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Halogen vs HID vs LED headlights (Comparison Photos)

186K views 366 replies 77 participants last post by  Army Strong  
#1 · (Edited)
This is a work in progress in terms of getting comparison shots. However, you should be able to discern the differences between the halogen, HID, and LED bulbs from the early photos. All aftermarket HID and LED setups were purchased from XenonDepot. Again, I purchased these bulbs on my own accord (however they hooked me up when I told them I was from TN and going to put up legit comparison photos.) I will update this thread as I get more photos.

April 8, 2015

Materials:
  • Stock H11 Halogen headlights
  • XenonDepot HID Philips 4300K Xtreme kit
  • XenonDepot HID Philips 5000K Xtreme kit
  • XenonDepot H11 LED Headlight kit
  • 2015 Highlander XLE
  • Canon 5D Mark III
  • Canon 35mm IS f2 lens
  • Tripod
  • 600 degree F max IR temperature gun

No H9 bulb, because I didn't want to pay $30 bucks for bulbs that I have to modify and know I will never use.

Conditions of this shoot and camera settings:
(1) Garage (shots of driver's side only, as beam is mirrored exactly left or right)
  • Aperture f3.2
  • Shutter speed 1/400s
  • ISO 100
  • White Balance 4300K
(2) 9PM, 38F, Rain
  • Aperture f2.8
  • Shutter speed 1/20s
  • ISO 1600
  • White Balance 4900K

White balance was established using a gray card in ambient light. This was to ensure we'd get a proper color comparison between each light source, and it created a photo as close to what I saw in real life. Either way, the consistent camera settings make for as best a comparison as possible.

Photos:


The "glare streak" on the right garage door is due to the puddle on the right side of the alley, and it exists in all photos (albeit not so prominent with the Halogen). Getting a good head-on photo to depict any glare was fruitless, since the dynamic range of a camera doesn't make for an accurate assessment with how intense all the bulbs appear to the camera sensor. Wth first hand experience from this shoot I can tell you that the glare was "perceived" the same from my eyes and my neighbors between all the bulbs.

Hotspots cannot be fully assessed due to the rain and wet ground, so I would like to take more photos on a dry night to further compare.


Here you can see how similar the beam pattern is at close range between the bulbs, save for the one that looks like a butterfly (H11 LED). Still, the LED bulb in dry conditions actually throws very even light that is whiter and brighter than the halogens (been running them for a month now). Dry photos to come when they come.

Halogen H11
  • Easiest installation since it's stock
  • Operate at about 300 degrees F +/- 60 degrees
  • Brief warmup to peak light output
  • Produces a warm light
  • It's stock, what do you expect

LED H11
  • Super easy to tuck away and cleanly install. The fewer parts to this upgrade make it nice.
  • Operate at about 100 degrees F +/- 20 degrees at the base AND diode regions.
  • Instant on with peak light output (really cool, and really nice)
  • Produces a cool white light
  • Definitely brighter than stock

HID 5000K
  • More stuff to install means more places you need to mount your hardware... a bit of a pain
  • Operating temperate at the arc was 300-400 degrees F
  • Must warm up to reach peak light output
  • Produces a cool white light
  • Definitely brighter than Halogen, and slightly brighter than LED

HID Philips 4300K
  • More stuff to install means more places you need to mount your hardware... a bit of a pain
  • Operating temperate at the arc was 300-400 degrees F
  • Must warm up to reach peak light output
  • Produces a warm white light
  • Brightest of all the bulbs
  • Will color shift to approximately 4700K

April 9, 2015

Well, dry photos happened when I located a nice, empty parking garage.

Conditions of this shoot and camera settings:
9PM, 38F, Parking Garage with scattered overhead lights
  • Aperture f2.8
  • Shutter speed 1/20s
  • ISO 400
  • White Balance 3800K for wall shot, and 3800K for distance shot


I went out and found the darkest garage I could find to get dry photos of the beam pattern, cutoff, spread, and any scatter. Here are the results:

Wall shot


Distance shot

Note that in this shot the ground is not even. It slopes up about 50 yards and then begins to slope back down. If you look at the middle of the parking lot you'll see a black line going across left to right. That dark spot is the crest of the "hill", and this results in the cutoff appearing to be higher than it should be on the far wall. In actuality, my headlights are adjusted so that my cutoff is just at the top of the license plates on the cars.

Conclusions
Halogen H11
  • Pretty mediocre. We all knew that
  • Barely noticed the beam pattern compared to no headlights on in the parking garage

LEDs
  • Definitely brighter
  • Clean cutoff
  • Very little glare and scatter
  • Even beam spread along the ground
  • Better distance than Halogen, but not as good as HID
  • No crest at the top of the beam (parallel/inline to the projector) due to diodes only being on left and right of the LED bulb. This likely is the reason glare is kept to a minimum compared to the HID bulbs.
  • Closest of the 3 aftermarket bulbs to keeping stock beam pattern

HID 4300K Philips
  • Brightest of the bunch
  • Slight scatter and glare up above
  • Hotspots concentrated in parallel with projector
  • Great distance

HID 5000K
  • Not much dimmer than 4300K Philips
  • Slight scatter and glare up above
  • Hotspots concentrated in parallel with projector
  • Great distance

April 10, 2015

Conditions:
8:30PM, 55F, dry roads, 3-4 lane highways.

I just wanted to update after driving around with the HID 4300K Philips. I had several factory equipped HID cars pull up along side me on the highway at night, and I passed a few others. Comparing the beam pattern of the HID in our headlights to those of Lexus, BMW, Range Rover, Mazda, Audi, and Infiniti I felt the hotspots weren't a big deal. In fact, some of the factory cars had hotter spots in the foreground. IMO, hotspots are bad as they create strain on the eye with too much contrast on the other parts of the road you're supposed to pay attention to. The hotspots from the Highlander headlights with HID bulbs were middle of the road comparable to Lexus, BMW, and Mazda. The flattest, most even pattern in HID came from the Range Rover. Audi depends on if it's LED or HID, and it's tough to tell which cars are HID with LED accents and which are LED when you're on a highway trying to pay attention to traffic. Glare was the same. Oncoming traffic displayed as much glare as what the HL shows with HIDs in the headlights. Just some food for thought. Looking at the beam from all angles, and the head-on perspective for any glare, you'd be hard pressed to realize this was an aftermarket product. Those telling us that HIDs are bad in our headlights are blowing things out of proportion. It isn't the most refined setup, but it isn't the glaring, terrible, pervasive aftermarket upgrade they claim it to be.

Despite not having as many lumens as HID, I think the LED have the closest to stock lighting characteristics, but with more lumens and a whiter color.

If you're looking for the brightest headlights, the Philips 4300K HID is the one to pick with the 5000K not too far off. If you're looking to improve your visibility, keep costs down, improve the esthetics, maximize longevity, keep heat down, and make installation simpler (all while keeping as close to stock beam patterns as possible) the LED from XenonDepot is what you want. I hope this makes your decision making process a lot easier when it comes to which light to choose if you decide to upgrade.
 
#6 ·
I'd recommend finding a parking garage where there is no additional lighting and parking your vehicle exactly 25 feet from the wall and taking comparison shots similar to the one below.
I second this as it is the only way to really capture how much light is scattered by the HID and LED bulbs in a halogen housing.

drpheta, thanks for your efforts as this would give folks some options if they pursue such route.
 
#4 ·
DO NOT buy the Cree LED. If you're going to get an LED headlight for your car buy either of the following:

Philips Ulitinon H11
  • Howerver, they're only approved by Philips for fog light use (I have those in my fog lights). In reality, they're not much different than the XenonDepot ones.
  • Doesn't mean you can't use it in your headlights
  • No fan necessary to cool the bulb
  • I measured this bulb operating around 100 degrees F +/- 10 degrees.
  • Slightly warmer white than the XenonDepot H11 bulbs

XenonDepot H11 LED linked here
  • No fan that can fail, and instead uses a copper mesh
  • This is the bulb I tested above
  • Slightly cooler white than the Philips LED bulbs
  • Reviewed here
  • Reviewed here, too
 
#7 ·
I'll get to a nice wall to get better photos at some point. Maybe tonight if I have a chance.

Lok888, they're both plug and play. Both the Phillips and the XD have a small box in line with the wiring. This is why they're able to emit the proper light while controlling the LEDs effectively. Like I said, they're both almost identical, save for how the wires are made and the true color of the light.
 
#8 ·
Looks like I made the right decision with the 4300K :grin:

These photos by drpheta is very close to real life. What throws it off really is only the fact that it's raining and the water reflection overpowers the illumination of the houses on the side.

Even my wife noticed that now she can "see" when she's driving at night, compared to driving with just halogens.

The other day I drove a car with just halogens, albeit not a Highlander or anything Toyota, but ... man it's night and day.

Still on the fence on the fog lights lol. I may or may not allocate tax refunds for these :surprise:
 
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#9 · (Edited)
@JMSinMD and @tre36, as and you shall receive. However, I think I'm done swapping these lights around and taking photos. While, I had it setup well enough to easily switch things out, my fingers are sore from all the plugging and unplugging; not to mention that this took way too much away from my family time.

April 9, 2015

Conditions of this shoot and camera settings:
9PM, 38F, Parking Garage with scattered overhead lights
  • Aperture f2.8
  • Shutter speed 1/20s
  • ISO 400
  • White Balance 3800K for wall shot, and 3800K for distance shot


I went out and found the darkest garage I could find to get dry photos of the beam pattern, cutoff, spread, and any scatter. Here are the results:

Wall shot


Distance shot

Note that in this shot the ground is not even. It slopes up about 50 yards and then begins to slope back down. If you look at the middle of the parking lot you'll see a black line going across left to right. That dark spot is the crest of the "hill", and this results in the cutoff appearing to be higher than it should be on the far wall. In actuality, my headlights are adjusted so that my cutoff is just at the top of the license plates on the cars.

Conclusions
Halogen H11
  • Pretty mediocre. We all knew that
  • Barely noticed the beam pattern compared to no headlights on in the parking garage

LEDs
  • Definitely brighter
  • Clean cutoff
  • Very little glare and scatter
  • Even beam spread along the ground
  • Better distance than Halogen, but not as good as HID
  • No crest at the top of the beam (parallel/inline to the projector) due to diodes only being on left and right of the LED bulb. This likely is the reason glare is kept to a minimum compared to the HID bulbs.
  • Closest of the 3 aftermarket bulbs to keeping stock beam pattern

HID 4300K Philips
  • Brightest of the bunch
  • Slight scatter and glare up above
  • Hotspots concentrated in parallel with projector
  • Great distance

HID 5000K
  • Not much dimmer than 4300K Philips
  • Slight scatter and glare up above
  • Hotspots concentrated in parallel with projector
  • Great distance

Despite not having as many lumens, I think the LED have the closest to stock lighting characteristics, but with more lumens and a whiter color.

Despite not having as many lumens as HID, I think the LED have the closest to stock lighting characteristics, but with more lumens and a whiter color.

If you're looking for the brightest headlights, the Philips 4300K HID is the one to pick with the 5000K not too far off. If you're looking to improve your visibility, keep costs down, improve the esthetics, maximize longevity, keep heat down, and make installation simpler (all while keeping as close to stock beam patterns as possible) the LED from XenonDepot is what you want.

I updated the OP to include these photos.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Literally plug and play. The hardest part is finding a place to put the small in-line controller block. I used 3m automotive tape, cleaned under the headlight housing with alcohol well, and stuck it there. Zip tie the loose wiring, spread out the heat sink and you're done in 15 minutes for both sides. If you go the Philips Ultinon LED route there is no heat sink to fan out, but there still is the in-line block.
 
#13 ·
How the hell did I install LED fogs, LED highs, LED lows, HID lows, HID lows, back to halogen lows, to LED lows, to HID lows, to HID lows, to halogen lows, to HID lows, to HID lows, to LED lows, to halogen lows, to LED lows, HID lows, back to HID lows? Meanwhile, you haven't gotten yours installed once? Rain ain't no excuse. Look at my first photos!
 
#24 · (Edited)
Steve, I'm glad I put out some useful information out there for everyone. Just remember me when you have some secret stuff you want me to test out... or if you have some new-not-so-secret stuff you want me to test out :laugh:

EDIT: I also labelled the first night's photos for easy identification.
 
#26 ·
My comparison pics did not turn out as well because the originals were done with snow and salt on the ground. I won't be able to beat drpheta's review anyway and my findings are spot on. :)

5k HID - overall brighter. Nice white color, only a slight blue line on top. The beam is more concentrated on the front vs an even spread of the stock. The cutoff is the same as stock and at the same height (really glad I don't have to mess with the adjustments).

Now my fogs look like crap compared to the low beam so I'm going to keep them off unless actually needed. heh.
 

Attachments

#30 ·
These are not made by Philips, but instead by XenonDepot using Phillips diodes. They're the same as the H11 LEDs I reviewed in this thread.

http://www.xenondepot.com/9005-LED-headlight-kit-p/9005-led-hl.htm

I have these in my car at the moment and they're great. One thing to note regarding all LEDs in the DRL mode is the issue with flickering. Some companies have it real bad, while others are barely noticeable. The ones made by XD fall into the barely noticeable category.
 
#34 ·
I know that in the following question I am asking you for an untested opinion; nonetheless you seem ( based upon your comprehensive review) to have a very good knowledge base regarding these items.

With that said, what is you opinion of using the Philips Ultinon (with pigtail connector) as a high beam bulb. I readily grant that Philips does not recommend that use, but does it seem to be a practical/beneficial mod?

In the fogs the performance is superlative, and not needing or having the heat dissipation ancillaries is attractive, or am I missing a crucial issue (eg. Less light, more heat, etc)?

Thanks for you patience.
 
#35 ·
I actually don't think the Philips bulbs are too far different from the XD headlight LEDs in terms of output. However, the Philips bulbs are an H11 base, and I don't know how you would mod an H11 bulb to fit inside a 9005 socket. If you could do that, and get the plug to fit into the OEM harness it may work.

Seems like a lot of trouble to go through to avoid fanning out the copper mesh. That mesh isn't a big deal, IMO.
 
#42 ·
Thanks for the thorough comparison. I have a Sienna but found this thread useful.

I have tried stock H11s vs H9s vs the XD H11 LEDs. Just for fun I also tried the Philips Ultinons even though they were meant for fogs. The cut-off/beam-pattern with the XD LEDs was good enough, but the one thing that bugged me most with the XD H11 LEDs was the color. I live in a part of the country that rains more than half the time, and the bluish 6000k color really kills much of the usable light in wet conditions. The Philips Ultinons were more white even though it too were rated 6000k. To me it's more like 5200-5500k, and its beam pattern actually matches that of stock perfectly. But it simply doesn't have enough lumens compared to the XD H11s or the H9s. If Philips could bump up the lumens on that design, it could be killer.

For now though, based on your pics and comparisons, I must try the 4300k HIDs next as it seems to be the perfect combo available on the market now. Hopefully in the summer! Thanks for indirectly confirming my next lighting purchase;)
 
#55 · (Edited)
the bluish 6000k color really kills much of the usable light in wet conditions. The Philips Ultinons were more white even though it too were rated 6000k. To me it's more like 5200-5500k,

We reside in a very dark area with less ambient (street and business) light. You are right about the blue effect. Ordering the XD HID Philips kit for the low beams, and wanted a LED highbeam in the same color ballpark as well (No DRL issue since the HLL has LED DRL's). I currently run the Philips Ultinons in the fog lights and their color is acceptable, but based upon your experience, not bright enough for headlights.

ETA: Just ordered the XD/Philips HID low beam kit.

I hope XD or Philips comes out with a 4300k-5000k solution for the highbeams.
 
#43 ·
Great thread - I am now looking to pick up the H11 LED Headlight Kit for a 2015 Highlander Limited.

The CDN Limited version does not come stock with LED DRL's (I assume its headlight setup is similar to the US XLE's). Has anyone tried the 9005 LED Kit for their DRL's? It uses the same bulb setup as the H11. Does it make any discernible difference? Just want to know if it worth changing the DRL stock Halogen bulbs.

Thanks!
 
#49 ·
Quick question. The XD LED show fanning the heat-sink out in the back of the headlight housing. Do you then install the rubber boot over them? I'm assuming so, but want to confirm that since the purpose of the heat-sink is to dissipate the heat.