Review: LED Headlights from VLEDs

I just received and installed a set of LED headlights from VLEDs.

They are their new VX3 bulbs. 2000LM low beam, 3000LM high beam. 6K temperature. They are this exact set.

I'm on their email list because I bought interior bulbs and stuff from them before, and an email of theirs alerted me to their pre-order sale which had them at a 25% discount. I paid $157.99 shipped.

Unfortunately, I was too excited (and had somewhere to be so had to install quickly) so didn't take any photos, but I figured I can give my current impressions and update tomorrow night with a picture of the beam pattern.

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Before install, my impressions were that I did like how the drivers were very small and that the headlights did not use a fan. These are passively cooled which I like because I did not want a fan to fail and cause the system to overheat. In general the system seemed to be of good quality.

Install was easy but took a bit of patience. I did not remove the battery and did not remove the washer reservoir at first. I got the driver side installed but finally caved on the passenger side and unbolted the washer reservoir.

I was able to maintain the stock rubber boot for the housing. I noticed that the metal plate that keys into the headlight is simply screwed onto the LED light bulb. So, after removing the old bulbs and the rubber boot, I unbolted the plate from the LED bulb, slipped the rubber boot on from the front ("bulb" side) of the bulb assemblies, and then replaced the plate. It makes a bit more challenging to install but once installed, the housing is sealed like OEM, which I really do like. This was an unexpected plus.

My radio is static free, as far as I can tell. I did a few tests where I turned the lights on and off on a station with weak signal and I couldn't detect any difference.

Now, the most important part - beam pattern and brightness. I will say these feel very much like HIDs. A little more blue than my G35's OEM projector HIDs, but not by much. When shined on a wall (or in my case, my garage door), you can see there is some light bleed above the cut off, but it's not significant and I never was flashed once in my driving so far. I took a look when I had only once side installed and really there doesn't appear to be any more glare when from the LED side when you stand in front of the truck looking at it. Light pattern is great - it has a decent focus directly in front of the truck but also great spread. Really, it's pretty OEM feeling in terms of the pattern, just brighter (as expected). I ran into a newer Tacoma (newer style headlights - mines an 08 with the older style) and when I pulled up next to him my headlights began to drown his out. The brights are amazing. I didn't get a chance to use them much though. I will say they feel about 50% brighter than stock (even though they are twice the lumen rating) due to the blue color compared to the yellowish stock color.

Dislikes: I wish the color was less blue, like 5000K or perhaps even upper 4000's. I wish it had a better cutoff (though, it's pretty darn good IMO). I wish they were free.

Overall, I'm happy with my upgrade and can recommend them. I'll get a photo of them soon.

 

Day/Night pics soon?

 

Gotta see those pics. Especially with your 05-11 lights. The Lifetime LEDs seemed to do great for those with 12+, but us early 2nd gen models didn't seem to get much out of the high beams. Low beams were ok though.

 

Now THIS has caught my interest... the Lifetime LED lights appear to be an expensive disappointment so far. Standing by for more info!

 

Sorry, haven't had a chance to get any good pics.

Here are a few simple pics I took from my phone on my cul-de-sac. One picture is just lows, the other is highs.

As you can see, when the highs are on, the car on the right becomes well lit, the sign reflects like crazy, and the house on the left (which is the upper corner of the projection) is also lit pretty decently.

I do not at all believe the highs are only 3000LM, unless by chance the rating means that turning high beams on increases output BY 3000LM, that I might believe. The lights are easily 2X as bright with the highbeams on.

I'll get some better pics soon. The more I drive with them the more I like them. Also love that they have no warm up time like HIDs.

I'm super happy with them at $150 + shipping. Perhaps if you call the company you might be able to get them to honor the deal.

 

That looks promising, but more pictures in a darker area would be great.

 

Maybe its just that set of pics but output doesn't seem worth cost. Here is a picture of my low beams in a similar setting and lighting area as your pic.


Your bulbs have more brightness (assuming we are both aimed the same) in the center of the truck but my light coverage is much better across the road at a minor loss of center beam brightness.

 

The output far exceeds the stock headlights, I wish I could show that somehow.

It was either a crappy set of HIDs for like $70-80 and have to deal with ballasts, relays, warm up time, and terrible high beams (since, if you are familiar with "lo/hi" HIDs, they use a solenoid to shift the bulb within the housing - works like crap - we have one of these in our Ram), or these.

Even though these were twice as much, they are much better. I think what I am most happy about is the OEM-like install. I still have my rubber boot so I don't have to worry about anything getting in there.

 

Sure, a simple light system is far easier than the multiple failure points of HID. I'm not knocking your choice either, sorry if it comes across that way. I just don't think $150 LED bulbs at this time are anything to write home about compared to what my output is at less than half that cost. No durability or longevity issues either, and if I do have a bulb fail, I can buy one in 20 minutes drive from pretty much any mid size city.

 

I should also point out that the 2012+ and 05-11 housings are different and you get different results from the same bulbs.

It's really hard to compare two different photos from different phones/cameras/etc. However, if you notice, your "glow" from your street lamp is larger than mine, which would suggest your camera used a combinations of settings that resulted in a brighter photo, which would also result in your headlights appearing brighter.

I'm not at all comparing these to other headlights, since I haven't seen those in person. All I'm saying is that for the price, how they have performed so far, install cleanliness, and in comparison to the stock bulbs on my truck, I am happy with them.

 

Interesting...

 

Finally, remember that these are 6K, which is quite blue (one of my dislikes about this kit - I wish it were more white). Assuming you are running stock bulbs (which it sounds like, based on your last post), you have a rather yellow light output.

When you compare a more yellow light output to a more blue light output the yellow will always appear brighter.

 

That's from me not holding still and my phone not focusing well with the lack of light. No camera trickery. If anything, its a darkened picture. Don't have my DSLR with me, just my S4.

 

I don't have yellow light output, I'm running Silverstar Ultras at 4100k for $65 +/-.

 

You're running a $65 set of halogens that last like 100 hours but these LEDs aren't worth it? Interesting concept.

And no, that is not motion blur. The entire photo would be blurry if that was the case, but the rest of the photo is decently sharp - that blob is exactly the result of overexposure at that part of the frame.

 

I've used the same bulbs on all my cars. I've never replaced a bulb, even my GM truck with DTRLs that I sold had 4 year old bulbs in it and they worked perfectly. And I have driven well over 100 hours with the Tacoma set, in case you were curious.

The interesting concept is the simple question of why LED bulbs are seemingly worth nearly 3x the price and for what actual benefit. Is that.not a conversation you're capable of having, or are you going to pull every card out of your hat possible?

I didn't ask you to justify your purchase. Say what you want, but don't make things up that aren't true.

Being a little sensitive, no?

 

I'm twice as close to the street light as your picture shows you. I'd be interested in what your camera shows in brightness of light output and street light exposure at a similar distance to my picture.

 

Let's see some pictures and they can talk for us? Don't assume in have stock in Sylvania, I couldn't care less. I want bright lights, I just don't see how LED bulbs justify their output in cost and unreliable construction. If yours are the best non HID bulb available then I'll buy them, but the pics don't mesh with that conclusion.

 

I'll take more photos, sure. I'll also post the settings I use and you can take a photo with the same settings - ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, and White Balance. Different cameras probably but it should be pretty similar. I have a 5D2 and a 7D - what do you have?

What I don't understand is this, you come in here with a photo where the camera settings clearly result in a brighter overall photo, then claim that your bulbs are brighter and therefore purchasing the LED setup doesn't make sense, and at the same time suggest that my setup is less reliable than yours. And really, you have no evidence to back up any of your claims.

Your street lamp is MUCH further away than mine. Look at the Prius parked under my street lamp - it looks huge. The full sized truck parked under your street lamp is so small I can't even identify the make. Yet, despite that, your overexposed blob is far larger than mine - indicating you had more aggressive camera settings resulting in a brighter photo. This is exactly why YOUR basis for your conclusions are, well, baseless. Posting your photo and saying "mine is brighter" is ignorant.

And then, when I point this out, you seem to indicate I'm defensive. I'm not defensive, I'm being logical.

 

LEDs for general lighting is an upcoming technology. The price should come down over time. Have you priced recess lights for the home? $40 dollars a bulb. Not worth the price. IMO. Hopefully the price comes down as more people change over to them.