Whether you are an end consumer or a wholesaler, if you plan to purchase automotive LED headlights, then this buying guide is a must-read.
Selecting the quality LED headlight bulb for your car used to be a straightforward thing, but the abundance of options available today can be overwhelming.
If you share this curiosity and are looking to upgrade your car headlights, you might be wondering how to identify a good LED headlight bulb without any regrets.
Deciding on a great LED headlight bulb can be a challenge, considering the wide range of options available in the market.
However, fear not! We are here to guide you through the process of discovering the 8 key features to look for in a high-quality LED headlight bulb. With our expert advice, you can confidently find the perfect LED headlight bulb that meets all your lighting needs.
1. Use High-Quality Chip
The LED chip is a core part of an LED headlight bulb and plays a vital role in determining its overall performance and quality.
LED chips are clarified as different brands, different packaging process and different sizes. At present, there are 5 kinds of chips commonly used in LED headlight bulb, which are CREE, Z ES, COB, CSP, FLIP-CHIP.
CREE
Cree chips are known for high-quality and high brightness in the industry. Cree chips have square-shaped appearance along with silicone lens, this enable them to emit light at a wide angle, meanwhile, this also causes a glare light beam pattern. You can notice that their price is also higher than their counterparts.
Lumileds Z ES
Lumileds Z ES chips are a reputable LED technology known for high brightness and clear light beam pattern. but drawbacks may include higher cost compared to other options.
CSP
CSP LED headlight bulbs utilize chip-scale packaging, which allows for compact and densely arranged LED chips.
COB
COB LED headlight bulbs integrate multiple LED chips directly onto a single substrate. This arrangement results in high luminous flux and excellent thermal management.
FLIP-CHIP
Flip chips take a good balance of price and quality. Many mid-to-high-end LED headlights use flip chips due to their high efficiency, high power, stable quality, long lifespan, and most importantly, they are reasonably priced compared to CREE and Lumileds Z ES.
A high-quality LED headlight must have a safe light beam pattern to ensure it does not cause glare to oncoming vehicles.
Light beam pattern refers to the light angle and shape emitting through the headlight housing. Light beam patterns are as important as brightness and directly related to driving safety.
Quality LED headlight bulbs emit a distinct 45 degrees cut-off line on low beams and focus light on high beams.
Low beams without any dark areas have two main benefits. On the one hand, they are helpful to see the oncoming traffic clearly without shining the eyes of other drivers.
On the other hand, perfect light beam patterns are contributed to a broader vision for drivers at night driving. They can see clearly on both sides of the road and react sooner to the accident.
In some right-hand driving countries, the light beam pattern should be lower on the left and higher on the right, and vice versa.
3. 1:1 Design As Halogen
A quality LED headlight bulb should maintain a 1:1 lighting filament with halogen. This ensures consistent light distribution prevents blinding glare, and requires minimal modification to your OEM reflector or projector headlight housing.
A great LED headlight bulb has a thin space between both sides of lamp beads so that they are close to the width of original filament as possible.
From the above two pictures you can see that the both sizes of lamp bead are too broad, and the LED chip is too wide, which can NOT simulate the filament size of halogen lamp.
If spaced too far apart, your beam pattern will lack focus, a hot spot, and might cause glare for other road users.
If you care about the road safety for yourself and others. It’s important to opt for a high-quality LED headlight bulb that mirrors the 1:1 design of your OEM bulb.
4. Right Color Temperature
Individuals perceive colors uniquely, and varying color temperatures can alter how we view objects. Daytime’s natural light possesses a high color temperature, contributing to heightened brain activity and reduced eye strain.
If you are looking for a high-power LED bulb for your car, it is better to choose a color temperature in a range of 5000K to 6500K. This range is considered as “white” light with a slight bluish tint. It provides a balance between brightness, visibility, and reduced glare for both the driver and other road users.
If your area frequently experiences heavy rain, fog, or snow, it’s advisable to consider LED lights with a color temperature around 3000K-4300K. LED headlights of this color temperature usually emit yellow light, which has excellent penetration in extreme weather conditions. Whether it’s heavy rain or dense fog, drivers can have improved visibility at night.
5. Effective Heat Dissipation
Good heat dissipation is a critical feature for quality LED headlight bulbs due to its impact on performance and longevity. LEDs generate heat while producing light, and effective heat dissipation prevents overheating, which can maintain stable brightness and prolong lifespan.
There are numerous nameless LED headlight brands on the market. Most of these LED headlight bulbs are produced by some unregulated small workshops.
To save the cost, they will employ overclocked chip, resulting in short bursts of high lumens and rapid heat generation. Consequently, the headlight system quickly overheats and malfunctions. Despite claims of a 50,000-hour lifespan in their descriptions, the reality is that these bulbs can last for 1,000 hours or even less.
Thus, if want to choose quality LED headlight bulb, you should first to consider some reputable brands such as Osram, Philips, Hella. These brands have rich experience in automotive lighting manufacturing, they have assurance in quality, performance, and durability.
Their products undergo rigorous testing, guaranteeing safety and longevity, and they will also provide necessary supports for their clients.
If you are looking for a reliable Chinese manufacturer for quality automotive LED lights. NAOEVO is the best choice for you!
As a one of the largest LED car light bulb leaders in China, they have in-house factory support and export 5 million sets of LED car lights each year.
By introducing lots of high-tech machines for manufacturing first-class LED light bulbs in various styles, their products are widely exported to the USA, Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America and have built more than 40 distributors around the world.
