Overview of modern designs LED lamps for low/high beam car LED H4 will help you choose the best option and not be disappointed in the money spent. I think the opinions, reviews and comments of this article will be useful, first of all, to those who care about how the road is illuminated in front of their car.

LEDs have firmly entered our lives not only as indicators, means of illumination or Daytime Running Lights, but for some time now, and as sources of powerful lighting.

The modern car lighting market has been flooded with all kinds of LED lamps and light bulbs. As the sellers assure us, their miracle bulbs for headlights can give light several times more at meager electrical costs, illuminate the road, like during the day, to the envy of friends and neighbors.

In the comments of online stores, aspirated rave reviews about LED lamps (mostly only that they shine, just damn, how bright) fuel the general hype. But is it?

Let's try to begin with, in principle, to compare LED lamps with classic halogens and bi-xenon:

Yeah ... Judging by the table, the LED confidently bypasses xenon in terms of lighting parameters, leaving far behind halogens of by no means the last quality. Perhaps this is the reason for so many enthusiastic impressions of LED lighting on the car? - the LED really shines brighter than a conventional halogen incandescent bulb. But is happiness only in brightness?

For the average layman, headlight lamps are perceived no more than a light bulb in a toilet - the brighter, the cooler. With automotive light, everything is much more serious and more complicated: in addition to the brightness itself, the geometry of the light beam also plays a very important role. How the light spot is formed on the road determines how you will see this road in the dark.

To make it easier to understand the various designs presented in the review of the lamps, absolutely some theory about H4 bulbs:

The principle of operation of H4 lamps dipped / high beam

In the mode " high beam» The headlight shines according to the principle of an ordinary spotlight: the lamp spiral is in the focus of a parabolic reflector, forming a uniform beam of light parallel to the road at the output, while using the entire surface of the reflector. The standard power of a high beam incandescent lamp is 60W.

For the mode " dipped beam"A second spiral is used, located in front of the focus of the headlight and covered from below by a screen of a special shape. Thus, part of the light flux is cut off, forming a light-shadow spot in the form of a characteristic “tick”. In this mode, only the upper part of the headlight reflector is used and the luminous flux is directed slightly downward, resting on the roadway in front of the car for about 50 ... 60 m. The standard power of an incandescent lamp for low beam is 55W.

The principle of switching near / far is that in a halogen the filaments work alternately, in bi-xenon the bulb shifts from one position to another. In LED lamps, mainly for the low beam, the chips are always on, and the high-beam chips are additionally connected to them.

Overview of LED low / high beam lamps

The lamps presented in the review are mainly built on the basis of high-power CREE XM-L2 LEDs:

• Max. current: 3A
• Max. power: 10W
• Max. luminous flux: 1052lm

Almost all lamps are made on the basis of aircraft-grade aluminum, are waterproof and are designed for 9 ... 24 (36) V.

The review is collected, exclusively on real constructive reviews and photographic materials from sane buyers who tested the products “on themselves”. The fact that the sellers place on their pages does not count, since they shamelessly drag the same materials from each other. “Realistic” photos are especially popular for completely different lamps with the same “landscape” and the same headlights. In the review, I deliberately do not indicate sellers, but focusing on the design of the lamps themselves, I think you can meet them not only on AliExpress, but also in other places.

Sample #0

By and large, this is not even a sample, but an example of the fact that in no case can't buy, since these are lamps for anything but not for head light , so that the seller doesn’t “rub” you there. This arrangement of LEDs is suitable only for lights, reverse, etc., but there are corresponding lamps for this in the corresponding base. The emitting crystals of this lamp are located anywhere, but not at key focal points, which means that it will also shine anywhere, but not on the road, and the lens will not play a special role here. The absence of at least any radiator can only speak of extremely low power for this type of lamp. Even if the lamp produces at least half of the required power, it will simply overheat and burn out very quickly.

Sample 1

One of the cheapest LED H4 bulbs on AliExpress. A single-sided lamp with a horizontal layout is made on the basis of 3 LEDs and with a power of 20/30 W should issue 2000/3000 Chinese lumens Chinese sellers very often overestimate the key indicators of their goods. Real characteristics can be times 1,5…2 below stated.. The cost of a set of 2 lamps is slightly less than 40 c.u.

The LEDs are powered by an external driver, while the aluminum housing provides heat transfer to the actively cooled heatsink. The cooling fan is quite quiet. In most cases, they become instead of standard ones without problems, sometimes, however, very smart on-board electronics do not want to understand them, but this is solved by installing a “trick” load resistor An additional resistor connected in parallel to the LED lamp to simulate the standard amount of current consumed. It is necessary for the correct operation of the electronics that monitors the condition of the lamps. Since the resistor increases the current to the standard value, its installation nullifies the whole idea of ​​economy. .

For low beam, 2 LED chips are used, which for some reason are located across the optical axis, although in conventional headlight lamps, the spirals have a longitudinal orientation. In high beam mode, another chip is connected, located at the focus of the reflector. It turns out that the lamp uses only the upper part of the headlight reflector for high beam, completely ignoring the lower one. As a result, the lamp smeared near without a clear border and a checkmark, more or less illuminating the road at a distance of up to 10 ... 15 m. Far quality is obtained somewhere between “ mediocre" and " no". More precisely, this is not a distant, but a slightly “enhanced” near one - it shines a little brighter and a little higher, even oncoming cars do not blink for high beams. Some smart people stupidly slightly underestimate the headlight and always drive at the far end. Yes, in the enthusiastic photos of buyers, the headlight itself with such a lamp looks very bright, but this is really of little use on the road.

Sample 2

Lamp with built-in driver and active cooling. When the engine is off, a hum from the active cooling fans is a little heard, but it is not felt in the cabin. In some cases, the driver electronics will seriously interfere with the radio.

The cost of a set of lamps on AliExpress is about 50…55 c.u.

The lamp is similar in design to the previous sample, but with refinement. For high beam, an additional 4th chip is installed from below. Above and below, near the LEDs, a reflector has also been added to fully utilize the flow of light from the LEDs. As the seller assures, the LEDs are located exactly in line with the locations of the spirals of a standard lamp. Thus, for the high beam we get the full use of the reflector. However, although on the same line, but still taking into account the thickness of the base, the LEDs are not on the same axis, but are shifted up and down, and for low beam they are also located across the axis, and not along. Of course, this situation affects focusing, not in the best way. In low beam mode, only 2 chips of the upper side on the low beam helix line work. In the high beam mode, 2 chips are also connected to the top and bottom on the high beam line, i.e. really it is “far + near”. On the near, the upper border more or less gives out, but, of course, without a tick.

Sample 3

The representative lamp has 2 pairs of LEDs and provides greater brightness in high beam mode - 20/40 W and 2000/4000 LM. Cost approx. $55 per set. The lamp has an external driver and active cooling.

The layout of the LEDs has vertical separation - the chips are located to the left and right of the board. A pair of high beam LEDs are approximately in focus and shine on the top and lower part reflector. The pair for the low beam is next to a slight shift from the focus up and closer, while it also shines on the top and bottom of the reflector, forming the same spot as for the high beam, only the light beam is directed slightly downward. In fact, the lamp simply works in the “far ahead” mode, or half-heartedly “far ahead of the car”. With such a design, in principle, there is no need to talk about any clear spot boundary for the low beam, and indeed about the correct formation of the spot itself. The lamp shines brightly only near in front of the car, leaving a dark roadside.

As you can see in the illustration, the lamps, even in decent optics on Nissan, shine brightly, but they shine wherever they please - in the low beam there is neither a border nor a characteristic “tick” - one slur.

Sample 4

Another Chinese misunderstanding for $50 Brightness 1600/3200 "Chinese" lm at a power of 18/30 watts.

The lamp also has a vertical layout, but the LEDs for the low beam are not even shifted up relative to the axis, i.e. the light beam in the low beam does not move anywhere at all, but simply defocuses and loses half the power. The picture of the light-shadow border is even sadder than that of the previous sample. We won’t even dwell on it, although for some these lamps “just get hurt, how brightly they shine”, and where they shine, this is the tenth thing.

The overall picture is complemented by a simple driver that actively clogs the radio with interference.

There are also completely similar lamps on the Chinese market, but the LEDs are ALL shifted up from the axis. We get the same effect, only with the flow lowered.

Sample 5

Now this is intersting! Vertical layout as in the 3rd sample, but with curtain-screen for near light. The cost of the kit on AliExpress is about $50. Included with the lamp is a sleeve-light filter that allows you to lower the color temperature to 3000K (yellow).

The lamps are made on the basis of 4 CREE XM-L2 LEDs and when consuming 40 W, they should give out as much as 4500 (!) All the same “Chinese” Lm. Probably, in China they invented how to expel 120% efficiency from “state” LEDs. As they say, if you don’t embellish, you won’t sell. As with the rest of the samples, when you turn on the far beam, the 2nd beam simply turns on and complements the beam for the near one. The presence of screens for low beam still significantly improves the situation with the line of light-shadow border - now it is, in principle, somehow drawn, although it is very far from the truth. Instead of a classic checkmark, an uneven, in some places humpbacked, horizontal border is obtained. Accordingly, the right side of the road is poorly lit, the situation is “pulled out” only by brightness, greater than that of halogens.

Sample 7

The presented lamp with a power of 20 / 40W should give out all the same 2000/4000 Lm, respectively for the dipped and main beam. The light source is 4 LED plates made using COB technology, 10 W each. Only the upper pair works on the near one, illuminating about 200 ° of the reflector. At the far beam, all four shine, providing full illumination of the reflector at full power. The cost of the kit on AliExpress is about 45…50 c.u.

As you can clearly see in the illustration, the light source is not a point source, but a whole plate of 18 LEDs, moreover offset from the longitudinal axis by almost 7mm. What focus and clear light spot can we talk about in this case? In addition, it can be seen that different sellers have differently oriented pairs of plates for low beam and high beam: in some cases, the top and bottom are opposite. In this case, the platinum for the low beam is in the focal plane of the high beam and vice versa - with the illumination of the road, you will get a complete “vinaigrette”.

Sample 8

Another example of a “volumetric” lamp, but not on 4, but on 3 sides - 2 chips for the near one and +1 for the far one. The characteristics of the lamp are quite expected - 24/36 W and 2400/3600 "Chinese" Lm.

Structurally, it turned out to be something in between Sample 1 and 7, combining their common limitations. Although the lamp provides a uniform circular illumination of the reflector, the geometry is still the same problem.

The cost of the kit on AliExpress is about $40

The light sources are LED plates, consisting of 27 LEDs, and offset from the focal axis. There is no need to wait for any focusing of the light beam - the smear on the road is provided. Maybe, of course, it will somehow fit for an ATV, but not for the track.

Sample 9 - LED H4 G6

An interesting, in my opinion, sample is a lamp sixth generation G6 with combined LED design. A pair of super-LEDs is used for low beam Cree XHP50 under the lens, and on the far - Luxeon MZ without lens. To form a light-shadow border, a curtain-screen is provided on the near. The lamp should shine on 3000lm at power 25W, has a built-in driver and heatsink for passive cooling.

The cost of the kit on AliExpress 65…70 c.u.

The energy efficiency of the lamp is 125Lm/W, which looks quite plausible, since the efficiency of the chips used is up to 149Lm/W. In theory, the Cree XHP50 alone can put out almost 2500lm at 19W. It turns out that the LEDs work comfortably in full heat, which means without undermining their health.

The color temperature of the glow, like the rest of the lamps 6000K. Remarkably, the lamp in the kit has several yellow and blue filter films to give luminous flux desired temperature from 3000 to 10000K.

Pattern 10 - LED H4 G7

Having seen enough of all sorts of wonders of the Chinese industry in the field of manufacturing LED-lamps for car headlights, in the end, I want to highlight our latest sample. Introduced LED lamp seventh generation 7G- an example of the maximum imitation of the design and principle of operation of an incandescent halogen lamp. The lamp is based on 16 tiny LEDs Lumileds LUXEON Z ES (ZES). The LEDs are aligned along the optical axis and positioned exactly in the same places as the spirals. ordinary lamp, and thanks to the miniature size of 1.6 mm, the maximum similarity with the incandescent spiral is created. Even the principle of switching is preserved - groups of LEDs work separately and alternately for low and high beams. A group of LEDs for low beam, as expected, is covered by a curtain. The prototype of the lamp, apparently, was the original Philips Ultinon H4 lamp with 12 chips.

The retail price of the kit in Ukraine started from about 80…85 c.u., now on AliExpress you can already buy for about $65. However, if desired, these lamps can also be found in Ukraine at this price.

Lamp cooling is passive, apparently due to low power consumption 24W. On the one hand, the absence of a fan eliminates the overheating of the lamp due to its failure, but on the other hand, it imposes more stringent requirements on the cooling of the radiator itself. The heatsink can be reversed and screwed onto the case in reverse, reducing the overall length of the product by almost 6.5mm. It should be noted that the thread is lubricated thermally conductive paste which is especially useful for harsh temperature conditions.

The lamp shines equally brightly in both modes, but there is a certain disagreement about this. According to some sources, the lamp produces 2000/2000 Lm, according to others 4000/4000, and some simply write one figure of 4000 Lm. The manufacturer's website clearly lists a typical brightness of 245lm per chip at a rated current of 700mA, i.e. with 8 chips we get a total of almost 2000lm. However, when the current is increased to a maximum of 1200mA, the brightness increases by 1.5 times, so it can be assumed that the actual brightness of the lamp is slightly less 3000lm . We will get approximately the same figure if we multiply the real maximum efficiency of 125lm / W by the lamp power. What sellers write about 160Lm / W - to put it mildly, simply does not correspond to reality. The numbers in the headlines of some ads are especially touching: 80W and 5000lm per lamp - people, be vigilant and prudent.

In the low beam mode, the lamp forms a light spot with a fairly clear upper light-shadow border in the form of a classic tick, but the check is symmetrical and this is not easy. According to the manufacturer's idea, the design of the lamp is universal and is designed for both right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic, and for the latter, the checkmark should be raised not on the right, but on the left. Therefore, to form the correct angle of inclination of the tick, the lamp is adjusted around its axis. You just need to loosen the locking screws and turn the lamp a little around its axis so that one arm of the tick lies horizontally - and here it is, the correct shape of the light spot. To make it convenient to adjust, there are even risks on the base plate.

We can safely say that the last presented copy is an example of the optimal combination of design and technological innovations. The product is quite young and the price for it still “bites” a little, but this is only a matter of time.

Maybe we can stop there...

... well, no! Progress does not stand still and needs to be continued. So, let's continue review of new samples of LED lamps LED H4.

Sample 10/1

A little more than six months have passed, and the market is inspired by the idea of ​​​​using miniature LEDs Philips Luxeon began to appear, like mushrooms after the rain, all kinds of clones, replicas, modifications and variations on the theme LED H4 G7.

Like the original version, this sample for 70 American "sharpened" on the same chips, but a slightly different design. Basically, almost everything is the same: the same arrangement of LED groups, the same calculation for both left- and right-hand traffic. However, the cooling is active, and the design itself somehow looks “simpler”. The sellers are clearly bad with arithmetic: at the input 12B and 1.6A “miraculously” turns into 24W of light at the output! Although, who knows, maybe it's just a super-mega-development of Shanghai inventors?

Sample 10/2

Another option on the G7 theme ... For 40 ... 50 USD. nothing new, less chips, more power, less efficiency. Cooling is active. A huge curtain for the low beam partially covers the group of LEDs for the high beam, at the same time it does not completely cover the low beam LEDs. It is not difficult to imagine that the light-shadow picture will be with violations.

Sample 11 - NIGHTEYE H4

The lamp appeared on the market quite recently. One could say that this is another LED H4 G7 clone, but this is not entirely true. The principle of the arrangement of LED groups is the same, but the chips are completely different. As powerful LED emitters, completely unpackaged (phosphor-coated semiconductor even without a substrate) chips are used. WICOP2 Z8 Y19 Korean company Seoul Semiconductor". Miniature chips with a size of 1.8 mm have very remarkable parameters that are in no way inferior to LUXEON Z-ES.

The lamp parameters are the same: 25W and 2000lm alternately per group of near or far (only 4000lm per lamp) - given the characteristics of the chips used, it sounds quite plausible. The color temperature of light somewhere 6000…6500K. Built-in lamp driver, passive cooling, ability to adjust STG tilt angle missing. The lamp kit comes in a beautiful retail box.

The cost on AliExpress is about $40, in Ukraine, very few sellers offer 50 ... 60 USD. On Ali, you can find the same lamps with absolutely no name-relatedness in a simple black box. However, now there are already quite a few options under different “brands”: N1, Oslamp, Partol, Auxmart, Baxster…

The cut-off line (STG) of the NightEye H4 looks very realistically similar to the classic check mark from a halogen, the upper border is only slightly smeared, and everything is very “bunch”.

As you can see in the photo, the brightness of the LED is visually not just much more than a halogen - led light, in principle, fills the space in front of the hood and along the sides much more intensely.

However, not everything is as smooth as it seems: the disadvantages passive cooling make themselves known. So that the lamp does not burn out from overheating of the electronics reduces real power is almost 2 times! Detailed description and testing Nighteye H4- in a separate review .

Pattern 12 - X1

More recently, another option has been drawn on Luxeon ZES LEDs, but with some kind of creative vision. For the low beam, everything is the same, only there are fewer diodes - 6 instead of 8, as usual, but for the far beam - even less - only 4 and are located not along the axis, but across. That's so original. Accordingly, the power is 20W per mode, and not 25. Luminous flux, in theory - 2250lm - with fewer LEDs and less power, we get efficiency on the verge of fantasy. Cooling is passive, but the radiator, contrary to the laws of physics, is not black at all, but silver. But in the kit there are yellow and blue films for changing the glow temperature. The lamp has an STG tilt adjustment.

The lamps are packaged in a stylish box with the logo " X1". Aliexpress price from $42 before $65

Pattern 13 - LED H4 8G

So we waited - the next, eighth generation LED lamps G8. The presented sample is not as revolutionary as the seventh generation lamps with maximum imitation of filaments. More like another variation of lamps sixth generation.

Cost on Ali: approx. 70…80 c.u.. In their native open spaces, these lamps will cost about 90 USD.

Unlike the G6 with a combined design of the LED block, everything in the new lamps is made on the same chips. Cree XHP50 for both near and far. The radiator has become much smaller, but with a fan for active cooling. The light flux is promised as much as 3000lm from one lamp alternately to the near and far at a power of 36W. The external driver seems to be the same one used for the LED H4 G7 model, but not removable. To correct the STG, the lamp installation angle is adjusted.

Remarkably, the lamps are packaged in boxes with the same blue and white design as the LED H4 G7 lamps.

Sample 14 - two-color LED H4 G7

Quite, quite recently, an interesting modification already become "classic" lamps LED H4 G7. The design, body and even packaging are all the same. The number of chips was reduced from 16 to 12, as in the original Philips lamps, while the lighting parameters of the lamp remained the same - all the same 25W and 2000Lm with one lamp. By reducing the number of chips, the size of the light source has become more compact, but apparently at the expense of more intensive use of LEDs. But that's not even interesting.

The lamp uses LEDs different color shade : white(6500K) - for near light and yellow(3000K) for distant. Bicolor was originally used in “ single beam” lamps H7 and H11: thanks to the use of two-color LEDs and a special driver, the lamps can change the color of the glow white / yellow when turned on without the use of various films and filters. AT " two-beam” lamps H4 the colors are structurally rigidly fixed: white near and yellow far.

What can give such a color focus, besides the fact that it is “cool”? I think it's not a secret for many that in fog / rain / snow, etc. it is better to use yellow foglights than white near, and even more distant. Due to the longer wavelength, yellow light “squeezes” better between atmospheric inclusions, scatters less and blinds the driver himself. Apparently, the idea of ​​the authors is to be able to use the high beam in a foggy environment.

The lamps are by no means cheap: under the trademarks " Oslamp" and " Auxmart» You can buy them on Aliexpress for about $85 per set.

RESULTS

As expected, far from “not all yogurts are equally healthy”! The euphoria of seeing a super-bright headlight bulb can easily turn into disappointment after driving in real road conditions. All the samples presented in the review look very bright and impressive from the side, but only a few provide normal road lighting. Acceptable results show lamps from the sixth generation lamps, and lamps LED H4 G7 made with the maximum approximation of the design to halogen lamps.

Updated: 03/29/2017

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