Philips Econic globe 7 W

Philips' Econic range is a direct competitor of Econergyworld's round LED lamps.  Philips sees them as the natural replacement for your old incandescent bulbs.  According to the manufacturer, making the switch will 'make your everyday indoor activities more enjoyable without harming the environment.'

We tested the version with a B22 bayonet fitting, but this bulb is also available with a B27 fitting.  Because the bulb incorporates powerful LEDs, there are also metal fins around the outside to help with cooling.  They also have an impact on the zone that it can illuminate, which is narrower than with a traditional bulb with no cooling system.

Lighting

This is our photo lab which has a black wall and the light intensity measured in lux in different areas.  The bulb is 1.86 m back from the wall.  Based on Philips' promise, we were expecting a performance equivalent to the 6 W or 8 W bulbs by Econergyworld we've tested.  That wasn't the case at all though, and our measurements revealed that this bulb is 30-35% less powerful.



Because this lamp is not particularly bright, you'll only be to use it occasionally or in a small space, such as a cupboard or corridor.  If you want to use it for a room you spend a lot of time in, you'll need to add more (a dozen should do the job) to get up to the minimum standard.

Energy Consumption

Philips' bulb actually used a little bit less than what was indicated on the packaging: we measured consumption of 7.8 W.

Spectrum

The colour spectrum produced by this lamp is just what we'd expect from an LED lamp and comparable with what we'd expect from a globe-shaped bulb.  To compare it to other bulbs, you can refer to the spectra produced by an incandescent bulb, the fluorescent tubes used in our photography lab, an entry-level compact fluorescent bulb or a full-spectrum model from Viva-Lite.  We produced these spectra using an i1 Pro sensor from X-Rite.


The ideal colour spectrum should be even, with even intensity across all of the colours in the spectrum without any peaks and throughs.  The gaps here are pretty traditional, with not much violet and a big trough covering cyan and the start of green.  For more information on the benefits of a wider, more even spectrum, read our review of the Viva-Lite bulb.

Here are our technical measurements for this lamp.  The closer the CRI (colour rendering index) and the FSCI (full spectrum colour index) are to 100, the better; the colour temperature is a matter of personal taste and depends on the type of light you're looking for.  There are no good or bad values for this figure.  We have more information about these measurements in this news piece.

• CRI: 80.2
• FSCI: 58.43
• Colour Temperature: 2576 K

Other Features

The 7 W Econic bulb is the only one in the range to be compatible with dimmer switches.