The other week I looked at the first of Lelo's three new vibrating prostate massagers for men, the Loki, and today I'm going to be looking at the other two, the Hugo and the Bruno.
The Hugo and the Bruno are essentially the same product, except that the Hugo comes with the addition of a wireless remote, which is why I've chosen to cover both in one review. Everything I say about the Hugo can be applied to the Bruno, up until the section where I cover the functions of the remote itself, so hopefully this will be a more helpful way of looking at it.
The Hugo is a twin-motor, handsfree, wearable vibrating prostate massager and perineum stimulator, and by damn I've been looking for a good one of these for a long time. Over the years I've tried products from Rocks Off, Nexus, Jopen, and even Fun Factory, and they've all failed to cut the mustard in some way. Back at the end of last year, however, there did come a light at the end of the tunnel, and that was in the form of the L'Amourose Rosa - a unisex toy which performed excellently in this regard - and for this reason it's the only product which I see fit to compare the Hugo to in this review.
The Hugo is a fairly compact toy on the whole, especially when compared to the Rosa. In terms of length and girth the dimensions of the Rosa are akin to that of the Loki, whereas the Hugo has a maximum girth of just 4" around the widest point, and an insertable length of 3 1/2". The narrowest part of the Hugo is the 2 1/4" circumference neck which sits just below the bulb, and this joins onto a 1 5/8" wide base which balances safety with comfort. Extending forwards from the base is a 2 3/4" long secondary arm which is designed to rest against the user's perineum.
The shape of the Hugo is rather traditional for this type of toy, but that's because there aren't a lot of configurations you can go for when aiming for this type of stimulation. There are two "arms" on the device, one larger and one smaller, which together almost remind me of an opened lobster's claw, ready to grab something. The larger arm is shaped like a smaller version of the Loki, with a gentle curve, nice bulbous portion towards the end, and a completely smooth surface throughout. This design is similarly mirrored on the smaller arm.
The construction of the Hugo features the inclusion of two separate motors, each one being housed in the end of one of the arms. The core of the Hugo is made from a very firm ABS plastic, which in turn is covered entirely in a thin layer of soft velvety silicone, and this comes available in a choice of Obsidian Black, Ocean Blue, or a vibrant fuchsia colour. To my touch the thickness of silicone on the Hugo feels slightly less than that on the Loki, and the Rosa too, but there's enough to provide a degree of cushioning still. The underside of the toy features the charging port, located at the heel next to a shiny faux-metal plate bearing the name "Lelo" embossed, and at the other end the recessed power button. The body of the toy is largely solid throughout, which makes a difference from the Rosa where the neck between the insertable bulb and the base is very flexible. Instead on the Hugo there's a bit of flexibility built into the secondary arm, allowing for some adjustments depending on the user's body.
Inserting the toy is nice and easy to do with a touch of lube and no warm up required. It's much more beginner-friendly than the larger Loki, and indeed the Rosa too. You don't get that sense of fullness like you would from a larger toy, but you certainly get immediate feedback from that pincer-like arm configuration squeezing you inside and out. The shape of the internal arm puts a pleasant amount of pressure right bang on the prostate, exactly where it should be, providing instant stimulation. Likewise the secondary arm applies external pressure to the perineum, and because it's that bit longer than the arm on most similarly-designed toys it actually hits the right spot, the spot that you'd instinctively go to touch if manually massaging your own perineum. The actual size of the toy becomes almost irrelevant, because you don't think of how full it makes you feel, let alone have a chance to notice that it may be lacking in any way. That firm constant pressure on the prostate entirely dominates your sensory perception, and a lot of what's enjoyable about larger toys anyway is that more fullness = more pressure on the prostate. It's essentially a win-win when it comes it delivering a lot of sensation without needing to put in a lot of effort.
Once the Hugo is in it stays in very happily thanks to the shape of the design and the narrow neck. This means you can do pretty much anything you can think of while wearing it, whether it be sex with a partner, some solo fun, or even giving your kitchen three coats of paint like me. It's really not going to go anywhere, and thanks to the fairly unobtrusive base which slots comfortably between the buttocks you can even comfortably sit down whilst wearing it - provided it's on a padded surface.
The vibrating function of the Hugo is operated by one single button located just beneath the bulb of the perineum arm, where it's very easy to access and operate. Pressing the button twice will activate the Hugo and it starts up in constant vibration mode at full power. Both motors in the Hugo operate in unison, and this applies to all the patterns that are included, so whatever vibrations you're feeling internally you'll also be feeling externally. This is quite different to on the Rosa, which alternated between firing each motor, so the patterns were staggered, and personally I prefer the Lelo approach. Just like with the Loki the Hugo has 6 vibration patterns in total: constant vibration, steady pulses, rapid pulses, repeated increase in intensity from low to high, gentle increase from low to high and back down again, and lastly random mode which produces pulses with no set interval. Each time you press the button on the base it switches the unit to the next pattern, and once you reach the final pattern it loops back to the start again. To turn the unit off once you're done the button must be held down for a couple of seconds. One minor drawback to the single-button design is that you can't adjust the strength of vibrations from the unit itself. With the Hugo the separate remote must be used to decrease the vibration strength, and with the Bruno the power cannot be adjusted at all. I only classify this as a minor issue because as someone who loves strong vibrations I'm quite content to use it on full power all the time, and even with the remote I only played around with reducing the power for the sake of the review and haven't felt the need to do it since. It all depends on the individual really; if you're someone who perhaps isn't quite so confident with this type of toy, and fears being overwhelmed by the vibrations, then the Hugo is probably more fitting for you than the Bruno due to the added control it offers.
The vibrations of the Hugo are wonderfully strong and also quite rumbly. Despite its smaller size the vibrations of the Hugo felt more intense to me than those of the Loki, but I have a suspicion that this was due more to the combination of the shape of the toy pressing into the prostate, along with the power of the twin-motors, rather than something specific to the motors alone. Compared to the Rosa I'd say the Hugo is a little more powerful overall, but the Rosa has the slightly deeper and more rumbly feel to it, which is an interesting trade. The toy performs absolutely beautifully, and I could tell from the first instant that I turned it on that it was going to be a winner as my body greeted it with instant arousal. The way the motors harmonise and deliver simultaneous pulses into both the prostate and the perineum, coupled with the firm pressure applied to each region, just feels exquisite. As I said with the Loki I enjoy all of the different patterns that are available and none of them is a dud; you can even match the pattern to your activity, or the type of sex you're having. A long slow pattern for drawn out sensual sex, or a faster pattern for really energetic sex. When it comes down to the end result though, orgasms with the Hugo are fantastic. They're stronger, more intense, and sometimes even surprising. True body-shaking orgasms that'll have you eager to get ready to try it again.
One nice feature that the Hugo specifically has is the SenseMotion remote. It's a wireless remote powered by four AAA batteries, which lets you (or indeed a partner) control every function of the Hugo without actually having to touch it. Very handy if you're wearing it under clothes. When you turn on the remote at first it'll begin vibrating softly in tune with the Hugo, and from here you can begin to cycle through the patterns of the toy or change the power level. At first I was puzzled by the vibrations of the remote, because they're not strong enough to provide any sexual pleasure by themselves, and in fact you can thankfully turn them off to save power, but I realised that the real use of the vibrations is if a partner is operating the remote, as they provide convenient feedback in hand about what the wearer is feeling. The other functions of the remote are that it has two motion-sensitive settings, so instead of simply relying on a pre-set pattern you can create your own by waving the remote about. This is quite novel, if a bit gimmicky, but I feel sure it would be more entertaining if using it with a partner rather than by yourself, as they can surprise you with an unexpected jolt of vibrations at any time. One point I will make regarding the remote is that the patterns coming from the Hugo should feel the exactly the same when changed by the remote, as they do when changed by the button on the body. I draw attention to this because at first mine felt quite different and it turned out to be a fault in that unit, and when it comes to a new product it can be confusing trying to judge what's supposed to happen or not. On the whole I do like having the remote for its convenience, but I could also happily live without it, which is worth bearing in mind given the price difference between the Hugo and Bruno.
Like the Loki the Hugo is rechargeable, comes with a USB charging cable rather than a wall plug, is 100% waterproof, giving you the option of safely using it in the bath or shower, and comes with a cloth storage pouch. It's a fairly quiet toy when used indoors, but it's not really discreet enough to be worn out in public.
So after another lengthy review it's pretty easy to see how I'm going to be wrapping this up. I really do adore the Hugo. I'm going to go ahead and say that as far as I'm concerned it's the perfect wearable vibrating prostate massager, seamlessly combining form and function. Top marks to Lelo for creating this; it's going to be my go-to toy from now on. The only slight drawback, because there always has to be one, is that like with the Loki I'd still like it to be a little more rumbly. Comparing it to the Rosa is what really brought that home, and made me realise that I'm not crazy for saying that. The Hugo is the superior toy in so many ways, and the one I'd recommend, but the slightly more rumbly vibrations from the Rosa permeate that bit deeper into the prostate, like ground penetrating radar, and it's a difference that's enough to be felt. When you consider all the other fantastic features of the Hugo which make it a winner, like the shape, the power, the patterns, it matters less overall, but I can't help but imagine the result if it had that extra oomph from a deeper vibration.
Whether it's the Hugo, or you shun the remote and go for the Bruno, I really do recommend getting one of these. It's an incredible experience which is worth trying first hand. If you've never tried prostate massage before it'll entirely change how you've ever thought about the idea of sex toys for men.
Many thanks to the folks at Nice 'n' Naughty who sent this to me to review for them, and you can buy the Hugo from them right now if you're in the UK or Europe.
Check out the Lelo website if you live further afield.