Horizontal picture 002 of the GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb.

GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Review

For this review, we tested a few of the GE Bright Stik LED light bulbs situated around our apartment. Indeed, if they last as long as the CREE predicts, we looked at, then they’ll pay for themselves.  They’ll pay for themselves at least six times over by the time they burn out.

We’ve used one 10-watt (60-watt equivalent) unit as a night light for weeks now. This bulb has run in that time, constantly, with neither flicker nor failure. Plus, it cost us only $10 for a 3-pack at Home Depot in 2015.





These bulbs operate with SOME heating. But they don’t become nearly as hot to the touch as the incandescent bulbs. They run even cooler than the compact fluorescent lights.  Plus, these A19 LED bulbs run silently, without buzzing, even when dimmed. On radios, they’re also very quiet; generating no detectable interference on the most susceptible frequencies.

Any bulb is a bit more of a pain to clean up when used in enclosed fixtures.  But said units can really cut down on dust exposure.  This helps prevent overheating and early burnout.   General Electric has made these LED lamps significantly more affordable than the CREE models we’ve tested previously; currently about a quarter of the price per bulb.

GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb, package front view.

GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Benefits, Features, Advantages, and Pros

Popular Sizes Available

These bulbs come in 60 (10 watt) incandescent equivalent output. Note that this rating IS NOT the amount of power that this LED bulb actually draws from the mains. Rather, it expresses the amount of incandescent lamp light output that you get with this bulb.

Way More Light Per Watt

The Bright Stik 10-watt bulb outputs 86 lumens. This is almost the same light that a 60-watt incandescent light bulb emits (800 lumens). Yet you only pay for 10 watts power draw!

Cooler Operation

There’s so much more consumed power going into making useful light with LEDs. There’s less wasteful heat thus.  So GE says that their Bright Stik bulbs can be up to 83 percent more efficient than incandescent lights.

The GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Offers Longer Life

They rate these at 15,000 hours average life expectancy.

Smaller Heat Sink

Less metal in these bulbs, owing to the greater efficiency electronics and LEDs themselves.





Built to Last

Stands up well to shocks and drops.

No Warm-Up Time

You get full brightness almost instantly upon LED turn-on.  Instant on, Instant off.

The GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Offers Near Flicker-Free Light

We detect no perceptible flickers, no matter the ambient room temperature. However, if you run this bulb from a dimmer, it will indeed flicker.  Non dimmable therefore.

Full Brightness, Even in the Cold

Like incandescent lighting, but not like compact fluorescent lamps, LED bulbs operate efficiently even in very cold temperatures. You get full luminosity even when the room is freezing cold.

Less Brightness Loss Over Time

As incandescent and CFL bulbs accrue more hours of operation, the internal filament evaporates. Then, that metal deposits itself on the inside of the glass. So, by the time the bulb burns out, its light output has decreased. This is due to the darkened glass from these metal deposits. But General Electric LED bulbs do not have this source of light output drop. Indeed, they keep much more of their new-state brightness, even when near end of life.

Decent Color Rendition Index (CRI)

Bright Stik light bulbs offer a CRI of 80.  So, particularly the “daylight” models serve as acceptable photography lighting.





No Detectable Radio Interference

We can find no carrier waves from these bulbs on the AM radio or other medium- and long-wave radio bands.

Less Dust Buildup on the GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb

These bulbs give off lower heat output since they are LEDs. So they attract less dust and dirt.  Now you still get some fine dust buildup over time.  But that does not stick as much to these, as it did on the hotter bulbs of yesterday.

Omnidirectional

The radiation characteristics of GE Bright Stik LED bulbs is very much like traditional incandescent lighting. They spread light around in nearly equal amounts in all directions except for directly underneath the bulb, toward the socket.

Frosted Exterior

Softens shadows and helps spread the light more evenly.

The GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb is Inexpensive

GE LED bulbs usually pay for themselves many times over throughout their lives. So the up front cost of less than $4 per bulb is low.  It makes the investment about the same as that for CFL lamps when they first came out. Prices have fallen, with quantity deals like the 3-pac discussed here.  These have become widely available. Soon gone will be the higher single-unit prices.  Thus before too long, we expect home LED lamps to be cheaper than even the cheapest spiral fluorescent lamps.

Three Year Warranty

This is shorter than the CREE brand, which offers a ten year warranty.  But still…, not bad.

Stock picture 001 of the GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb.
GE Bright Stik LED light bulb, stock picture, front view.

GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, Limitations

Heavier than “Edison” Light Bulbs

The parts inside make these bulbs weigh a bit more than an incandescent bulb. But with the minimal heat sinking, the Bright Stik bulbs are not much heavier.

Not Dimmable

This line of GE LED bulbs is not compatible with standard leading-edge type dimmers.  Of course, a downside to these bulbs, is that they do not work well when dimmed.

Should Not be just Thrown Out

These bulbs, due to the electronics they contain, should be properly recycled.  Dispose of these just as you would any other electronic device.





Slightly Less Light Output   

than a 60-watt incandescent light bulb.  The Bright Stik LED produces 786 lumens while incandescent bulbs.  That’s similar to other brands of LED bulbs, which  produce around 800 lumens.  This bulb is slightly less efficient than bulbs that provide 800 lumens at only 9.5 watts needed.

Our Rating for the GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb

We’re pleased that General Electric has created a highly affordable yet highly energy efficient LED product. It’s now easy for the average consumer (our biggest population segment) to go green, without breaking the bank. You have the three year warranty and sub $5 price tag per unit.  Plus, there’s the shock-resistant build. So given all that, we fear little over failure due to vibration.

The bulbs provide a decently full, natural-looking daylight in most situations. Or there’s also the soft white version.  This gives an accurate, incandescent-looking lighting. It’s great to see LEDs finally moving into mainstream lighting markets. They sure took their time getting there)  GE has done a good job ushering this tech into the mass markets. They convinced many by offering such a cheap product, that the switch to it is worth it. We thus rate the GE Bright Stick at 97 out of 100.

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References for this GE Bright Stik LED Light Bulb Review

    1. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on Wikipedia
    2. Where to Buy GE Bright Stik­ LED Light Bulbs

Revision History

    • 2019-04-03: Added key phrase targeting, more subheadings, more tags, removed ad code, and shortened sentences.
    • 2015-10-19: Originally published.