Up close with the new Philips Clear LED (pictures)

Philips newest LED offering is a 40W replacement with a clear bulb and a clear focus on aesthetics. Click through for a closer look.

The Philips Clear LED emphasizes the bulb's interior design, rather than hiding it, with a shiny, gemlike prism in the center.

The prism reflects the light from the diodes for a modern take on the classic exposed filament look.

The light is also carefully designed to minimize the heat sinks, which keeps the base of the bulb thin.

There are no diodes inside the bulb. Instead, they sit just beneath, on top of the base, and are reflected up through that prism.

The Philips Clear puts out 470 lumens of light using 6 watts, which is quite respectable for a 40W replacement.

The Philips Clear LED glows at a warm color temperature of 2,700 K, which falls in line with its mission of mimicking classic incandescent lighting.

The new bulbs are fully dimmable and worked well on multiple types of in-wall dimmers when we tested one out.

The exposed interior of the bulb makes for a design that stands out. Consumers looking for bulbs to replace the old incandescents lining their bathroom mirror might like what they see.

The Philips Clear LED is due out in Europe sometime this summer, and in the US by the end of the year. There's no word on pricing yet, though similar LEDs retail around $9 to $12 (£5 to £7). We'll have to wait and see what kind of premium Philips charges for the bulb's aesthetics.