I’ve owned the Nora Bluetooth Vibe for 3 years and a lot has happened to it over the years. From app updates to video game support the Nora is a smart vibrator that keeps getting smarter.
Note: This article will only be covering updates and new features about Nora. For information about the packaging, materials, how to use it, the app or settings please refer to the initial review: Nora Bluetooth Vibe Review.
Battery Life & Charging
The Nora’s battery life is still as impressive as ever. It has not lost its ability to keep or hold a charge. It can still stay on standby for days, without much of a drain, if any.
The charger’s connection also seems to be exactly the way it was the day I got it. I haven’t even needed a replacement. The charging port and the wire are still working as they did out of the box. No damage to either of them.
Controls & Features
When it comes to controls, the lovense app is still the main way to use the wireless features. It’s not the only way to play with the nora bluetooth vibe however.
Lovense has introduced many different things over the years that connect to their toys such as an ai video app named vibemate, gameconnectivity and browser support; all without needing a dongle.
Lovense Remote (Main App)
The Lovense Remote app has had a complete overhaul, in terms of design and features. There are a ton of new ways to connect and play with your lovense toys and they don’t always have to be with another partner.
Nora Bluetooth Vibe’s Settings
I realized this wasn’t covered in the initial review, so I’ll cover it here. To access Nora’s settings click on its name in the bubble on the right side corner.
From here, you can change Nora’s universal settings for the vibration and rotation. You can set the intensity of each feature separately or choose to shut one off completely.
If you hit the setting button under the feature’s control panel you will also be able to give the nora a new public wifi name, set up a pin, shut the LED light off and change what happens during disconnecting and reconnecting.
Home
The close range section has been renamed to home and contains most of the same features from the previous version with the exception of control links and a moved alarm app.
Remote
Not a lot has changed about the original remote, except that they have added a local sync feature to the app now so you can locally sync lovense toys together.
Control Links
Control links are a new feature to the lovense app. These links allow you to pair your toy with a random anonymous stranger or friend.
There are a ton of ways to customize the links, such as making some links only for friends and some for strangers, not allowing friend requests and much more.
Music
The music sync seems to have improved immensely over the years. The rhythms no longer seemed unmatched like they did with the old software.
The sync is overall better than before. At first it takes a moment to find the beat, but once it does, wow. It does a pretty good job. It even was less intense on a slower song which was not the case last time.
I found that it works best when the vibrations are sex to a minimum of around 25%-30% because it gives it range for different songs.
It did still struggle from time to time with finding the rhythm to some anime music but I’d say 85% of the time, it matched and the other 15% it felt like it was trying to match. Unlike in my last review where it felt like the toy was just playing a random unrelated rhythm.
App Gallery
The app gallery is a brand new addition to the Lovense remote app. In this section there are casual games, which can be played within the app, that are compatible with the Lovense toy of your choice. These games range from things such as seduce your ex (a bubble popper game), Colortris (variant of tetris), and block cutter (similar to fruit ninja).
Long Distance
The long distance feature works better than ever. In my last review I mentioned how the video call’s default volume was too loud, it wasn’t able to be muted and that both features on the nora had to be on during couple’s play. Every, single, one of these issues have been solved.
The volume settings are better when wearing headphones; the default is set to a decent (but not loud) volume and it can be completely muted. It does use classic phone in call features so if the headphones are pulled out the volume will unmute.
The Nora Bluetooth Vibe is also more customizable than ever in this mode, with the newly added option to completely shut either the vibrate or the rotating head feature completely off.
Discover
The discover tab houses a ton of wireless features that can be used with the nora. It contains public patterns to try by yourself, control roulette to play with strangers and a ton of local experiences that make these toys unique.
Patterns
This part of the app is the same as it was in the old version. Instead of having its own section at the bottom of the app, patterns have been moved to the discover tab. This feature works exactly the same as it did in the earlier version, which was flawlessly.
Control Roulette
Control roulette is a new feature that allows you to sync up with random strangers. You can choose different filters to customize the experience to your liking such as playing with the chat on or off for a more anonymous session.
What control roulette doesn’t have however, is an option to randomly control a stranger. As of now, it seems that it only supports sync play. Which is such an oversight considering how many people like the idea of helping a random person get off.
I'm a male searching for a female, maybe that's the problem 💀
— Saarusuke (@saarusuke) November 17, 2023
I haven’t used this feature personally, but I did read around that those with penises have more trouble finding matches, it’s hard to find matches that stay, you get matched with those you denied previously and sometimes you match up with the same person more than once. So, hopefully overtime as lovense becomes more popular there will be more and more random users to connect with, which will solve this problem.
Sound
The sound mode has been relocated to the discover tab much like patterns. This feature didn’t work that well on the old version and the new version has only slightly improved.
It has gotten better at picking up voices, but it’s still not that great at it. The sensitivity settings are still too sensitive so even at 10% in an almost completely quiet room it will vibrate often.
It has gotten better at picking up voices, but it still isn’t perfect. I’d say the best sensitivity setting for voices is under 8%. The toy does still vibrate here and there on its own without anyone talking, but it’s something.
All and all I wish there was more range with sensitivity. It seems anything over 10% will just make the toy buzz like crazy.
It’s also worth noting it’s a bit difficult to slide the slider to the lower numbers and I wish there was a way to manually input the percent I wanted.
Speed Mode
Speed mode is supposed to vibrate your toy based on how fast you’re accelerating. I write supposed to because I haven’t been able to get it to work at all. I tried jogging with it, using it as a passenger in a moving vehicle and even just shaking my phone frantically. Thing thing wouldn’t even start buzzing.
The concept of this mode is fun, however, as it is, it doesn’t seem to work.
Game Mode
Game mode is new. It allows you to turn your video game experience into an erotic interaction by connecting the nora bluetooth vibe through your local wifi. This mode allows you to connect to different erotic games that can be bought or played free on your pc.
It’s currently compatible with stand alone games that can be accessed through the browser, steam games, and some mods such as Wicked Whims (there may be more).
I’ve personally connected it to Wicked Whims and I couldn’t be more excited. It doesn’t read patterns but it does read interactions and I can see the potential in customizing certain patterns to certain positions. I do wish this mode had more customizable options though, both settings on the Nora have to be used in this mode (rotating and vibrating)
List of Games & Mods the Work With Lovense
Alarm
The alarm feature has been moved to the discover tab.
The connection between the alarm and the toy is more stable than it has been in the past with less connection drops. As for the feature itself, it still functions more like a timer instead of an alarm, with the app needing to be open in the background and the toy having to be on to work.
Interactive Video
Interactive video is another new feature for Lovense toys. This feature uses A.I. syncing to scan videos and control your toy accordingly. And, so far I’ve been impressed with the results.
Through the lovense app you can try it out on a select few Youtube videos but where this feature really shines is in the Vibemate app, which will be discussed later.
Me
The me section of the app houses all the account features such as policies, security, and account settings.
VibeMate
Vibemate is a stand alone browser app that is dedicated to using A.I. syncing to scan explicit videos and control your toy simultaneously. It can be used with a variety of adult websites, such as onlyfans, xhamster pornhub and more.
I’m blown away by how well this feature works. The sync is impressive and it makes watching porn incredibly immersive. There are a few patterns that are so well synced it feels like you’re there.
Videos that don’t have patterns will try to sync through A.I. scanning. The results will vary with sometimes it being amazing and other times I’m not sure what it’s doing. In these cases you can choose from pre-set patterns or make your own.
The app itself is intensive and it can make browsing times slower if you don’t have enough ram to allot to it.
In all honesty I’m obsessed with vibemate. I find myself gladly waiting for the app to sync before I even begin. It’s the main way I masturbate recently.
VibeMate Beta
Vibemate also has a beta testing app currently available for public testing that shows a promising feature for the future.
The new feature wants to allow users to use the a.i. sync technology outside of the app. This would allow you to sync websites, games and personal videos all to your toy.
I tried the app out for myself and it’s definitely still in its early phases. The connection dropped often and it seemed to have issues with certain websites such as hentai.tv. (it kept disconnecting).
I did find it performed slightly better with more traditional porn websites. The connection was more stable and it synced up well, even when just scrolling through thumbnails. It’s not perfect though.
It has trouble knowing when to start and stop and occasionally comes on during the talking parts of porn. It also needs a video with constant erotic input, because too much talking or down time and it will disconnect.
All and All this feature seems extremely hopeful and I’m excited to see how it will improve and advance in the future.
Games & Websites
Lovense apps aren’t the only way to play with Nora anymore. There are now a variety of games, apps and websites outside of the lovense world that are compatible with its toys.
Nora Bluetooth Vibe (and others) can now be connected to erotic stories, VR games, paid adult sites and even The Sims with the help of the Wicked Whims Mod (which I plan to cover in a later review).
Other Things to do
- Erotic audio stories that syncs with the device
- Ai Syncing with Vibemate on Desktop
- Have sex in VR or classic desktop mode.
- Compatible with many paid adult sites for synchronized play.
Vibrations
The Nora Bluetooth Vibe now allows you to control the global strength of the toy’s vibrations. You can set the max strength in the settings and it will limit the toy’s intensity to match that. You can also turn it off completely.
The vibrations of the toy are still as strong as ever, I set mine at about 40% most of the time, and if I want something a bit more intense, I’ll crank it up to around 50-80% but I rarely hit 100%.
The whining noise I mentioned in my old review, that used to happen when Nora was at its weakest setting, no longer exists.
Rotating Head
Along with the vibrations, the rotating head has also gotten settings that allow you to change its max strength or turn it off completely.
I did notice an oversight that I didn’t catch in my last review of the rotating head however. There is no way to change the direction of the rotation in the app. This means, it can only rotate counter clockwise when manual settings are used.
And it does this no matter what you do, if you have it set to rotate counter clockwise and connect it to the app it will change the direction. It makes me wonder if it’s possible to add a setting that will allow switching.
Connectivity
The stability of the connectivity will now depend on the features you are using.
The Lovense Control app still has an amazing connection that very rarely drops when using it locally or at long distances.
However, some features like games and AI sync sometimes have connection drops. If you are using a PC, the connection can be made more stable by using a bluetooth adapter.
Discreteness
The nora now allows you to make a custom bluetooth name for the device. The name that is chosen updates globally, not just locally, so all bluetooth devices nearby will see the chosen name. This adds to the level of discreteness when using the toy especially if you name it well.
Final Thoughts
Holy crap has lovense been busy, when I first bought the toy all it had was long distance play and camming. Now, it has over 5 ways to use it, and the list keeps getting bigger.
Lovense as a company seems to genuinely care about their products, and their constantly finding new ways to use them. The fact that the nora still works, gets updates and is compatible with all their new features shows me their dedication to their product, and their company.
I love Nora Bluetooth Vibe now more than I did when I first got it, and to me that’s a sign of an amazing product. From the ability to make custom patterns, to being able to use it with my favorite game; I find Lovense toys to be incomparable to any other toys in this market.
Where to Buy: Nora Bluetooth Vibrator
