Tria 4x vs Braun Hair Removal: An Esthetician’s Guide

Laser Hair Removal Key Comparison: Tria 4x vs. Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

Consistency and commitment are the keys to having an effective laser hair removal treatment, both professionally done and at home.

Your goal is to slowly damage your hair follicles during each session until it reaches the point where your hair is so thin and sparse that it’s negligible or can’t altogether grow back.

This process needs to be done safely, effectively, and repeatedly over some time to get permanent results.

At-home laser hair removal takes effort and patience; that’s why you need to choose a product that is not only effective but something you also feel comfortable with using.

Liking the product and wanting to use it is crucial in helping you stick with your treatment.

We’ve detailed our experiences with both the products below to give you as many details as you need to make an informed buying decision.

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Technology: IPL vs. Diode Laser

Both use different base technologies to safely deliver permanent hair reduction.

The key difference lies in the type of laser light they use, the amount of power or energy fluence they can emit, and built-in safety mechanisms.

Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5: IPL (Intense Pulsed Light)

Video: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 – Technology

The Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 uses IPL like most at-home laser hair removal devices on the market.

IPL uses broadband light to target the melanin in your hair and heat it enough to damage it gradually until it stunts its re-growth. This is done over a series of periodic treatments.

It’s important to know that IPL differs from real lasers used in clinics.

Though IPL can reduce and disable hair indefinitely, results can take longer and is much less permanent than real laser.

Resources: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 In-Depth Review: Product Technology

Tria Hair Removal Laser 4x: Diode Laser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX29_6xRvoA&t=3s

Video: The technology behind Tria’s Hair Removal Laser | Tria Beauty®

99% of at-home laser hair removal devices use IPL or variations of it to provide hair reduction.

What makes the Tria Laser 4x truly outstanding is its use of a diode laser—1 of the only 4 lasers used by physicians in medical clinics for professional laser hair removal.^[7]

Diode lasers are more potent than IPL, making the Tria 4x more effective for those compatible with it (light skin, dark hair) as a hair removal device.

For perspective, these are our Esthetician’s Choice for the top laser hair removal for home use and their respective energy fluences.

Just on pure power and laser strength, Tria 4x hair removal is leaps and bounds ahead of the pack.

Resources: Tria Hair Removal Laser 4x Review – Technology & Product Specifications

Winner: Tria Laser Hair Removal 4x

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Unboxing: Package Contents

The Tria Laser Hair Removal System 4x comes in a nice, sturdy box that you can use for storage. It’s nothing special, but it keeps things tidy and secure.

It comes with:

1. the Tria laser 4x unit
2. Charging cable
3. User manual
4. Quick guide.

I keep the device in it whenever I need to charge, so I don’t accidentally knock it off the counter. I’ve unfortunately done that several times when I leave it standing while charging.

Resources: Package Contents: Unboxing the Tria Laser Removal 4x

The Braun IPL hair removal system comes with can come in leather, plain crème, or a printed gold design.

The package comes with a tad bit more:

1. Beauty pouch
2. Silk Expert Pro 5 (with the standard head attached)
3. Precision Head (interchangeable with the standard head)
4. Venus Razor
5. Transformer including power cord and plug
6. User Manual

Resources: Package Contents: Unboxing the Braun Silk Expert Pro 5

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Product Design & Our Experience

Ease of Use, Weight, Portability

The Tria Beauty Laser 4x is the only cordless at-home laser hair removal device we’ve encountered, and the freedom of movement is liberating.

It’s battery-operated, which has its pros and cons. You can move around without being tied down to an outlet, but you have a 30-minute time limit until you need to charge.

The Tria 4x laser is also quite hefty compared to other devices with its miniature diode laser machine and lithium-ion batteries.

This added weight is negligible at first but can be tiring after a while.

It is easy to handle, though, with the ergonomic design of its airpod-like build and silicone grip.

Resources: Product Design & Our Experience Using the Tria 4X Laser

Braun's home IPL is incredibly lighter in comparison, albeit slightly restrictive with the cord.

The device is sleek, lightweight, and ergonomically designed.

The weight is also convenient and doesn’t tire your arms with any extra heft.

Resources: Product Design & Our Experience Using the Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

Overall, the Tria 4x laser machine being a cordless device, trumps in terms of mobility and ease of use.

Winner: Tria Laser Hair Removal 4x

Operations

The Tria 4x laser machine is still simple to operate, though it has a tad more manual steps in comparison.

The device is locked every time it’s not in use, which you must unlock using the skin tone scanner at the bottom.

You have an LED display at the top showing your battery life, lock/unlock status, power level, and a pulse counter.

The contact sensor automatically triggers the pulsing whenever the treatment window fully covers your skin, which is very convenient since you don't need to press any buttons for each flash.

Resources: Product Design & Our Experience Using the Tria 4X Laser

The Braun IPL laser device is very simple and straightforward to use.

There are several buttons and indicator lights to toggle flashing and power levels, but most of the safety measures are automatic.

You can set the flashing to manual or automatic with the ‘pulsing' or ‘gliding' method.

• Pulsing is pressing a button to trigger flashes. This is for precise treatments where you must maneuver the device on rounded or small areas.
• Gliding is where the device flashes intermittently as you slide it across your skin, making treatments in large areas fast and convenient.

This makes treatments extremely safe, fast, and easy.

The Braun Pro 5 has more moving parts than most devices, with its interchangeable device caps.

The Standard head is to cover large areas, while the Precise head has a smaller treatment window.

I honestly don't bother with it sometimes and use the Standard head everywhere, but it's a good option to have.

You can adjust the energy range depending on your comfort with 3 modes: Extra Gentle, Gentle, and Standard.

You can work up to this, but it shouldn't be uncomfortable even at its highest power.

Resources: Product Design & Our Experience Using the Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

They’re both intuitive to use, but the Braun IPL is much easier to operate, even without the fancy LED display.

Winner: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

Lifespan / Longevity

An at-home laser hair removal device will last as long as its cartridge.

With IPL devices like the Braun IPL machine, it's down to the number of flashes its Xenon lamp can hold.

The device has a 400,000 flash capacity, which is above average in terms of lamp life. Braun advertises 22 years' worth of treatments.

That amount can last you for a lifetime of use, provided you take care of the hardware.

The lamp itself is built-in and cannot be replaced.

Resources: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5- Quality, Durability, & Lifespan

The Tria 4x laser hair removal system has significantly less than 90,000, but you will also need fewer pulses to achieve the same results as any IPL.

This is because the Tria Hair Removal 4x uses a diode laser 3x stronger than any home IPL device.

90,000 pulses are also nothing to sneeze at—that’s more than enough for several full-body treatments.

The tie-breaker for use is the battery use. You can only recharge up to 300x for every unit, limiting its use to 300x.

And while that may seem like a lot of uses over a few years, it’s another limiting factor to the device’s lifespan.

The Tria’s diode laser is a built-in machine, so it can’t be replaced. The same goes for its battery.

Resources: Tria Hair Removal 4x Review: Quality & Durability – Lifespan & Battery

With that, we’ve chosen the Braun IPL hair removal as the device that could last longer than the Tria 4x.

Winner: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

Pain Levels

Generally, the higher the energy fluence used, the faster, more effective, and riskier your treatments will be.

Pain is one of the limiting factors to measuring how high we can go with the intensity of your laser, both professionally and at home.

Factors that affect how much you’ll feel are:

• the intensity of the laser (measured in joules or J/cm²) — the higher the energy, the more painful it can be.
• the treatment area — upper lips and underarms, for instance, are more sensitive than the arms or legs.
• how thick your hair is — the coarser and denser your strands are, the more heat it will absorb and the more you feel it. This will gradually subside as you progress because hairs will eventually thin out.
• individual’s tolerance for pain — sensitive skin needs a much gentler approach over an extended period to achieve the same results as a higher intensity treatment done in a short period
• your skin tone — darker skin has a more adverse reaction to lasers with high energy and short wavelengths

The Braun home laser operates with a gentler, much lower energy fluence than the Tria 4x. (3 – 6 J/cm² vs. 7 – 22 J/cm²)

This, along with its SensoAdapt, makes the Silk-Expert Pro 5 able to work safely on much darker skin than the Tria 4x, which can only treat light skin and dark hair.

I've been using the Braun hair removal at max level and with only tiny, minute zaps that feel relatively painless compared to the Tria.

On the downside, you know it will take longer to see sustainable results when working on lower-energy IPL than a diode laser.

Resources: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 – Pain Levels

The Tria Laser Hair Removal 4x is a much stronger device and can be painful for some, especially at level 5 (22 J/cm²).

This energy fluence is high enough to warrant soothing gels for some patients in professional settings.^[8]

In parallel, the use of numbing creams and cooling gels is not uncommon for those with low pain tolerance who want to use the device at its full capacity to achieve quicker and better results.

Resources: Tria 4x In-Depth Review: Pain Levels

The Braun IPL wins by being gentle and almost painless compared to the powerful Tria 4x.

That said, everyone’s pain threshold is different. Only you can decide for yourself with experience how high or low you’ll be able to go with your treatments.

Winner: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

Frequency & Results

The Tria 4x has one of the fastest turnarounds we’ve seen in a hair removal device, no doubt owing to the brand’s exclusive use of its mini diode laser.

Treatments are recommended once every two weeks, with 3-6 months of regular use to see significant results.

The disparity in the turnaround depends on the individual’s physiology and chosen energy levels.

The higher the intensity level used, the faster and more permanent the results.

Resources: Tria Hair Removal Videos: Tests, Long-term & Short-term Results, Tips & Tricks

As the energy fluence used by the Braun hair removal device is low and gentle, it also takes much longer for results to come in.

It’s recommended to be used weekly for the initial 4 – 12 treatments, followed by monthly or as-need basis as maintenance.

Braun promises results in as little as 4 weeks, but I'm a bit skeptical. You need 12 weeks to see visible results based on long-term reviews.

The maintenance is where we see the difference, in my opinion.

You'll have to use the Braun every month after the initial start-up phase of 12 weeks to maintain results. According to other reviews, this will eventually taper off, but it will take almost 12 months.

Resources: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 Video Reviews: Tests, Long-term & Short-term Results, Tips & Tricks

The Tria 4x has a much more sustained hair reduction with longer re-growth periods than most IPL devices.

Winner: Tria Laser Hair Removal 4x

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Safety

The Tria 4x and the Braun IPL has some of the highest safety protocols for a home-use optical hair removal device.

Both are FDA-cleared with brands that have decades of innovation behind them.

Skin Safety

Both have skin tone sensors that let you know if your complexion is compatible with the device. This prevents any mishaps like burns or blisters and keeps the device foolproof.

Tria's skin tone scanning is used to unlock the device. You then have to choose which energy level you want to work with.

Resources: Tria 4x Review: Safety – Skin & Eyes

Braun's intelligent SensoAdapt™ automatically adjusts its IPL to the optimum energy fluence.

There is no second guessing on areas where you have uneven skin tone. Every flash is always safe for every part of your body.

Resources: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 Review: Safety

Eye Safety

They also have contact sensors that prevent any discharge that could damage the eyes or waste pulses.

The Tria 4x also uses a Class 1 laser that can’t emit radiation at hazardous levels.

Braun's laser hair removal device still uses IPL and has bright flashes, so you’ll still need safety glasses.

While they both have outstanding safety mechanisms not found in average devices, the SensoAdapt™ is so innovative that it still edges everybody out.

Winner: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5

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Compatibility

The Tria Hair Removal Laser 4x device can be used on light to medium skin (Fitzpatrick I-IV) and dark hair, with cheekbones down for females and neck down for males.

Resources: Tria 4x Review: Compatibility Guide – Skin Tone, Hair Color, & Treatment Areas

The Braun hair removal device can be used on light to medium skin tones (Fitzpatrick I-V) and mid-to-dark hair. It has a bit of a wider range in terms of covering darker complexions.

The Bran can also be used on females' cheekbones down, but only shoulders down for makes. Patchiness can occur, so it's best not to use them on beards.

Resources: Silk-Expert Pro 5 Review: Compatibility Guide – Skin Tone & Hair Color, Treatment Areas

Both cannot be used on naturally white, grey, light blond, or red hair.

Based on skin tones, hair color, and coverage of treatment areas, the Silk-Expert Pro 5 can cater to a broader range of patients.

Winner: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5