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LED headlight bulbs often look brighter than stock halogen bulbs, which is why many people choose to upgrade their car’s halogen headlights to LEDs.
However despite the popularity of this trend, come drivers find themselves disappointed with the results, especially for the brightness. So in this blog, we will dig out the reasons why switching from halogen headlights to LED bulbs may not always meet the desired outcomes.
In This Blog, You'll Learn:
Why My LED Headlight Bulbs Still Perform Bad?
When choosing automotive parts, you need to be extra careful, especially car headlights, because they are directly related to driving safety. Most car owners who choose LED headlight bulbs must think that LED lights consume less energy, have high brightness and have a long lifespan.
If you still feel that the effect is not good after replacing LED car lights, it may be caused by the following reasons:
1. Unrealistic Lumen Values
The Lumen of LED headlight bulbs refers to start-up lumens rather than stable lumens. This means that the car LED lights have the highest lumens at the moment they are turned on. After a period of use, the lumens will decrease, so you will feel that the brightness of LED car lights is decreasing.
2. Higher Color Temperature
LED headlight bulbs with a higher color temperature like 8000K may seem attractive because of their sharp, bluish tone, but they’re actually not ideal for driving—especially at night or in poor weather. That blue-tinted light might look modern, but it doesn’t provide the same road clarity as a more natural white light around 5000K–6000K.
At 8000K, the light begins to scatter more in the atmosphere, which weakens your ability to see clearly in fog, rain, or snow.
👉 Read More: 4300K VS. 5800K VS. 6500K LED Headlight, Which Is Better?
3. Low Luminous Efficiency
The luminous efficiency of LED lights is not particularly high, and as a result, the overall brightness of the light they emit tends to be insufficient for optimal visibility.
One of the key factors contributing to this issue is the type of LED chip used in the headlight bulbs. Not all LED chips are created equal—some are designed for high brightness and efficiency, while others prioritize cost or compact size. Different types of chip beads can significantly influence how effectively the bulb converts electrical energy into visible light.
4. Poor Heat Dissipation Design
Excessive heat can degrade the performance and lifespan of the LED chips, causing them to produce less light output. Additionally, high temperatures can lead to thermal runaway, where the LED’s efficiency decreases rapidly, resulting in dimmer illumination and potentially shorter bulb lifespan.
👉 Deep Read: LED Car Light Heat Dissipation: Everything You Need to Know
5. Incorrect Installation
The installation steps for car LED headlight bulb are simple, but for some LED car lights that are not plug-and-play designed, it will be difficult to adjust the light pattern. If the light pattern is not adjusted properly, it will cause the light pattern to be very diffuse, not focused, and have dark areas.
In summary, the poor user experience after switching to LED car lights can basically be attributed to three types of reasons:
(1) the LED headlight bulb itself;
(2) the incorrect LED car bulb installation;
(3) Users are not adapting to the new lighting effects of LED bulb;
Market Chaos: How To Avoid Poor LED Headlight Bulb
1. Exaggerated Lumen Rating
Generally, the higher the lumen, the greater the luminous flux and brighter the light. Unrealistic labeling of lumens is one the most serious problems in the automotive lighting market. The power and lumens marked on some LED headlight bulbs may be exaggerated or falsely labeled, making it difficult for consumers to judge the true performance and quality of the products.
Specifically, some small brands or non-famous brand LED light products may deliberately exaggerate their power and lumen values. For example, they may advertise that their LED car lights have 100W or 120W power, but in fact the real power of these products may only be 60W or 80W. Similarly, they may claim that their LED lights have a high lumen number, such as 20000LM, but in fact the real lumen number of these products may be only half or less.
Solution:
It’s recommended to choose NAOEVO Noble LED car lights, which deliver an efficient brightness of 70W 8400LM/bulb. These bulbs offer consistent, stable high brightness without any concerns about light decay.
2. Fragility, Unreliability
The most common problems of LED headlight bulbs are poor high temperature tolerance and easy entry of dust and water.
In order to ensure the stable output of high brightness, high-power LED car lights have extremely high requirements on heat dissipation.
However, the temperature range of many LED headlight bulbs currently on the market is mostly limited to -30°C to 85°C, and they are generally equipped with only a single fan for heat dissipation. This configuration is often difficult to achieve the ideal heat dissipation effect, thus affecting the brightness performance of the car lights.
In addition, the dustproof and waterproof rating of some LED car lights is only IP34, which is obviously not enough to cope with harsh weather conditions.
Solution:
It’s recommended to choose NAOEVO NG LED car lights, which feature IP68 waterproof protection and a triple cooling system combining dual copper tubes, a high-speed fan, and an aluminum heat sink to maintain stable and consistent brightness.
3. Scattered Light Beam Pattern
The light beam pattern of LED car lights is related to driving safety. Many LED car lights on the market are either designed to be too long or the space between the lamp beads is designed to be too thick.
This all results in poor light beam pattern. Because LED car lights need to be in the same lighting position as the original car halogen lights as much as possible, in order to ensure a safe light pattern.
Solution:
Choose LED headlight bulbs with a 1:1 design that closely matches the original halogen size for easy installation and optimal light focus. A great example is the NAOEVO GT6 LED headlight bulb, which delivers a precise cutoff line along with a wide and uniform beam pattern. It’s a reliable option that has been trusted by countless customers over the years.
How Quality LED Car Bulb Manufacturer Solve These Problems?
Well-known LED headlight bulb brand usually tend to use cutting-edge technology to solve the problems. NAOEVO is one of the best!
The company has 18 years of experience in automotive lighting research and development, masters the latest optical technology, safe beam technology and cooling technology, and is committed to manufacturing high-quality, high-brightness automotive LED headlight bulbs.
NAOEVO sets a higher standard for the reliability for their car lighting products:
1. Remain Good Lighting Performance Under Extreme Condition
The decisive factor in LED headlight bulb decay in the junction temperature. When the temperature exceeds the junction temperature, the power of the LED headlight bulbs will begin to decrease and the brightness will also weaken.
Although LED car lights can operate normally within the temperature range of -30°C to 85°C, but LED headlight bulbs usually generate excessive heat, their reliability is difficult to guarantee under extreme conditions.
NAOEVO has set higher standards for LED headlight bulbs in terms of the heat resistance. They will install the LED car bulbs inside the car headlight assembly, and then placed the whole part in a high-temperature test chamber. At this time, LED bulb needs to undergo extreme testing for 1 hour with a high temperature of 120℃.
Only after the LED car lights pass this stage will they enter the next stage of testing.
2. Higher Illumination Efficacy Than Others
For higher illumination, NAOEVO has designed their LED headlight bulbs with brand new flip chip, which features small lighting points, focusing, and improved heat dissipation, and more cost-effectiveness than ZES and Cree. In this case, the Luminous Flux of LED chip can be as high as 120LM/W. (While others only have 80LM/W ~100LM/W)
It is because of these high-quality flip chips that makes high-lumen LED car lights possible. In additional, NAOEVO LED car lights have stable power and can effectively avoid light decay.
Most importantly, NAOEVO’s dual-beam LED headlight bulbs (H4, H13, 9004, and 9007 sizes) tend to have a higher stable power than similar products on the market.
3. Light Beam Pattern Meets Road Safety
The alignment of NAOEVO LED chips show a rectangular arrangement, which makes a broad and uniform light beam pattern. The chip position is set to be slightly concave, making the light pattern more concentrated.
Moreover, some NAOEVO LED headlight bulbs come with an additional chip so as to offer a clear cut-off line thus reducing glare for oncoming traffic.
Some LED headlight bulbs do not have a chuck for beam adjustment. However, NAOEVO makes each LED headlight bulb come with an rotatable chuck, which enables 360-degree lighting. Drivers can easily adjust the light pattern.
👉Also Read: What Makes a Good Light Beam Pattern of LED Headlight Bulb
CONCLUSION
While LED headlight bulbs offer numerous benefits, switching from halogen to LEDs may not always guarantee satisfied performance. Factors like scattered light patterns, compatibility issues, and dim brightness claims may leave users disappointed. Thus choosing a reputable car led light manufacturer like NAOEVO is a reliable way to discover high-quality LED headlight kits.
