The Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 is the fastest home IPL you can buy, with a sensor that reads your skin eighty times a second and adjusts every single flash automatically, at a street price around £380 to £400. The FAUSTINA 3IN1 costs £220 and does three jobs instead of one, with lamps you can replace. Automation and speed, or versatility and price. Here is the honest detail.
Head to head
| FAUSTINA 3IN1 | Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 (PL5347) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £220 (list £240) | Around £380 to £400 street. Ignore the £759.99 RRP, it sells discounted essentially year-round |
| What it does | Hair removal + skin rejuvenation + blemish lamp | Hair removal only |
| Total flashes | 1,500,000 across three replaceable lamps | 400,000, sealed unit |
| Smart features | Skin-contact safety sensor, 5 manual levels | SensoAdapt sensor auto-adjusts every flash, 10 levels |
| Speed | 1 to 2.5 seconds between flashes | Up to 125 flashes per minute, both lower legs in under 5 minutes |
| Cordless | No, mains powered | No, corded only |
| Skin tones | Light to medium, caution on deeper tones | Fitzpatrick I to V per Braun, same physics and limits |
| Warranty | 2 years | Extendable to 5 years with registration, 100-day money back |
| Money back | 40 days on unopened devices bought direct | 100 days |
Where the Braun Pro 5 is genuinely better
Two things, and they are real. First, SensoAdapt: the device reads your skin tone continuously and sets each flash itself, which removes both the guesswork and the fear factor for a first-time user. Second, speed: at up to 125 flashes a minute it finishes legs several times faster than any stamp-and-glide budget device. Its 100-day money-back window is also the most generous in this comparison.
Where the FAUSTINA 3IN1 is genuinely better
£160 to £180 cheaper at everyday prices, and unlike the Braun's theatrical RRP, the FAUSTINA's £240 list and £220 sale price are near each other, which is what honest pricing looks like.
Three functions, not one. Braun removes hair. The FAUSTINA also carries a skin rejuvenation lamp for sun spots, tone and visible redness, the lane with independent coverage from Penn Smith and Natural Kaos, plus a blemish lamp. See the rejuvenation guide.
Nearly four times the flashes, and replaceable. 1.5 million against 400,000, and when a FAUSTINA lamp is spent, £60 replaces the lamp rather than the device.
The bottom line
| You | Buy |
|---|---|
| Want the fastest sessions and full automation, hair only | Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 |
| Want hair removal plus skin rejuvenation in one purchase | FAUSTINA 3IN1 |
| Watching the budget without giving up results | FAUSTINA 3IN1 |
| Plan to use it for many years | FAUSTINA 3IN1 (replaceable lamps) |
FAUSTINA 3IN1
£220 £240
Three lamps, 1.5 million flashes, five levels, UK stock, 2-year warranty.
See it at labotest.co.ukHere for skin, not hair?
£260
The FAUSTINA 3SR carries three skin rejuvenation lamps for tone, sun spots and visible redness work only.
See the 3SR