I’ve got a theory. It could be bunnies!

Specifically, my theory is “rabbits posing as design techs are purposefully sabotaging Sola so they’re just short of perfection” and I now have two toys in my possession that support my hypothesis. Two trials are hardly enough to confirm a theory, but I’m still convinced that my Sola-begotten nirvana is being thwarted by tricksy design bunnies purposefully implementing one glaring flaw in each of Sola’s otherwise top notch offerings. With the Sync, a wand with a genuinely unique and praise-worthy design, it was the sharp vibrations and the ungodly racket they made. With the Sola Cue, a lovely and relatively quiet vibrator with absolutely exquisite rumbly vibrations, it’s the disappointingly wimpy charge life.

This thing dies faster than my affection for Buffy the Vampire Slayer during a rewatch. (Its brand of feminism lite really hasn’t aged well.) Three-fourths of an episode, max.

But to fully understand the depth of this tragedy, we first have to talk about all the ways the Sola Cue is awesome. It has a few mild flaws besides the charge life, but none of them are as hugely impactful to its use. At least, not for me.

A few months ago, Big Oh! Box offered to send me an item from their shop to review. I had been eyeing the Sola Cue for months due to its lovely shade of Disney Princess blue and the substantial review buzz it was getting for its rumbly strength. I suggested the Cue to the folks behind the Big Oh! Box, and they sent me one a few weeks later. Finally, the pale periwinkle scepter of power would be mine!

The Sola Cue is technically a g-spot vibrator, but we aren’t too fussed about the g-spot in this house, so my interest in the Cue was mostly external use. (But worry not, its internal appeal will still be discussed in this review!) The Cue is about 8 inches long with 5 of them being insertable, and it fluctuates between 1.5 and 1.1 inches in width along the shaft. It’s made of ABS plastic and coated with satiny soft but subtly draggy silicone. It’s rechargeable, waterproof, and comes with both an antibacterial pouch and an AC adapter for its USB charging cable. And it currently retails for $80 at the Big Oh! Box shop.

It’s a beautiful vibrator. The blue is delicate in a way that sex toy colors often aren’t, the softness of its color accentuating the gentleness of its curve. It wouldn’t look out of place on a wicker coffee table in a beach house, sprawled alongside scattered seashells and blown glass trinkets, or maybe perched on the edge of a porcelain tub. Looking at it relaxes me.

The Cue is relatively lightweight, with most of its heft coming from the motor in its head. Its curved length makes it easy to hold in several ways (I prefer to hold it like a pencil about halfway down the shaft) which is good for me because my wrist and fingers really like to cramp up when I’m using it. (I have very weak hands.) This is exacerbated by the vibrations from the motor traveling through the whole vibrator, numbing my fingers pretty quickly on higher settings. I wish there’d been some way to further diffuse them, but to be honest the transference isn’t worse than most vibes.

As assured in the reviews I read, the Sola Cue’s vibrations are deep and satisfyingly rumbly. They ripple throughout my vulva, the motor sending thuddy waves of vibration beyond the surface; like a wand, the Sola Cue massages more than just the external portion of the clitoris, and my orgasms with it are strong and rarely as numbing as they are with more buzz-skewed vibrations. Frankly, the Cue’s vibrations are fucking awesome. They give the same toe-curling rumble as my favorite vibrator – the Noje Mini Wand – but broader and stronger.

I am usually a hardcore righty when it comes to clitoral stimulation. When I use a vibrator, I like to snuggle it against the right of my clit and hold it there; any deviating movement comes from subsequently rolling my hips. But with how permeating the Cue’s vibrations are, I’ve felt more comfortable experimenting where where and how I use the Cue, since no matter what I do with it, its power still rumbles its way to my clit. Its depthy vibrations made it perfect for holding it against the entrance of my vagina or upper vestibule, the latter especially when I was also playing with a dildo. The vibrations reverberate through everything that feels good inside and out, and I feel like if I had enough practice, I could probably squirt using it externally. It certainly feels like I’m on the edge of it sometimes.

The Cue has five rumbly steady settings. My favorite settings are the second setting because the motor produces a noticeable thump to its rumbles, and the third because its rumbles are heavy in a choppy kind of way; the fourth and fifth settings are too strong for me to parse motor movements/rampings. I appreciate the Cue’s range, as many toys limit their steady levels to just three, but I still wish it started out milder. My junk is timid and the Cue’s first setting makes for a slightly uncomfortable warm-up on a fresh charge; I can sometimes struggle to get aroused, so being able to start easy and work my way up to stronger settings is important.

The Cue also has five pattern-based settings, among which are the classic and choppy ramp up, and a few variations of a phone’s vibrating patterns. I’m not a patterns person, so none of them interested me, but they seemed to be pretty standard fare.

Blessedly, the Sola Cue has not one but two buttons, allowing users to sift through its settings with greater ease. Accidentally skipping your desired vibration level on a single buttons vibrators (especially those with more than five settings) can absolutely spoil the mood, so the Cue’s plus and minus buttons are a welcome design choice. I do wish the indentations were even more prominent, though – with damp fingers, it’s hard to discern which is which.

The satiny finish proves to be draggy in use, meaning you need either ample natural lubrication or some (non-silicone) lube to slick up the proceedings and avoid uncomfortable friction. Buster finds this especially noticeable when being initially penetrated by the Sola Cue. Because we use water-based lube – which dries fairly fast – we found it best to reapply lube every so often when thrusting the Cue.

The thing Buster enjoys most about using the Sola Cue internally is its shape: it curves up behind their pubic bone perfectly and can be left hands-free. This is the first internal toy that’s suited the shape of their body so well. Its curve and broad-faced head made finding Buster’s g-spot easy, and the rumbliest lower vibrations actually perked Buster’s interest in a way most g-spot stimulation doesn’t. The curve makes thrusting any more vigorously than shallow scooting pretty uncomfortable, but since it was such a snug, filling fit, Buster prefers to ‘set it and forget it’ anyway.

Both my partner and I love the Sola Cue. It’s the perfect compromise between my partner’s love of wands and my need for something more manageable in size. It’s nearly as strong as a wand, and despite its slimmer head, it provides broad stimulation and penetratingly deep vibrations. But it also doesn’t double as a cumbersome workout routine, since it’s not heavy or bulky like most wands. And since it’s technically designed for vaginal penetration (and not anal, as it doesn’t have a flared base) it’s versatile in use as well, making it a worthy investment of its asking price.

But its price also gets you beautiful, gender neutral packaging from Sola that includes an instruction booklet, satiny cream-colored storage pouch, and an AC adapter bearing the Sola logo. I’m a sucker for packaging that could pass as a giftbox all on its own.

And did I mention it’s quiet? Like, really quiet. On its highest setting, it still barely matches the volume of an electric toothbrush. I recently spent a week and a half at a relative’s home, and felt incredibly comfortable using it with only a closed door and a ceiling fan to shield any prying ears. Its gentle volume mostly makes up for the Cue’s lack of designated on/off button; users have to hold the plus (on) or minus (off) button for a few seconds to turn the vibrator on or off, which means those concerned with discretion can’t immediately switch it off. Still, nosy roommates and children undeterred by closed doors will have a hard time noticing the sound before the two seconds are up.

So now that we’ve covered how fantastic this vibrator is – pretty to look at, rumbly, great g-spot targeting, nice and quiet in use – we can get to the part that really frustrates me: the charge situation.

To charge the Sola Cue, connect the pin-tipped magnetic face of the charge cord to the metal outlet thing at the base of the toy. (It’s the exact same cord as the Noje Mini Wand, and I can use them interchangeably.) It’s not very secure even being magnetic, so you have to make sure you position it so the cord won’t get jostled loose. I hate it, and feel that it cheapens the otherwise luxurious feel of the vibrator. The cord is USB, so it can be plugged into a computer or the AC adapter that comes with the Cue (a complementary addition that cheaper vibes don’t offer.) The Cue needs about an hour and a half to charge – which isn’t half bad! Except it only gets an hour of use time, and that’s only if you’re not hogging the higher vibration settings.

An hour.

(I’ve never gotten more than 40 minutes out of it.)

Now, I don’t need an hour to have an orgasm (I’m lucky if I last half that), but my partner often does. Using the Sola Cue makes them nervous because they don’t want the charge to dwindle and then die before they’ve finished, especially if they’re loitering on the higher settings. And if I also want to use it, right before or after Buster? Forget it. It’ll tap out just as soon as it gets good. And relying on it to be used more than once or twice between charges is a Nat 20 this hopeful masturbator will never successfully roll. (The instruction booklet even suggests topping off the charge between uses to maximize its life.)

Cheaper rechargeable toys get a pass from me for having shorter use times, but the Sola Cue is $80. While not decadent luxury pricing (depending on who you’re asking), it definitely comes with higher expectations attached. And in that, the Cue disappoints purely due to its time constraints. If only Sola had somehow doubled its use time, or even just added a half an hour! I’d be happy to charge mine two or three times as long in exchange for more juice.

It has got to be bunnies that did this. Bunnies designed and approved such a limited use-per-charge window on a toy so good it’s a season five kind of tragedy when it dies. They can mate three times in half an hour! They don’t care about toy longevity.

(ETA: Perhaps an hour-ish is the standard run time for vibrators in this price range. I’m going to be honest and say I don’t know – this is my first vibrator over $50 and under $120. I did window shop similarly priced vibrators and plenty hovered around a two hour charge life. A few pages from two different shops isn’t a large enough sample size to make a confident call, but it is enough to make me feel like I’m not entirely off-base in expecting more from the Sola Cue.)

But though the pale periwinkle scepter of power has its limits, I’m still impressed. It’s powerful, versatile, and it’s the only vibrator I took with me on a recent trip because I trust it to be discreet and get the job done (as long as I charge it after every use.) And while it’s over twice the cost of the Noje Mini Wand – my favorite vibrator, as I have mentioned so extensively you’re all probably sick of it by now – I think its sheer strength and design more than earn the pricetag.

If wands are too much bulk or pelvic-hammering power but you want something significantly more substantial in size and strength than a bullet, the Sola Cue is a lovely compromise. And if you’re a fan of g-spot stimulation or have struggled to find it with less sturdy toys, the Cue can probably help with that too. As long as you don’t take too long… and remember to charge it between uses.

You can buy the Sola Cue for about $80 USD in the Big Oh! Box Shop. If you’re in the US, you can currently get it with free shipping and several bonus gifts!

I received the Sola Cue Rechargeable G-Spot Vibrator in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.