Despite the thick layer of silicone, Envie does well at carrying vibrations throughout the entire toy. Applying pressure doesn't affect the strength of vibrations, the sound of the vibrations may change, but the vibrations remain. I'm able to feel the vibrations best at the shaft. I wish the tip was as strong as the shaft because it would be great for pin-point vibrations directly on the clitoris, but it's not near as strong as the shaft to me.
You have only one button to control everything Envie does and while that makes it simple, it also makes it a pain to cycle through. To turn Envie on you press the single round, pink button located on the screw-on bottom. The bottom is black, hard plastic that screws in place to hold in the batteries. It's round and has a hole through the middle. I assumed this was for holding onto, but it didn't serve that purpose at all. Both my partner and myself found it easier to hold it by the shaft. The ring in the bottom is lined in pink silicone for gripping better I suppose. Along that ring is also a line of pink silicone (see my pictures). This serves no purpose, but the entire line lights up red when it's turned on. The light up feature seems like it was something fancy to throw in there, but it may be handy for someone.
Hold the button down for 3-4 seconds and the vibrator will power off. This can be handy or it can be a nuisance depending on your situation. Holding the button for those short few seconds can be somewhat of a pain if you're needing to get it turned off immediately. Once you have powered the vibrator off and you go to turn it back on, you'll have to cycle all the way through again to reach the setting you desire. Again, this can be a nuisance or a blessing depending on what you're preferences are.
The selection of vibration settings are impressive! If you like those unique pulse, escalating and "surging" vibrations, this will be something fun for you to explore. The vibrations are strong and somewhat penetrative, but it seems they've got just a tad too much of a buzz to them for my liking. Unless you are very particular about your vibrations, I believe Envie will be satisfying in that department. I have a hard time cycling through to find the strong, steady vibrations that I need though. The wide variety of vibrations mean that this is a fantastic toy for someone who's looking to try the different surges and pulses and escalates. It's a great toy for a beginner if you're looking for a wide variety and want to get an idea of what you prefer.
The vibrations are unique, but I'll do my best to describe them.
First you have a steady vibration that seems to be louder than it feels. Then you have what feels like the same vibration, but it may be slightly stronger.
Third click and you get the exact same steady vibration as with the second click and by the fourth click, you begin into the world of pulses, surges, pokes, escalates and all kinds of ups and downs of vibrations. Unfortunately, my body doesn't respond well to those types due to the decrease and pauses in vibrations. This fourth click is a lot stronger than the steady vibrations that I need and it continues to get stronger.
These pulsating vibration are close together and feel something like this: Bzz Bzz Bzz Bzz. This is a really nice, strong setting even though it can't get me there completely.
The fifth vibration: Bzz Bzz BZZ Bzz Bzz BZZ. The first two Bzz's are the same then the third one is stronger. The pattern continues just like this.
The sixth: BzzZZZZ, is what I'd identify as a surge. It's kind of like a mini escalating vibration. It starts out strong and almost a steady vibration with only tiny, barely noticeable pulses then gets stronger.
Seventh: Bzz Bzz Bzzz Bzz Bzzz. It's short, quick pulses, some longer than the last.
The vibrations are all strong, but unfortunately this gives me terribly numb hands. I do wish there were stronger steady vibrations, but I believe the focus was on the pulsing patterns during the making of Envie. Little concern was put into the 3 steady, almost identical vibration options. At the least though, Envie should excite and make a great warm-up toy. I think most people could finish with Envie, but for me - someone who needs slightly more penetrative vibrations - it takes longer.
Envie runs on 2 AAA batteries and so far, it's held up on them well. It does have several great things about it and as for the noise level, that's one of them. When Envie is lying on my bed, the sound is loud enough to be heard throughout the room, but not outside the door. During any vibration setting, it remains quiet. It cannot be heard outside of a door, but I believe someone in the same room would have a chance of hearing it. We tested the noise level without any TV or air going and it wasn't noticeable, but I personally like to have some type of noise just for my own confidence. Other than being able to hear it in the same room, it won't be heard anywhere else. It's only slightly louder than my cell phone's vibration, but every phone sounds differently. It's pretty close to that type of sound level though.
WATERPROOF
Envie is labelled as a waterproof vibrator, but it's only waterproof half the time. I say this because sometimes I use it in the water and it's just fine, no leakage. Then at other times, I'll find specks of water along the inside. It hasn't damaged Envie, but I won't submerge it anymore. I submerged it fully tonight, as scary as it was, I wanted to be sure to give accurate info. It did fine the first time, but the second time, I found big drops of water around the inside. Thankfully, it still works, but I won't submerge it again.
There is not O-ring on the toy to fully keep water out, but in the shower it does just fine. Washing hasn't ever posed a threat to Envie, even when I run the water all over the handle. It's submerging that causes the problem. Honestly, I wouldn't risk taking this in a tub. It's just not worth it and too risky, but the shower is fine. The round screw on base/handle so easily slips, even when you screw it on tight! During use it often slips and comes unthreaded just a little. That's why I would not risk taking this in the tub because while using, if the handle/screw on base slips like that, water will leak inside and destroy the toy.
Nice size and design but I wish it was a little stronger. I still might have to get it at some point tho