Philips is adding voice capabilities to its Lumea IPL device to give users a helping hand when using the hair removal tool, and offer a more personalised experience.
The “talking IPL” innovation, which Philips claims is the first-of-its-kind, is part of the Dutch tech giant’s plans to turn its beauty division into a €1bn business.
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Philips’ Lumea 9900 Pro acts as a beauty coach, talking users through how to use the device with step-by-step audio, along with visual guides.
The device also has SmartSkin Sensor technology, which detects skin tone for optimal settings and personalisation.
Designed to transform at-home hair removal “from an uncertain process into a personalised and rewarding self-care routine”, the device has motion guidance in real time that can detect where and how users are placing the tool.
Audio feedback then follows and can include guidance on moving treatments closer together or further apart on the skin, or praise if it is just right.
As well as building user confidence, optimum usage improves the efficacy of the device, which can be used on legs, face, bikini area and underarms.
IPL, which stands for Intense Pulsed Light, works by applying gentle pulses of light to the hair root, sending it into the resting phase of hair growth.
Philips’ Lumea 9900 Pro claims greater than 80% hair reduction after just two treatments, and five years of smooth skin with minimal maintenance of just one session per month after an initial treatment phase.
The device and accompanying app also offer progress reports post-treatment, along with reminders for the next treatment date, “helping users understand their results and stay motivated throughout their unique hair removal journey”, the company said in a statement.
“We have taken everything we have learned from decades of light-based technology research and transformed it into an intelligent product that works with you, not against you,” said Dominique Oh, Global Beauty & Grooming Leader at Philips.
“The Philips Lumea 9900 Pro is proof that when health technology meets wellness, you create solutions that genuinely improve lives one smooth, confident moment at a time.”
Philips targets Beauty growth
The new device is the Lumea franchise’s biggest launch to date since the technology company first brought the Lumea at-home IPL device to the market 15 years ago.
It marks a major milestone in Philips’ efforts to capture more of the still-growing market, and as it targets €1bn in annual sales from its beauty business.
“While we are the market leader everywhere we play, it is still the beginning, because the category is still small, and there are so many women who either have not heard about IPL yet, or who really want to participate, but have not made a [purchasing] decision,” Wonsook Ko, Global Category Leader, Beauty, at Philips, tells Cosmetics Business.--ABSTRACTEND-
“We are [doing] great business, but there is huge head space ahead of us, so that is how we build our ambition, and I think it is very achievable.”
Despite a period of restructuring across Philips’ business, which also includes healthcare and lighting, the beauty division has remained an investment for the Netherlands-based business as the beauty category is “booming”, says Ko.
Philips launched Lumea IPL in the US in August 2025, after gaining approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical device, and has worked closely with Amazon in the region.
Performance in the US has “absolutely” exceeded expectations, says Ko, and the launch of the Lumea 9900 Pro will mark the first “joined up” launch across the European and US markets for Philips.
While Philips is “on the journey of global expansion”, the latest innovation is designed to expand uptake among people who may be familiar with the technology, but have not yet embraced it.
“The awareness and [use of] IPL is increasing, but still many consumers hesitate to get into this area, because again it is [about] familiarity to the new technology,” says Ko.
“So this [device, with voice capabilities] is a perfect answer, in our view, to really give that confidence to consumers.
“It tells you they are doing a great job. If you make a mistake, it says, reduce the distance, or do [it] this way,
“It always brings the consumer back to the journey that guarantees the perfect outcome for that individual person.
“We are so confident that we are going to really satisfy many consumers who are in between [who] know the idea [behind IPL], [but who are] not sure if they are ready to dive in.”
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