"Eye of Megatron" LED review

For my own reasons I decided to swap out my HIGH beams for LED. In doing so I grabbed the Hikari Ultra "Eye of Megatron" LEDs based upon the test results in the bulbs thread by crash.

Since I have this handy little Opple light meter I decided to test the bulbs compared to my halogens (factory h9)
I also have H9 low beams, which were left on during the test.

Pixel 6, Open camera app, settings locked to f1. 9, shutter 1/10, iso 2000, exposure locked.
Halogens

LEDs.


And the results (observed peak value)

Halogen.
1060 lux at 25 feet.
315 lux at 50 feet.
100 lux at 100 feet.

LED.
1490 lux at 25 feet.
390 lux at 50 feet.
115 lux at 100 feet.

It's worth noting, those trees are 400-500 feet away.

Road tests (same locked camera settings). This spot was chosen because at the very extent of the reach of the lighting the roadway becomes tree lined and curves up and to the left. Any improvements in lighting would be obvious here.

Halogen

LED.


In short, basically worthless. No better at best, less distance lighting at worst. Light volume side to side did seem to improve some on narrow tree lined country roads but no observable improvement in distance lighting

It's worth noting that the base of the led is adjustable (and complete crap imo). I initially set the bulb with the emitters firing directly to the sides. I also took a run with the emitters facing up and down. No improvements in distance from the up/down orientation but possibly reduced lighting to the sides. No benefits from the up/down orientation.

One led, one halogen

 

I was going to say I can’t tell a difference without reading what you wrote first but it seems like the conclusion is one and the same

 

A bit whiter, is all.

 

I’ve got “eyes of the megatron” in my low beams and it’s a huge improvement over stock.

 

Tested the Hikari Ultras in the low beams.





Halogen (H9)
735 lux @ 25 feet
220 lux @ 50 feet
65 lux @ 100 feet

Hikari Ultra LED
540 lux @ 25 feet
195 lux @ 50 feet
55 lux @ 100 feet


Above the cutoff (glare)

Halogen
12 lux @ 25 feet
5 lux @ 50 feet
3 lux @ 100 feet

LED
5 lux @ 25 feet
1 lux @ 50 feet
<1 lux @ 100 feet


I also walked out to around 300' and the halogen peaked around 10 lux and the led was around 7 lux. This was about even with the left side of the red barn.

 

I had those in mine until the first time I was on a pitch black unlit highway at night with a 70mph speed limit. I was literally outrunning the most distant useful part of the beam. If something was in the road needing avoiding, by the time the lights made it noticeable, I’d have run it over since I wouldn’t have had a chance at reacting that fast. If it was raining I probably would have pulled over and took a nap till morning.

They are dangerous and I was at autozone the next day to replace them and the post office to send them back to China Amazon where they belong.

I have trimmed H9s in now that are less than $11 a bulb, I will never even think about going back.

 

I have been running them in my high beams and although they don't offer any further distance lighting they do what I had hoped for.
The only improvement I can say they might have is a bit more lighting to the side (and the blue does not blend with the straw color of cut cornstalks, unlike the gold halogens)

In the low beams however they were a step backwards. The road RIGHT IN FRONT of the truck was a bit brighter but no extra vision for distance or to the sides, in fact those attributes seemed worse.

 

Ran into a similar situation with my truck last year. I was all excited to switch to LEDs for better night visibility. Got these fancy new bulbs that were supposed to be top-notch, but when I actually tested them out, they were a letdown. They didn't extend my visibility range at all, which is a big deal when you're out in the country like I am.

If you're still looking to tweak your setup or need some more insights on LEDs, I found some solid advice and comparisons on https://leds.to/. There, I found out about ACOHUIKE LED Bulbs, which are super bright. I installed them last year, and they are still working perfectly and with no problems.

 

I've been extremely happy with them for my low beams, much better than stock and Auxbeams.

 

How much do those go for? I run the stock low beams and thought about going to auxbeams but if its too dark i honestly throw on my "Jesus Beams" until i end up crossing someone.

 

I have had them in my lowbeams for a few years now.

The above comparison compares them to H9’s in the lowbeaam, and the LEDs are dimmer w/less throw as the data shows. But compared to stock H11’s, the LEDs are brighter per Crash’s data. I went from stock to Eye of Megatron and it was an improvement.

My experience agrees with everything said above, including overrunning them at high speeds. I have carefully adjusted the aim point on the LEDs to minimize this but a bit more reach would be better.

 

Always nice to see folks actually presenting data vs "they work better!"

 

LED driving lights w.o a projector assembly built for LED use don't work too well.

If you want LEDs, do the LED assembly swap from the 2020+ models.

 

Hikari emitter vs h9 filament


Aukee emitter vs h9 filament

 

They still don't project light the same as a halogen tho.

 

Yep, that was the point

 

I mean, the light comes out of the sides and doesn't eminate from a single filament.

Those bulbs would likely perform better in a housing designed for LEDs