Asexual Sex Toy Review: Tenga Spinner

Overview:

Toy: Tenga Spinner

Designed For: Penis

Type: Close-ended sleeve

Price: ~$25-30

Anatomical Features: None

tl;dr:  Decent sleeve toy, but I’m concerned about long term reliability.

[Content Warning:  This post contains information about using a sex toy, including personal details of its use.  There are also images of the toy and how it is used, featuring a realistic penis toy.  These images are at the end of the post and there will be another warning before that point.]

Details:

The Tenga Spinner is a closed-ended stroker sleeve that’s designed for penises.  It’s about 5.5 inches long and 2 inches wide.  The sleeve itself is a super soft and stretchy material that does not have a scent, but that is slightly tacky and will attract hair and dust if not stored properly in the included storage case.  The Spinner has a completely abstract, non-anatomical design.  There are three types to choose from, but all of them have a similar interior, featuring discrete bumps  The size and shape of these bumps is the main difference between the three models.

The intended use of a Tenga Spinner is with a penis.  Lube is a requirement. (Water based!  Other types of lubes may damage the toy.)  Lube is placed around the opening and inside the sleeve, or on the penis, depending on personal preference.  The erect penis is inserted into the sleeve and the toy is typically used in a stroking motion, sliding it up and down along the shaft.

The sleeve is closed on one end.  This means that the toy will fully contain any fluids produced during its use.  This means you won’t make a mess when you use it, but it also means that the toy itself can be difficult to clean and get fully dry.  The case comes with a drying stand (which doesn’t work all that well, more on that later).

The distinguishing feature of this toy is the pair of plastic coils embedded in the sleeve material. They spiral around the circumference of the toy.  As you stroke, the coils expand and twist, pulling the sleeve along with them.  This gives the toy a slight spinning sensation in addition to the typical up and down stroking movement.  These coils also provide some pressure that the toy material itself would not.

The sleeve has a diameter of about an inch at rest, but can easily stretch to two inches or more when in use.  The 5.5 inch length will also stretch, so if your penis is longer than the toy, the last inch or two won’t feel left out.  The plastic coil will limit the stretchability, but I’m not sure how far it can be stretched before that becomes a problem, because I don’t want to damage my toy.

The material is translucent, but not clear.  It’s too foggy for a clear view of the penis, although the general shape can be made out.  I think it’s more likely that this toy is only see-through to show off the coils and their twisting action.  Clear toys tend to get foggy after a few uses anyway, so this isn’t a big deal.

It’s possible to mostly avoid contact with fluids while using this toy.  If you’re careful, your hand probably won’t get covered in lube, although some will start to gather around the open end of the toy.  Also, because it has a fully closed end, ejaculation will be caught by the toy.  It’s much less messy than using a Tenga Egg, but not as clean as using a Fleshlight.

With the toy in the case, it sort of looks like a quirky little sculpture or a small lava lamp or an energy drink container or something.  It doesn’t really give off a “sex toy” vibe.  The case does say “Tenga: New Adult Concept”, though, so anyone examining it closely would see that and be a quick Internet search away from discovering what it is.  As you can see in the photos below, the packaging for the toy is not explicit or crude.  It is very matter-of-fact about what it’s used for, and does not try to indicate that it simulates and kind of sex act or should be used with a partner or anything like that.

It does not seem like this would be a good toy for a small penis or a clitoris.  The internal diameter is around an inch, and the coils make it difficult to squeeze it any smaller than that.  It also seems like the toy should not be used vaginally, as the toy is made of a potentially porous material that should not be used internally.  And it definitely should not be used anally, as there is no flaring to prevent the toy from being stuck.

Personal Take:

It’s similar in size and shape to the Tenga 3D line (in fact, I think the case uses the same mold as one of the 3D sleeves), which is nice.  It’s big enough that my entire penis can fit inside and small enough that I can toss it in a drawer or take it on vacation.  It’s also soft and stretchy and doesn’t smell bad, which are some of the most important features in a toy like this.

It has better suction than most closed toys.  The air tends to get squeezed out as I enter, and there isn’t much fussing around to prevent ballooning.  The suction doesn’t prevent movement, like it can in some other toys.

The spiral plastic coils provide just the right amount of pressure.  I can feel it, and there’s definitely more pressure than there is in most similar sleeves, but it’s working for me, not trying to cut off circulation or push me out.  (In fact, if I let go, it stays put, unlike most toys, which will slowly squeeze themselves off the end.)  The coil pressure also squeezes the sleeve closed against the head, so the entire head gets some stimulation.  The coil is embedded deep enough in the material that I can’t feel the individual ribs, only the consistent pressure from all of them.  All-in-all, there’s a pleasant sensation of being enveloped by the toy.

It’s this pressure that’s most apparent for me, and not the spinning action.  I barely feel the spinning, actually.  The coil unspools and twists as the material of the sleeve expands, but it’s doing most of this just in front of the head of the penis.  But by time the head gets there, the coil has already done about 90% of the twisting motion, so there’s very little left for the head to experience, and even less for the shaft.  If you want spinning all the way down, you’ll have to provide that yourself.

One marketing video shows the toy being gripped from the closed end and the toy spinning the whole way down the shaft.  I’m sure that’s all well and nice for the rigid glass rods used in that commercial, but my penis doesn’t work that way and doesn’t really like having pressure applied in that way so it started to bend out of the way (never a good thing), and the toy just sort of squashed itself instead of sliding down.  Instead, I’ll grip it near the bottom and stroke with my hand on the shaft and let the toy take care of the head by itself.  Usually with sleeves like this, I’ll have to provide pressure to the head with my hand, but here the coil takes care of that.  I can also grip in the middle and get a little bit of twist on the lower shaft, but it’s really not that effective.

The coil is the biggest distinguishing feature and the biggest benefit to this toy, but it’s also my biggest worry.  It seems like the plastic of the coil might break or that it might tear away from the sleeve material itself over time.  The toy isn’t so expensive that it would be a total rip-off if that happened down the line (I’m at a pretty good Dollars Per Orgasm rate with this toy so far…), but I don’t like things that fall apart, and this feels like something at risk of falling apart.  I’m especially concerned about the possibility of the coil snapping and leaving a sharp edge, because sharp edges suddenly appearing on something that’s sliding on my penis is not my idea of a good time.

I like the case that it comes in.  It’s a huge step up from the Tenga 3D cases, which were large and didn’t lock together.  This case isn’t much larger than the toy (so it’s portable and storable), and the pieces of the case lock together, so you can store it horizontally in a drawer without it coming apart.

A little bit of lube goes a long way in this toy.  The closed end helps with that.  I haven’t needed to stop and top it off, like some other toys require.

The material has a bit of a “grip” to it.  A lot of toys either stick or slide as I stroke, depending on how much lube is present.  But the Spinner gently pulls and sort of rolls along the skin.  It might be that as the coil contracts, the material relaxes and sort of grabs at the skin of the penis.  Whatever it is, I don’t think I’ve felt this kind of sensation before, but it’s rather enjoyable.

This “grip” and the previously mentioned suction act as a sort of speed limit for how fast I can stroke with it.  If I try going too fast, there’s too much resistance and too much pulling and it becomes uncomfortable.  That’s fine by me, going too fast tends to be overwhelming and unpleasant for me, anyway.  The toy seems to encourage edging, with a slow build to a strong orgasm.

Unfortunately, the “grip” of the material also can be felt on the outside of the sleeve, as well.  It’s not sticky exactly, but there’s a definite tacky feel to it.  When I take my hand away, this tackiness makes it feel like there’s something on my hand, even when the hand is perfectly clean and dry.  It’s nothing like the icky-stickiness of the Fleshskins Grip thing, but it’s certainly disconcerting.

I’ve also noticed that the toy warms up quickly, but in addition to that, it seems to transmit some of that warmth back.  Most toys just stop being cold, but this seems to actively be slightly warm.  I don’t know if that’s imagination or some sort of friction heating from the coil or what.

The place where this toy falls flat is in the cleanup.  The Tenga 3D line has some of the easiest cleanup in the world of penis toys.  When you’re done, invert it, wash it off, towel off the excess water, then place it on the pole included in the storage case to dry.  The texture is meant to be stored on the outside, so the whole thing is exposed to air and will dry out.  Not so with the Spinner.  It’s simple enough to run it under the faucet and clean it out.  Unfortunately, the coil means that you can’t invert it, so you can’t towel it off and you can’t let it air dry.  The coil also prevents squeezing out any of the moisture.  The case does have a stand with vent holes that’s supposed to be used to allow the toy to dry, but without airflow, the inside will never get fully dry.  That’s bad news.  That might make the toy unusable long before the coil has a problem.  It’s not the worst I’ve encountered, but there are definitely toys that are easier to dry than this one.

Bottom Line:

Pros: Stretchy, soft, strong material, great for stroking, non-anatomical design, has storage case.

Cons: Difficult to dry, concerns about longevity.

[Content warning:  There are pictures of the toy below this point, which include examples of its use on a realistic dildo.  There is no additional review text beyond this point, only captions.]

Pictures/Videos:

[Additional Content Warning: Video beyond this point, including simulated use of the toy on a dildo.]