I’m excited to review the beautiful Zini Deux, a very luxurious couples toy. It won a “Red Dot Design” award in 2010. You may be wondering what on earth the Red Dot Design award is. So was I.
It’s an international product design award open to various types of manufactured products (not just for sex toys). It’s been going since 1955, and there’s been more than 11,000 submissions from 61 different countries.
Back to the review, as always when I order my toys from Lovehoney, our new Zini Deux arrived very quickly and discreetly with no clue that inside there was a sex toy.
What’s in the box?
The Deux comes in a very uniquely designed storage box that beautifully nestles the massagers together. The box is split so there are different compartments to it. There’s also a magnet on the box to keep it sealed.
The packaging is gorgeous and before you’ve even tried the Deux, you know you’ve bought something very special and luxurious because of the presentation.
In the top compartment is your Deux itself. Underneath is the storage case, mains charger, user manual and one year warranty.
Unfortunately the mains charger is not a UK charger. It’s European. BUT Lovehoney sent me out a UK adapter with the Zini Deux so we could still use it in the UK. I thought this was very helpful and was impressed they included the adapter with the Deux.
With many new sex toys there is a distinct chemical smell when you first receive them which slowly fades, but with the Deux there was barely any smell to it apart from the subtle newness smell you are bound to get.
You may have read my review on the Lovehoney lifelike realistic dildo and the smell from this was extremely chemically and a bit off putting. Thankfully the Deux was nothing like that.
In summary the contents were:
- The Zini Deux
- European Charger
- UK adapter
- Storage bag
- Information leaflet
- One year warranty
What does it look like?
The Zini Deux comes in two colours, purple and white. I chose purple because I find white a bit plain but it’s personal choice.
The photos don’t do the Deux justice because in real life mine was a rich purple on the outside and bright fuchsia coloured on the inside. Zini themselves describe it as “purple and hot pink”.
There’s a video review of the Deux on the Lovehoney website.
The massager fits together in a perfect egg shape, and comes apart into two pieces. They’re held together by magnets! Very clever.
One side is for him, and the other for her. The male side is scooped out for cradling the testicles and scrotum, whilst the female side has a firm rigid nub, is very smooth and used for clitoral stimulation.
The storage bag is as well-made as the Deux. It has a piece of ribbon around the neck and looks pretty.
What does it feel like?
The Zini Deux feels velvety to touch and is really nice to hold. It’s very smooth and is obviously a well-made good strong luxury sex toy. In a word, it’s classy.
As well as feeling velvety it is also quite hard and doesn’t bend. The advantage of this though means you can really press it into you as firmly as you want to.
It is nice and light and not heavy or awkward.
How big is it?
The Zini Deux as a whole is 5.5 inches long with a circumference of 7.9 inches. The male side alone is 4.25 inches and female side alone is 5 inches in length.
How is it powered?
As a charger is mentioned above you will have guessed it’s charged up by mains power. Before you use the Zini Deux you do have to charge both sides fully.
You charge each side by moving the covering over the charger hole, pushing the adapter into the hole and then plugging into the mains. It needs to be charged for 2 hours (for each side). This means you need to charge it for 4 hours in total.
I did find this a drag, and it would be useful for future products to be able to charge both pieces together at the same time. It’s easy to forget that you’ve charged one side but not the other.
Another option would be to give the charger two wires to plug into both sides at once. I imagine this will happen in the future.
After two hours of charging, the Zini Deux lasts for around three hours of use.
- Tip – The Lovehoney video review says not to charge the Deux twice in 24 hours the first time you use it or this can damage the battery.
How loud is it?
It’s not overly noisy but it’s not quiet.
Being a couples toy sound isn’t usually such a big problem and with the power inside it and being mains chargeable, some noise is to be expected.
We would have preferred it to be slightly quieter, but this is probably not realistic.
How do you use it?
The information booklet is really useful. It goes into a lot of detail.
We found it very simple to use. You have three buttons – The plus (+) button, zero (0) button, and minus (-) button.
To switch on you press and hold down the plus button which is also used for increasing the speed of the vibrations. The minus button decreases the speed and also switches the Deux off by pressing and holding it down.
The middle 0 button is used for going from continuous vibrations to patterned vibrations.
- Tip – Press and hold down 0 to move into “random” mode. The Deux cycled randomly through the various settings.
The power of the vibrations in random mode depends on how high the vibrations were set before you pressed it. To adjust the power you just press the plus or minus buttons.
You can also “lock” the Deux so that there’s no danger of it going off in your handbag or suitcase. This is done by holding down the plus and minus buttons together and then you do the same to unlock it.
You tend to only get the locking feature on luxurious high end sex toys. The last toy that had this function I reviewed was the Lelo Insignia.
The ability to lock a toy is brilliant. It gives you such peace of mind if you are travelling with your toy and worry about it accidently switching on somewhere like the airport.
A vibrating vibrator in my suitcase at baggage check-in would be a complete nightmare for me!
- Tip – The Deux is splashproof, NOT waterproof. Don’t put it underwater.
How many settings does it have?
Both sides have an amazing 15 different functions. 5 of these are different speeds and 10 do different patterns of vibration.
One thing I loved was the way each different vibration mode has a different colour lit up! It’s a very nice touch and very useful in the dark so you can see what setting you are on.
Every time you press the middle 0 button, the colour changes along with the pattern.
Both parts have their own control settings and work individually. In one way this means you can both have your own preferred speed and pattern, but for me I like the idea of sharing the same vibration setting and would have liked them both to do the same thing at once to make it more of a complete couples experience.
- Tip – The information booklet doesn’t say to only use a water-based lube with the Deux, but on the Zini website it does say that the Deux is platinum silicone coated. Because silicone-based lubes will degrade silicone coated toys, it’s best not to risk damaging such a high quality toy so I would suggest you only use a good quality water-based lube to be on the safe side.
Does it really work?
We did think it was a good sex toy but it is for heterosexuals really. Both partners can also use the Zini Deux alone.
The male side does seem to give stronger vibrations and other reviewers noted this too.
Here’s some of the ways you can use the Zini and I’ve incorporated ways that other people have suggested too:
For men –
- Use the male side under the balls and at the same time use the female side on the penis.
- Use one side against the anus and another on the penis.
- Use both sides one under the penis and one on top giving fantastic vibrations all the way down to the balls.
For women –
- Use the female side for clitoral stimulation and all over the female genitals it feels good.
- The nub part sits on the clit and the rest hugs the labia and stimulates them. It feels really good.
- The nub part of the female side can also be flipped round for stimulating the vaginal entrance or the female anus if you like that.
For both –
- The Deux is also a great massager! So you can enjoy giving each other some deep massages all over too with it. Having two parts also means you’ve got one for each hand.
- Experimentation is great fun with the Deux and you can find out what you both like. It’s fun having two vibrators that can be used on each other at the same time to tease and work each other up into a frenzy.
The Deux is one of those toys to use to savour time together and be sensual with. It’s not great for a really quick orgasm but it does give you a lot of pleasure for shared teasing especially.
What are the good points?
- The packaging and whole thing is beautiful and luxurious and would be a lovely gift for a partner.
- The lights change colour with each mode.
- It feels amazing to use with your partner.
- There’s a travel lock so there’s no danger of vibrations in transit (at the airport etc!)
- Easy to clean, there are no nooks and crannies for lube to build up in.
What are the bad points?
- Major downside – You have to charge each side separately for 2 hours each.
- It’s one of the most expensive couples sex toys around with a hefty price tag, but it’s also one of the most luxurious
- The plug is not UK and you have to use an adapter with it (Lovehoney get round this by providing a UK adapter).
- It’s not waterproof – it’s ‘splashproof’ – do not put it under water or it will break.
What do other people say?
On the Lovehoney website there are currently only four reviews to read. Some products have hundreds of reviews, but of the four they are all very good ones scoring 9 out of 10 stars. I have a feeling there are less reviews due to the price of this toy and it isn’t as affordable as others.
One reviewer does point out the major flaw of not being able to charge both sides of the Deux at the same time. I agree with this.
In Summary
The Deux is two vibrators for him and her that fit together and looks pretty. Is it worth the hefty price tag?? I’m not so sure. It’s certainly pleasing to the eye and a luxurious sex toy but I do have my own reservations about how much it cost.
If you can afford it I would say try it. But there are cheaper sex toys for couples available.
Update
Unfortunately the Zini Deux is now discontinued (sad face) but you can check out lots more luxury couples sex toys at Lovehoney instead and find something equally as good.