Are Sylvania Silverstar Ultra H7 the same bulb as Osram Nightbreakers in 2021?

[FartMaster3000]

Hey you guys!

I was at Walmart the other day and I decided to take a gander at what halogen lighting options they had and they were all Sylvania bulbs. I did notice however, that the Ultra series of bulbs now have a large portion of the blue filter stripped off the area where the filament sits! I know Sylvania got and lost a lawsuit about their false claims of their previous Silverstar bulbs.

Are these "improved" SS Ultras the Osram Nightbreakers now? Any way to find out if they are—which + range they are? Or are they a different bulb altogether?

 

[-Virgil-]

"Silverstar Ultra H7" is the US branding for the Osram Night Breaker, which is no longer marketed in Europe (they've moved on to the "Night Breaker Laser").

You're much better off (more light, more life = more cost effective) getting the 65w H7s from Dan Stern than messing with any of these Silverstar etc types, especially since Osram/Sylvania and Philips quietly changed the comparison basis for their "plus" numbers. They used to be +30, +50, +80 (...) vice a new standard bulb, then for awhile Sylvania was being really weaselly and the fine print said "compared to a used standard bulb", and now Osram has given up all pretense and is being completely slimy: it's even finer print saying "compared to the minimum ECE R112 requirements". The reason why this is slimy is that R112 specifies beam photometry, not bulb output. Give me a new standard bulb (plus-nothing), a room full of different headlamps, and a goniometer and I will find plenty of headlamps that produce 100%, 150%, 200% more light (at some test point) than the minimum requirement. Basically the new claim is lawsuit-proof, but says nothing about the performance gain over a standard bulb. Which leaves plenty of room for there to be none at all. (I'm not saying there is none at all).

Vote with your pocketbook against being lied to, get the 65w H7s and wind up with better lighting.

 

[FartMaster3000]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, Sylvania has been some slippery snakes these past few decades now. But at least I'm glad a regular non-headlight enthusiast Joe Schmo can get better bulbs with the SSU than the previous all blue SSU bulb—without his knowledge I guess. Safer is better! Huge downside of buying them at the store is they're super expensive!

I won't even touch on the Silverstar ZXE Gold they sell here for a whopping $75 a pair! At that point no wonder people gravitate towards putting those Amazon/eBay LED drop-in toys or glaring HID kits.

 

[haha1234]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, Sylvania has been some slippery snakes these past few decades now. But at least I'm glad a regular non-headlight enthusiast Joe Schmo can get better bulbs with the SSU than the previous all blue SSU bulb—without his knowledge I guess. Safer is better! Huge downside of buying them at the store is they're super expensive!

I won't even touch on the Silverstar ZXE Gold they sell here for a whopping $75 a pair! At that point no wonder people gravitate towards putting those Amazon/eBay LED drop-in toys or glaring HID kits.

That ZXE Gold seems similar to the Nightbreaker Laser, but they're definitely NOT worth $75 a pair! Especially when you can get the real NBL for $20-30 including international shipping.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

This is a very useful thread, thanks. 👍
One needs to keep up with the changes. I'm still back there with Philips Xtreme-power vs Xtreme-vision. They keep changing the game.