Are Expensive Facial Devices Worth It
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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Price mostly buys more technologies in one housing and better build, not a stronger result, and for most buyers the cheapest model in a range delivers the same outcome.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- what actually separates a $200 device from a $900 one
- why a higher current figure is not a better result
- the running costs nobody puts on the price tag
- the four cases where expensive is genuinely worth it
- the cases where it buys you nothing at all
and many more!
We sell devices from $499 to $999 and we will tell you plainly when the cheaper one is the right purchase.
Key Points:
Across most brands, the technology that produces the result is identical from the entry model to the flagship; the flagship adds extra technologies rather than a stronger version of the same one.
Current figures above the motor threshold do not produce proportionally better results, so 9 mA is not meaningfully better than 7 mA for ordinary facial toning.
Required conductive gel is the real cost difference over three years and it rarely appears in any comparison.
Build quality, probe design and battery life are the honest reasons to pay more, and none of them changes the science.
If you will not use it four times a week, no price point is worth it, which is the single biggest factor in whether a device was worth buying.
What the extra money actually buys
More technologies in one housing is the main thing. An entry device may offer microcurrent alone, while a flagship adds EMS, LED, infusion and a massage mode.
Better build is the second. Heavier housings, better probe metallurgy, longer battery life and screens that show you what the device is doing.
Professional design features are the third, including probe shapes meant for precision work around the eye and jaw rather than general passes.
What the extra money does not buy is a stronger version of the same technology, because the technology that produces the result is usually identical across the range.
Why a bigger current number is not a better result
Above a certain point, current stops being the variable that matters. A muscle either reaches its contraction threshold or it does not.
Our own range makes this awkwardly clear. Face at $499 and Pro at $699 deliver up to 7 mA at 500 ohms, Pro Edition at $799 reaches 7.7, and Pro Plus and GLOW reach 9.
All five already sit above the motor threshold for facial muscle, so the extra 2 mA on the top models is not what produces a better jawline.
If the milliamp figure is your reason for considering a flagship, buy the entry model, which is the argument we make in full in our cost benefit article.
The cost nobody puts on the price tag
Most devices require a conductive gel, and most brands sell their own at $30 to $40 a bottle.
At four sessions a week, a bottle every six to eight weeks is normal, which is $200 to $300 a year, every year.
Over three years that recurring cost can exceed the difference between the cheap device and the expensive one.
Any serum that conducts works on our devices, which removes that cost entirely, and how to test your own is in our article on conductive serums.
What the evidence says about results
Kavanagh and colleagues in 2012 followed 108 women for twelve weeks and reported an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness measured by ultrasound at the cheek.
Chang and colleagues in 2020 used a double-blind sham-controlled design, the strongest methodology in this field, and reported improvements in skin appearance measures.
Neither study compared a cheap device against an expensive one, and no study in this category has.
So anyone telling you a flagship produces a bigger result than an entry model is making a claim nobody has tested, ourselves included.
When expensive is genuinely worth it
You want several technologies and would otherwise buy a separate LED mask, a separate microcurrent wand and a separate infusion tool, in which case one housing is cheaper and you will actually use it.
You are a professional treating clients, where build quality, duty cycle and probe precision matter in a way they do not at home.
You have a specific feature need, such as LED at a published dose, which our GLOW provides at 1.13 W per square meter and 678 J per square meter over ten minutes at red 634 nm and blue 465 nm.
You have tried an entry device, used it consistently for six months and want more capability, which is the only version of this where you already know you will use it.
When it buys you nothing
You are buying on the current figure alone.
You want one thing, usually jawline definition, in which case the entry model in any decent range does it.
You are not certain you will use it four times a week, where the honest answer is to buy the cheapest credible device or nothing at all.
Your main concern is skin texture or tightening rather than muscle, since no device in this category heats tissue, which we set out in our radiofrequency comparison. The full technology map is in our category overview.
This article sits inside our full map of the category, where we set out all 33 devices we track, what each one carries and what each brand publishes: Nine Technologies on One Dial, What the Rest of the Market Actually Carries.