PureLift vs Ya-Man Medi Lift PLUS, Two Real EMS Devices Compared
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, Physiotherapeut, Doktor der Physiotherapie
Doktor der Physiotherapie (DPT), Lizenzierter Physiotherapeut (PT)
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile ist Doktor der Physiotherapie sowie CEO und Gründer von Xtreem Pulse LLC. Er erwarb seinen Doktortitel in Physiotherapie am Daemen College und bringt über zwei Jahrzehnte klinische und unternehmerische Erfahrung in der pädiatrischen Physiotherapie, Craniosacraltherapie und medizinischen Geräteinnovation mit. Sein tiefes Verständnis der menschlichen Anatomie, Muskelphysiologie und therapeutischen Technologie bietet einen wissenschaftlich fundierten Ansatz für Gesichtsverjüngung und Anti-Aging-Lösungen.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Medizinischer Direktor, Anti-Aging-Regenerationsmedizinische Klinik | Facharzt | Dartmouth Medical School
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio ist eine zertifizierte Ärztin und medizinische Leiterin der Anti-Aging-Regenerationsklinik in Redlands, Kalifornien. Sie erwarb ihren Bachelor of Science an der Loyola Marymount University und ihren Doktortitel in Medizin an der Dartmouth Medical School (Geisel School of Medicine). Ihre Facharztausbildung in Pädiatrie absolvierte sie am UC Irvine Medical Center.
Mit jahrzehntelanger klinischer Erfahrung spezialisiert sich Dr. Rubio auf Altersmanagement, regenerative Medizin, Wundheilung und Wachstumsfaktor-Therapien. Ihre Praxis verbindet evidenzbasierte medizinische Wissenschaft mit fortschrittlichen ästhetischen und regenerativen Behandlungen, um Patienten zu optimaler Gesundheit und jugendlicher Vitalität zu verhelfen.
Dr. Rubio ist leidenschaftlich daran interessiert, Patienten über die Wissenschaft hinter Hautpflege, Gesichtsverjüngung und nicht-invasiven Technologien wie EMS (Elektrische Muskelstimulation) zur Gesichtstonung aufzuklären. Ihre Artikel für PureLift LAB verbinden fundiertes medizinisches Wissen mit praktischen Anleitungen für echte, nachhaltige Ergebnisse.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Facharzt für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde und Kopf-Hals-Chirurgie | Fellow des American College of Surgeons | Assistenz-Professor für Klinische Medizin, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS, ist ein von der Ärztekammer zertifizierter Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt und Kopf-Hals-Chirurg bei ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, NY. Er erwarb seinen medizinischen Abschluss an der Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, absolvierte seine Facharztausbildung in Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde am New York University Medical Center und ist Assistenzprofessor an der Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Er ist Fellow sowohl des American College of Surgeons als auch der American Academy of Otolaryngology.
Dr. Grinbergs Perspektive als Kopf-Hals-Chirurg bietet den Lesern von PureLift LAB eine erweiterte klinische Sichtweise — er verbindet die EMS-Anwendung zu Hause mit der zugrunde liegenden medizinischen Anatomie mit derselben wissenschaftlichen Genauigkeit, die wir auf jede Gerätespezifikation anwenden.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Lehrstuhl für Angiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Klinikdirektor, Universitätsklinik für Angiologie, Brandenburgisches Klinikum | Ehemaliger Oberarzt, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann ist Lehrstuhlinhaber für Angiologie an der Medizinischen Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (MHB) und Klinikdirektor der Universitätsklinik für Angiologie am Brandenburgischen Universitätsklinikum. Er absolvierte seine medizinische Ausbildung an der Universität Hamburg, war Max-Planck-Gesellschaft-Stipendiat am Max-Planck-Institut für Herz- und Lungenforschung und hatte leitende Oberarztpositionen an der Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Campus Virchow inne, bevor er 2016 zum Lehrstuhlinhaber an der MHB berufen wurde.
Prof. Buschmann ist einer der führenden europäischen Experten für Arteriogenese – das durch Fluss angetriebene Wachstum und die Umgestaltung von Blutgefäßen – mit mehr als 150 begutachteten Veröffentlichungen und mehreren US- und EU-Patenten für Geräte, die das Wachstum von Kollateralgefäßen durch kontrollierte Scherkräfte-Therapie stimulieren. Seine Forschung verbindet mechanische und elektrische Stimulation mit vaskulärer Anpassung, Mikrozirkulation und Gewebeperfusion.
Die Beiträge von Prof. Buschmann bieten den Lesern von PureLift LAB eine gefäßbiologische Perspektive, die unsere bestehenden Autoren aus den Bereichen Klinik, Physiotherapie und chirurgische Anatomie ergänzt – und erklären, wie EMS-Stimulation nicht nur die Gesichtsmuskeln, sondern auch die Mikrozirkulation, die sie versorgt, aktiviert und warum eine intelligente Anwendung auf der Ebene des Blutflusses ebenso wichtig ist wie die Muskelkontraktion.
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Ya-Man's Medi Lift PLUS is the only other real EMS device in this category, and the comparison comes down to a hands-free mask on the cheeks against a probe you move over the whole face.
This article compares the two on what decides the result you actually see, such as:
- 3.22 mA against 7 mA, both measured at the same 500 ohm load
- what six fixed electrodes on the cheeks can and cannot reach
- why hands-free is a real advantage and what it costs you
- what Ya-Man publishes to the FDA but not on its own product page
- whether you can actually buy the PLUS in the United States
and many more!
Both devices are Japanese, both run ten minutes, and both genuinely contract muscle, which is rarer than the category suggests.
Key Points:
Medi Lift PLUS is real EMS, not microcurrent, and it is one of very few competitors we take seriously on that basis.
Its FDA filing publishes a maximum of 3.22 mA at 500 ohms; PureLift Face publishes 7 mA at the same load and Pro Plus publishes 9 mA.
The mask holds six fixed electrodes over the cheeks, so the forehead, the eye area and most of the jawline get nothing.
It sells for ¥33,000 in Japan and Ya-Man does not list it in its US range, so American buyers are importing.
It carries EMS and nothing else, with one mode and a fixed ten-minute timer, against six technologies and ten levels on PureLift Face at $499.
Why this comparison is different from the others
Most devices we are compared with run microcurrent, measured in millionths of an amp, which never contracts a muscle.
Ya-Man is not in that group, because the Medi Lift PLUS runs milliamp-level EMS, and its FDA filing under K220198 publishes the figures in full.
Maximum output is stated as 3.22 mA at 500 ohms, with pulse widths from 52 to 192 microseconds, frequencies from 2.5 Hz to 1 kHz, and a symmetric biphasic and quadphasic rectangular waveform.
Its own predicate comparison in that filing lists a microcurrent device at 0 to 43.2 microamps, which shows how far apart the two categories sit.
So this is a comparison between two devices doing the same job, which makes it more useful than most, and it means the differences are about delivery rather than about whether anything happens at all.
The output figures, side by side
Medi Lift PLUS publishes 3.22 mA at 500 ohms.
PureLift Face publishes 7 mA at 500 ohms, Pro Edition 7.7 mA, and Pro Plus and GLOW 9 mA, all at the same load.
Comparing at a stated load is the only fair way to do it, and it is worth noting that Ya-Man is one of the few brands in this category where that comparison is even possible.
Higher output is not automatically better, because comfort and control decide whether you keep using a device, which is why PureLift runs PDM underneath the current across 361 frequency points rather than holding one fixed frequency.
What the figures do establish is that both devices are operating above the motor threshold, which almost nothing else in the consumer market is.
Where Ya-Man publishes, and where it does not
Ya-Man's own consumer pages publish no output figure at all, listing rated power and little else.
Everything quoted above comes from the company's FDA submission, which is public, and which most buyers will never think to look up.
We would rather the figures were on the product page, and we say the same about ourselves, which is why ours are.
Credit where it is due: the filing is thorough, the numbers are specific, and a brand willing to put 3.22 mA at 500 ohms in writing to a regulator is not hiding.
Six fixed electrodes, and what they reach
The Medi Lift PLUS is a silicone mask worn on the lower face, with two controllers carrying six electrodes of about 5 square centimetres each.
Ya-Man's FDA filing states the intended anatomical position plainly as the cheeks, and the company sells a separate eye mask, which is a fair acknowledgement that the face mask does not cover the eye area.
That gives roughly 30 square centimetres of fixed contact, over the cheeks, with the forehead, the periorbital area and much of the jawline receiving nothing.
A probe you move works differently, because you place the current where the muscle you want is, follow it along its length, and spend longer where the face has dropped most.
The trade is real in both directions: the mask asks nothing of your technique, and the probe asks you to learn where things are and rewards you for it.
What hands-free actually buys you
Ten minutes of hands-free treatment is easier to keep as a habit than ten minutes of holding a probe, and the treatment you actually do beats the one you skip.
If your honest assessment of yourself is that you will not stand at a mirror four times a week, a mask that works while you answer email is the better purchase, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.
The counterweight is that the PLUS has one mode, a fixed ten-minute timer the user cannot change, and a five-hour minimum between sessions.
PureLift gives you ten levels, Lift and Infuse modes, and the choice to spend your three minutes a side where your face needs it.
Buying one in the United States
Ya-Man sells a Medi Lift range in the US, and the PLUS is not in it, so American buyers are going through importers at prices Ya-Man does not set.
The Japanese price is ¥33,000, which is roughly $220 at recent rates, though that is a currency conversion rather than a US price.
Be careful not to buy a different device by mistake, because the US Medi Lift range and the PLUS are separate products with separate FDA clearances and different level structures.
The mask is made in China with the controller made in Japan, which Ya-Man states on its own specification.
What PureLift carries that the PLUS does not
The PLUS is EMS and only EMS, with no microcurrent band, no nanocurrent band, no light and no serum delivery mode.
PureLift Face at $499 carries six technologies on one dial: Infusion, iontophoresis, nanocurrent at level 1, microcurrent at level 2, EMS from level 3 and PDM underneath all of it.
The Infuse pass runs afterwards with any water-based serum, which the PLUS has no equivalent of, and there is no branded gel requirement on either device.
On the science, Kavanagh and colleagues measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness over twelve weeks of motor-level stimulation (10.1111/jocd.12007), which is the mechanism both devices are working through.
Which one to buy
Buy the Medi Lift PLUS if hands-free is the thing that will get you to use it, if the cheeks are your only concern, and if importing from Japan does not put you off.
Buy PureLift Face if you want the whole face treated including the brow and jawline, the calm levels and the muscle levels on one dial, the serum pass afterwards, and a higher published output at the same stated load.
Step up to Pro Plus at $899 if you want 9 mA and PDM++, or GLOW at $999 if light matters alongside the muscle work.
This comparison 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.
Specifications verified on 17 September 2026 against Ya-Man's published material and its FDA 510(k) summary K220198.