This is a review of the Philips 424382 11-watt A19 LED Household Dimmable Light Bulb (Soft White).
After extensive research, I recently purchased 20 of these bulbs for 9$ each under a promotion from my utility company. Here is a summary of my research and three month ownership experience.
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Light Quality 10/10
Light quality is subjective person to person. The LED bulbs produce almost the same warmth and are brighter than a standard 60W incandescent light bulb. People cannot tell what fixtures have LED's and what have incandescent bulbs. The light pattern is no different than a standard 60W incandescent light bulb (even with the odd shape).
The bulbs produce basically no light flicker [1]. I feel this is an important aspect to me and my family as heavy CFL / florescent lighting flicker bothers me when reading. In summary, anyone who has seen the bulbs cannot tell them apart from a standard 60W incandescent light bulb.
Build Quality 8/10
The bulb physically is excellently built. It feels high quality and has a solid heft to it. The bulbs take about one hour to become warm to the touch. Metal light fixture remain cool even after many hours of use (with a standard 60W incandescent light bulb it would hurt to touch). Also, these bulbs do not dim in weather storms unlike traditional incandescent bulbs.
I deduct two marks for the choice of an electrical component brand used in its construction (Samxon capacitors are used in the power supply). A more expensive capacitor brand could have been used, as this will be the component that will fail at the end of the bulb's life.
Warranty 8/10
Philips' warranty covers the bulbs for 5 years. Although 5 years is a long time, electrical components inside the bulb (the power supply capacitor) may fail inside that period. CREE offers 10 years on their products. However, I feel as the LED bulb market becomes commoditized - 5 years will be a long warranty period.
Return On Investment 10/10
At 9$ per bulb, these bulbs are excellent. The return on investment will be about a year and a half per bulb in my high use installation (compared to a standard 60W incandescent light bulb)
Summary
I 100% recommend them to my family and friends. Overall I give this bulb an A.
Technical Information and Resources
[1] electronupdates video teardown and review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWKAub54sLU
[2] electronupdates blog: http://electronupdate.blogspot.ca/
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