HDS' Neutral led Vs. IS special run of the Nichia 219B

From what I'm hearing (and reading) it seems the N219B's are running around 4500- unlike the nice high 219A. I'd love a HDS 219 but..... To add furthur thought, HDS lists their Neutral at 170 lumens. This is the same for the HDS 219B. Can someone chime in with some extra commentary on how the 219B @ 4500 is going to differ from HDS's Neutral at 4500 ??

Stockhouse13 said:

From what I'm hearing (and reading) it seems the N219B's are running around 4500- unlike the nice high 219A. I'd love a HDS 219 but..... To add furthur thought, HDS lists their Neutral at 170 lumens. This is the same for the HDS 219B. Can someone chime in with some extra commentary on how the 219B @ 4500 is going to differ from HDS's Neutral at 4500 ??

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I have several lights in 219a and 219b. My general impression is that the A is less efficient, higher CRI and a touch warmer and throwier where the B is more efficient (perhaps 20%) lower CRI (closer to 85 than 90), a bit cooler (4500k vs 4400k) and a bit floodier (flatter dome). The differences are not huge but for EDC I prefer the B.

The IS version has morphed into the current production HDS N170 version and other than the original preorder pricing and inclusion of a decorative clip there is no difference between the two.

To the average user it won't make much difference. Some will take the 170 because they think it will appear brighter. It won't. Some will prefer the slightly warmer tint with a slightly better cri. Some will be able to tell, some won't. A tint snob such as myself will prefer the warmer, higher cri emitter. Other folks will prefer the more neutral, slightly brighter emitter.

In reality, it would probably be hard to tell them apart even if they were shone side by side.

very good thread.
thanks.