Amazon HID & LED Headlights are Getting Out of Hand

How do HID and LED headlight bulbs commonly sold on Amazon compare to real OEM replacements from brands in Germany like OSRAM? What are LED HID bulbs and are they good? Do they all easily beat halogen? Today we measure the sometimes outrageous claims of of the brands and bulbs and hit them with a dose of reality so you're not flying so blind when you buy a replacement.

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[TorqueTestChannel]

Pretty much all of these when actually measured did fall around or under the legal standard for brightness on this vehicle. So adjust your headlamps correctly. Use proper LED or projector housings if upgrading an older vehicle. Don't use fog lights when there isn't fog or high beams when there's other vehicles. Don't buy a blue color temperature. And if people still getting blinded out there it isn't because of these bulbs. So I dunno, you could ask truck manufactures to make less land barg-y sized trucks like from the 90's/early 2000's again :)

[Cab]

The moment you showed the light testing machine, you gained a follower!! I love when people take the time to do objective testing.

[--_DJ_--]

I was doing a night shift last week, 4 hours of driving total, almost all at in the dark. The amount of people with poorly aimed headlights drives me nuts. You can tell they are not high beams because you can see them put those on once they pass you. They sure blind like high beams though. The really annoying ones are the ones behind, casting what looks like the sun into one of my tow mirrors. Mostly found on newish pickup trucks from my experience, though maybe being in a truck myself, the cars don't bother me as much as they would someone sitting lower to the ground.

[MontanaMedic]

The headlight bulb rabbit hole is very deep. Your videos are the most useful that I've found, always appreciate some solid science behind everything you do.

[SmokeytheBeer]

The Michael Jackson white glove "heehee" absolutely got me 😂

[jonathanyoung]

I subjectively know that every LED and HID and Xenon bulb put out is absolutely ludicrous in the middle of nowhere, when the other driver refuses to turn off their brights, and burns out your corneas as you are just making your way down one of America's many lonely roads

[keepingdistance]

I wish color temperature was included because I would much prefer the better visibility that lower, warmer light gives in rainy and wet conditions. The light doesn't scatter like white light but reflects back. I like a little whiter than yellow, but not daylight blue.

[ehsnils]

I have another factor to come in with and it's that the higher color temperatures are quite bad for people you meet since they destroy the night vision more than lower color temperatures.
Especially bad is the so called "glare free" headlights that don't dim down if you aren't the closest vehicle on the road. Automatic dimming comes in at second place because it won't dim down unless it's sure that it has caused you at least two seconds of glare first.

[TopGoose-bfmx]

Can we address the never ending battle of LEDs in halogen housings versus them in proper projector housings? There is a TON of back and forth on the interwebs how "I put LEDs in my halogen housings and I can see so much more versus "the light just scatters and is worse than a halogen." There is nothing I love more than the guy driving toward me with his LED bulbs in halogen housings, and being blinded by the second coming of Christ. I would love to see a direct comparison of performance between the two.

[MystElectric]

I would love to see a joint test between you and Project Farm! All the hard data from you guys, then the extended duration testing from Project Farm.

[pkmkb]

Appropriate projector for the bulb HID or LED also makes a big difference. And with HID's you can get better quality more lumen bulbs (OSRAM preffered) and fit a higher watt ballast ~35W is stock, 38W is safe without reducing bulb life and 45W and above will just be a laser but reduce bulb life significantly.

[PsychoticBovine]

You guys and Project Farm are who I trust in testing!

[marcus_w]

HID Burners have a break in time of approx. 10-15h - only after that time they reach their full brightness. The missing 15% on the Osrams is pretty much perfect on par with the manufacturer statement of 15% increase after 10h of use.

[kleetus]

I'm impressed the LED HIDs did so well. I did HID replacements in my 2006 truck years ago with H13-3 bulbs which were actually 2 separate tubes, one for low and one for high beam, and they have become almost impossible to find now. The LED replacements I had tried and the other HIDs with the moveable single tubes just sucked ass all the way around.

Might have to break out the spot welder and some nickel strip and fab my own from some OE HIDs.

[ryanpenrod]

What's really getting out of hand is the normal headlights on new cars. They're so bright they blind anyone in oncoming lanes. It's fucking bullshit.

[nobodynoone]

Can you measure cri/spectrum and color temp? I don't care if it's a million lumens if it's a narrow blue spike that doesn't let me make out the road.
Additionally, the BIGGGEST issue is alignment with led bulbs. They all look like perma-highbeams in most cars.

[gadgestlab]

Would love to see a higher end LED comparison, specifically to include Nihon LEDs from Japan. They have been rated some of the best LED headlight bulbs by many youtube channels.

[upon]

I dont know what it is completely, but I've tried traditional halogen and LED bulbs and while the LEDs are great when its dry, they are absolutely terrible when its raining at night. Borderline dangerous to drive. The halogens are waaayyy better during the rain for some reason. Not sure if its color temp, or just a better distribution across the color spectrum or something else, but I prefer the halogens when its raining.

[backseatbroadcasting]

If you buy new headlights, don't be a D-bag and fail to adjust your headlight after installing. It's super simple and we will all clap for you.

[darjanator]

I was hoping you'd also pit the OEM D1S against the "best" Philips or Osram Night Breaker replacements that claim up to 200% the brightness and see how those marketing claims compare.