Red-light therapy has spent years living on people's faces, in the form of glowing, alien-looking LED masks. Now it has moved into sex toys.
LELO's new Mona Spectra is a $299 G-spot vibrator with a row of LEDs running along the insertable part of the toy. According to VICE, red light is the main attraction, but connect the toy to LELO's app and you can also switch to blue, green and near-infrared light. LELO says the tech is meant to support intimate wellness, including circulation, lubrication and tissue health.
The VICE reviewer says that even without the LEDs, she'd still think it was a very good vibrator, praising its silky silicone, powerful vibrations and curved shape. The toy offers 16 intensity levels and eight vibration patterns, per VICE. It is fully waterproof, and its controls sit right on the handle, so you don't need your phone every time.
The light is where opinions split.
The Sun's reviewer, a mother of two who writes the paper's sex toy column, followed LELO's recommendation of using the red-light setting three times a week for 10 to 15 minutes, according to The US Sun. She says she felt more relaxed and, to her, tighter, and that her partner commented on it too. She also says her orgasms felt increasingly intense and that she felt more lubricated than usual.
VICE was more skeptical. Its reviewer used the toy twice and says she definitely felt warmed up. But she also notes she'd just used a powerful vibrator, so of course she was turned on. "What I can't say is how much of that came from the red light specifically versus the vibration, warmth, stimulation, or just the fact that I was already in the mood," she writes. She says she couldn't feel a difference between the red, blue and green settings.
Not much, and not about this toy.
According to Katie Couric Media, a 2019 review concluded that preliminary evidence suggested photobiomodulation (the clinical name for red-light therapy) was safe and potentially effective for genitourinary syndrome of menopause, which includes vaginal dryness and tissue thinning. It adds that a 2026 randomized clinical trial found some improvements in sexual function among women with that condition who received the light therapy alongside pelvic-floor muscle training. But it cautions there isn't enough evidence to say red-light therapy can treat sexual dysfunction or raise libido across the board.
VICE points to a separate 2026 randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 65 postmenopausal women. It found the therapy helped with some symptoms, like vaginal dryness, burning and urinary leakage, but didn't significantly improve sexual function compared with placebo.
LELO's own claims go further. According to The US Sun, a pre-launch consumer study found that 78.9 percent of women using the device two to three times a week noticed increased intimate moisture after four weeks. Per Katie Couric Media, LELO's own user manual states the device "is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition."
As for the honest drawback, VICE's reviewer says the charging cable still uses standard USB-A instead of USB-C on the power end, which she calls a letdown at $299.
The US Sun lists the toy at $299, or $269.10 with the code SPECTRA10, and VICE says the code runs through Oct. 15.
VICE's reviewer sums up the case for buying it this way: she wouldn't expect it to fix dryness, but would buy it because it's a very nice vibrator, and the light gives you something extra to experiment with.