4500K seems to be the sweet spot for... me.
...
Side by side the High Noon is a little blue
the color temperature that looks white, will change based on the color temperature of the environment that our brain is accustomed to at the time (the white balance of the brain)
If I try to use my 4500k light to work on a car in the sun, it looks too "orange". For someone working in sunlight, and temporarily using a flashlight, while their brain remains white balanced to sunlight (takes 30 minutes for the brain to lower its white balance), a 5700k light will look more white.
Whether a light appears warm or cool, all depends on the white balance of the user's brain at the time.
Why would anybody want a yellow light?
because they are using the light when their brain is white balanced to 3000k (incandescent() instead of 6000k (noon sun).
I like 3000k when I wake up in the dark, at that time I hate how blue 6000k seems.
I like 6000k when I have been in the sun, at that time I hate how "orange" 3000k seems.
"Pure White" is not a single color temperature. There is Pure White when the LED matches (or exceeds) the ambient color temperature that the users brain is white balanced to.
Therefore, in full dark, 3000k will look white
in the evening, 4500k will look white
in the sun 6000k will look white
what color temperature someone prefers most often, depends on the white balance of the users brain, based on the color temperature of the environment they are using the light in, at that time.
I have choices of a 6000k light, 4500k light, and 3000k light in my kit. I change which one I use depending whether Im working on a car in the sun, or looking under the couch in the evening, or camping in the dark.
Choice of color temperature, also correlates with how bright an output is needed at the time. As we move above 300 lumen outputs, Cool White lights are more likely to deliver higher lumen levels. When Im relaxing at camp, with a 20 lumen level, Warm White lights are more pleasant for me.
There is no One light Color Temperature that will look White in All environments. Peoples preference is dependent on their brains white balance, at that time, which is dependent on the color temperature of the environment that they have been in for the past 30 minutes.