Philips SlimStyle BR30 Shrinks LED Flood: Hands-On

It may look like a strange plastic mushroom, but this is actually Philips' latest low-power bulb, the SlimStyle BR30, aiming to cut power consumption for domestic floodlights as well as make them less bulky. Following in the footsteps of the flattened SlimStyle bulb launched earlier this year, the SlimStyle BR30 ditches the heatsink most LED lighting demands.

That allows Philips to shrink the stem of the bulb down to little more than a plastic support rod, flaring out to a large, frosted white top behind which the LEDs lurk.

A 60W-equivalent, the 9.5W SlimStyle BR30 produces 2700K light, for a similar warmth to what you might expect from a traditional incandescent bulb. However, it uses 85-percent less power to produce 650 lumens of light, Philips claims, for as much as $152 in savings over its lifetime.

It's too early to tell from the sample Philips sent, but the quality of light certainly lacks the harsh coolness that some LED bulbs can suffer from. Since it's a flood, the output is focused forward, though there's enough of a side-diffuser that you don't get a hard cut-off line.

Philips says the SlimStyle BR30 is going through ENERGY STAR testing now. When the original SlimStyle was approved back in April, energy company subsidies saw it drop to under $2 apiece in some states.

Sales of the bulb will begin online in July and in stores the following month, with an RRP of $12.97.