rising the intensity: test passed.
Sona vs Womanizer & co(pycats)
I know there’s only one question left and I can hear it from the screen: what’s the difference with other “clit suckers”?
When I find myself describing the effect generated by this kind of sex toys, I always use a sentence that I think can help you get the idea: they rip the orgasm out. All these toys use basically the same technology (even if each brand calls it a different way) and deliver a more intense stimulation compared to traditional vibrators; you really can feel it spreading deep into your clit. It’s no coincidence they gained – other than a misleading and hardly reassuring nickname – the reputation of sex toys “for multiple orgasms” or “for squirting”.
But within the category there is an invisible line dividing Sona (the first, the second and probably all the versions to come)z from all the others. No matter how many sucking devices I can try, the stimulation delivered by Lelo’s is always the one I feel the most intense. I think this is because of the distance there is between the oscillating membrane and the clit during use. In all the other models the membrane is farther from the opening, placed deeper in the body of the toy, and it also looks smaller than the one inside Sona’s nozzle.
Sona team
If you rejoice over clit stimulation, Sona 2 is a sex toy you can consider buying. Because of its peculiar stimulation, I’d suggest it if you know your body, you play with it – either manually or with other sex toys – and you know its responses to stimuli.
I wouldn’t recommend it if your clit is the very opposite of teeny-tiny, as the internal diameter of the nozzle is rather small, or if you call your clit very sensitive or if you are pretty shy around your body and sex toys.
In the past, I was asked if it’s possible using Sona when you have vulvodynia and I discouraged this choice: Sona 2 goes around your clit and on your vulva, plus the stimulation is really intense and I hardly think it’s even bearable especially for people with a generalised vulvodynia, who experience diffuse pain in different areas of the vulva.
If your clit is a fearless sensation seeker, then Sona is going to be your best friend.
