OSRAM XENARC TESTED - Night Breaker Laser VS Cool Blue Intense VS Original VS Classic

Hi everyone! Today we'll test 4 products from the Osram Xenarc range: The Classic, the Original, the Cool Blue intense and the Night Breaker Laser. We'll explore how Xenon lamps work and fail, and we'll compare how bright these products are. Do you get more for paying extra on a top of the line product? Let's find out!

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Check out this video to see the difference between Osram Cool Blue Intense and Cool Blue Boost:

About the tests:
Light output - This parameter was measured using a specific instrument called the Lux meter. As the name implies, this measures the LUX value of a specific light source. In other words, the amount of light that is hitting a surface. Compared with Lumen, which describes the total light output of a light source in all directions, Lux is more relevant in this case because it measures the light projected by the headlight. For example, a poorly designed headlight bulb with a high lumen rating will not focus the light properly. therefore it will have a bad Lux reading. We are interested in road illumination, not specific bulb brightness. The test was performed using a projector type headlight. The headlight unit were positioned at 3m from the projection surface, where the measurement was made. Every bulb was powered using the power supply set at 14 volts.
Drop test - in this test, the products were dropped 4 times/minute until each product failed. Every bulb was powered using the power supply set at 14 volts.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:07 - What is a Xenon lamp?
1:45 - Pros and Cons of Xenon lamps
3:30 - The products tested
5:55 - Light output test
6:32 - Promotional segment / Light measurement
7:40 - Light output results
9:55 - Why and how do Xenon lamps fail?
10:37 - Endurance test
11:42 - Conclusions
14:07 - Outro

[PauloHeaven]

Thank you for your tests. I have put Osram CBIs in my Lexus and have been very satisfied ever since. High beams are hardly ever needed, even on a completely dark road, combined with the AFS, the light output is absolutely excellent.

[Bruno-]

Great video. People also need to take into consideration headlamp restoration. Even with best headlight bulbs, the output still can be bad. I just bought Orginal OSRAM, and the money that I saved by buying cheaper ones, will use them to do the restoration.

[DiavolO]

Lithuanian subscriber here, thank you very much for this video, im also in search of best value of xenon bulbs, this video is gold :) keep it up.

[fabbricaitalianaautomobili]

Excellent work my friend as always..
I have been importing HID’s for almost 12 years, and my supplier manufactures both Phillips and Osram. And also a cheaper brand,
I have tried LED’s but I believe the manufacturer always over run them by voltage so the delaminates from the cooling surface and in my experience Xenon. Last longer than Led and also makes a better light output beam than LED, and the longevity between LED and HID the xenon is far more superior and better value for money on the long run,
I have had ballasts and bulb failure with HID and one should make sure not to buy a DC ballast but rather an AC as it’s more gentle on on the bulbs,
Just for fact sake I am still using my original set of HID’s in my Fiat and it is going 13 years now and for a long time it was my preferred vehicle for night driving, maybe I should look into replacing bulbs 😀 with new stock.
I should

[User-cbjm]

Such a professional video. From the camera angles, to the explanations, you’re a great presenter!

[deanpl]

Seriously!? 😂 Yesterday I was looking for this content on your channel, because one of my xenon bulps is broken 😄 Now this gap is filled, good job! 👍

[HappyHarryHardon]

I did the Sylvania H13 LED and I absolutely love them! True plug and play and I didn’t even have to re-aim. I can see at least twice as far than the stock halogens. They already paid for themselves by letting me see a line of deer soon enough to safely brake.

[laurensj]

You are pure gold my friend! If only 1% of YT reviewers made comparisons like this the world would be a utopia

[McBright]

@Sergiu Gabor

Couple of things to mention.

1 . You are using only one bulb, and 10 bulbs of the same brand and model behave differently. This stands for different batches as well.

2. You need to test in high beam, because the base of the bulb can be off by a milimeter or less, but that moves the hotspot and one bulb can produce less light but due to focal point hot spot can be when in low beam. Another bulb that produce more light can have its hotspot shifted to the area which is reserved for high beam, but the lux meter will read less light in low beam compared to the dimmer bulb.

3. Different light meters ARE sensitive differently to different kelvin reading. Given LUX meter can be sensitive ot 4500k and not so much to 5500k.

4. Different bulbs behave differently based on the lens used. There are some coated lens that give advantage to bulbs with 4300k. Like the Hella F1.

5. What you are measuring is the light output measured by lux meter. What you actually care is vissible light, as light spectrum is wider than what human eyes can see. Its about the light produced in visible spectrum.

6. You are missing the Cool blue boost.

[valentinmarin]

Amazing video.
I would like to see a comparison between Philips White Vision gen 2, Philips e-xtreme Vision gen 2 and Osram Night Braker Laser.
Also I would like to see how an LED bulb perform in a xenon projector.

[kleroooo]

This is what I call a real, straightforward scientific test. THANK YOU!

[AreaCode]

Thanks very much for your time, an objective test like this surely took a long time. I was going to buy the most expensive Osram bulb, but will now search for the classic D1S instead. My present Xenon bulbs in my 2008 are the original and now some 16 years old! I'm sure the new bulbs will make a significant difference.

[anarmo]

Excelente video. Una verdadera comparación, con hechos y datos. Derriba mucha mentira que circula en youtube. En mi experiencia, debo decir que ayer precisamente, instalé los Osram night brake laser (NBL). El resultado frente a los que tenía originales, fueron los mejores. Tuve que conducir bajo condiciones extremas, neblina densa (no se veía a mas de 5 mt), lluvia intensa, carretera muy oscura. Y los bombillos Osram NBL se comportaron muy bien. Pude conducir sin problema. Solo me falta averiguar su durabilidad. Que hay mejores tecnologías, claro que las hay. Pero para mi presupuesto y las características de mi vehículo, es lo mejor que pude tener

[paulyoung]

Great, informative video as ever. An observation - I don't recall it being mentioned that the light output and colour temp of all these bulbs will change after a 'burn in' period. This can be anywhere from 200 to 500 hours and the light output typically improves after this time. Could you perform another test to demonstrate this? And compare new, out the box performance with performance from the same bulb, after it's 'burn in' period?
Keep up the great work.

[Andrewlone]

Big thanks! i have chosen OSRAM XENARC - Night Breaker.

[Charkatak]

Happy to see the test results. A bit over a year ago, I needed to replace one bulb in my car and it seems that previous owner had Osram Original and I bought the same as only one side needed a bulb. If I would need both bulbs, I would definitely purchased Night Breaker Laser.

[sentieria]

Thanks for the hard work you led segment really help me on the purchase.

[shoarectube]

Bravo, Sergiu! Super idee cu redarea inregistrarii testelor in paralel cu momentul sponsorului!

[kurtm]

Your videos kept showing up in my searches. Before I even watched one, I thought to myself, it would be cool if an engineer evaluated bulbs and other products like this. And here you are, a quality automotive engineer haha. Glad to see it! Great content!

[peskypeet]

👍 Good stuff! Your graph on the wall is awesome information. Providing the numbers after the 20 min heat saturation time is VERY important. On the road longer trips are where being able to see is most important as the speeds are higher and being aware sooner can save your life.