Philips Lumea Prestige models comparison

I’ve tested all the leading home IPL hair removal devices and the Prestige is one of the best.

Here’s a quick summary of my full Prestige review, and then we’ll look at the Philips Lumea Prestige models differences comparison:

Lumea Prestige Review Summary

If it’s in your budget range, I highly recommend the quality Prestige for fast and easy sessions. It’s such a good all-rounder for both small and large areas, but especially legs and whole-body hair removal sessions. It’s packed with helpful features unmatched by its rivals. You also get a long UK money back guarantee from Philips so you can try it risk free for 100 days. It’s my overall favourite.

Here’s a summary of my Lumea Prestige test scores, and pros and cons to help you decide:

Lamp lifetime

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

More flashes than you’ll ever need, lasting 15+ years of use. It’s one of the best.

Ease of use

👍👍👍👍👍

Very intuitive, and the most comfortable and precise home IPL I’ve tested, if a little heavy. Easy flashes with the curved windows. Use it fast on mains-power or cordless on small areas in your bathroom.

Effort & Results

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Long-lasting smooth after 4 to 5 sessions (1 every 2 weeks), plus top-ups every month or so. A low effort device.

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Pros

• Superb quailty
• Most comfy gun-shape
• Easy-flash precise curved windows hug your skin
• Corded for fast but precise legs
• Cordless for small tricky areas
• Powerful, safe & fast
• Clinically-proven & CE certification
• UK 100-day money back guarantee

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Cons

• It’s quite big & heavy
• Expensive at full RRP
• Not yet FDA-cleared in US

But there are rather a lot of different Prestige models. So, what are the differences and which one should you buy?

What’s the difference between all the Prestige models?

The latest models Philips call the 9000 series. These models have exactly the same shape and weight, IPL power range, check and match skin tone sensor, speed of sessions and treatment schedules as the older (but every bit as good) Prestige models. The differences between them are their colour, the number of IPL flashes, the specialist flash windows, and the price of each.

First, here’s a table with the key spec and perfomance data applicable for ALL the Prestige models:

And now a bit more detail about the differences.

Lamp lifetime of flashes

The latest 9000 series models come with more IPL flashes from the bulb. You get almost double the flashes than the older models with 450,000 vs 250,000 flashes.

So, you may be tempted to choose a model with the most flashes because you don’t want to run out, right?

That’s understandable. However, bear in mind ALL the Prestige models come with more than enough flashes for decades of use, even with the 250,000 flash bulb. This gives you enough flashes for over 15 years of monthly whole-body zappings. But for most people, you won’t need them that frequently. That’s because once you’ve done a year of maintenance top-ups, your skin stays smooth for several months at a time, and even up to one year. So, it’s more probable you’ll need top-ups just a couple of times per year. Therefore, it’s very unlikely you’ll use up all those flashes!

I score all at-home devices 5-stars for lamp lifetime when they give enough flashes for 15+years of monthly whole-body sessions. They get top marks because it’s many more flashes than you’ll ever need. So, although the 450,000 flashes Prestige sounds far better than the 250,000 flashes model, in reality you’ll never run out with either model.

Here’s a full list of the Prestige models and the number of flashes you get with each.

Next, let’s look at the specialist flash windows you get with each model….

Different flash windows

The Philips Lumea Prestige models come with a possible 5 different flash windows. They’re similar to rival devices because they’re different sizes and shapes to better fit large and small body areas. But they’re better than rival devices for two reasons.

#1 First, most of the flash windows are curved to perfectly match your body contours. Rival devices have flat windows which can be tricky to flash on curved or bony body areas.

#2 And second, the windows have unique chips which when inserted into the device, adapt the IPL light energy to match different body areas and hair types.

Here’s a quick overview of the 5 different flash windows.

Body flash window

This is the largest window at 4.1 cm², and it’s gently curved inwards. It’s super for zapping lower and upper legs, tummy, torso, and arms. The chip on the flash window configures the IPL flashes to better target the body hair in these areas.

Face flash window

This is the smallest flash window at 2 cm² and it’s flat. The smaller size best fits your upper lip area, and is easier to flash along your jawbone too. The flash window chip configures the IPL flashes for facial hair and has a red filter over the window too. This focuses the light energy onto your hairs and protects your skin.

Bikini flash window

This medium-size 3 cm² flash window is curved outwards to fit the contours of your bikini area. The chip configures the IPL flashes and there’s an extra transparent filter on the window, for increased comfort and effect on these coarser, stubborn hairs.

Underarms flash window

This medium-size 3 cm² flash window is curved outwards to fit the contours of your underarms. The chip configures the IPL flashes for the hair type in this area.

Precision flash window

This dual purpose, medium-size 3 cm² flash window is curved outwards to fit the contours of both your underarms and bikini line. The chip configures the IPL flashes and, like the bikini attachment, there’s an extra transparent filter on the window, all for increased comfort and effect on coarse, stubborn hairs. Both the bikini and underarms icons are on the side.

👉 All models have the large body and small face flash windows. Then some models also have either the precision window, or the individual bikini and underarms windows.

Here’s a quick list to confirm which:

Do you need all the windows?

Well, honestly no. You don’t need them all.

The star of the show for me is the large body flash window. Coupled with the comfy gun-shape, it really makes all the difference vs rivals on legs and tummy. That’s because it hugs your curves, is large yet precise and makes it super-easy to get a flash. It also does a good job on underarms and bikini line.

The face attachment is important too, with the red filter and more precise size and shape for the uneven and smaller facial areas. And you can use this for smaller areas around your bikini line and underarms too where you may need more precision.

And I do rather like the idea of the extra specialist windows, with filters and flashes to better treat stubborn bikini spider-legs and underarm hairs. And it’s a clever marketing strategy by Philips because models with these extra windows tend to be more expensive. But in reality, the Prestige works equally well without them and you’ll still get excellent results. So, the cheaper BRI950, BRI945 and BRI944 models with just the body and face flash windows give you everything you need to treat your full body for excellent results.

Related: Philips Lumea Prestige indepth tried & tested review (with summary video)

All the Prestige models come with the UK 100-day Philips money back guarantee. And they’re all ace. But not all models are readily available today. But you’ll find the best deals below.

View Philips Lumea Prestige models deals

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