ZIIP Halo Review, Pros, Cons and What to Know
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
Read bio
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
Read bio
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
Read bio
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
Read bio
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.
Share
ZIIP Halo sells at $399.99 and runs nanocurrent and microcurrent at a published 309 microamps, driven by an app with a library of guided treatments.
This article compares the two on what decides the result you actually see, such as:
- What it is
- What it does well
- What it does not do
- The gel question
- What is not published
and many more!
We sell a competing device, so weigh the criticism accordingly; the figures are all published ones and the praise is genuine.
Key Points:
309 microamps sits below the motor threshold, so no setting contracts a facial muscle.
The app-led treatment library is the reason most owners stay consistent with it.
ZIIP gels run $60 to $130 a bottle and the device is designed around them.
ZIIP does not publish a manufacturing country for the Halo and we found no FDA clearance stated.
If sub-motor current is what you want, the price is reasonable for what it is.
What it is
A smooth two-electrode handheld that pairs with a phone app. You pick a treatment, the app runs a sequence of waveforms for a set duration, and you move the device over the face while it plays.
The output is published at 309 microamps, which places it in the nanocurrent and microcurrent bands. ZIIP built its reputation on nanocurrent specifically and has been in that territory longer than almost anyone selling in this category. Microcurrent in that band is not nothing, and a 2022 systematic review found measurable effects on wound healing at sub-motor intensities (10.1016/j.jtv.2021.12.002), which is the honest case for it.
Sessions are short, typically under ten minutes, and you feel very little, which is what sub-motor current is supposed to feel like.
What it does well
The app is the strongest part of the product. The treatment library is well organised, the routines vary, and being told exactly what to do for eight minutes removes the decision that stops people using a dial-based device consistently.
Consistency is the variable that decides whether anyone sees anything from any device in this category, so a product that solves the adherence problem has solved something real.
The build quality is good, the device is comfortable to hold, and the brand has a track record in the band it chose rather than having arrived recently with a marketing budget.
Sub-motor current is also the right choice for a lot of people. If texture and tone are the concern rather than contour, the low band is the correct target and there is no reason to pay for anything stronger.
What it does not do
No setting on the Halo contracts a facial muscle. Ward's work sets out the three thresholds as current rises, and 309 microamps sits well below the third, where a nerve fires a muscle (PMID 19095805).
That is a design decision rather than a defect, and it becomes a problem only if you bought it expecting the outcome that Kavanagh and colleagues measured, an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness over 12 weeks of motor-level stimulation (10.1111/jocd.12007). That is not available in this band. Okuda and colleagues used CT imaging to measure change in the orbital muscle directly (10.1093/asjof/ojaf154), which is the kind of evidence this category rarely produces.
There is also no dedicated serum delivery technology, so what you apply stays largely where you put it. PureLift's Infuse pass is the opposite approach, and iontophoresis is not a marketing word for absorption; Zhang and colleagues measured the increase in vitamin C penetration it produces (10.1016/S0378-5173(99)00058-3).
The gel question
ZIIP's conductive gels run from $60 to $130 depending on the formula, and the treatments are written around them.
Over two years of regular use that is a substantial figure sitting on top of the $399.99, and it belongs in the calculation rather than being discovered later.
Some owners use cheaper conductive gels successfully; whether you consider that a workaround or a compromise depends on how much you value the formulated version.
What is not published
ZIIP does not state a manufacturing country for the Halo as far as we can find, and we found no FDA clearance stated for the device.
Neither absence means the device is unsafe or improperly sold. It does mean two things a buyer might want to look up cannot be looked up, which is worth knowing when comparing against devices that publish both.
The 309 microamp figure is published, which is more than several competitors manage, and credit where it is due.
Who should buy it
Someone who wants sub-motor current, likes being guided by an app, and is comfortable with the gel as a running cost.
Someone whose concern is skin quality rather than contour, since that is the band this device works in.
Someone who has tried a dial-based device and stopped using it, because the app genuinely helps with that.
Who should look elsewhere
Someone who wants muscle contraction, which requires crossing into milliamps. Our own Face at $499 reaches 7 mA at 500 ohms and crosses the motor threshold at level 3, and the price-matched comparison sits in a separate article.
Someone who does not want a recurring gel cost, or who would rather use a serum they already own.
Someone who wants a published clearance number and manufacturing origin to check before buying.
For how the current bands differ, see what the output numbers actually mean.
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.