While it may not have the profile of industry giants like Kiiroo or Lovense, Wow Tech Group-owned German brand Arcwave has been quietly producing a modest range of sex toys for people with penises for the past five years. Its flagship product, the Arcwave Ion, claims to provide “a female orgasm for men” using the same Pleasure Air Technology that made parent company WowTech’s Womanizer line famous.
In 2025, it released the updated Arcwave Ion 2, which promises to deliver mind-shattering orgasms, but doesn’t appear to have iterated much on the original. And whether it can stand up to the industry’s stiffest competitors is another matter. At €169/£147/$199, it’s on the more expensive end of the market, and will have to pull something special out of the bag to win out over devices like The Handy or the recently launched Kiiroo Keon 2.
Visually speaking, the Arcwave Ion 2 is virtually identical to the original Ion. It has the same slightly unusual design and the same CleanTech silicone sleeve that is open at both ends, meaning cleanup after use will involve less rinsing out than other strokers. Another handy feature – also carried over from the first model – is that the sleeve portion smoothly detaches from the main body containing all the electronics. This gives added peace of mind (alongside the IPX7 waterproofing) that you won’t damage anything during cleaning. It also comes with a discreet neoprene carrying case, which is a thoughtful touch.
What’s less thoughtful is the placement of the control buttons, which are on the underside of the device from a user’s perspective. There is one general-purpose button used to power the device on and control Autopilot mode, and two different buttons to adjust the suction intensity up and down. These intensity buttons also work together to replace the previous Ion’s button that controlled the Smart Silence feature, which is now activated by holding down both buttons simultaneously for a few seconds. This feature, which is meant to activate the suction only when the stroker is in contact with skin and turn off when removed, makes its return here.
While these controls are relatively easy to distinguish by touch, their positioning isn’t especially user-friendly. They can also be somewhat hard to operate mid-session, particularly because the simultaneous button-hold used to activate the Smart Silence mode is fairly awkward. Like many other strokers on the market, the Arcwave Ion 2 is also quite bulky in terms of its size. As a result, using it will likely prove challenging for anyone with physical mobility or grip issues, especially given the manual nature of its operation.
The Arcwave Ion 2 doesn’t offer traditional vibrating motors. But as with the first model, this stroker’s big boast is its Pleasure Air Technology, which supposedly uses “pulsating airwaves” to stimulate the sensitive nerves around the frenulum. It functions in a similar way to devices like Womanizer’s range of clitoral stimulators, albeit with less necessity, but more on that later.
What is new in this update is an Autopilot mode that randomly switches between different levels of suction intensity (split into three groups). But unfortunately, that’s your lot when it comes to added features. There’s no digital connectivity, no interactivity to speak of, and not even any alternative suction patterns to choose from.
What’s more, the contrast between the soft-touch silicone sleeve – which doesn’t feel as pleasant or luxurious as other devices we’ve tested, incidentally – and the hard plastic of the main control unit isn’t particularly appealing. The fact that the sleeve is a single loop of silicone also means that it can be quite tight, and doesn’t have nearly as much give as other stroker sleeves. In fact, the whole thing feels a little cheap in terms of its materials and design.
The battery is charged via a magnetic pin charger, but it’s also compatible with the original Ion’s charging base, which includes an insert to help dry the unit after cleaning.
The Ion 2 doesn’t bring much to the party, even when compared to its predecessor. As far as we can tell, the addition of the Autopilot feature is the only notable change that this device makes over the original, which we found to be a genuinely innovative if steeply priced device in our Arcwave Ion review, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell the two apart otherwise.
It especially struggles to compete with other devices around this price. Compare it to the Kiiroo Keon 2, which includes interactive content-syncing features, automated stroking, and the option to use a wide variety of sleeves – and the Ion 2 looks somewhat spartan.
The Ion 2 is a very bare-bones device. With no dedicated vibration motors, the Pleasure Air feature’s suction is the only sensation on offer beyond manual stroking. However, this still involves quite a lot of manual movement on the user’s part, since maneuvering the penis into the optimal position for full contact between the frenulum and the air intake can be somewhat fiddly.
Although the Pleasure Air suction does feel enjoyable, and it delivers a good level of strength across all settings, we’re not convinced it’s any more enjoyable than a traditional vibration motor, and at least that would do a better job of distributing the sensation across the device rather than consolidating it largely in one specific spot. The lack of features also means that there’s not really much experimenting to be done here, especially considering that the Autopilot feature only randomizes the intensity in a very limited capacity. As a result, sessions with the Ion 2 are likely to get comparatively dull quite quickly.
Another important point to note is that this unit generates some of the most noise of any rival we’ve tried, even on the lowest setting. The Smart Silence feature also flatly didn’t work for us, even when not in use and resting on a counter, the Ion 2 kept merrily rumbling away to itself, requiring a manual shutoff. All of this means that, for users who want a discreet toy that they can use quietly, this one probably won’t fit the bill.
The Arcwave Ion 2 makes a number of grand promises, but unfortunately, it fails to deliver on most of them. The design is unassuming, but rather than being discreet or artful, it looks more like some kind of kitchen gadget than something that belongs in the bedroom. That could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your view.
While the air suction technology that made Womanizer a household name is great for clitoral stimulation, it just doesn’t make as much sense for penises, and the results are satisfactory at best. Paired with a surprisingly cheap-feeling construction and a paucity of features, this stroker doesn’t really have much to justify that “2” on the end. All it appears to have added is the Autopilot feature, which isn’t much to write home about. The dearth of functionality is even more apparent when comparing it to the competition.
The aforementioned Kiiroo Keon 2, for example, retails for $218 (or even less, considering the current Early Bird sale) and offers a host of additional features and connectivity, while the Blowmotion Vibrating Hand Job Masturbator offers basically the same functionality in a much more aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-operate form for just under $80.
The Ion 2 isn’t a bad sex toy, necessarily, but it’s not doing anything to stand out. It hasn’t added anything significant over its predecessor, and there are far better devices available for less money. Our advice: pick up one of those instead and use the savings to treat yourself to some top-quality content to enjoy it with.
