← How To Use
Eclipse is worn, not held. One arm sits inside the vagina against the front wall, the other folds down over the clitoris outside, and the whole thing stays in during penetration so two people feel the same motor at once. Because nobody is holding it, what keeps the external arm pressed against the clitoris is the position you are in: choosing a position is not a preference with Eclipse, it is the technique.
Charge it to full. A half-charged motor in an internal device reads as vague rather than weak.
Wash it before first use. Warm water, mild unscented soap, and a finger through the groove where the two arms meet, the one part of the shape that holds residue. Eclipse is medical-grade platinum-cured liquid silicone and fully waterproof.
Have water-based lubricant within reach, and use more than you would solo. Water-based only, because silicone lubricant slowly degrades a silicone surface. Two bodies generate far more friction than one.
Wear it once on your own first. Solo, you learn how far in the internal arm wants to sit and where the external arm lands on your anatomy.
Then have the two minute conversation: who holds the phone, how high either of you will take it, and what word means stop right now.
All four work, and they fail differently, so the mechanics are worth knowing.
Missionary, hips tilted. Here the position does the work for you. With the penetrating partner above and forward, their pubic bone rests on the back of the external arm and holds it flat against the clitoris for the whole session. No hand required. The catch is space: pressed-together bodies leave the arm nowhere to go, so if it starts a little high it gets pinned in the wrong place. A firm pillow under the wearer's hips tilts the pelvis up, brings the clitoris forward and lets the arm settle lower and flatter. Then ask the penetrating partner to ride slightly high in a grinding stroke rather than a long in and out one, because the grind keeps constant pressure where long strokes repeatedly lift off.
Wearer on top. Start here on the first attempt. It is the only position where the person feeling both arms also controls angle, depth and pressure. The mechanic is lean. Sitting bolt upright leaves the external arm with nothing behind it, so it flaps loose and delivers about a third of what it should. Lean forward onto hands or forearms and your partner's pubic bone pins it where you want it. You set pressure by how much weight goes through your hips, and angle by rocking forward and back rather than lifting up and down. Rocking also keeps the internal arm seated, where bouncing walks it outward a few millimetres at a time.
From behind. Rear entry presses the internal arm toward the front wall from a new direction, which people find genuinely different. What it does not give you is anything holding the external arm, since no partner body sits in front of the clitoris. So the wearer stabilises it. On hands and knees, keep one hand underneath with two fingers on the back of the arm, easy for a while and tiring over a long session. Lying flat on your front with a pillow under the hips is better: the mattress holds the arm, the wearer's weight sets the pressure, both hands free. Ask for shallower strokes either way, because deep thrusting from behind moves the internal arm more than anything else.
Side-lying, both facing the same way. The most forgiving of the four, and the one to reach for when the arm will not stay put in anything else. Bodies at an angle leave the most room around the device, so very little pushes the external arm off target and the internal arm barely moves. The wearer brings the top knee forward and up, which opens the angle and gives the arm a clear line to the clitoris. Movement is slower and shallower here, which suits long unhurried sessions, and it is the easiest position to talk in, which matters more on a first attempt than it sounds.
Now the honest part. Eclipse shifts, because two moving bodies cannot hold anything still, and a few millimetres is the difference between the arm on the clitoris and the arm beside it. Expect to slide it back two or three times in a first session. Most couples find by the second or third use that they have one position and one pace where it simply stays. Treat the first evening as calibration.
One. Somewhere private and unhurried, lubricant open. Have the two minute conversation first.
Two. Warm up before anything goes in, and ten minutes is not excessive. Arousal lengthens the vaginal canal and makes the front wall more responsive.
Three. Coat the internal arm with water-based lubricant, add some at the entrance, and a drop where the external arm meets the clitoris.
Four. Insert lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Guide the internal arm in slowly at a shallow angle toward the small of your back, then let it rotate upward so the tip meets the front wall and the external arm folds onto the clitoris.
Five. Switch on at the lowest steady setting before penetration begins, not after, while the external arm is still easy to adjust.
Six. Move into position and start slowly, wearer on top leaning forward or missionary with a pillow under the hips.
Seven. Climb one level at a time and be willing to come back down. Afterwards step down through the lower settings rather than switching off at full.
The penetrating partner feels two things. The first is vibration through the vaginal wall into the shaft, broad and slightly muffled, spread along the length rather than concentrated. The second is sharper: wherever the pubic bones meet, the external arm is pressed between them, delivering a firm, direct buzz to the base of the shaft. The second is far stronger, and it decides whether a partner enjoys Eclipse or finds it too much.
Reactions genuinely split, and this is the half of Eclipse nobody explains. Plenty of people find it excellent, particularly at low steady intensities where it reads as a warm hum that makes everything else more vivid. Others find it distracting in a predictable way: at higher intensities the buzz competes for attention with penetration itself, and some find a strong setting at the base makes an erection harder to maintain. Neither is a fault. That area is simply more sensitive in some people than others.
So, how to dial it. Start low and steady and stay there longer than feels necessary, because steady vibration fades into the background within a minute while patterns keep pulling attention back. The working rule is patterns while you are close and still, steady while you are moving. If the buzz at the base is too much, the wearer inserts the internal arm slightly further, which lifts the external arm a few millimetres off the pubic bone without moving it off the clitoris. And there is nothing wrong with switching it off for a stretch and back on for the finish.
Give the phone to whoever is likelier to want a change, or leave it where either hand can reach. The commonest frustration is not intensity, it is one person waiting for the other to notice they want it lower. Say it out loud. Our guide to using toys as a couple goes deeper.
Eclipse runs perfectly well with no phone near it, and if you never open the app you lose nothing essential. The buttons cycle intensity and patterns for both motors. Steady modes give continuous vibration at a set strength, patterned modes introduce pulses, waves, escalations and rhythmic breaks. As a rule patterns extend arousal and steady modes finish it, because at the point of orgasm most people want predictability rather than novelty.
The Velvet Vibes app, on iOS and Android, adds custom patterns you build and save, sound and music reactive modes, and control handed to a partner in the room or on the other side of the world. Our guide to vibration modes and patterns goes further.
Handing the phone to the person you are in bed with changes the dynamic more than the sensation. The wearer stops anticipating the next change and starts receiving it. Start with slow builds rather than jumps between extremes.
Across distance the same control works over any internet connection, so one person can run intensity, patterns and builds in real time from another city. Two things make it work: a stable connection at both ends, and the same short conversation about the ceiling and the word. Our guide to long-distance intimacy covers the rest.
Eclipse also earns its place solo. Worn hands-free it behaves like any internal and external device, and because it stays seated with no hand on it, it suits pelvic floor work too. Our guide to kegel exercises sets out the protocol.
For the app side of that, creating a room, inviting someone and passing control back and forth, see Love Bridge and long-distance sessions.
Reaching for a phone mid-session is the interruption nobody wants, which is why the wrist works well here. See controlling your massager with an Apple Watch.
Wash it immediately after use. Warm water, mild unscented soap, and real attention to the groove where the arms meet and the underside of the external arm, both of which collect lubricant. If more than one person has used it, wash fully between users, or use a condom over the internal arm and change it.
Pat it dry with a lint-free cloth, then leave it in open air until it is genuinely dry rather than dry to the touch. The join between the arms holds moisture longest, so in a humid Indian summer give it ten extra minutes rather than sealing damp silicone into a pouch.
Store it dry, cool and dark in its own pouch, away from other silicone items. In a shared home a fabric pouch inside a closed box is more discreet than a drawer. Our guides to cleaning and storing and body-safe materials go further.
The external arm keeps sliding off. The internal arm is not in far enough, or the position has no body weight behind the arm. Reinsert with more lubricant and move to wearer on top or side-lying.
The external arm does not reach the clitoris. Insert slightly less far so the whole device sits lower, and tilt the hips with a firm pillow.
The internal vibration feels vague. Normal. Internal tissue has far fewer nerve endings than the clitoris, so angle that arm further toward the front wall and lean on the external motor for sharpness.
It is too much for the penetrating partner. Drop to a low steady setting, or have the wearer insert the internal arm slightly further so the external arm lifts off the pubic bone.
It will not charge. Almost always residue on the magnetic contacts, so wipe both sides with a dry cloth and lay the device flat while it charges.
It will not turn on. Check the travel lock first.
It will not pair. Power the device off for five seconds, force-close the app, toggle Bluetooth, and stay within a couple of metres.
It sounds louder than it did. Usually a low battery, so recharge first.
Does it move around during sex? It shifts, which is normal for every device of this shape. Reach down, slide it back, carry on. Most couples have it seated reliably by the third session.
What does the penetrating partner feel? Vibration through the vaginal wall along the shaft, and a firmer buzz wherever the pubic bones press the external arm between them. Some love it, some find it distracting at higher intensities. The fix for both is low and steady rather than a fast pattern.
Which position should we try first? Wearer on top, leaning forward onto hands or forearms. It gives control of angle, depth and pressure, and is the easiest position to correct in without stopping.
Can I use it on my own? Yes, and worth doing before the first partnered session so you know how it seats.
Can we use it with a condom? Yes. Latex and polyisoprene are compatible with silicone and water-based lubricant, and a condom over the internal arm is the quickest way to share it.