Giving your partner mind-bending pleasure in bed is an understandable and noble goal — kudos! — but it can also be a tall order at times. If you’re concentrating on thrusting, for instance, it can be tricky to reach between the two of you and provide some clit stimulation with your hand — either because you can’t physically access it, or because it feels like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time.
Good news, though: Vibrating cock rings are an excellent tool for the job. They wrap around the base of your dick, trapping blood inside it like any cock ring does, so your boners will be harder and longer-lasting. At the same time, they rumble pleasurably against your partner’s clit — or perineum, depending on anatomy and positioning — so both of you can enjoy the vibrations at once, hands-free.
As someone who needs clit contact to get off, I appreciate vibrating cock rings for their ability to make sex feel more natural, more intimate and less awkward. When my partner is wearing one, neither of us has to reach down there or hold a vibe by hand on that spot — we can just fuck and the clit stimulation will meld seamlessly into the sex we’re having. And since I tend to squeeze my pelvic muscles involuntarily when things are feeling good, these nifty vibrating rings amp up the pleasure substantially for both of us.
There are countless vibrating cock rings on the market, from cheap watch-battery ones to pricey, high-tech ones. Somewhere in the middle is the CalExotics Link Up Max, a well-designed, USB-rechargeable cock ring that costs just $30 and gets great reviews, both from those who wear it and from the people they’re fucking.
What Is the Link Up Max Cock Ring?
Like many cock rings, the Link Up Max is made of stretchy silicone that can fit a variety of dick sizes. But this one has a few key features that set it apart from lots of its competitors. For one thing, the Max isn’t just a single cock ring — it actually comes with two rings, one that vibrates and one that doesn’t. The non-vibrating ring is optional, but can help keep you extra-hard and anchor the vibrating ring in place. Cock ring slippage isn’t a huge deal but it can be kind of a mood-killer when you have to keep re-adjusting mid-bang.
The non-vibrating ring can also be worn on its own, if you ever want the boner-boosting properties of a cock ring without the vibration aspect. Given that you essentially get two sex toys when you buy the Max, $30 seems pretty reasonable!
Another noteworthy feature of the Max is the part that juts outward from the ring itself to make contact with your partner’s body. With many cock rings, you have to stay more-or-less balls-deep for the vibrator to make consistent contact with your partner’s clit or taint — which can feel good, sure, but can also get a bit tiresome when you’d rather focus on the pleasure than on keeping the ring in exactly the right spot. The vibrating part of this ring sticks out enough to give you a bit more range of motion without unintentionally edging (and frustrating) your partner.
That same part of the ring also has a ridgey section that looks like an art-deco-esque design feature, but has a practical purpose too. When a partner grinds their clit or taint against that textured area, it’s more stimulating than if it were smooth. Basically, this product aims to turn your dick into a sex toy that can pleasure multiple different parts of your partner’s anatomy — and your own — at once. It’s like the Swiss army knife of sex toys, only, you know, less sharp, and lacking a bottle opener.
The Link Up Max has 10 different vibration modes, which you can cycle through by pressing the power button on the side. It’s got a memory chip in it that remembers the mode you were using when you last shut it off, so if you’re all about pulsations or waves, you can get back to your fave setting with almost no effort — always useful in the heat of the moment.
What Are People Saying About It?
The Link Up Max gets predominantly positive reviews online — people love that it’s easy to use, hits the right spot(s) and makes sex more pleasurable for both partners. “It excites me when she has an orgasm, and I feel her clench up while I’m inside her,” one reviewer on the Bellesa Boutique website wrote. Lots of users noted that it works especially well in cowgirl position, because the partner on top can grind against the ring exactly where they need some pressure and vibration.
It even works well as a solo toy. As one user wrote on the Bellesa site, “Got this just before the lockdown so I have yet to use it with a partner but it sure has upped the masturbation game in the meantime. I didn’t expect the vibrations to feel as good as they do and I’ll say it’s been worth it.” The compression offered by cock rings can also increase your sensitivity, making for a potentially explosive self-love session.
Sizing can be an issue with the Max, though. “It’s a wider ring than others I’ve used, and if you’re a little below average girth, it can feel a bit loose,” a reviewer pointed out. The Max has an internal diameter of 1.5 inches — that’s about 4.7 inches around — as does the non-vibrating ring it comes with, so if your member is thinner than that, you may want to opt for a closer-fitting cock ring like the We-Vibe Pivot.
Another user found the Max was too small for them, and recommended using some lube to get it on if that’s true for you too. (Go with water-based lube, because silicone-based lube could damage the material of the toy.) One user in the r/BigDickProblems subreddit said it fit their six-inch circumference without issue, so this could be a good pick if you’ve found other cock rings restrictively tight.
A creative user on the Adam & Eve site discovered an interesting way to repurpose this cock ring. “My wife and I decided to create a fantasy cuckold relationship, buying a Mr. Marcus dildo and this incredible vibrator,” they explained. “She sneaks away and enjoys the outstanding, realistic feeling of the [dildo] deep inside, but we added this ring vibrator and she’s having explosive orgasms, quickly, intense and multiple times each use.” You could also loop the Max around a few fingers so the vibrations will give your partner some extra external pleasure while you’re fingering them. Sex toy life hack!
For just $30, the Max is a great buy: You get both a vibrating ring and a non-vibrating one, which you can experiment with separately and together. You can use it solo, with a partner or even on a dildo. It’s a multi-function, multitasking pleasure tool. Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?
Kate Sloan
Kate Sloan is the author of the books '101 Kinky Things Even You Can Do' and '200 Words to Help You Talk About Sexuality & Gender,' and has reviewed over 300 sex toys on her blog at GirlyJuice.net, to the chagrin of her high school guidance counselor. She also cohosts the podcasts 'The Dildorks' and 'Question Box.'
