Review: Honey Play Box OLY 2

I’m such a fan of Honey Play Box, that when I tried their new app for the first time a few months ago, I was a bit taken aback. The app itself was fine, a little weird to navigate and without any social features, but otherwise it did what it needed to do. Instead, it was the app on Honey Play Box’s website and the instructions included with my OLY that was not fine… because it was completely different! Not only did the two apps look nothing alike, but many of the advertised features simply didn’t exist on the real thing, causing concerns of false advertising. Of course I let Honey Play Box know my worries, and they quickly got to work updating their website to match the current version. But by then I had finished my testing, and never got the chance to revisit it. Until today, that is, for my review of the Honey Play Box OLY 2!

Product Description

So yes, I’ve got a bit of déjà vu considering I first tried the Honey Play Box app alongside their newly released OLY, and now here I am again a few months later trying it with their newly released OLY 2. Whilst I quite enjoyed this dual-stimulation panty vibe, it seems it wasn’t good enough for the US brand, who have now discontinued it in the wake of this new version. What’s different? Well, if we’re talking about non-app functions, then just one thing: pressure controls. Also known as touch response controls, basically this means that the toy will increase or decrease its vibrations depending on the amount of pressure applied to it. Now, I have only tried this technology once before in the California Exotics Luxe, which was terrible. And to this day, I don’t understand the purpose. Honey Play Box say “feel the stimulation change with your touch”, but who’s touching it during use? And if it does respond to my vaginal muscles, what is the benefit? Other than this, the OLY 2 is exactly the same as the original. It looks identical (thank god I got it in pink so I could tell them apart), has the same nine vibration modes, same charger, same controls, and comes in the same two silicone colours. And because of all this, I’ll be referring to that review a lot here, since there’s not much point in me discussing it all for a second time. Then, in regards to the app, there are two new features that Honey Play Box are prominently advertising for use with the OLY 2, and that is voice commands and vaginal temperature detection, the latter of which they list as helping to enhance the accuracy of menstrual cycle tracking. Finally, like the OG OLY, the OLY 2 is also USB rechargeable, body-safe and fully waterproof, and whilst it is safe for anal play, it is not intended for it.

Packaging

My order for the OLY 2 was placed with Honey Play Box on the 6th of February and I received it on the 15th. The package was then 100% discreet, with no mention of who sent it or what was inside, which is an improvement from past packages from the brand. As for the box of the toy itself, this is then also identical to what the original OLY came in, so for a description you can see that review. The only difference is that this OLY comes with a light brown bag, rather than green, and it also has a new app manual. This is particularly important to me as the last one led to a lot of issues, and I’m glad to see this manual be up-to-date. Although it only contains brief instructions on how to download the app and turn on bluetooth, and whilst a QR code is provided for more detailed instructions, unfortunately this just leads to the Honey Play Box product page for app toys. Finally, the OLY 2 comes with a one year warranty.

Charging

Charging the Honey Play Box OLY 2 is easy since it is USB rechargeable, and the same as on the OG OLY. Simply plug one end into a USB port, and then connect the other to the metal plates on the toy. These will attach to each other magnetically, but do be careful as the connection strength isn’t the strongest. Charging should then take two hours to give you one and a half hours of use, with the light flashing when the battery is being filled and then becoming solid upon completion. In addition, Honey Play Box recommends charging the OLY 2 before first use.

Controls

The simple single button controls of the original OLY also make a return on the OLY 2, and so to turn the toy on or off you can hold down the button, with success being indicated by its light turning on or off. You can then continue clicking to cycle through the nine vibration modes, three of which are steady speeds and six of which are patterns, with the dual motors running together. The one change present is thankfully also something I had issues with on the original: the light. Whether it has actually been fixed or it is because of the different colour, I’m unsure, but on the original OLY this light was barely noticeable, making it difficult to tell when the toy had turned on. On the OLY 2, however, it is nice and bright, making use far easier. As for the new pressure controls, this also seems to work well. Placing it in my fist, a tight squeeze is all it takes to start the vibrations once the toy is in stand-by mode, although actually feeling a variety of speeds is a little harder, as it tends to just jump between being off to its final intensity and back again. One thing I was surprised at though (and worried about) is that this mode is always on, rather than being activated by the button or app.

The App

Considering the app is where everything went wrong for the original OLY, I was a little nervous opening it back up for my review of the OLY 2. You can see my full verdict and thoughts on the app itself at my round-up review, but I’ll go through how it affected my use of the OLY 2 here. Basically though, things still aren’t great, and my overall ranking of the Honey Play Box app has actually now dropped down from a 3/5 to a 2/5. Controlling the OLY 2 with all of the usual methods is fine, with some of the previous glitches being now ironed out, and the sadly missed online chat has also made a triumphant return, with text, audio and video options all available. Plus, the new vaginal temperature detection also works well, giving me real time info on the exterior temperature of the OLY 2 in fahrenheit (I wish I could change it to celsius though). Although personally I don’t have any use for this, and it does seem that it doesn’t record the information in the menstrual tracker like it is suppose to. So really it is just the voice commands that has been the biggest let down here. Because it just… doesn’t work?! When you first go into the app control menu, a notification comes up asking for permission to “access speech recognition”, which I allowed, and there is then a menu with command examples, for instance “start” and “max”. But no matter what I’ve tried, and how many times I’ve said the word “start”, nothing has happened. I’ve also tried it with another Honey Play Box toy I am reviewing, the RORA 2, and also had no luck. Am I doing something wrong? Perhaps. But since there is no information in the instructions, on the brand website, or in the app itself, I have no idea. So, as with my review on the original OLY, once again I’ll state that while this app does all of the basics you need, it does suffer from its prominently advertised features not being present.

My Experience

Since my experience with the Honey Play Box OLY 2 is almost exactly the same as it was with the original OLY, you can head to that review to read all the details. There were, however, two differences worth talking about here. Firstly, in that review I complained that the toy’s vibrations would turn off after around 30 seconds if you closed the app while using it. I’m happy to say this glitch has now been removed, significantly improving my use of the app. Secondly, there is the pressure control. After my review of the California Exotics Luxe, I was mighty sceptical about this, but somehow it is even worse than I thought. Initially, I was worried it would turn on during insertion, or that it would just get stuck at full speed once inside. But instead… there’s nothing! Just like the voice commands all over again, I can’t get the OLY 2’s pressure controls to work in actual use. Although at least with this I know that it does work, and merely that I cannot squeeze the toy hard enough with my vaginal canal to get it to run. So perhaps my kegels are just really out of shape, and this would work for someone else. The only thing I found to make an impact is if you go into the pressure settings within the app, and turn the sensitivity up to 100%. Once this is done, the vibrations will sometimes turn on, and do seem to respond to my muscles. However, they also randomly fluctuate up and down constantly, which is quite unpleasant and presumably not what Honey Play Box had in mind.

Cleaning & Care

Cleaning the Honey Play Box OLY 2 is easy since it is made from silicone and is waterproof. Just throw it in some soapy water when you’re done, give it a wash, rinse, and then dry. You can then store it in a zip-lock bag to keep it clean, as the silicone attracts dust. Furthermore, make sure to not use silicone-based lubricant with this product, as it may react badly to the silicone it is made of, but if you do then first perform a spot test.

Final Thoughts

With the original Honey Play Box OLY and the OLY 2 being so similar, it’s no surprise that I once again enjoyed this product. Hands-free play in bed is where it shines most, with the external arm sitting perfectly over my clitoris, while extended discreet wear as a panty vibrator continues to be unsuitable due to how loud it is. So it was really the new features, and some small fixes, that I reviewed here today. Of the latter, there was the stronger light and the need to no longer keep the app open, little changes that made a big impact. But in regards to the actual new features, unfortunately I feel quite let down. Of the main four, the vaginal temperature detection and online chat worked the best, but sadly I have little use for these. What I was interested in was the pressure control and voice commands, neither of which I’ve ever seen successfully used in a sex toy… and I’m afraid I’m still waiting. Both were complete failures, and whilst I am hoping the voice commands just need an app update to fix, I can’t see the OLY 2’s pressure sensors working for me anytime soon, not unless I start a strict training regime for my kegels. So, if you have the original OLY and are thinking of upgrading, I’d recommend against it. But, for everyone else, I’ll remind you that despite all this, the OLY 2 is still the cheapest app compatible toy I’ve tried, and as long as you aren’t expecting anything more fancy than some quality dual-stimulation, this is a good pick.

Updates

[2/4/24] After publishing my review, Honey Play Box got back to me about the issues I’d experienced with their app. Whilst they did not address the pressure control, they were able to shed some light on the voice commands. It turns out that there is actually an activation phrase you must say first, similar to the “Okay Google” or “Hey Siri” you find on other smart devices. It is “Hey Honey”, and although this phrase does feature on a few images on the OLY 2 product page, there is nothing to suggest this is anything more than marketing copy. To use it, you’ll need to press the voice command button and then say the phrase. It’ll reply “I’m here”, and after this you can choose a command from the voice menu, which is pretty intuitive. You only need to press the button once, but the activation phrase has to be said prior to every command, which does get a bit annoying, and is especially weird during partner play. Plus, it’s definitely not perfect, with “Honey” not understanding many of my commands, or registering them only for nothing to actually happen. Finally, Honey Play Box told me they plan to make the activation phrase more obvious, but as of yet there has been no updates to the app or website.

You can get the OLY 2 directly from Honey Play Box for just $105 AUD / $69.99 USD, plus use my code GRACE15 to get 15% OFF your total order!

Last updated: 2/4/24

Price at the time of writing: $105 AUD / $69.99 USD