8 Facts Dealers Won’t Tell You When Buying LED Headlights

1. Exaggerated Power Ratings

You may notice that some well-known brands list their LED headlight bulbs with relatively low power ratings, while lesser-known brands often advertise 100W, 200W, or even 20,000 LM, 40,000LM bulbs.

This creates confusion for many customers: “If big-brands don’t seem that powerful but cost more, while small brands are cheaper with higher wattage, why should I choose the well-known ones?”

This happens because Some sellers show product images with a pair of bulbs but only describe the item as “LED headlight bulb” in the title—without clarifying whether it’s a single bulb or a full set.

For example, you may come across a car LED bulb advertised as “100W.” However, the seller does not clarify whether this means each individual bulb is 100W or if the combined power of the pair is 100W.

In reality, many manufacturers or dealers use this tactic to make their product specifications sound more impressive.

✔️Solution: Using Ohm's Law To Avoid The “Trap”

Ohm’s law: Current × Voltage = Power

For example, a bulb might be labeled as “60W, 2.5A per bulb” – a typical case of exaggerated or misleading specifications! Usually, once a car starts, the alternator raises the vehicle’s main voltage to around 13.5V. Knowing the voltage, we can calculate the actual power by multiplying it with the current.

Assuming the car runs at 13.5V and the measured current of the LED bulb is 2.5A, the real power would be: 13.5V × 2.5A = 33.75W

If the label claims 60W one bulb, it’s clearly an overstated or false specification, a classic example of misleading product labeling.

Moreover, you can choose reliable brands like Philips, Osram, or NAOEVO. They provide accurate performance data and clearly label bulb quantity—no tricks, just trust.

2. LED Chip Module Size ≠ Brightness

Generally, LED headlight suppliers will tell you: the bigger the chip number, the larger the size, the higher the power, and of course, the brighter the light! The popular “3570 chip” has even become a trendy marketing term. But is this really the case?

As a LED headlight manufacturer with 19 years of experience, we can confidently tell you: not at all!

In fact, the chip module refers to the part that holds the chips and circuitry, not just a single component that determines brightness.

For example, 1860 means the chip has a width of 1.8 mm and a length of 6.0 mm; 3570 means the chip has a width of 3.5 mm and a length of 7.0 mm; and 5585 means the chip has a width of 5.5 mm and a length of 8.5 mm.

On a 7mm long and 3.5mm wide circuit board, we can install a tiny 1mm² “LED chip” and still call it a “3570 chip”! Even if its brightness is very low – the name is still technically 3570. By now, it should be clear: judging an LED headlight bulb by its chip module number alone is completely unreliable!

✔️ Solution: Look at the “MIL”

One reliable way to estimate the brightness and power of an LED headlight is by checking the MIL – size of the LED chips. Our previous blog: 5 common chips for LED headlight bulb has mention this.

The term “MIL” is a unit equal to one-thousandth of an inch (1 mil = 0.0254 mm) and refers to the size of the LED die.

After knowing this, how do we choose high-brightness LED headlights? It’s simple! Remember one key rule: large chip module + large chip size = high power = high brightness!

Generally, the larger the MIL number, the bigger the chip area, the higher the power, and the brighter the light output.

3. COB LED Headlights Are Cheap, But Not Recommended

The 1860 and 3570 chips we mentioned earlier are currently the mainstream flip-chip LED headlight bulb. If you see an LED headlight that is very cheap and advertised as a “COB chip,” you can skip it.

Although the chip appears large, it is actually an older generation product with poor beam pattern, low power, limited brightness, and poor heat dissipation.

Deep Read: 5 common chips for LED headlight bulb, which is the best?

✔️ Solution: Choose LED Headlight Bulb With Flip Chip

Choosing an LED headlight bulb with a flip chip offers clear advantages over traditional COB chips. Its smaller light-emitting area improves heat dissipation, provides focused and bright beams, and extends lifespan. With high performance and cost-effectiveness, flip chip bulbs deliver safer, longer-lasting, and more efficient lighting for your vehicle.

4. Fan Cooling: Top Choice for LED Heat Dissipation

There are two main methods of LED heat dissipation: passive and active.

Passive heat dissipation, commonly known as “copper strap cooling,” involves a few long metal straps attached to the back of the LED headlight bulb, typically made of braided copper. During operation, the heat generated by the LED is transferred to these metal straps, which then dissipate the heat into the surrounding air.

Active heat dissipation is most commonly represented by fan cooling. In this method, the heat from the LED is conducted to a metal heat sink, and a fan blows directly onto the heat sink to accelerate heat removal. From a heat dissipation perspective, fan-based active cooling is far more effective than passive copper strap cooling.

To ensure high brightness, the power must be increased. However, higher power means higher energy consumption, which requires more robust heat dissipation. LED headlight bulbs with passive cooling either cannot reach high power, and therefore never achieve high brightness, or they may start bright but gradually dim over time. That’s why we strongly recommend choosing LED headlights with active fan cooling!

5. Graphene Cooling? Don’t Believe the Hype!

Heat pipes come in both round and flat shapes, with various designs. Regardless, in truly excellent LED headlights, the heat-dissipating component is always a heat pipe. Clearly, only LED bulbs with heat pipe conduction plus fan-based active cooling can achieve high power and high brightness! Always remember this principle: the better the LED’s heat conduction and dissipation, the better the bulb is likely to be.

Even though graphene’s thermal conductivity exceeds 1,000 W/mK, it still can’t compare to heat pipes, which can reach up to 20,000 W/mK under 100°C conditions. Do you really think graphene can outperform the incredible heat pipe?

✔️ Solution: Choose LED Headlight Combined Copper Tube And Fan Cooling

The best solution to overheating issues is to choose an LED headlight that combines copper tube and fan cooling. This design uses a copper tube to efficiently draw heat away from the LED chips, while the high-speed fan quickly disperses it, keeping the bulb at a safe operating temperature.

6. Higher Wattage Doesn’t Always Mean Brighter

When buying LED headlights, many customers assume that the higher the wattage, the brighter the light will be. In most cases, that sounds logical—but as a 19-year LED car light manufacturer, we can confidently tell you that this isn’t always true.

If an LED headlight bulb is designed only for high power output without proper heat dissipation and light beam pattern optimization, it can quickly lead to light decay or even cause the bulb to burn out.

For example, some bulbs are advertised with extreme specifications—like 200W and 20,000LM per bulb. But due to poor thermal management, their real performance drops fast. After just 10 minutes of use, these bulbs often reduce to around 100W, showing a severe brightness decay.

That’s why some customers report that their new LED headlights look bright at first, but then become noticeably dim after only a few minutes.

✔️ Focus on stable output rather than instant output

When purchasing LED headlight bulbs for wholesale, it’s always a good idea to test the real stable power of a sample rather than relying only on the numbers sellers advertise.

We recommend that you either use a power test box to check the stability yourself or ask the supplier to provide a testing video. Reliable manufacturers usually deliver bulbs with high stable wattage and excellent light efficiency, ensuring long-term performance instead of short bursts of brightness.

For example, the NAOEVO S3MAX LED headlight bulb prioritizes stable output. Its initial power is 45W with 5000LM, giving a light efficiency of 120.7 LM/W. When operating at 10 minutes, it maintains 43W and 4196LM, with a stable efficiency of 96.9 LM/W. This ensures long-lasting, consistent high brightness without noticeable decay.

7. Avoid Multi-Sided LED Headlight Bulbs

(Comparison of halogen filament (4.5mm) vs. multi-sided LED chip (11mm). Image source: Headlight Revolution.)

If you’re shopping for LED headlight bulbs, you’ve probably come across terms like 360°, three-sided, or four-sided LED bulbs. Halogen bulbs work differently: inside, there’s a tiny wire-wound filament that emits light 360°, which is why some people think, “I should use a 360° LED bulb to replace it.” However, there’s a major issue. Multi-sided LED bulbs vary in size and are often positioned incorrectly.

For example, according to a test by Headlight Revolution, the halogen filament sits at a height of 4.5mm, while the multi-sided LED chip is 11mm tall.

Placing a light source that is much wider and taller than the original filament into a housing designed for halogen results in multiple out-of-focus light sources, which can create poor beam patterns and uneven illumination.

✔️ Solution: Choose LED Bulbs with a Thin Light-Emitting Space

When selecting LED headlight bulbs, it’s important to pick ones that closely match the height and width of the original halogen filament. This ensures a standard beam pattern similar to halogen bulbs without causing glare for other drivers.

A great example is the NAOEVO ECO45 LED headlight bulb, which features a 1.5mm ultra-thin light-emitting area. Its filament placement perfectly mimics halogen, making it ideal for both projector and reflector headlight housings.

8. More Copper Tubes Doesn’t Mean Better Heat Dissipation

Some LED headlight bulbs on the market come with 3 or even 4 copper tubes inside. Many people think, “The more copper tubes, the better the cooling, right?” Actually, not really.

What really matters is how well the copper tubes work—not just how many there are. Things like the tube’s thickness, the quality of the material, and how efficiently they move heat are far more important than the number.

In fact, if a bulb has too many copper tubes, the light source becomes too wide. This can create strong glare at night, which makes driving uncomfortable and unsafe.

Deep Read: NAOEVO’s Advanced Cooling Technology Explained

✔️ Solution: Choose Quality Copper Tubes, Not Just More Tubes

Sometimes, “less is more.” Instead of choosing bulbs with lots of copper tubes, it’s better to pick ones with high-quality copper tubes.

For example, NAOEVO doesn’t add extra tubes just to look impressive. They focus on real performance. Their LED bulbs use larger liquid copper tubes with a thermal conductivity of 20,000W/m·K, while most others only reach about 397W/m·K.

NAOEVO LED headlight bulbs don’t chase quantity—they only deliver the best performance for your headlights.

Why Choose NAOEVO?

NAOEVO is a 19 years LED headlight bulb manufacturer in China, dedicated to providing high-quality LED headlight bulbs at the best pricing. Our 100,000 square meter factory located in China allows us to achieve strict quality control while ensuring fast shipment to customers worldwide.

Over the past 19 years, we’ve expanded our brand to 60 countries, supporting 50 distributors to grow their businesses successfully. If you’re looking for reliable, high-performance LED headlights at competitive prices, contact us today to get the best quote and see how NAOEVO can help your business shine.

Conclusion

Buying LED headlights isn’t just about picking the brightest or most expensive bulbs. As we’ve seen, factors like light efficiency, heat dissipation, beam pattern, and quality materials make a huge difference in performance and longevity. Dealers may not always share these details, but knowing the truth helps you make smarter choices.

Share this post