I remember walking into an adult store years ago and seeing a brand new product that claimed to perfectly imitate the action and sensation of oral sex. Intrigued, I examined it more closely. The device was little more than a vibrating bullet with a loose flap of rubber dangling from the end in a mockery of a human tongue. Unimpressed, I left and not long afterward the device was pulled from the shelves. My encounter left me with the opinion that of all the wonderful things modern sex toys can do, licking is sadly not one of them. I realize now I was mistaken.

What impressed me about the SaSi design was the fact that the toy is made of two primary materials. The first is plastic. The SaSi has a rigid plastic shell and skeleton that contains the motors and tongue bead. Stretched over that is a thin silicone cover that wraps around the entire toy. This protects the internals from moisture damage, gives the toy a smooth, uniform look, and provides for a much more pleasurable experience as the tongue bead moves and vibrates from behind this protective curtain.

The silicone skin is smooth and untextured. No texture is needed really, the sensation comes from the motors, not the skin. Where the skin is stretched over the plastic shell it is hard to the touch. In the concave section on the underside around the tongue bead the skin is stretched over an open area and has a somewhat trampoline-ish feel.

When Eden asks whether a toy is discreet or not, the image I hold in my head now is the SaSi. On the website it didn't look like a sex toy and even now, sitting on my desk here it still doesn't. I know what it does, I know what it's capable of but even so, I can't see this as anything but a harmless little massager. For a premium sex toy I think this is a great asset. Since it doesn't look like what it is, you don't have to worry about someone finding it or seeing it. If I saw something like this on a bedside stand I would probably think it was an iPod speaker or inhaler or something.

The shape of SaSi is basically a bar of soap. It has an upward curve with rounded edges and except for the little tongue bead on the bottom, it has a uniform shape and structure. The upper surface of the SaSi is convex and curves from a high point on top down to the round edges and curves around to the underside. On the under surface the body shape is convex. There is a slight depression on this side that cups the genitals and transfers the vibrations and sensations nicely. The only protuberance is the tongue bead which pokes out through the silicone covering right above the user's clitoris.

When you place the SaSi against yourself with the tongue over your clitoris, the five control buttons are directly under your index finger. The buttons are raised out of the surface of the SaSi and are part of the molded plastic shell. The large center button is the master control switch and it powers the SaSi on and off. The left button (in the 9 o'clock position) cycles through samples of each movement pattern, sort of like the scan button on your radio. As you cycle through each pattern, you may find one you like. By pressing the large center button you add that pattern to your favorites playlist. The button to the right (in the 3 o'clock position) opens your favorites playlist and plays the patterns you selected earlier. The top and bottom buttons (12 o'clock and 6 o'clock respectively) increase or decrease the speed of the tongue action with a press, or increase or decrease vibration intensity with a press-and-hold.

The SaSi manual provided by Je Joue states that overheating is a normal part of the operation of the toy after periods of extended use. I ran some small tests to see what is considered "overheating" in this case. On a full charge I can run the SaSi for 2.5 hours before I see a noticeable run-down of power and intensity. When lying out in the open and exposed, I detect the SaSi begins heating up within the first 20 minutes of operation. Past that, the SaSi runs warm but not painfully so all the way until the battery wears down. For the second test I buried the SaSi in bedsheets and tried again. This time the SaSi heated up in the first 20 minutes as before, but then continued to heat up until it was surprisingly hot to the touch. Just shy of the one hour mark, the SaSi abruptly switched off. After cooling down for a few minutes, I was able to power it back on. This indicates there is a temperature-safety switch in the unit that will shut it down when it reaches a certain level of heat. This is great news since it means the toy cannot accidentally destroy itself by running all motors full speed ahead. It is also worth noting that when the SaSi shut itself down, it was hot but not dangerously so. Even against the genitals this toy does not get hot enough to cause injury.

Because of some clever design decisions on the part of Je Joue, cleaning and maintaining your SaSi is pretty simple. The silicone cover protects nearly the entire unit, keeping it safe from water and lube getting inside. Silicone toys should only be used with water based lubricants however, since silicone based lubes can damage or destroy silicone toys. If a thorough cleaning is needed, you can remove the silicone cover entirely. It can then be sterilized or the internal components of the SaSi can be examined and cleaned. When cleaning, take extra care to keep water away from the control buttons and the charging port as they are not waterproof.

I would be lying if I said I don't absolutely delight in the awesome, fancy boxes the high end toys come in these days. Between my Je Joue and Lelo boxes lying all over the place you'd think I just robbed a jewelry store. It's such a nice touch that when you buy an expensive, amazing toy that you hope will last years and years of good use it arrives in a nice, high quality box that seems to say "we care about this as much as you do".

In addition to the box you have a satin pouch to store the SaSi in, a set of charging cables and power adapters, and paperwork including the warranty and manuals. Both the satin bag and the main box are suitable for storing the SaSi, I was surprised to find a small pedestal inside the box for the SaSi to rest upon. If you wanted to, you could even display your SaSi on this pedestal like a piece of art.