This is the "Part 2" to THIS post.
This is a repost of a review I did on a model specific forum elsewhere. An authorized Vendor on the forum offered me a set of LED headlight replacement bulbs to review. Though I tried my best to be unbiased, I am re-reading my writeup and wondering if I pulled my punches on the LEDs some. I think I may have been harsher if this had been written for CPF as the primary target audience.
Answers to Questions from the other forum:
Q: Bulb brands?
A: the H11 +100 bulbs were Philips Xtreme Vision. The H9 were just Philips standard bulbs. I didn't look at the manufacturer of the stock bulbs. The LED were Hellst LEDs designed as an H11 replacement, using MT-G2 Cree emitters.
Q: Variation between pictures?
A: As I said, I tried to produce identical pictures, but with the weather conditions it was impossible. Pictures do not tell the entire story anyway, that's why subjective visual evaluation is relevant and necessary. Also, the pictures weren't as good as they could have been. I made a rookie mistake of trusting the camera's display and not the histogram for exposure. I had to increase the exposure over two stops in Lightroom (equally for all); the pictures would have been better if I'd have started out with the right exposure in camera. Camera settings were the same for all pictures, it was the external environment that varied unfortunately.
Q: So the H9 is the "budget" bulb?
A: Keep in mind that the H9 mod is small but slightly finicky, but some people might get tired of having to mod their light bulbs every year or so. It likely comes down to personal preference/values - spend the extra $20 for plug-n-play convince, or spend 30 minutes in the garage filing down your light bulbs?
DYNAMIC EVALUATION
I was finally able to find time to take a late night drive to do dynamic evaluation of the headlight bulbs for my 2013 Mazda5. The bulbs in question were:
1. H11 LL (stock)
2. H11 +100 (Philips Xtreme Vision)
3. H9
4. Hellst LED
The vehicle used for evaluation was my 2013 Mazda5 Sport 6MT, with stock halogen projector headlamp units. All bulbs were evaluated with the headlamps aimed at horizontal. Evaluation took place from 11pm-2am (i.e. fully dark outside), and the location was a ~10 mile loop that included both moderately lit portions near civilization, and totally dark untraveled farm roads with no light pollution (other than my vehicle). I have also previously driven the vehicle with the different bulbs for several days each during routine day-to-day activities.
Unfortunately the environmental conditions were not ideal on the night I was available to test. We have been under drought conditions here for a couple years, and it has rained perhaps a handful of times in the last 6 months – but Mother Nature chose this weekend to send thunderstorms to San Antonio. With rain in the air, the effective reach of the headlamp is reduced, glare is increased, and the wet road will reflect additional light off of signage, for example. I had to wait out the worst of the storm, and then wait for lulls in the rain to take pictures.
I tried to take all pictures in the same conditions (amount of rain), but I don't have any objective way to confirm that. You can see that there were different amounts of standing water in some pictures. I do feel the pictures accurately reflect my subjective dynamic evaluation, but in the interest of full disclosure I must attach the disclaimer that they are not technically shot in the exact same conditions and should not be considered infallible evidence.
The rain also prevented me from performing any evaluations outside of the vehicle – observing oncoming glare, or taking any light measurements on the road, for example. (Note: based on my previous measurements and other observations, I doubt any of these bulbs produce objectionable glare)
The bulbs were rated using 5 criteria:
Reach – How far down the road does the lamp illuminate? Farther is better.
Intensity – How bright does the lamp appear? This not always a case of simply "brighter is better". High intensity immediately in front of the vehicle (too close to the front bumper) is a bad thing. Bright lights in the foreground: 1) Degrade your night vision (that's why OEMs give you a knob to dim your interior/dash lights), and 2) Draw your attention to the bright area immediately in front of your bumper, not down the road where you should be looking.
Smoothness/Evenness – Are there any artifacts in the beam pattern, either on the road or to the side? Artifacts are annoying, and can be distracting.
Width/Dispersion – How wide is the beam? Does it light the side of the road well? (for making a turn, pedestrian visibility, etc.) Wider is better, within reason.
Cutoff – Is the cut line adequate to prevent glare to oncoming drivers? Is it distinct? Distracting? Smooth?
Here is the rating system I used:
5 – Exceptional, better than best-in-class
4 – Very good
3 – Average, acceptable
2 – Below average, customer complaints likely
1 – Very poor, unacceptable
The system is augmented with the addition of half-numbers (2.5, 3.5, etc.) and plus/minus modifiers (plus being slightly better). So for example, a 3.5+ is better than a 3.5, which is better than a 3.5-
And one note about this particular test in general:
This is a test of headlight BULBS, and I am adapting my testing methods that I usually use for headlight SYSTEMS. The design of the headlight system plays the largest role in the performance of the system. We may be able to find extra performance with this bulb or that bulb, but to a large extent, the capabilities of the system are defined by the design.
A good example of this would be beam width. The Mazda5 headlights have acceptable beam width to a certain extent, but the side lighting starts to drop off sooner than I would like closer to the vehicle. In a vehicle-to-vehicle comparison I would probably detract points from the Mazda for this - but in this test I did not focus on this characteristic of the vehicle headlight system, because it was seen similarly between all bulbs. Instead, I only focused on differences due to the bulbs themselves.
Without further ado, onto the evaluation:
H9
Reach: 3.5
Good reach. As I will likely say several times in this review, the H9 puts out the most lumens of the halogen bulbs tested, and it is able to give good down-road visibility.
Intensity: 3.5
Maybe, mayyyybe too intense near the front of the vehicle, but overall good.
Smoothness: 3.5-
Minor artifacts noticeable on the road in front of the vehicle, but you have to specifically look for them.
Width: 3.5
Generally good.
Cutoff: 3.0
The cut line was noticeable and mildly distracting at times. I attribute this to the high power of the H9 – with more lux below, the cut line becomes more noticeable. However, it was not as noticeable or objectionable like many HID systems (referring to stock HIDs, in case you thought I meant "retrofit" kits)
Other Comments:
There is simply no arguing the fact that this bulb puts out a lot of light. The beam is not as clean and controlled as the H11 +100 (as would be expected from a bulb used in a lamp that was not designed for it), but it is really not that bad either. In pitch black conditions, the reflections off of the occasional road sign were very bright, arguably too bright.
H11 +100 (Philips Xtreme Vision)
Reach: 3.5
Good reach. Slightly less reach than the H9 - but not by as much as my static maximum lux measurements seemed to suggest.
Intensity: 3.5
Good intensity. Not too bright in the foreground, and appropriate intensity forward through the beam in front of the car.
Smoothness: 3.5+
No noticeable artifacts on the road or to the side of the vehicle. Very pleasing beam pattern.
Width: 3.5
Generally good
Cutoff: 3.5
Good, occasionally noticeable, rarely distracting
Other comments:
I was surprised by the quality of the beam pattern that this bulb produced. The H9 is more powerful, as evidenced by the maximum lux measurements of my previous static review. But that number did not tell the whole story. The H11 +100, while less powerful, produces a much more pleasing beam pattern. The reach basically matches the H9, but the rest of the beam is equal or just a bit better in all ways.
H11 LL (stock)
Reach: 3.0
Average, and surprisingly disappointing when compared back-to-back with the H11 +100
Intensity: 3.0
All around dim, especially when compared to the previous two bulbs
Smoothness: 3.5
No noticeable artifacts on the road or to the side of the vehicle
Width: 3.0-
Again, reduced width compared to H9 or H11 +100. Simply less lux to work with.
Cutoff: 3.5
Difficult to notice in routine driving,
Other comments:
When I purchased the vehicle new with these H11 LL bulbs in it, I probably would not have raised an issue to Mazda about the headlights. They were not impressive (they are engineered to a price point on a $17k vehicle) but they weren't a safety hazard either. But driving the H11 LL bulbs immediately after the H11 +100 was eye-opening – the lack of performance from the H11 LL is apparent. Working in the auto industry, I can say without a doubt that the only reason these bulbs exist and are installed into vehicles is so that OEMs can make it through the first 3 years without warranty claims for headlight bulbs.
Hellst LED
Reach: 2.0+
To be blunt, the Hellst LED performs poorly in this area. The down-road visibility was the worst in the test, by a fair margin.
Intensity: 3.0
High intensity immediately in front of the vehicle. Borderline too-high. If this was matched by high intensity down-road, the foreground intensity would not be as much of an issue. But instead, the foreground intensity is imbalanced with the rest of the beam, and tends to make the driver focus on the road near the front of the vehicle. There is also an area of higher intensity near the center line of the road, to the driver's side of the vehicle. In practice it is not distracting or dangerous, but it is noticeable.
Smoothness: 3.0
The beam is very smooth with no noticeable artifacts on the road or in the side lighting along the road. The one exception is a noticeable artifact thrown up into trees/buildings to the right of the vehicle.
Width: 3.0+
Acceptable width, though it can't quite match the brighter bulbs in the test.
Cutoff: 3.5
Rarely noticeable, definitely not objectionable.
Other comments:
The LEDs surprised performance surprised me because they were almost the opposite of what I was expecting. I was expecting (based on the high 3200 lumen value - a value which I believe is accurate for output at the LED) a streaky, distracting, glaring, uncontrolled wall of light. Instead the actual condition was nearly the exact opposite - smooth light, just not enough punch for distance viewing. As I think about it more, it makes sense, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting when I first plugged them in, in my garage.
The color temperature of the Hellst LED is advertised at 5500K, which seems accurate. This is an obvious difference between the LEDs and the halogen bulbs which give the more familiar, traditional "yellow" glow. Some people feel that the bluish-white light of a 5500k bulb give higher contrast and allows them to see better. They do give a unique look to the vehicle when you look at the headlights with the LEDs burning – you can tell they aren't halogens, but they aren't HID either. It is hard to describe (and harder to take a picture of) but it is noticeable, at least to me. Also worthy of note, there is some amount of fan noise from the LED units – noticeable when the engine is off, but not when the engine is on. It's not objectionable, but I did find it interesting – I didn't expect to HEAR my headlights working!
Other criteria: Life, Value, Uniqueness, Efficiency, Legality, etc.
Life:
Among the halogen bulbs, the H11 LL will have significantly increased life over the H9 or H11 +100 (hence the LL moniker – Long Life). The H9 or H11 +100 will last perhaps a year for the average user. The Hellst LED uses an LED emitter with a rated life that is so long it will certainly outlast the life of the vehicle, even if you use your headlights significantly more than average. There are more component parts of the Hellst LED that may potentially fail (ballast, fan), but IMO it is a fairly low risk.
Uniqueness:
The Hellst LEDs are the only bulb in this test that could be considered unique. Nobody (with the occasional exception of lighting nerds like me) cares that you have put H9 or H11 +100 bulbs in your headlights to make them perform better. Having LED headlights could be a talking point to some interested parties.
Efficiency:
The Hellst LEDs are the most efficient bulbs at 35W per bulb, compared to 55W for the H11s, and 65W for the H9. I'm not going to try to convert 40W savings to MPG, but I can tell you that in this current era of fuel economy focus, OEMs are diligently pursuing gains that are often smaller than these 40W.
Legality:
Simply put, the Hellst LED and H9 are not legal bulbs to retrofit into an OEM headlight designed for H11 bulbs. That said, many of us have installed other "for off-road use only" parts on our car with the knowledge that simply being DOT-approved does not make a product safe, nor does lack of certification make it unsafe.
Value:
This is a difficult judgment to make, as everyone values things differently. The H9 and H11 +100 offer similar performance and life – but while the the H11 +100 offers the "better" beam pattern, it also costs more (about $35 compared to $15 per pair). The Hellst LED are more difficult to judge. At $175, they cost as much as 5 pairs of H11 +100 bulbs - but they could also theoretically outlast those 5 pairs of bulbs, and many more.
Summary:
I would have a difficult time proclaiming a "winner" in this test. Overall, I feel the H11 +100 Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs performed equal, or slightly better in some regards, to the H9 bulbs. But they also cost more than twice as much. The stock H11 LL bulbs are a poor option, in my opinion. The only reason to consider these bulbs is if you value the long life of these bulbs above all else. And with the ease of bulb changes in the Mazda5, even that is not a good reason – swapping a pair of bulbs literally (not figuratively – I timed myself at 65 seconds, including opening the hood) takes all of 60 seconds due to the ease of access on this vehicle.
Which brings us to the Hellst LED, the reason this test was conducted. My chart comparing the maximum measured Lux values (in post # 49) for the various bulbs painted an unrealistically bad picture for the Hellst LED bulbs (so bad that I've edited it to note that maximum Lux is only one aspect of headlight performance). I was quite skeptical of the concept of an aftermarket LED headlamp retrofit priced at only $175. Visually, the Hellst LED bulbs performed acceptably in all categories except for reach - reach was their Achilles heel. The bulbs certainly did outperform my expectations, but I cannot recommend them over the H9 or H11 +100 bulbs. The MT-62 LED array produces more Lumens than the halogen bulbs in question (~1900lm @ 18W), but requires a 9mmx9mm die to accomplish it, and the headlamp cannot distribute light as intended without the "point source" light source it was designed around. For reference, the filament coil of an H11 is about 1mm x 4mm. I do see potential in LED automotive lighting, and would like to see the next generation of LED bulbs - but until LEDs are shrunk significantly more (say, 1500lm off of a 3mm x 3mm die), I don't think they can replace a halogen bulb in a lamp designed around said bulb.
This is a repost of a review I did on a model specific forum elsewhere. An authorized Vendor on the forum offered me a set of LED headlight replacement bulbs to review. Though I tried my best to be unbiased, I am re-reading my writeup and wondering if I pulled my punches on the LEDs some. I think I may have been harsher if this had been written for CPF as the primary target audience.
Answers to Questions from the other forum:
Q: Bulb brands?
A: the H11 +100 bulbs were Philips Xtreme Vision. The H9 were just Philips standard bulbs. I didn't look at the manufacturer of the stock bulbs. The LED were Hellst LEDs designed as an H11 replacement, using MT-G2 Cree emitters.
Q: Variation between pictures?
A: As I said, I tried to produce identical pictures, but with the weather conditions it was impossible. Pictures do not tell the entire story anyway, that's why subjective visual evaluation is relevant and necessary. Also, the pictures weren't as good as they could have been. I made a rookie mistake of trusting the camera's display and not the histogram for exposure. I had to increase the exposure over two stops in Lightroom (equally for all); the pictures would have been better if I'd have started out with the right exposure in camera. Camera settings were the same for all pictures, it was the external environment that varied unfortunately.
Q: So the H9 is the "budget" bulb?
A: Keep in mind that the H9 mod is small but slightly finicky, but some people might get tired of having to mod their light bulbs every year or so. It likely comes down to personal preference/values - spend the extra $20 for plug-n-play convince, or spend 30 minutes in the garage filing down your light bulbs?
DYNAMIC EVALUATION
I was finally able to find time to take a late night drive to do dynamic evaluation of the headlight bulbs for my 2013 Mazda5. The bulbs in question were:
1. H11 LL (stock)
2. H11 +100 (Philips Xtreme Vision)
3. H9
4. Hellst LED
The vehicle used for evaluation was my 2013 Mazda5 Sport 6MT, with stock halogen projector headlamp units. All bulbs were evaluated with the headlamps aimed at horizontal. Evaluation took place from 11pm-2am (i.e. fully dark outside), and the location was a ~10 mile loop that included both moderately lit portions near civilization, and totally dark untraveled farm roads with no light pollution (other than my vehicle). I have also previously driven the vehicle with the different bulbs for several days each during routine day-to-day activities.
Unfortunately the environmental conditions were not ideal on the night I was available to test. We have been under drought conditions here for a couple years, and it has rained perhaps a handful of times in the last 6 months – but Mother Nature chose this weekend to send thunderstorms to San Antonio. With rain in the air, the effective reach of the headlamp is reduced, glare is increased, and the wet road will reflect additional light off of signage, for example. I had to wait out the worst of the storm, and then wait for lulls in the rain to take pictures.
I tried to take all pictures in the same conditions (amount of rain), but I don't have any objective way to confirm that. You can see that there were different amounts of standing water in some pictures. I do feel the pictures accurately reflect my subjective dynamic evaluation, but in the interest of full disclosure I must attach the disclaimer that they are not technically shot in the exact same conditions and should not be considered infallible evidence.
The rain also prevented me from performing any evaluations outside of the vehicle – observing oncoming glare, or taking any light measurements on the road, for example. (Note: based on my previous measurements and other observations, I doubt any of these bulbs produce objectionable glare)
The bulbs were rated using 5 criteria:
Reach – How far down the road does the lamp illuminate? Farther is better.
Intensity – How bright does the lamp appear? This not always a case of simply "brighter is better". High intensity immediately in front of the vehicle (too close to the front bumper) is a bad thing. Bright lights in the foreground: 1) Degrade your night vision (that's why OEMs give you a knob to dim your interior/dash lights), and 2) Draw your attention to the bright area immediately in front of your bumper, not down the road where you should be looking.
Smoothness/Evenness – Are there any artifacts in the beam pattern, either on the road or to the side? Artifacts are annoying, and can be distracting.
Width/Dispersion – How wide is the beam? Does it light the side of the road well? (for making a turn, pedestrian visibility, etc.) Wider is better, within reason.
Cutoff – Is the cut line adequate to prevent glare to oncoming drivers? Is it distinct? Distracting? Smooth?
Here is the rating system I used:
5 – Exceptional, better than best-in-class
4 – Very good
3 – Average, acceptable
2 – Below average, customer complaints likely
1 – Very poor, unacceptable
The system is augmented with the addition of half-numbers (2.5, 3.5, etc.) and plus/minus modifiers (plus being slightly better). So for example, a 3.5+ is better than a 3.5, which is better than a 3.5-
And one note about this particular test in general:
This is a test of headlight BULBS, and I am adapting my testing methods that I usually use for headlight SYSTEMS. The design of the headlight system plays the largest role in the performance of the system. We may be able to find extra performance with this bulb or that bulb, but to a large extent, the capabilities of the system are defined by the design.
A good example of this would be beam width. The Mazda5 headlights have acceptable beam width to a certain extent, but the side lighting starts to drop off sooner than I would like closer to the vehicle. In a vehicle-to-vehicle comparison I would probably detract points from the Mazda for this - but in this test I did not focus on this characteristic of the vehicle headlight system, because it was seen similarly between all bulbs. Instead, I only focused on differences due to the bulbs themselves.
Without further ado, onto the evaluation:
H9
Reach: 3.5
Good reach. As I will likely say several times in this review, the H9 puts out the most lumens of the halogen bulbs tested, and it is able to give good down-road visibility.
Intensity: 3.5
Maybe, mayyyybe too intense near the front of the vehicle, but overall good.
Smoothness: 3.5-
Minor artifacts noticeable on the road in front of the vehicle, but you have to specifically look for them.
Width: 3.5
Generally good.
Cutoff: 3.0
The cut line was noticeable and mildly distracting at times. I attribute this to the high power of the H9 – with more lux below, the cut line becomes more noticeable. However, it was not as noticeable or objectionable like many HID systems (referring to stock HIDs, in case you thought I meant "retrofit" kits)
Other Comments:
There is simply no arguing the fact that this bulb puts out a lot of light. The beam is not as clean and controlled as the H11 +100 (as would be expected from a bulb used in a lamp that was not designed for it), but it is really not that bad either. In pitch black conditions, the reflections off of the occasional road sign were very bright, arguably too bright.
H11 +100 (Philips Xtreme Vision)
Reach: 3.5
Good reach. Slightly less reach than the H9 - but not by as much as my static maximum lux measurements seemed to suggest.
Intensity: 3.5
Good intensity. Not too bright in the foreground, and appropriate intensity forward through the beam in front of the car.
Smoothness: 3.5+
No noticeable artifacts on the road or to the side of the vehicle. Very pleasing beam pattern.
Width: 3.5
Generally good
Cutoff: 3.5
Good, occasionally noticeable, rarely distracting
Other comments:
I was surprised by the quality of the beam pattern that this bulb produced. The H9 is more powerful, as evidenced by the maximum lux measurements of my previous static review. But that number did not tell the whole story. The H11 +100, while less powerful, produces a much more pleasing beam pattern. The reach basically matches the H9, but the rest of the beam is equal or just a bit better in all ways.
H11 LL (stock)
Reach: 3.0
Average, and surprisingly disappointing when compared back-to-back with the H11 +100
Intensity: 3.0
All around dim, especially when compared to the previous two bulbs
Smoothness: 3.5
No noticeable artifacts on the road or to the side of the vehicle
Width: 3.0-
Again, reduced width compared to H9 or H11 +100. Simply less lux to work with.
Cutoff: 3.5
Difficult to notice in routine driving,
Other comments:
When I purchased the vehicle new with these H11 LL bulbs in it, I probably would not have raised an issue to Mazda about the headlights. They were not impressive (they are engineered to a price point on a $17k vehicle) but they weren't a safety hazard either. But driving the H11 LL bulbs immediately after the H11 +100 was eye-opening – the lack of performance from the H11 LL is apparent. Working in the auto industry, I can say without a doubt that the only reason these bulbs exist and are installed into vehicles is so that OEMs can make it through the first 3 years without warranty claims for headlight bulbs.
Hellst LED
Reach: 2.0+
To be blunt, the Hellst LED performs poorly in this area. The down-road visibility was the worst in the test, by a fair margin.
Intensity: 3.0
High intensity immediately in front of the vehicle. Borderline too-high. If this was matched by high intensity down-road, the foreground intensity would not be as much of an issue. But instead, the foreground intensity is imbalanced with the rest of the beam, and tends to make the driver focus on the road near the front of the vehicle. There is also an area of higher intensity near the center line of the road, to the driver's side of the vehicle. In practice it is not distracting or dangerous, but it is noticeable.
Smoothness: 3.0
The beam is very smooth with no noticeable artifacts on the road or in the side lighting along the road. The one exception is a noticeable artifact thrown up into trees/buildings to the right of the vehicle.
Width: 3.0+
Acceptable width, though it can't quite match the brighter bulbs in the test.
Cutoff: 3.5
Rarely noticeable, definitely not objectionable.
Other comments:
The LEDs surprised performance surprised me because they were almost the opposite of what I was expecting. I was expecting (based on the high 3200 lumen value - a value which I believe is accurate for output at the LED) a streaky, distracting, glaring, uncontrolled wall of light. Instead the actual condition was nearly the exact opposite - smooth light, just not enough punch for distance viewing. As I think about it more, it makes sense, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting when I first plugged them in, in my garage.
The color temperature of the Hellst LED is advertised at 5500K, which seems accurate. This is an obvious difference between the LEDs and the halogen bulbs which give the more familiar, traditional "yellow" glow. Some people feel that the bluish-white light of a 5500k bulb give higher contrast and allows them to see better. They do give a unique look to the vehicle when you look at the headlights with the LEDs burning – you can tell they aren't halogens, but they aren't HID either. It is hard to describe (and harder to take a picture of) but it is noticeable, at least to me. Also worthy of note, there is some amount of fan noise from the LED units – noticeable when the engine is off, but not when the engine is on. It's not objectionable, but I did find it interesting – I didn't expect to HEAR my headlights working!
Other criteria: Life, Value, Uniqueness, Efficiency, Legality, etc.
Life:
Among the halogen bulbs, the H11 LL will have significantly increased life over the H9 or H11 +100 (hence the LL moniker – Long Life). The H9 or H11 +100 will last perhaps a year for the average user. The Hellst LED uses an LED emitter with a rated life that is so long it will certainly outlast the life of the vehicle, even if you use your headlights significantly more than average. There are more component parts of the Hellst LED that may potentially fail (ballast, fan), but IMO it is a fairly low risk.
Uniqueness:
The Hellst LEDs are the only bulb in this test that could be considered unique. Nobody (with the occasional exception of lighting nerds like me) cares that you have put H9 or H11 +100 bulbs in your headlights to make them perform better. Having LED headlights could be a talking point to some interested parties.
Efficiency:
The Hellst LEDs are the most efficient bulbs at 35W per bulb, compared to 55W for the H11s, and 65W for the H9. I'm not going to try to convert 40W savings to MPG, but I can tell you that in this current era of fuel economy focus, OEMs are diligently pursuing gains that are often smaller than these 40W.
Legality:
Simply put, the Hellst LED and H9 are not legal bulbs to retrofit into an OEM headlight designed for H11 bulbs. That said, many of us have installed other "for off-road use only" parts on our car with the knowledge that simply being DOT-approved does not make a product safe, nor does lack of certification make it unsafe.
Value:
This is a difficult judgment to make, as everyone values things differently. The H9 and H11 +100 offer similar performance and life – but while the the H11 +100 offers the "better" beam pattern, it also costs more (about $35 compared to $15 per pair). The Hellst LED are more difficult to judge. At $175, they cost as much as 5 pairs of H11 +100 bulbs - but they could also theoretically outlast those 5 pairs of bulbs, and many more.
Summary:
I would have a difficult time proclaiming a "winner" in this test. Overall, I feel the H11 +100 Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs performed equal, or slightly better in some regards, to the H9 bulbs. But they also cost more than twice as much. The stock H11 LL bulbs are a poor option, in my opinion. The only reason to consider these bulbs is if you value the long life of these bulbs above all else. And with the ease of bulb changes in the Mazda5, even that is not a good reason – swapping a pair of bulbs literally (not figuratively – I timed myself at 65 seconds, including opening the hood) takes all of 60 seconds due to the ease of access on this vehicle.
Which brings us to the Hellst LED, the reason this test was conducted. My chart comparing the maximum measured Lux values (in post # 49) for the various bulbs painted an unrealistically bad picture for the Hellst LED bulbs (so bad that I've edited it to note that maximum Lux is only one aspect of headlight performance). I was quite skeptical of the concept of an aftermarket LED headlamp retrofit priced at only $175. Visually, the Hellst LED bulbs performed acceptably in all categories except for reach - reach was their Achilles heel. The bulbs certainly did outperform my expectations, but I cannot recommend them over the H9 or H11 +100 bulbs. The MT-62 LED array produces more Lumens than the halogen bulbs in question (~1900lm @ 18W), but requires a 9mmx9mm die to accomplish it, and the headlamp cannot distribute light as intended without the "point source" light source it was designed around. For reference, the filament coil of an H11 is about 1mm x 4mm. I do see potential in LED automotive lighting, and would like to see the next generation of LED bulbs - but until LEDs are shrunk significantly more (say, 1500lm off of a 3mm x 3mm die), I don't think they can replace a halogen bulb in a lamp designed around said bulb.
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