Most buying guides in this category are written by the brand selling you the thing, and read accordingly. This one is too — so use it as a checklist rather than an argument, and apply every point to us as well.
1. Will they publish the irradiance, at a stated distance?
This is the first filter and it removes most of the market.
Ask for the measured output in mW/cm² and the distance it was measured at. A wattage figure is not an answer. A single number with no distance attached is not an answer either.
If a brand won't put it in writing, you are being asked to buy on trust alone.
2. How many LEDs of each wavelength?
“660 nm and 850 nm” on a box tells you nothing about the split. Ten red and two near-infrared is a very different product from six and six, and both can legally use the same wording.
3. Who is actually selling it to you?
There is a meaningful difference between a business that imports stock, holds it, and ships it — and one that forwards your order to an overseas warehouse.
Signs you are dealing with the second kind: no Australian business address, no phone number, delivery estimates of two to four weeks, and support that only exists as a web form.
Look for an ABN on the site. It takes ten seconds to check against the ABN Lookup register, and it tells you whether there is a real Australian entity standing behind the sale.
4. What happens when it fails?
Not if — when. Electronics fail.
Ask three things: how long is the warranty, who pays the postage on a claim, and where does the device go. A 90-day warranty that requires you to ship a unit back overseas at your own cost is close to no warranty.
Also ask whether they hold spare parts. A business that can replace a component is a business that can repair your device in year two. One that can't will offer you a discount on a new one.
5. Your rights are stronger than the warranty
This is the part most Australian buyers don't know, and it is worth knowing before you spend.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded by any warranty or store policy. If a product has a major failure — it doesn't work, it's significantly different from its description, or you wouldn't have bought it had you known — you choose between a refund and a replacement. For a minor failure the business can choose to repair, replace or refund, but it must do one of them.
These guarantees are not limited to the warranty period. They last as long as is reasonable for a product of that type and price.
So if a store's returns page says “no refunds”, “store credit only”, or “faults must be reported within 30 days”, those terms don't override the law — and their presence tells you something about how the business thinks.
6. Can you trace your specific unit?
A batch or serial code on the device means the seller can identify which production run yours came from. It matters if there is ever a fault pattern, and it is a reasonable thing to ask about.
7. Read the safety information before you buy, not after
Any device worth owning will tell you plainly not to look into the LEDs, to keep your eyes closed for anything near the face, and who should speak to a doctor first.
A brand that treats safety information as fine print is telling you how it thinks about you.
8. Be sceptical of what it claims to do
In Australia, a device that claims to treat a condition is a regulated therapeutic good with obligations attached. Plenty of listings make those claims anyway.
You do not need to become an expert in the regulations. Just notice that a brand willing to overstate what a device does is probably also willing to overstate what it measures.
The short version
Published measurements at a stated distance. Both wavelengths in real numbers. An ABN and an address. A warranty you can claim on without an international courier. Spare parts. A phone number.
That's the whole list, and it applies to us as much as anyone.
Read: what irradiance actually means →
See our full specifications →