It was a clever idea I thought, and I was definitely intrigued, but it was also clear that it wasn't exactly anal safe, or ever designed to be used that way. After all, there was nothing stopping that little pink tail from being pushed or pulled entirely inside the body.
I couldn't blame those performers though, because even though it was a toy designed for female cammers it was clearly good, and there was no alternative for men, so if they wanted to get in on the action then it was their only choice.
What's actually interesting about the two sizes is that internally they're identical, the Medium one is made bigger simply by having a thicker layer of silicone around the exterior. While I do like the fullness of a bigger plug, I'm curious to see if this extra silicone will have any effect on dampening the transmission of the vibrations.
The
Hush can be operated in two ways, either manually via the button on the base, or via the smartphone app. If operating it manually then it has three separate power levels and four different patterns which can be cycled through by simply pressing the button. It's a nice option to have, if for whatever reason you don't feel like using your phone, but most of the time you'll probably be wanting to use the phone app as it offers a far greater degree of control.
The app itself gives you two ways to use it, either by logging into your account - which is essential if you want to take advantage of its Internet-enabled features - or simply by choosing to use it locally. I'd recommend logging into your account in any case, as I did encounter a glitch in the app when using it in local mode, which I'll mention a little further on.
The app has five different functions, which are all actually pretty neat. The first is "Remote" which is just your basic system for controlling the
Hush. You simply use a slider to adjust the power of the vibrations, and you have the option of either leaving it on a chosen level, or constantly playing around with it to create your own custom rhythm of pulses. It gives you a really tailored level of control, and is a lot of fun mess around with.
The next mode is "Patterns." It comes with a selection of four pre-set patterns, and also the option to record your own custom patterns, or even try out patterns created by other users. At first I thought this function was broken, as none of the pre-set patterns would work when I selected them, but this was while I was using the app in local mode. As soon as I logged into my account they worked perfectly, so be wary of this glitch. If you want to try out the custom patterns from other users then you need to be logged in anyway. The four default patterns are Pulse, Wave, Fireworks, and Earthquake. Pulse is an intermittent series of vibrations, Wave steadily ramps up and back down again, and Fireworks and Earthquake are a bit more erratic. I found them to all be very enjoyable, but I wouldn't have minded a few more if I'm honest, though the option to try out more from other users does compensate for this, and you can always recreate your favourite pattern from another toy manually if you really want. A couple of clever features within the pattern section are the ability to adjust the speed of each pattern, to make the pulses slower or more rapid for example, and also the option to make playlists of patterns, so you can alternate between various ones without having to change it within the app each time.
The third mode is "Music" and this one I find to be particularly cool. Music vibrators were all the rage a few years ago, but I never actually tried one and can't speak to how good they were, but I had a lot of fun using this with the
Hush. The app will search for any local music files you have on your phone, then once you select one it'll play and the
Hush will vibrate along in time to the rhythm. It works best with songs with a more simple beat, but it's surprisingly accurate, and did have me giggling quite a bit. The drawback is that you do really need to have music on your phone, as it won't work with Google Play Music, for example, which is where I keep most of my songs, so I ended up testing it out with Steve Grand's "All American Boy" and Cher's "Bang, Bang" which happened to be what I had available (I'm such a gay cliche). It does give you the option to use Spotify, however, but only if you're a premium subscriber.
The fourth option, similar to Music, is "Sound." Here the app accesses your microphone and makes the Hush vibrate in response to anything it picks up. This is probably the least effective mode in my estimation, as it just seems to make the
Hush vibrate in response to anything, even when there appears to be complete silence in the room. There is a sensitivity slider to adjust, which I found I needed to set almost as low as it would go in order to stop it vibrating constantly, and then you can get it to respond when you talk into the microphone, but frankly it's just a bit awkward to use and not particularly fun, so I tend to skip it.
The last option is "Alarm." That's right, you can set an alarm on your
Hush. If you're the type of person who's inclined to fall asleep wearing a butt plug, then now you can set it up so that the Hush wakes you up by bursting into full vibration! You can even use it for other alerts; sneaking off for a sexy rendezvous in the afternoon? Why not have the
Hush buzz you in the backside as a reminder? It's a nifty little feature to have, though I'm not sure how much use you'd practically get out of it, and its effectiveness would also depend on the battery still being alive, depending on how far into the future you set your alarm.
The other big feature of the app is that it allows for remote control of the plug over the Internet, meaning that you can give your details to another person, and they'll be able to decide when to activate the
Hush that you're wearing. This is going to be one of those things that's going to be a lot of fun for couples, especially those having a long distance relationship. It's one thing to jerk off together over Skype, but if you have the power to massage your boyfriend's prostate from halfway across the country, or even the globe, then it adds an extra level of intimacy. It's even great for more risque behaviour, like having someone wear the
Hush during the course of a regular day, and then activating the plug while they're out shopping, or at work.
One place that this feature is especially designed for is use in conjunction with camming websites, as I mentioned at the start. There's a whole platform designed to sync it up with
Chaturbate, so it should really appeal to any performers on there.
In terms of use the
Hush is really comfortable to insert; lube clings beautifully to the matte finish of the silicone, and the long taper helps it to gently slide into place. Obviously as the
Hush comes in two sizes you're going to want to pick the one which suits your level of experience, but if you can't decide between them, then I'd say don't be afraid to go for the bigger one, because that generous taper will really help you to work up to inserting it. Once fully inserted the
Hush feels great, and I love that fullness that comes with the added girth; it really adds to the overall experience. What's interesting about the
Hush is that despite the thicker layer of silicone on the Medium model, there's not really much squish to the surface, so it all feels pretty solid throughout, but still with just enough of a cushion that you can clench your muscles around it without discomfort. One thing I was initially a little sceptical about was the ridges around the neck, but you don't really feel them during use, so there's no need to worry that they might chafe. The design of the base itself is great too; it nestles completely unobtrusively between the buttocks, and you can even sit on it, making it great for everyday and long-term wearing.
Probably the most important aspect of the
Hush is the vibrations, and I'm pleased to say that these are impressively strong, and you can definitely feel them penetrating into the prostate. On the whole the vibrations are more rumbly than not, but I'd still probably place them at a medium-rumbly point on the buzzy-to-rumbly scale. As always I'd love just a little more rumblyness to penetrate that bit deeper into the prostate, but as it is it's still pretty great. If we're comparing it with the We-Vibe Ditto (review pending) then the Hush greatly out performs it in terms of both power and rumblyness, but compared to the
Lelo Hugo the Hush is less rumbly, and feels slightly less powerful. One thing I did notice about the
Hush, which you might consider a drawback, is that the focus of the vibrations appears to be right at the very tip of the plug, which I don't consider to be ideal. If you think about how a plug sits inside the rectum it's the widest point of the bulb which nestles right up against the prostate, not the tip. You do get a slight sense during use that you're not getting the full force of the vibrations directed right into the prostate, and rather it's what's being transmitted back through the body of the plug from the tip, but that doesn't stop it from feeling powerful. One probably has to be realistic here though, because there's only limited space inside a plug to fit all the inner workings, so it's an understandable compromise.
What makes the
Hush a really great toy for me is the combination of all the aspects of the design, from the wonderful fullness of the size, as you feel it physically pushing up against the prostate, to the strength of the vibrations that penetrate into the organ. They both complement each other and create a toy which feels really pleasurable, and which adds a whole new level of wonderful sensation whether you're wearing it during masturbation, or even during sex.
The burning question for anyone who's ever watched
Chaturbate is exactly
how good is it? We've all seen those moments when a guy gets a big tip and he screws up his face and starts to moan in ecstasy, and we all kinda figured that they had to be acting to a degree, so is that realistic? Well frankly, no. It definitely feels great, but it's not eyes-rolling-back-into-your-head instantly-orgasmic great, at least not for me, but that would be a hell of a lot to expect from a toy anyway. It isn't a million miles away from that though. With a little more of a deeper rumble, and the full force of the vibrations focused right on the prostate, I could envision myself giving out a little yelp at the first pulse from it.
The next point of consideration is connectivity, because when a toy is largely controlled via a phone app it's paramount that the two maintain wireless communication, especially if you're wearing the
Hush out somewhere where you may need to switch it off quickly. The
Hush does a fantastic job in this regard, and whilst wearing it under a pair of underwear and a pair of trousers, I was able to walk halfway across a room from my phone and come back to find it was still connected. This was one of my big gripes about the We-Vibe Ditto, as the thing would disconnect at the slightest moment, but the
Hush does a great job. In instances where it does disconnect (because I've wandered too far from my phone), normally it reconnects itself automatically, though there have been a couple of occasions where I had to quit the app entirely and turn the Hush off and back on again with the switch in order to re-establish connection, but for the most part it's been very reliable.
The question of noise is something which you may want to take into account if you're considering using the
Hush in public. In general terms it's something I'd class as a quiet toy, but it's definitely loud enough that if you're walking around using it then anyone nearby is going to be able to hear it, so it's not discreet in that regard. It's perfect for bedroom use, but you may get a few bemused looks from people if you walk past them buzzing. This is probably the one area where the whisper quiet We-Vibe Ditto has the edge.
The
Hush is advertised as having 1.5 - 2 hours of continuous use, after which it'll require recharging with the included USB cable. It has a slightly old-fashioned style charger which must physically be plugged into the toy, rather than the magnetic connectors we've all become accustomed to in recent years. Once plugged in a red light will glow on the base to indicate charging, but unfortunately the light shines through the black silicone and is incredibly faint, so it's hard to tell at a glance if it's actually charging without cupping your hand around the base to get a better view, but once plugged in you can generally leave it alone for a few hours to charge by itself, and then come back to a full battery ready for use.
In terms of care the
Hush is waterproof, so you can easily give it a good cleaning after use, without worrying about damaging it, which makes maintenance nice and straight-forward.
I have to say that on the whole the Lovense Hush is probably my favourite vibrating butt plug that I own, and that's saying a lot. It's really well made, has a beautiful design, feels comfortable to wear, and has wonderful strong vibrations. It also happens to be by far the most effective wireless app-connected product I've tried to date, not to mention being packed with features. It's not strictly a prostate massager, but when it comes to any vibrating butt toy for men it's undoubtedly the prostate where we want to feel everything, and the Hush does a really good job on that front. It's by no means perfect, but as much as I'd love a little more rumble, or a little less noise, of all the vibrating butt plugs on the market today this is the one that I'd buy, and the one that I'd recommend.
When I first heard that someone had made a rimming plug I’ll admit I was a little sceptical about the idea, but also rather excited as I'm a sucker for something new and off the beaten path.
