My Honest Review: Phillips H4 LED headlights

Low beam cut off looks reasonably clean. Light output is obviously improved. You'll have to keep us posted about longevity, I'd expect good results from a quality brand like Philips.

 

No problem bud! Just here to help

As have I. They are just awesome all around!

Though LED's are supposed to outlive Halogen's and Xenon's tenfold, that's not to say that every once in a while you get a defective chip. It happens, but I don't expect that out of these. I very much enjoy driving with these in. They actually make me want to go for night drives now just for fun on backroads.

 

This statement by the manufacture/seller in the link still gives me pause. Though those LEDs are by far the best LED retrofits I've seen.

"Of course, it's a simple, unavoidable physical fact that there's no such thing as a retrofit bulb of one technology (such as LED) that maintains perfect functionality in all headlamps designed to take a bulb of a different technology (such as halogen), but the Philips LED 12953BWX2 comes massively closer to that goal than any other LED or HID retrofit bulb. Still, this bulb is physically longer than an H4 halogen bulb, so it won't fit in small headlamps. Also, because of LED geometry, the bulb may produce more stray light (above the low beam cut-off line) than the original halogen bulb in headlamps that don't have a bulb shield built in, so that's worth watching for."

 

What part in all that statement gives you pause?

 

LEDs should easily outlive both. But then there are poor quality products like lifetime LEDs that didn't even last as long as a halogen. But I'd expect far higher product quality from a good brand like Philips, as in I'd expect a legitimate lifetime bulb.

 

Oh hell yeah. I agree. The Lifetime LED's were either A. using chips B. using improper methods to cool them or C. using cheap ballasts which could not handle the bulbs correctly. Then again, there is always D. all of the above.

Either way, I think their days of selling their headlights on this forum are over due to some good documentation on their longevity and bad output.

 

The bulbs not being equivilant in dimensions, but looking at the led bulb again it may not be a big deal.

What may be very helpful and interesting is putting a stock halogen in one side and an LED in the other to get a direct side by side comparison, like I did I'm my headlight thread. PITA I know since you've already completed the swap.

I've already upgraded my lights with ultra high powered halogens, for a significant old school improvement so I'm not switching anytime soon, but I am always curious to stay ontop of whatever the cutting edge tech is available and how it compares. And these Philips seem like the first legit led option.

 

Out of all of the different headlights I have tried out in my assemblies so far (4 is the magic number minus these), these are leaps and bounds better than any of the others, even halogen.

Since I have already completed the swap and tweaked around with the retainer springs endlessly I am not willing to do that comparison for a while.

 

Those springs are a PITA in that limited area regardless. When I did mine I told the GF that I would be 5 minutes and then the stupid thing popped off entirely, taking almost 30 minutes to get back together. I was ready to burn the truck down if it didn't have the unreplaceable supercharger.

 

The link in first post goes to a page with 20% discount code for black friday (weekend?).
Just sayin'

 

Yeah mine popped out on the passenger side, then after tweaking it, it wouldn't apply proper tension, so I had to mess with that spring for the next hour, not only trying to put it back in, but trying to put it back in and give it the ability to hold firm tension on the light so it doesn't bounce around over bumps. I don't like messing with them unless it's time to replace headlights. Lol. I was just about ready to start throwing shit all over the garage and burn the truck to the ground also so I hear ya.

I don't know? Did it not direct you to the proper page?

 

Sorry, I meant to say there is still a 20% discount for these great LED bulbs.

 

Just installed these in my sons 2008 Tacoma with new Depo housings. I am really impressed. A little scatter but much better than HID and nothing that will blind oncoming traffic. I will order a set for my '14 Tundra soon.

BTW, Ordered them from Xenon Depot, they always run the 20% off deal.

 

Also threw some Rigid Dually floods in the fog light holes. They are definitely not 6k like the Rigids, but not so far off to look bad.

 

I've read on other forums that people lost output on the high beams with theses LED bulbs. What do you think compared to your halogen bulbs?

 

I didn't do a back to back comparison, and I haven't driven the truck since I passed it down to him, but we did go for a ride after the install and there was no issue with output, low or high beam. If output was less than the halogen, I didn't notice.

 

Boy those things are some pricey I would be some mad if I lost a $100+ lamp think I'll stick with a high out put H4. I still have one burning that's 10 years old.

 

Just a side note- I've been running the "Cyclops" LED replacement bulbs in my enduro and my dirtbike... Fan cooled and chip style LEDs. Many many rough miles off road over the past 2 years and zero failures on either one. If they survive that beating I'd have to believe a quality lamp (like the Phillips) would live a relatively easy life in a Tacoma

 

I have noticed no notable high beam output loss whatsoever in the truck compared to halogen, but then again I haven't looked at stock high beam halogen output in a very long time. I may toss in my old H4 halogens at some point just to do a brief comparo.

 

Granted there is a lot of vibration on a bike but if anything the filaments in a bulb would take a beating and they seem to last in a bike I'm concerned about the life of the LED to get that much light the LED is pushed pretty hard and basically over driven. I’m all for LED’s but so far their track record isn’t real good in a retro fitted head light. For the price of the LED’s I can buy 4 sets of high wattage H4’s.