Which Brands Actually Have Microcurrent, Solawave, Medicube and Omnilux Checked
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
Read bio
Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
Read bio
Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
Read bio
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
Read bio
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
Share
Omnilux is LED only and carries no microcurrent, Solawave carries microcurrent among four features, and Medicube Age-R carries it among six modes, and none of the three publishes a current figure.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- what Omnilux actually carries and does not
- what Solawave lists on its own product page
- the six modes Medicube states on the Age-R Booster Pro
- the figure none of the three publishes
- how to check any brand yourself in two minutes
and many more!
We checked these three because they come up most often in the same search, and the answers are not what the search results suggest.
Key Points:
Omnilux Contour Face states LED only, at 633 nm red and 830 nm near-infrared across 132 LEDs, with no microcurrent, no EMS and no electrical current of any kind.
Solawave's wand combines red light, microcurrent, therapeutic warmth and facial massage, and it holds FDA clearance K232863.
Medicube's Age-R Booster Pro states six modes: electroporation, microcurrent, EMS, electric needles, LED across five colours, and sonic vibration.
None of the three publishes a current figure in microamps or milliamps on the pages we checked, and Omnilux publishes no irradiance or dose figure either.
We publish 7 mA at 500 ohms on Face and Pro, 7.7 mA on Pro Edition, 9 mA on Pro Plus and GLOW, with a 4 microsecond pulse width, so the figures can be compared rather than taken on trust.
Omnilux carries no microcurrent
The Omnilux Contour Face product page describes light emitting diodes and nothing else, at two wavelengths, 633 nm red and 830 nm near-infrared, across 132 medical grade LEDs.
There is no microcurrent, no EMS and no electrical stimulation of any kind in that device, and Omnilux does not claim there is.
So anyone comparing Omnilux against a microcurrent device is comparing two different categories, and a search result that lists it among microcurrent tools is wrong rather than Omnilux being misleading.
Omnilux also publishes no irradiance or energy density figure on that page, which matters because wavelength alone does not tell you what dose the skin receives; we compare the two devices directly in our GLOW comparison.
What Solawave carries
Solawave's wand combines red light, microcurrent, therapeutic warmth and facial massage in one handheld, which is four features rather than nine technologies and is honestly described as such.
Solawave holds FDA clearance K232863, so the regulatory question people raise about the brand has an answer and the answer is yes.
What the product page does not give is a current figure, so there is no way to compare its microcurrent against anyone else's from published information.
The device is also considerably cheaper than ours, and for someone wanting red light and a gentle current in one tool it is a reasonable purchase, which we said in our comparison.
What Medicube carries
The Age-R Booster Pro page states six modes: electroporation in Booster mode, microcurrent in MC mode, EMS in Derma Shot mode, electric needles in Air Shot mode, LED across five colours, and sonic vibration.
That is a genuinely broad feature set for the price, and the microcurrent is there rather than implied.
No current figures appear on the page in microamps or milliamps, and the efficacy numbers quoted are percentage improvements from brand testing rather than delivered output.
A figure like a 785 percent improvement in skin permeability is a result claim rather than a specification, and the two are easy to confuse when they sit side by side.
What all three have in common
None of the three publishes the current its device delivers, which means a buyer choosing between them on microcurrent strength has nothing to go on.
That is the normal state of this category rather than a failing unique to these brands, and it is the reason we publish ours.
Our figures are 7 mA at 500 ohms on Face and Pro, 7.7 mA on Pro Edition, and 9 mA on Pro Plus and GLOW, with a 4 microsecond pulse width and ten levels on one dial.
Stating a figure at a stated load is the only version of this claim that can be checked, and we would rather be checked than believed.
How to check any brand in two minutes
Search the FDA 510(k) database for the brand or its parent company name, because the clearance names the device and gives its indication for use.
Read the indication rather than the marketing: cosmetic facial stimulation is what almost every device in this category is cleared for, and anything beyond that on a product page is going further than the clearance.
Look for a current figure with a load attached. A number without an impedance figure is not a specification.
Our walkthrough of how to read a filing is in our article on 510(k) filings.
Why we checked these three
These three appear together in the same searches, partly because they are often reviewed as a group and partly because people assume any device marketed for facial toning carries microcurrent.
One of the three does not carry it at all, which is the single most useful fact on this page.
We have no interest in attacking any of them: Solawave and Medicube both carry real technology at prices well below ours, and Omnilux makes a good LED mask that is simply not a microcurrent device.
The full map of the 33 devices we track, with what each one carries, is in our category overview.
This article sits inside our full map of the category, where we set out all 33 devices we track, what each one carries and what each brand publishes: Nine Technologies on One Dial, What the Rest of the Market Actually Carries.