There are a number of things that turned me off from the Remote Controlled 10 Speed Vibrating Egg initially.

I found the packaging both unnecessarily wasteful (the box could have been half the size) and not remotely convenient for storage purposes. A manufacturer wins major points with me when I can just pop a toy in and out of its original box for easy use and space-conscious stashing. Not a major deal, because the remote has a keyring that easily hooks to the string which is conveniently attached to the egg. Without that string, handling this toy as it got slippery would have been unbelievably challenging, by the way.

I also was shocked at how quickly the batteries were drained by this toy. As with any vibrator that relies on batteries, you'll find an enormous difference in lifespan if you remove the batteries between uses. But on occasion, I have forgotten to remove a pair of AAs and the power in them was sucked out, necessitating replacement after a few weeks. But in this case, I left the toy unscrewed (yes, it unscrews to open) but with batteries inside and the damn things were dead in a day. I tried to use it, not knowing it was so drained and experienced the most weaksauce vibration ever. Then, after a few minutes, it just unceremoniously stopped. You can imagine how fun that was. So either the factory-supplied batteries were crap (which sucks), or the egg is a power drainer (which also sucks).

Another feature that my partner, as controller of the remote, found tedious was that while the egg does have 10 different settings that vary intensity, speed, and rhythm of vibration, you can go up and you can go down the list of them but you can't go from top back to bottom without clicking all the way through. That is, you can start at the lowest level and increase and increase, but once you've reached the highest/last setting, you can't return to the start without re-visiting all the other levels in reverse order.

But ultimately the egg redeemed itself with a new set of AAAs. Thankfully the box came with usage instructions because very little about the remote is intuitive. Perhaps that's why the packaging was so stupidly large: to fit all the different languages' worth of How To. To use the egg you need to open it, install the batteries and seal it back up. The remote control has a cover over the buttons that needs to be slid back to reveal the on/off switch and up/down buttons. Simply press on and you're good to go, rolling through each level at your leisure.

Like most toys with 10 or so settings, it has the standard low, medium, high in the beginning, followed by variations on throbs, roller coasters and the like. For me, settings two and three are pretty much all I end up using. I give the others a shot, but find their rhythms to be more annoying and frustrating than arousing. This one, however, also featured a cyclical setting towards the end that was a series of quick pulses followed by a sustained high vibration. This ended up being my favorite: its timing was impeccable: I got to enjoy both the quick beats and the continuous sensation in a good pace. It got me revved up and then switched the game without being too quick or slow about it, which culminated in a superior overall experience and an escalating arousal.

The novelty of this toy is that it's controlled remotely: meaning you can leave your pleasure in the hands of someone else. There are a lot of people who will dig this dynamic and enjoy the use of the egg even more because of this element of handing over power. My partner found it hokey, though, including the idea of trying to see how far away the remote worked. He argued that it made him feel like he was less involved. So it's up to you if this feature is hot or just less convenient (since a lost remote would be a non-functioning toy).

Because it is made of phthalates-free, latex-free plastic, this toy is safe, easy to clean and can be used with silicone or water-based lubes. And because it is water-proof, you can get your jollies while in the bath or shower, which is always a plus. The size and water-proof nature make it a great traveling toy, as long as you make sure you keep the remote securely attached to the egg, that is.