One of few bulb-like LED lamps
Pros: Diffuse output, A19 shape
Cons: Expensive, hums
This LED lamp took nearly a year from product announcement to first shipment. Initially it was claimed to put out 800 lumens while consuming under 8 watts, a breakthrough in efficacy at the time. Final specifications do keep it consuming under 8 watts (7.5), but only putting out 446 lumens for the Cool White version, and significantly less for the warmer colors (what they call "Soft White" and "Warm White"). This is a drop in efficacy from the initial claim of over 100 lumens/watt to just under 60 lumens/watt. This combined with the less-than-average lifetime claim of 30,000 hours, and high initial cost, give it a cost-per-megalumen-hour figure no better than incandescents (around $12.50 at $0.10/kWh).
My Watt's Up wattmeter confirms the 7.5 watt power consumption specification. My homemade integrating sphere also confirms a lumen output in the mid 400s, on par with a 40-watt incandescent bulb. Their advertising literature continues to claim "60-watt incandescent equivalence", which is simply not true. Maybe if they had managed to achieve the initial claim of 800 lumens that equivalence would hold.
This is one of the few omnidirectional LED lamps out there, it puts out good diffuse light, more from the top than the bottom, as is the case with many of this style of LED lamp. It has a unique appearance, and a shape similar enough to the A19 shape that those clip-on lampshades will probably work with it.
I was disappointed to discover that it emits a humming sound, audible out to 6-10 feet, depending on the level of ambient noise in the room. This might be enough to take it out of the running for some people sensitive to such sounds, in quiet environments, such as a bedside reading light.
The globe portion of this LED lamp is apparently made of glass, increasing its fragility compared to most other similar LED lamps, which use a polycarbonate material.
Some justification for the high price may be found in the UL and FCC listings for this LED lamp. This is still quite rare among LED lamps. Virtually none of the less-expensive LED lamps from China will have such safety listings. The box it came in does say "Made in China" by the way, I suspect the difference is that those other LED lamps were also designed in China whereas the GeoBulb was designed in USA (just guessing though).
The price was recently lowered to $100. For it to compete against other LED lamps in its class, it needs to be about half that. All in all, a decent LED lamp that's lacking a decent price.
