Why You Can Trust CNET Philips 60W Equivalent Daylight LED review: A decent daylight bulb that's priced too high
It's not a bad bulb, but this neutral-toned Philips LED gets beat at almost every turn.
- 10 years product testing experience with the CNET Home team
Among all of the dimmable daylight-toned LEDs I found at my local retailers, this Philips bulb was tied for the most expensive, ringing in at $8 each. At that price, I expected it to be better than the competition in a majority of my tests. It was not.
Philips 60W Equivalent Daylight LED
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Dimmable 60W replacement daylight LEDs
| Philips 60W Equivalent Daylight LED | Cree 4Flow Daylight LED | Philips SlimStyle Daylight LED | Sylvania 60W Equivalent Daylight LED | Walmart Great Value 60W Equivalent Daylight LED | GE 60W Equivalent Daylight LED | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumens (measured/stated) | 738 / 800 | 625 / 815 | 670 / 800 | 738 / 800 | 709 / 800 | 711 / 900 |
| Watts | 9 | 10 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 10 | 11 |
| Efficiency (lumens per watt) | 82 | 63 | 64 | 87 | 71 | 65 |
| Yearly energy cost (3 hours of use per day) | $1.08 | $1.20 | $1.26 | $1.02 | $1.20 | $1.32 |
| Color temperature (measured/stated) | 4,645 K / 5,000 K | 4,561 K / 5,000 K | 4,758 K / 5,000 K | 4,781 K / 5,000 K | 4,562 K / 5,000 K | 4,575 K / 5,000 K |
| Dimmable range | 9.9 - 93.2 % | 5.0 - 100% | 13.4 - 94.9% | 2.1 - 96.1% | 18.4 - 99.5% | 13.4 - 92.5% |
| Dimmer switch flicker/buzz | Very light | Very light | Light | Moderate | Moderate | Light |
| Life span | 25,000 hours | 30,000 hours | 25,000 hours | 25,000 hours | 25,000 hours | 30,000 hours |
| Weight | 2.3 oz. | 1.9 oz. | 2.2 oz. | 3.0 oz. | 2.9 oz. | 3.8 oz. |
| Energy Star Certification | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Warranty | 5-year | 5-year | 3-year | 5-year | 3-year | 10-year |
| Price | $8 | $6 | $5 | $8 | $4 | $5 |
Mind you, it wasn't bad. Though the Cree 4Flow Daylight LED -- which costs $2 less -- outperformed it on my dimming rig, the Philips bulb came in a close second, offering very solid dimming performance with minimal flicker. With 738 lumens, it tied Sylvania (the other 8-buck bulb) for the title of brightest daylight LED of the bunch.
Still, that under-spec number isn't impressive in and of itself -- nor is the fact that we preferred the light quality and color-rendering capabilities of the flattened-down Philips SlimStyle Daylight LED, which costs $3 less.
Does a decent job on this Leviton switch, too. Some very subtle flickering at the low setting, though. pic.twitter.com/53S7b5Kfzk
— Ry Crist (@rycrist) August 26, 2016
Simply put, Philips doesn't do enough to justify charging 8 bucks for its standard-shaped daylight LED. It's a perfectly fine pick if you catch it on sale, but if I have to buy at full price, I'll stick with the $6 Cree 4Flow Daylight LED for fixtures on dimmer switches, and a cheaper, non-dimmable option like the $3 daylight version of the GE Bright Stik LED everywhere else.