Chirp Halo Review – Recovery Cheat Code – 2024

Last updated on December 19th, 2024 at 02:36 pm

Recovery devices and techniques are all the rage right now. Athletes looking to get an edge on their competition. Regular every day people trying to recover from whatever life throws at them. Whether you are chasing down PRs or simply trying to chase down your kids, staying in one piece and being able to move and groove is a nice way to live your life. I was lucky enough to track down a Chirp Halo at the tail end of 2024 for my own pursuits in enhanced recovery.

I’ve had this since the beginning of October and between myself and my wife, I am ready to share our thoughts. If you have been eyeing down one of these for your own needs, hopefully I can point you in a good direction today.

Transparency Note

I actually got the Chirp Halo sent to me for free from Chirp. Thanks Chirp! The expectation was that I would handle it for a little over a month and write a review, and then include in a comprehensive guide around recovery tools (coming soon). I received the Chirp Halo Single, just as an FYI. I’ll make note of that in some instances but the units work more or less the same.

They also provided a 10% off discount code and affiliate link. If you use that link to purchase, I get a small kick back. As always, my goal is to be transparent so you know what is up.

Do EMS and TENS Units Actually Work?

When I shared I was getting one of these on my Instagram, the first question I got was “do those work?”. I think unfortunately a lot of recovery style devices are overblown.

EMS units work to flex your muscles through contractions. These contractions work to increase blood flow. Increased blood flow means you are moving any lactic acid and waste build up from an injury or a hard workout, and helping push in fresh blood. Assuming you aren’t overdoing it and causing more damage to the muscle and tissues, this should be a form of active recovery that has a net positive.

TENS units work off sending signals through your nervous system to essentially “turn off pain”. I’m not a huge fan of masking pain, because pain is our body telling us something. But sometimes you need it to shut up so you can sleep or just make it through a workday and take care of it later.

Both of these “work”, assuming you are using them for the right concepts. If you think you are going to break a bone and fix it with a Chirp Halo, you are wrong. If you think you can do a horrendous leg day workout, then not eat and not sleep, and this will cover your recovery needs, you are wrong. If your form is bad in the gym, or you have a job that is beating you up constantly, this isn’t going to fix those problems. It might be a band-aid for the time being, but you need to address the root cause of the issue.

Ok, so when do they work?

Here are four great examples from my own family.

Me

I workout a lot. I love it. And I love going a bit further than I maybe should sometimes. A TENS unit doesn’t often come into play, but an EMS does. I do a tough workout, and later that night when relaxing before bed, I can toss this bad boy on and let it help me recover a little more than if I didn’t.

I can likely wake up and move my arms and legs a bit better. I can chase after my daughter a bit better. I can maybe get down to business with my wife that night without worrying about getting a muscle cramp. And I’ll be able to hit my next workout without feeling too beat up.

My Wife

Speaking of my wife, she works as a nurse. Sometimes as a nurse, she finds herself applying pressure, holding IVs, or otherwise being in compromised positions for long lengths of time. Luckily, she workouts regularly. So she doesn’t get hurt. But holding your arm up and against someone for 45 minutes straight, is going to get you a nice knot in your upper back regardless of how many sets of seated rows you can do. An EMS can help unwind that tension and help her sleep better and get back to work tomorrow.

My Mom

My mom is in her 70s and has a history of back issues, as well as a past shoulder surgery. Sometimes she decides to go out and do yard work for hours at a time and pays a little bit of a price. She takes her curcumin, uses a heating pad, and often uses an EMS or TENS to alleviate the pain and stiffness. Again, she can get back to her normal life sooner, maybe sleep that night uninterrupted, and otherwise be better than she would have been without it.

My Daughter

My daughter a couple years ago decided to pick up a 10lb plate in the gym. No issues, but then she tried to open the door with the other hand and dropped the plate on her foot. I had told her not to do that, but here we are. She luckily didn’t break anything, but had a golf ball sized bruise.

She spent the afternoon after her X-Rays, sitting on the couch with her leg up, and an EMS unit attached to her calf set to a really low setting. This helped move blood around, and she woke up the next day and completely forgot she had hurt herself. About 85% of that is being 5 years old, but the EMS probably helped.

The basic deal here is, this is going to help you recover a bit better, not make miracles happen.

Overview of the Chirp Halo

We have owned a Compex unit for the better part of a decade. I actually wrote a review on it back when I wrote for Garage Gym Life Media, but it has since been lost to the interwebs.

The older Compex units were plagued with a couple of flaws, the number one flaw was that you had to connect a ton of wires to the unit itself, then connect that to the pads, which were then connected to your body. This meant that if you had the full set-up going, you had a LOT of wires and a total inability to move at all without tripping or ripping a wire out. If you had kids, you’d have trouble using this around them, and the set up time to get it all hooked up was something that often kept me from using it.

The Chirp Halo on the other hand, is wireless. This means we no longer are held confined to our seat by a sea of wires. It also is fully contained inside the case. And the set-up process is to connect a pad, to the pod, to your body, turn on the remote, and you are rolling. Let’s dig in further.

Core Features

• Both TENS and EMS therapy for pain relief
• 50 intensity levels
• 6 Pre-programmed treatments
• Relieve pain quickly & easily
• Stimulate muscles for faster recovery & growth
• Wireless, quick magnetic attachments
• Ergonomic, cord free design
• Wireless charging case
• FDA Cleared
• 30 day money back guarantee

Performance of The Chirp Halo

The Case

Lets start off with the case. The case holds everything you need for the Chirp Halo, including the remote, the pod, the patches, the USB charging cable, and any additional chords and accessories. The remote and the pods themselves have a carved out section in the right side of the case perfectly fit for their placement that use magnets to hold them in place. This is also where they charge, as the case itself is USB-C powered. So when it comes time to charge your Chirp Halo, you package everything up, plug it in, and you are good to go.

The left side of the case has a bungee mesh pocket to hold everything in. The unfortunate part about this is that you have a pretty decent amount of items that go here. The user manual goes here, the large patch, the low back patch, the two smaller patches, the extension cable, and the USB-C cable. If you happen to have the full patch kit (more on those later) you would be stuffing a LOT of patches and accessories into this side pouch.

When it comes time to use them you have to dig through or pull everything out, find what you need, and put the rest back. Since I’m typically using this in bed, at night, digging through dark packaging with dark pads to find the right one isn’t the smoothest experience.

Since the right side is SO clean, the left side of the case feels unfinished. To be fair, this is the exact same criticism I had of my Bob and Brad massage guns. For the Chirp Halo case, my mind thinks of one of those old CD cases that had sleeves. You could keep every patch in its own “pocket” sleeve. The USB-C cable could work similar to my camera battery charging kit, where it is built into the case itself. And then the extra cables could be in a small pouch, maybe with the user manual in there as well.

The case is pretty well done, certainly more thought through than any of the other recovery devices I’ve used. But I’d like to see that next step to finish it off.

Modes

The Chirp Halo has 6 different modes.

• Pain Relief
• Massage
• Squeeze
• Thump
• Stretch
• Woah Nelly

With my old Compex, we had several modes as well. I religiously used the recovery mode, and VERY rarely used the rest. For my use, an EMS shines as a recovery tool, not as a strength training device.

The Chirp Modes are definitely all different and are focused on recovery, but I’m not sure that different is entirely helpful. Let’s take Stretch as an example. There is zero chance the Chirp Halo is able to stretch my muscles. An EMS unit sends electricity to have my muscle flex, not stretch.

Every night I just randomly pick a mode for the night and go for it. Again, they are definitely all different, but I can’t exactly say that one was better or worse than the others. And if you asked me to describe them right now without looking at the cheat sheet, I wouldn’t be able to accurately tell you the differences.

I will say that it is probably nice to include multiple options, because not everyone will enjoy every mode. But I think the messaging/naming around what these do or attempt to mimic is a little less than helpful/accurate.

Battery & Charging

I mentioned that the case does all the charging work for you. This is pretty fantastic. I only have one gripe. The remote goes into the case in one direction, and always sticks exactly how it is supposed to, directly to the magnets. The pod itself however, because it is circular, can go in any number of ways. The first time I went to charge the Chirp Halo, I didn’t have the pod snapped in 100%, so the remote charged but the pod didn’t. I went to use it the next night and no go. Had to charge again.

Either the magnets need to SNAP stronger, or the pod needs to be slightly oval shaped, or something to confirm that it is in the right position. If I did this before hopping on an airplane and then couldn’t use it the entire time, I’d be pretty frustrated.

Another struggle here, is that the remote has a battery meter on it when it is turned on. The pod does not. So you only know that it has run out of juice when it stops working prematurely.

The battery lasts a pretty long time. We have charged it once in the last 6 weeks, with almost nightly use. Typically when I run it, I run it multiple times as well. And the battery still has a couple bars left on it. So even if you were to use this after every workout for hours at a time, I think you’d get a solid week out of a charge. For most normal use, I’d say you’ve got a month easy.

I honestly really like the charging in the case concept, this is what made me want to test the Chirp Halo in the first place. But much like the rest of the case, it could be a LITTLE better. But big kudos for the well done battery life.

The Accessories

The Chirp Halo has a couple of accessories, primarily all in the form of patches. All of these patches seem to do their job well, they give you a number of creative options depending on where you plan to use them, and they last long. We have yet to change them out or replace them. This will be impacted by a number of things including how you store them, if you use it before or after a shower (more oil means it’ll stick less), and how often you use them, but expect to get some good life out of these. They have an affordable replacement plan as well when that time comes.

Small Trigger Point Pads

It comes with an extension cable, which lets you split one pod into two small patches. This is especially nice for a single unit, so you can connect to both quads, chest, hamstrings, etc. If you happen to have a double unit, well now you could work both your quads and hamstrings on both legs at one time, or work your entire back, or hit chest and shoulders, biceps and triceps, you get it.

Large Trigger Point Pads

The large pad is about the size of the pod itself, and is likely going to be your most used option. Especially if you have the double Halo, you can get a lot done with this. It also covers a significant size, so even for my large thighs, we are good here. The large pads might be a bit large for some smaller areas such as the arms or low back, but will likely work for most everything else.

Lower Back Pads

Because your lower back includes your spine running down the middle, it can become difficult to use a round pad to target that area effectively. The lower back pad is meant to spread the effective dose of the Chirp Halo across the entirety of the lower back.

The Rest Of The Pads

The above is what comes with the unit. But they have a full body kit that has specific patches for the Quads, Calf Muscles, Glutes, IT Band, Shoulders, Upper Back, Traps, and Lower Back. These are all contoured differently, with multiple attachment points, and meant to help target specific areas more effectively.

Do you need this? Definitely not. But if you plan to run this every night, after every workout, to maximize your recovery, it wouldn’t be a horrible investment. ~$120 gets you two of everything, and considering we are running on close to two months without replacing any of our pads, and you’d probably use each of these once a week instead of daily like we are currently, this might last you a half of a year or more.

Overall Performance Of The Chirp Halo

Ok, we just tore apart all of the individual pieces and modes and specs. But what are my findings of actually using the Chirp Halo? Was it effective? Do I like it? Does my wife like it? Are we keeping it and using it regularly?

The wireless set-up is a game changer compared to the Compex for ease of use. If you plan to use this regularly as part of a daily/nightly recovery ritual, absolutely 100% go with a wireless set-up. The Chirp Halo wins over a number of the others because you don’t need your phone, which means you can rest and relax and do your thing with just the kit provided.

My wife had some struggles with using the Chirp Halo anywhere on her backside. Because you are actively laying on top of the pod itself, and the pod has a power button, it regularly would turn off if she shifted at all. Our old Compex unit didn’t have that problem, because the wires ran directly to the patches, instead of a powered pod.

I was able to get away with this for hamstrings and all my other tests, but did not try the lower back option. So this is a YMMV situation, but if you plan to lay down and use it on your backside regularly, you might need to think through a solution. Maybe they could change the button on the pod to only power on, not off? And let the remote turn the entire system off?

When I hook up the Chirp Halo, I often go for multiple rounds. Unfortunately, after it finishes a cycle, it completely turns off. You have to turn on the Halo and remote again, and pair them, to do another round. The solution here is to take advantage of the fact that you can adjust the time it runs all the way down to 1 minute and up to 60 minutes.

My wife had the Chirp Halo hooked up to her upper back as we went on our nightly walk one night. I had the remote in my pocket. We decided we didn’t know if they needed to be next to each other to work or not, so I went for a bit longer of a walk as my wife and daughter went inside. I was a good 20 houses down the block and it kept working.

Not sure when you would need to do this realistically, and since the remote is so small it probably isn’t a HUGE issue to just walk around with it, but a nice feature to not have to be tethered to it. Lets say if you walked to the kitchen and forgot it, it won’t be turning off on you.

With massage guns, I would argue that there might never be TOO much power. Every time I get a new one with more guts, I am shocked how I ever used the old weaker model. But with an EMS unit, there definitely is. I never went above 15 on the Chirp Halo except for the sake of trying to go higher for this review. I got up to 45 with it on my stomach before I was in literal pain and had to pause it. You can go up to Level 50, and I see no reality where anyone realistically goes past 20. My wife never went past 10.

I don’t think there is a huge issue with having more power, compared to there being a definite issue with there not being enough power. But I have two thoughts. First, is that you as the customer are paying for that power, whether you use it or not. Just because you only drive your Lamborghini in the slow lane, doesn’t mean it costs any less. And the ability to market “50 levels” is true, but not exactly honest in my experience. Because again, you’ll almost certainly never use more than half of them.

More Connections

I’ll talk about some other EMS units next, but wanted to point out one very different thing from the Chirp Halo and my original Compex machine. The Chirp, even if I had the Double Halo, and used the small pads for both, I would have a maximum of 4 pads hooked up at once.

The Compex on the other hand, has two pads per cable, and 4 cables per machine, giving me 8 total placements for pads. Now, I didn’t use all four very often. But on bigger muscle groups like the legs, or maybe after a heavy deadlift session where you want to hit the hamstrings, low back, and erectors, having MORE options isn’t a bad thing. Yes, you could always move them around. But more connections at once means less time required, or a more successful use of the time you do have.

Did It Work?

Yeah, it does. The Chirp Halo works as expected. I’ve been digging deep lately in my workouts while dieting, so any extra recovery I can grasp from anywhere is a positive. The Chirp Halo works like my old Compex, but without all the set up time. I can go from sitting down to recovery mode in under a minute, and after a long day I don’t want to tackle a 10 minute set-up process. And if I need to go to the bathroom, or roll over, or whatever, the Chirp Halo is accommodating to that. I don’t have wires everywhere that are keeping me bed bound.

Other Electro Magnetic Stim Machines On The Market

The Chirp Halo is far from the first or only EMS unit on the market.

Compex

The very first EMS unit I ever saw that was marketed to athletes for the sake of recovery, instead of some QVC nonsense, was from Compex. I’m not claiming they are the first, just that they were the first I saw. We bought our Compex over 5 years ago and a lot has changed since then. They now primarily offer wireless devices, but still have a more “old school” option as well. If you are in the market, they are definitely more expensive, but have a number of features and builds you might prefer. Check out the Compex store here.

Hyperice Venom Go

Hyperice makes some of the most impressive recovery tools on the market. The Venom Go isn’t entirely the same thing, as it is a wireless vibration device, like having a massage gun attached to a muscle directly. But I think if we are talking about recovery, this is a valid consideration that fits in a very similar budget. I haven’t used it, so I can’t comment on whether it works well or not, but check it out at this link.

Therabody Powerdot

The Powerdot was the first unit I saw that was wireless and affordable. What differs here is that it runs off an app on your phone. This is both a pro and a con, depending on the situation. It means one less thing to travel with, handle, and manage. But it also means that you need your phone there for it to work, plus it will be draining your phones battery.

If you are on a plane and burning through battery life watching videos, you might not have enough juice to manage the app as well. And considering how I tend to leave my phone in the office at night, and use the Chirp Halo at night, this wouldn’t be a good fit for me. But it might for you, so check it out at this link.

Marc Pro

When I bought my Compex, the Marc Pro was the new offering on the scene that every athlete was using. I haven’t seen much of them in recent years, but they appear to still be in business and doing their thing. The Marc Pro comes with a bunch of services, like coaching. Not sure why, but it does. If you feel like you need 1 on 1 guidance with your EMS, then factor that in. You can check it out here.

Amazon Options

WOWZERS… Much like searching Amazon for Massage Gun, searching for EMS Units gives you an absurd amount of possibilities. As always, grabbing something random off Amazon comes with a warning… I have no experience here and you might get a deal or a dud. Check them out.

Should You Buy The Chirp Halo?

Most EMS units are likely to work very similarly (see some other options below). So we are looking at the ancillary features (like a charging case) and the cost of not only the unit itself but the replacement pads.

The Chirp Halo Double as of writing is $159, add in Code: GRAY10 to save 10% and we are looking at $143. The similar Compex device clocks in at $249, the Powerdot is $349, and both require you to use your phone. And from what I can tell, the case doesn’t charge your entire set-up.

For a pack of 18 total Chirp Halo pads (12 small and 6 large) you are going to pay about $43 after my discount code. You can get that $43 down another 10% with a Subscribe and Save option, so you’d be down under $40. For 20 pads for the Compex you are going to pay $39.

The only difference here is that the Compex pads are the same that are used with a number of TENS and EMS Units, but the Chirp pads are not. Which means they have off-brand options for the Compex. You can get down closer to $.40 per pad with some of the off-brand options (compared to ~$2 a piece). BUT, those are going to be the basic pads, not the very creative pads that Chirp has for the Halo.

So you can save a solid $100 right now by buying the Chirp Halo compared to the competition, and get an arguably better design all around with more features. That savings will get you about three orders of pads, which honestly could last you a couple years depending on your use.

So your decision is going to come down to your budget and wants around the features. The Chirp Halo is the best design and most well thought through in my experience and research, and would currently be my top pick for most people.

Wrap Up

Do you need an EMS unit? That might be a stretch. But I can 100% tell you that we enjoy having one in our toolbox. If we didn’t, I would have sold the Compex years ago and never looked at another one. The big reason I don’t use my Compex as often as I would like to, is because of the set-up time and constrictions with all the wires. While that full set-up offers some benefits over the wireless configuration, I think it is far outweighed by the cons.

The Chirp Halo could revise a few small items that would basically make it flawless. But for now, I think this is our go-to EMS unit for the future.

💲Want to buy a Chirp Halo for your own home gym? Use this link and code Code: GRAY10 to save 10%

📌Want to see what I’m going to review next? Check out the Review Pipeline!

🏅 Own a home gym? Like to save money? Check out my full list of discount codes.