Renpho Eye Massager review

When was the last time you laid a hot towel across your eyes, laid back, and enjoyed it for as long as possible? With the Renpho Eye Massager, you can do just that. This high-tech massager applies gentle pressure, adds vibration, plays music, and yes—heats up. It looks a bit like an immersive VR device, but instead, it’ll soothe you into utter relaxation.

Unboxing the Renpho Eye Massager

The box of the Renpho Eye Massager is pretty simple. It’s sleek and well-made, which makes it great for gifting, and contains just three things inside. First, there’s the eye massager itself, which folds in half for easier transport. Then, there’s a micro-USB charging cable. Finally, there’s a full instruction manual.

Charging on micro-USB vs USB-C 

As more and more brands shift to USB-C, which was once touted as the future’s universal charging cable, products that still use micro-USB can be a bit trickier to work with. While I used to keep a micro-USB charging cable in every room to charge things like phone cases, cameras, and battery packs, most of my non-lightning charging cables have long been swapped out for USB-Cs. When I need to charge this eye massager, I have to remember exactly where I left its cable.

Luckily, Renpho included an enormous lithium-ion battery pack in this eye massager. Though you’ll need a micro-USB cable to charge it, it runs for about 120 minutes on a single 2-3 hour charge. The brand recommends using the product for 15 minutes per day, so you’ll only need to charge it once a week—not a hassle at all.

What to expect from an electric eye massager 

My family and I love an electric massager. From percussive Theraguns to over-the-shoulder shiatsu designs, if it’ll massage you, we’re probably interested in trying it.

But an eye massager? That was a first for me.

I expected the Renpho Eye Massager to work like a shiatsu massager: rounded knobs that spin underneath a layer of foam to knead at your skin, almost like it’s a KitchenAid and you’re a ball of dough that’s supposed to be much, much softer. I was worried that it would be too rough on the delicate skin around the eyes. But it turned out that I didn’t need to be worried about it at all.

Instead of knobbly massage tools or percussive balls, this eye massager uses an inflatable air bladder to “massage” your eye area. It’s less of a traditional massage and more of a hot towel treatment; the bladders inflate and add gentle pressure to your eye and temple areas. I like it best while sitting and resting my fingertips on it or while lying down; it comes with a stretchy headband, but the weight of the product pulls it down my face even when worn tightly.

How does the Renpho Eye Massager work?

Designed to treat eye pain and screen fatigue, Renpho markets this eye massager with slightly outlandish claims. It promises to “relieve eye pain, improve blood flow, improve sleep quality, reduce headaches, and alleviate chronic eye soreness.” Renpho is a new brand to me (though I hear they make awesome weighing scales), but I’ve been approaching it just like the other wellness brands that I see often in stores. Yes, their claims are a little wild, but what are they saying between the lines?

In this case, what Renpho has created is a product that uses compressed air, vibration, music, and heat to massage your eye area. It’s comfortable, relaxing, and easy to use. The device’s compressed air, heat, and music settings are distinct and soothing, but honestly, the vibration didn’t really seem to permeate to my eyes—it’s more noticeable on the massager’s outer shell than around your eyes.

Renpho Eye Massager controls

Each of this device’s three buttons has two inputs. Press the power button for 3-5 seconds to turn it on or off, or press it briefly to change the massage mode. To control the music, use a long press to change tracks or a short press to increase or decrease volume. Finally, use a short press on the compression button (which looks like a little vibrating ball) to change the intensity level of the massage, or use a long press to turn the device’s Bluetooth functions on or off. Renpho also offers this eye massager with a remote control, which is great because these buttons are super-smooth and can be awkward to press when you can’t see them!

Renpho Eye Massager massage modes

The power button on this eye massager cycles it through five modes, which the device announces in a soft, clear voice as you cycle through them. They are

1. 1. Air pressure with heat and music (default)
   2. Air pressure with heat, vibration, and music
   3. Air pressure with music (music can be turned all the way down to use this mode as air pressure only)
   4. Heat only
   5. Vibration and music (music can be turned all the way down to use this mode as vibration only)

Each mode runs for 15 minutes. As an important note, the device’s air pressure settings don’t go strong-medium-soft. Instead, they go strong-soft-none, making each mode even more customizable. “Strong” and “soft” squeeze with about the same amount of pressure, but for different durations of time.

Renpho Eye Massager Bluetooth connectivity 

While compiling this review, I’ll admit that there was one (big) thing that stumped me. This device is Bluetooth-enabled…and at first, I could not figure out why. Its instructions and product description both mentioned Bluetooth, but none of the Renpho apps available in the App Store had the ability to connect with this device. I checked its packaging again and again to try to figure out what I was supposed to do once I was connected, but I was stumped.

There I was, sitting at my desk, feeling admittedly very relaxed after a warm, soothing eye massage, and I had no idea what to do. On top of everything, this massager’s connectivity? It’s actually great. It took me under 10 seconds to connect the Renpho Eye Massager to my phone via a stable Bluetooth connection. It was perhaps the shortest amount of time it’s taken me to connect to any device ever.

Finally, it hit me. I was overcomplicating the issue: Renpho said that this device had Bluetooth, not that it was a smart device. The Bluetooth connection on this device is simply for playing music. If you don’t like the pre-loaded relaxation music, you can use your smartphone to play whatever you’d like. The speaker isn’t particularly loud—and you wouldn’t want it to be, right next to your ears—but it’s more than loud enough for relaxation time.

Can you get rid of dark circles and dry eyes with the Renpho eye massager?

One of this product’s largest appeals, I think, is that it’s said to “reduce dark circles” and lessen dry eyes. So, let’s talk eye massage.

I really liked this eye massager, but it’s not a medical device. Just like other at-home treatments like gua sha, hot compresses, and eye creams, it can be relaxing—but it can’t, or shouldn’t, promise big, physiological changes. As someone who started writing professionally as a beauty blogger but is not a doctor, thousands of products have crossed my desk promising to alleviate the look of dark circles. There’s a lot of words that brands use for this, like “improves lymphatic drainage” and “makes your eyes appear more youthful” and “accelerates blood circulation.” These products, unfortunately, don’t actually create a significant change for most people.

But you know what? That’s okay, if you ask me. Dark circles are natural, and often hereditary. They’re where our blood pools in our faces, especially as we age, and they give the face a beautiful depth. If you want to cover them up or get rid of them, you can do so with products like concealer and doctor-administered fillers—just don’t expect that this eye massager, or any eye massager, is going to change what’s part of the normal structure of your face.

So, my opinion as a beauty writer? I don’t think that this device is going to help your dry eyes or your dark circles on its own. It feels really relaxing and soothing to use, though, and I love any product that will help you enjoy a screen break, so I’m not going to steer you away from it either.

Final thoughts on the Renpho Eye Massager

I liked this eye massager’s gentle air-pocket massage, but I loved its heating mode. It’s the perfect, soothing temperature, and it gave me something that I never even realized I wanted.

My favourite part of a facial or skincare treatment is the part where the aesthetician lays hot towels on your face, but it’s always over so soon. With this eye massager from Renpho, the “hot towel” effect stays on your eyes for 15 minutes per session and leaves you in a state of bliss. There’s no evaporation chill when you remove the massager from your eyes and if you want more than 15 minutes, you can just turn the device on to do it all over again.

I really enjoyed using the Renpho Eye Massager. Its air pressure massage is gentle and soothing, and its perfectly-calibrated heating setting is nothing short of divine. I find that it fits best on small to medium faces while lying down, and my only complaint is that I wish is that it came in a full face mask size!

Shop the Renpho Eye Massager at Best Buy today.