The tiny circular window is what makes this a great choice for removing unwanted facial hair. It is small enough to work on, for instance, your top lip and unruly sideburn hair. You’ll need some patience, though, if you plan to use this device for hair removal on your lower legs, chest, or back. For those larger areas of skin, we recommend turning your attention to something with a larger treatment surface.
The soft, textured, rubberized handle and cordless operation makes the Tria laser machine much easier to handle than many similar machines. However, some women complain that it’s top-heavy, which can be a problem considering that it weighs 4.14 pounds – the second-heaviest option that made our selection.
Safety and LCD Display
Its safety lock ensures that you don’t accidentally turn on the beam when you don’t want to – always a good feature in a laser-based device. The LCD display on the top clearly lets you know when the lock is active by displaying an icon.
The screen also shows you which power level you have it set to, how many pulses it will expel in a single session, the battery level, and whether or not it detects skin. In fact, this is the only product here with a digital readout. The others either use lights to indicate their current settings, or don’t have enough options to warrant any sort of control display.
Holding the device too far away from your skin will prevent it from working, so the skin sensor is a very helpful feature. Semi-circular bars (like those which denote a WiFi connection) display just how close to the skin you are. The closer you are, the better penetration the beam will achieve. Try to fill the bars completely, unless you have extra sensitive skin which may require that you hold it slightly farther away.
Though the proximity indicator may resemble the skin pigment sensors built into Braun Gillette devices, this will not adjust its output depending on your skin pigmentation. These changes have to be set manually.
FDA-approved
Interestingly, Tria Beauty claims this to be the only laser machine certified for home use that actually operates in the same way as professional-quality machines. This gets confusing since there are other laser hair removal machines which also claim to be FDA-approved.
We have to admit: we can’t quite figure out what exactly this implies. It may mean that this one works on the slightly different wavelengths preferred by dermatologists, making it “substantially equivalent” in function.
It may also refer to the fact that it’s the only well-known machine that uses diode laser technology instead of IPL (more on that in our buying guide). For all we know, it could just be that the information we’re able to get is a little outdated. It’s really hard to say, especially since the phrase “FDA cleared” can mean slightly different things in different contexts.
One thing we can be confident of, though, is that this trusted brand comes with few safety concerns. If you really need the precision a laser-based device can provide and don’t mind the price tag, this might be your best choice. Just remember that it’s mainly intended for removing hair on smaller parts of your body, like the face, armpit, and bikini line.
- The narrow light beam allows you to easily work on your upper lip and bikini lines.
- Has an easy-to-read digital display.
- Built-in skin sensors, so you will know if you're holding it close enough to be effective
- FDA-approved
- Suitable for both men and women
- The weight and top-heaviness make it a little awkward to use.
- Small treatment surface, which means it takes longer to use on your legs, back, or any other large expanse of skin.
- Won't work on dark or even medium-brown skin.
