Our team has tested, compared and reviewed over 3 dozens LED bulbs and lights retailers serving the US market. Tested products includes replacement bulbs, upgrade bulbs, special bulbs (like “spiders”), whole light assemblies for DRL (daytime running lights or lamps) and even offroad lamps (flood and spot). Here is our take on what’s the best out there.
We looked at the following factors:
(1) Compatibility with original vehicle lighting system
(2) Ease of installation
(3) Strength of the warranty
(4) Pricing (factoring in shipping and handling)
(5) Shipping speed
(6) Customer service quality
(7) Technical quality of the bulbs (type of LED, number of LED, construction quality)
(8) Available bulb sizes and options (brake bulbs, turn signals, interior, all colors)
(9) Overall reliability of the company
The winners we selected was Ultimate LED Lights (www.ultimateLEDlights.com)
They did very well in all categories and were actually ranked number 1 for 7 out of 9 of categories. This makes them a clear winner and this is why we awarded them our #1 spot for our 2011 LED Showdown.
Some details on why we ranked them #1:
- Construction quality is outstanding. Bulbs are great, perfectly aligned with the bases (unlike some other brands). Actual LED’s are reputable brands (piranha for example) and appear very solid. (*Please note we did not perform destructive test*). We tested the output with external testing equipment and it was superior to most other brands.
- Installation was a breeze. Basically a true plug and play upgrade. That’s refreshing when compared with LED bulbs that are too bulky to fit inside smaller light assemblies like turn signals or in the dashboard!
- Just the fact that there is a warranty on ALL their product is very impressive. Of the close-to-40 retailers we evaluated, most of them offered no warranty or a 30 to 90 days warranty. Ultimate LED Lights offers a 12-month no-questions-asked warranty! It is true, a few retailers do offer a lifetime warranty (on SOME products) but our subscribers mentioned several cases where the so-called “lifetime” warranty was denied (“That type of defect is not covered”). We have tested Ultimate LED Lights’ warranty (thank you covert agent!) and it is legit.
- Pricing is very good, among the lowest. Not the absolute lowest but still reasonable, especially when you take into account the extremely cheap shipping fees. At least there are no hidden fees.
- Shipping was the next day. Some of our users said they got same day shipping, others had to wait for a few days. We gave it a 8/10.
- Customer service was great. We dealt with Brian and Ethan. Great guys. Answered questions almost immediately and notified us when the order was shipped. We got a tracking number too! Definitely deserves a 10/10. We had a question about installation after we received the package. We got a reply to our email within 30 minutes. Not bad at all.
- Overall, we felt good ordering from Ultimate HID Kit. We trusted them which is probably the most important thing when ordering online.
Keep an eye out for a full review of the contenders with details on the rankings for all retailers in all the tested categories. Coming soon.