Worth the high price?

Retrofit LEDs compared with H4 headlights

(Bild: Philips)

For some years now, manufacturers such as Philips and Osram have been offering retrofit LED lights as an alternative to halogen bulbs. They offer significantly better light, as a comparison test shows.

The magazine Auto Motor & Sport subjected H4 lamps, which are mainly used in car headlights, to a comparative test. Two products with LED technology won by a clear margin. However, halogen technology was not completely left behind.

Two clear test winners
The Philips Ultinon Pro 6000 LED Gen2 achieved the highest score in all categories relevant to the evaluation. In the overall ranking, the LED retrofit light scored 30 points. In second place with 28 points was the Osram Night Breaker LED Smart, which did not quite match the Philips product in terms of range and light distribution. Both LEDs were rated "highly recommended" by the test editors.

In third place with 22 points was another Philips light, the Racing Vision GT 200, which uses halogen technology. Compared to its LED counterpart, however, the Racing Vision performed significantly worse in terms of light distribution and brightness.

The Osram Night Breaker 220 halogen light was close behind in fourth place with 21 points. Together with the Bosch Gigalight +200 (5th place/18 points), both were nevertheless rated "recommendable".

Immense LED premium
The recommended halogen lamps are particularly interesting in terms of price. All three are sold on the Internet at prices of around 20 euros, while the LED test winners cost around 100 euros.

The H4 bulbs Eufab Lampenbox (8 points), the Superwhite Halogen Bulb Ultimate Blue (5 points) and the TXVS08 LED Headlight (2 points), which were rated "not recommended", came in seventh to tenth place. Although the latter relies on LED technology, it scored worst in all test categories, and the test loser also lacks a general type approval.