I have found that there can be huge quality differences between cheap and more expensive LED bulbs as well. Specifically the ones that use a cheap rectifier. Sometimes I think that I can see them flickering out of the corner of my eye.
This is a big part of it. I tend to pay a reasonable amount for my LEDs and I've yet to be disappointed. I very rarely replace bulbs despite having dozens of fixtures, and the quality of the light is good because I made a point of buying the right colour temp and getting dimmable ones where it makes sense.
Unfortunately the market is swamped with cheap low quality ones that produce pretty crap quality light and burn out quickly. I learnt pretty quickly that it was a false economy to skimp on them.
