The short answer (prices read 5 November 2026)
- Philips Lumea 9900 Series (BRI951/01), £360.00. Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 (PL5100), £435.10.
- Philips publishes six footnotes on its listing. Braun uses three levels of asterisk and publishes none of them.
- Philips says up to 98% hair reduction. Its own footnote says 86% on lower legs, 70% on bikini and 67% on armpits at two years.
- Braun is the only one of the two that names a number of years, so it is the only one you can divide. Six years at £435.10 is about £72.52 a year.
- Braun was £344.98 in our record on 18 October. It is 26.1% dearer today. Philips is 6.0% above its own October figure.
- Neither listing states how many flashes the lamp is rated for, which is the one number that would tell you whether the device outlasts the claim.
These are the two IPL devices most people end up choosing between, and most comparisons of them line up the features. Both have a skin-tone sensor. Both do a full body in about ten minutes. Both promise years rather than months. On the specification sheet there is not much in it.
So this page compares something else: what each brand is willing to put in writing, what it costs per year of the life it claims, and what we have watched each one cost since September.
Prices in this table come from Amazon and are refreshed at least once a day, with the date of the last update under the table. The cost-per-use and running-cost figures on this page use prices Look Into read on 5 November 2026, so they can differ from today's price.
As an Amazon Associate, Look Into earns from qualifying purchases. Product prices and availability are accurate as of 5 November 2026 10:13 am and are subject to change.
Prices and specs last checked by Look Into on 5 November 2026 · next check 31 December 2026 · how we picked
The asterisks
Read on 5 November 2026, inside the product title, the bullet list, the specification tables and the rendered product description on each amazon.co.uk listing.
The Braun listing carries four asterisked claims at three different levels. Up to six years of smooth skin, marked with one star. Visible results from the second use, one star. Full-body sessions in ten minutes, two stars. Two sessions a month for three months, three stars. Nowhere on the rendered page does it say what any of those marks mean. We looked at the bullets, the specification tables and the full description, and found no footnote text at all.
The Philips listing does the opposite. It carries six numbered and starred footnotes, set in 13px type below the product description, and they are specific enough to argue with.
What Philips footnote 1 actually says
The headline on the Philips listing is up to 98% hair reduction after four treatments. Footnote one, on the same page, gives the clinical figures as 86% on lower legs, 70% on bikini and 67% on armpits, measured at two years, starting after three treatments.
Those are not contradictory. A best case of 98% and a two-year average of 67% to 86% can both be true. But they are a long way apart, and only one of them is in the headline. The same footnote also carries a line we have not seen on another listing: a note that the packaging may still show the old 12-month claim.
The reason this matters for the comparison is not that Philips is overclaiming. It is that Philips gives you the material to check it and Braun does not. If you want to know what Braun means by six years, the listing will not tell you.
Cost per year of the life each one claims
Take each brand at its own word and divide. This is the only arithmetic either listing makes possible.
| Philips Lumea 9900 | Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price, 5 Nov 2026 | £360.00 | £435.10 |
| Years of results claimed | No number given | Up to 6 |
| Cost per claimed year | Cannot be calculated | About £72.52 |
| Evidence horizon in its own footnote | 2 years | Not published |
| Cost per year on that horizon | £180.00 | Cannot be calculated |
| Starter course on the listing | 4 treatments | 6 sessions |
| Cost per starter treatment | £90.00 | £72.52 |
| Footnotes published | 6 | 0 |
| Lamp flashes rated | Not stated | Not stated |
The result is the opposite of what the prices suggest. The cheaper device works out dearer per year, because the only horizon it publishes evidence for is two years, while the dearer one claims six. Whether Braun's six is worth more than Philips' documented two is exactly the judgement the footnotes are supposed to help you make, and only one brand has given you any.
Neither figure survives contact with the number that would settle it. An IPL device dies when its lamp does, and neither listing says how many flashes the lamp is rated for. Six years of fortnightly full-body sessions is a lot of flashes. Without that number, both cost-per-year figures are the makers' marketing horizon rather than the hardware's.
What we have watched them cost
Both devices sit in the fixed 74-product basket we have been pricing since 6 September 2026 for the Black Friday price claims audit. That gives this comparison something a specification sheet cannot: a dated record of what each one actually cost.
| Capture date | Philips Lumea 9900 | Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 |
|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2026 | £384.99 | £494.32 |
| 30 September 2026 | £384.99 | £344.99 |
| 18 October 2026 | £339.50 | £344.98 |
| 5 November 2026 | £360.00 | £435.10 |
| Change since 18 October | up 6.0% | up 26.1% |
On 18 October the two devices were within a pound and a half of each other. Eighteen days later the Braun is £75 dearer than the Philips. If a Black Friday deal arrives on 27 November and takes the Braun back to £345, that is not a discount, it is the October price returning.
We are not saying either price is wrong. Prices move, and a buy box can change seller between one reading and the next. We are saying that the only way to know whether a November discount is real is to have written down the September price, which is the whole argument of our Black Friday Price Claims Audit 2026.
So which one
Philips Lumea 9900 Series, BRI951/01
£360.00 on 5 November 2026 · four attachments · corded or cordless · six footnotes published
Cheaper on the day, better documented, and the only one of the two whose central claim you can take apart without leaving the page. The two-year figures in its own footnote are the most useful numbers either brand publishes, precisely because they are less flattering than the headline.
The catch: it names no number of years, so there is no cost-per-year figure to hold it to. The 98% headline and the 67% armpit figure sit on the same page, and only one of them is in 13px type.
Braun Silk-expert Pro 5, PL5100
£435.10 on 5 November 2026 · skin tone sensor · up to 6 years claimed · no footnotes published
The six-year claim is the longest either brand makes and the only one that produces a cost per year. If it holds, £72.52 a year is the better number on this page by a distance.
The catch: you are asked to take that six on trust, because the asterisk next to it leads nowhere on the listing. And you would be buying it 26.1% above what we recorded eighteen days ago, which is the worst timing on this page.
On 5 November the Philips is the one we would buy, and the price record is most of the reason. It is cheaper, it is nearer its own recent floor, and it tells you more about what it can do. That is a judgement about today's prices and today's listings, not a verdict on the hardware, and it would flip if the Braun went back to £345.
Look Into has not handled either device: every figure here comes from the maker, the listing or our own dated price record, read on the date shown.
Questions people ask
Is the Braun worth the extra money?
On its own claim of six years, yes, at about £72.52 a year against a Philips figure you cannot calculate. On the evidence each brand publishes, no, because Braun publishes none. The honest answer is that the gap is a question of how much you trust an unexplained asterisk.
Does IPL give permanent hair removal?
Neither brand says permanent removal without qualification. Braun says permanent reduction in regrowth. Philips says reduction, and its footnote puts that at 67% to 86% at two years depending on the area, with continuing touch-ups. Both describe a maintenance routine, not a one-off.
How long does the lamp last?
Neither listing says. We looked in the title, the bullets, the specification tables and the description on both on 5 November 2026 and found no flash rating and no lamp life on either. It is the most important missing number on both pages.
Should I wait for Black Friday?
Write the price down first. The Braun has already climbed 26.1% from the figure we recorded on 18 October, so a November cut could land above its own October price and still be badged as a saving. Black Friday 2026 is 27 November.
Is there a cheaper IPL device worth having?
Our IPL hair removal guide covers the wider field, and the UK At-Home Beauty Device Cost Index costs devices per session rather than per box.
Sources
- Amazon.co.uk listing, Philips Lumea 9900 Series BRI951/01, claims, footnotes and price read and screenshotted 5 November 2026
- Amazon.co.uk listing, Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 PL5100, claims and price read 5 November 2026
- Look Into price capture basket, 74 ASINs fixed 6 September 2026, captures of 6 September, 30 September, 18 October and 5 November 2026. Method and full data on the Black Friday Price Claims Audit 2026.
Prices are buy-box prices read on 5 November 2026 and will have moved since. The figures in the tables and cards above come from our scheduled capture that morning. When we opened both listings again fifty minutes later the Philips read £358.00 and the Braun £434.00, which is the kind of movement a buy box makes in an afternoon. The comparison table near the top of this page is a live feed, so it will differ from both. Look Into is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases made through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you.