There are two buttons to control the Ergo Flex, one on each side of the toy. On the inside is the on/off button and on the outside is the function change button. This setup takes a bit of getting used to if you're accustom to buttons being placed next to each other or having only one button to control everything. I found I had to think a minute before pressing something to be sure I wouldn't accidentally press on/off when I meant to hit function and vice versa. The buttons themselves are easy enough to press and I never had issues accidentally pressing them during use.
There are ten settings to choose from on the Ergo Flex. Three are steady vibrations and the rest are patterns.
The first setting is the low constant vibration. This comes in at one vroom. The medium constant vibration is next at a low two vrooms. The final constant vibration is a high two vrooms.
After the constant vibrations begin the patterns. The first is called "pulsate" and is a mid tempo pulse. The next is "surge" which is a 1-2 pattern where the 2 is held out longer than the 1. The next is "inta-surge" which goes 1-2-3 where the 3 is held longer. The next is "intermittent." This one goes 1-2-3-4-5 with each beat at a higher power level than the last. The next is "escalate step." This one increases speed and then has a 1-2 pulse at the end. The next is "roller coaster spurt." This one increases in speed, pulses, and then decreases in speed. The final one is "gradient burst." This pulses and then increases in speed. I don't personally use patterns, so I cannot say if any of these are any good.
The vibrations are
very buzzy. They are surface level and can barely be felt once inserted. If you hold the vibrator in your hand, you can feel the vibrations hit the skin but then rapidly dissipate. Even at the highest level, I couldn't feel much in the way of vibration. The buzzy vibrations just couldn't penetrate skin enough to really be felt.
The vibrations are located in the first ridge of the shaft, right below the tip of the toy. They can be felt strongest at that point and pretty much evenly everywhere else.
What it doesn't have in power, it makes up for in noise. I know, not exactly the order I'd have hoped for. I generally prefer "no noise/high power," but I guess they decided to try it the other way around here. Ergo Flex emits a loud, high pitched "buzzzz" noise at every setting. From low to high, the noise level is the same. When I used this, the noise really distracted me. In fact, because the noise level was so high I kept expecting to feel more in the way of vibrations. Didn't happen, by the way. The Ergo Flex can be heard through a closed door and over running water. It can also be heard over other vibrators if you choose to use this with a more silent toy.
Ergo Flex is "rechargeable." Sort of. It's rechargeable as much as any battery operated toy could be if you just switched to rechargeable batteries. This one just happens to include the rechargeable batteries along with the toy. It uses one RCR2 rechargeable battery. I personally feel like calling this a "rechargeable" vibrator is a bit of false advertising. It's really battery operated, but the battery is rechargeable. When most people see "rechargeable vibrator" they're thinking of a toy that plugs directly into the wall for charging, like a LELO, Je Joue, etc. This is NOT like that.
The battery charger comes in pieces, so you'll have to put it together. Luckily, I had a toy from this company before and knew how to put it together. Instructions are included, but the first time I ever received one of these I decided I could figure it out without looking. Yeah, it took me a while. To save you some time, here's a photo of the included pieces and then what it should look like put together. Hopefully you won't spend fifteen minutes trying to get the thing together like I did the first time.
The battery needs to be charged when you receive the toy. It requires about two hours to get a full charge on the battery. The battery is then inserted into the toy via the base unscrewing.
The base has a click and lock feature that allows the Ergo Flex to be waterproof. I never do trust the click and lock (over the O ring), but I haven't had any issues with submerging this toy. I don't know that I'd recommend it for the bath, but washing it and showering with it are no problem.