Fake Cree LED’s Flood the market but how bad are they really?

[extremelights]

As a local brand of high performance premium lights, it is not possible to sell a product that will result in large returns.  For that reason, it is almost impossible to compete against cheap overrated lights that are so easily available online.  Until 2015 customers that bought online from foreign mail order shops most likely also got top end LED’s in there low cost lights.  Although the rest of the light left much to be desired.  But that has changed middle 2015 with the availability of low grade clone LED’s that  look nearly identical to the leading LED manufacturers in the markets.  As of 2016, it is highly unlikely to get any cheap “free international shipping” light with an original Cree, Osram or Philips LED’s. Regardless if the advert claims the moon and the stars.  If you like to know more about how to identify the clone LED’s read this.

http://www.extremelights.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_0506-1024x1024.jpg

Lattice Bright XML2 and Cree XM-L2 on Noctigon stars

But the real question remains. How good or how bad are these lookalike

LED’s really?

We set out to compare some of the clone LED’s to their original counterparts.  To simplify things we were interested to know how well these LED’s convert electrical power to light, this is called Luminous efficacy.  Considering temperature is the Achilles heel for LED’s, we would also like to know how the Luminous efficacy is effected over a range of temperatures.  Notoriously cheap lights does not have good heat conductivity, and that is where you will find Lattice Bright LED’s.

The first thing we did was to order two Lattice Bright XML2 LED’s.  The T6 bin was the best the agent could provide. We also asked for natural white (5000-5500K).  After they confirmed the sample order we also asked for the same from our Cree agent, Cree XM-L2 T6 5000k.  A few weeks later we got the samples.

 

The setup is simple: Using a custom built Isometric sphere we compared the  Lattice Bright XML2 output intensity and measured the temperature of the star and the power(Voltage and Current) that was applied.  We did the same with the Cree XM-L2 T6 5000k.

Before we show you the results here are a few observations and assumptions:

1. Our Isometric sphere is not calibrated.  We used the Cree XM-L2 T6 Datasheets at 50deg as the reference point.  Power and Lumens were calibrated accordingly
2. Voltage was measured at the power supply, not on the star of the LED. There were some drops in the wires but we compensated for that in the final results.
3. Noctigon did not provide the LED’s. We just used their copper stars to give each LED the best chance to perform.
4. The equipment is not laboratory equipment and these results should be considered for general information.

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Test Setup. 1 Custom made Isometric sphere , Lux meter, Digital power supply, Multimeter(Temp), OLD CPU Heatsink

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The temperature was measured on the star as close as possible to the LED.

 

The testing results:

 

The first thing that was very noticeable was the colour difference between the two lights. The Lattice Bright XML2 T6 was horrific blue. The fact that we asked for natural white and got royal bluish white LED’s should not be a big surprise considering the company we are dealing with.

 

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Cree XM-L2 T6 5000k

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Lattice Bright XML2 T6

 

The histogram shows clearly that the Lattice Bright LED’s are producing a huge amount of high spectrum blue light. In contrast, the overlap on the Cree lights is excellent and would produce very good Colour rending index.

 

http://www.extremelights.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cree-XML2-vs-Lattice-Bright-.png

                                 

As the temperature increased, the difference in Luminous efficacy increased as well.  In fact at 100 deg the Lattice Bright are more than two bins lower than the Cree Counterpart.  Effectively exhibiting the some or less performance characteristic of a T4 Bin.  It is interesting to note that the junction voltage of the Lattice Bright LED’s are not as heavily affected by the temperature as the Cree LED’s. This is probably the only area where the Lattice Bright has any advantage over the Cree.

 

Conclusions

 

It was no surprise that the Lattice Bright XML2 T6 did not compare well against the Original Cree XM-L2 T6. The advantage at 35deg is not that big but as the temperature increases the Cree increases its lead.  Sadly the difference is not really that big even at 100deg with only a 13.8% lag in the Luminous efficacy of LB.  If the quality (Colour) of the light was no concern one could be excused to think the lower price point and the marginal loss in light can be accepted.  But that would be ignoring the fact that Cree XM-L2 comes out in much higher bins.  The U3 bin would have a Luminous efficacy of 112 lumen/watt at 100deg compared to the 82.3 Lumen/watt of the LB LED at 100deg.  What this test does not address is reliability but if the build quality is anything to go by then the  Lattice Bright LED’s should be avoided.

 

Cheap lights are often plagued with bad thermal design and the use of low quality thermal paths if any results in the LEDs running very hot.  The effect is that this clones will find themselves at a very big disadvantage to the higher quality and better performing Cree counterparts.   This is just one more reason why brands add value to a product.

[ZakAttak]

Thanx for that information... However, I do not understand any of it...

 

But here's my thing, if a light is cheap and it brightens my way on my morning rides adequately enough, then hey, guess what, I'm going to use it....

 

It's the same with the company I work for, they recommend the use of highly expensive lighting in our retail facilities that has the ergonomics and aesthetics to please the eye, but, it's installed in such a manner that no one can see them and there are cheaper fittings out there that provide adequate lighting for the customer to see exactly what they are intending to buy at less than half the price.

 

Just my 2cents....

[Meezo]

Thanx for that information... However, I do not understand any of it...

 

But here's my thing, if a light is cheap and it brightens my way on my morning rides adequately enough, then hey, guess what, I'm going to use it....

 

It's the same with the company I work for, they recommend the use of highly expensive lighting in our retail facilities that has the ergonomics and aesthetics to please the eye, but, it's installed in such a manner that no one can see them and there are cheaper fittings out there that provide adequate lighting for the customer to see exactly what they are intending to buy at less than half the price.

 

Just my 2cents....

 

couldn't agree more, and with the prices of these things nowadays, the cheaper "cree" liggies at a fraction of the price, light up the road lights up the mountain, and blinds the bad guys!

[rock]

Thanx for that information... However, I do not understand any of it...

 

 

 

you win the internet today. 

[Martin PJ]

I use these cheap lights, got 3 or four of them. They shine bright, work for a year or two, then die. Decent value for R200.

[GLuvsMtb]

I use these cheap lights, got 3 or four of them. They shine bright, work for a year or two, then die. Decent value for R200.

I see the logic here. If your light is used for the odd commute and weekly club social, all good, but if you commute regularly or do 24hr endurance events you are well-served to get good quality lights. I do see a use for the cheap imports in that low income commuters can now be visible at a fraction of the cost of a 'proper' light. Which reminds me: got to issue my gardener with his lights for the winter. I get him a rear and front flasher every year as winter sets in.

[Martin PJ]

I see the logic here. If your light is used for the odd commute and weekly club social, all good, but if you commute regularly or do 24hr endurance events you are well-served to get good quality lights. I do see a use for the cheap imports in that low income commuters can now be visible at a fraction of the cost of a 'proper' light. Which reminds me: got to issue my gardener with his lights for the winter. I get him a rear and front flasher every year as winter sets in.

 

When they are new on full bright (about 1000 lumens, which is like a motor bike light) they last about 2 hours, slowly they die. Until they last about ten minutes on bright. At this stage they would still last about an hour on half bright. So gives you enough time to order another. This is more than enough for a morning road ride starting at 5 am. 

 

Before these cheap lights came along, none of my mates rode with lights in the morning. Now in our bunch of ten or so, we all have front lights. So much so, that if someone's light breaks now they won't ride until a new one arrives or they can borrow a light.

[droo]

Yeah, then there's always the waste stream. Buy one light, lasts you 5 years, replace battery and you're good to go.

 

Or buy 10 lights in the same time frame and bin them when they're done.

 

I know which way I'm going.

 

Thanks Hannes, that was a an interesting read...

 

...enlightening even.

 

I'll show myself out.

[BrandonF_]

I had the imported cheapie before. Works well, brights up the road ok, and dies 5mins after warning you,..that sucks ????

 

I bought this one from you guys last week, and really like a few things about it:

 

1) 980lms looks like alot more

2) 3,5hours on max!

3) Nice short cable from battery to light

4) Quality neoprene battery pouch

5) Ability to upgrade clamp system, quick realease is awesome

6) As efficient on the trails as its on road

7) Ease of mind, i.e warranty, quality, local support - Value add always carry's a pricetag

 

Great product, keep up the good work and effort

 

 

https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/178240-core-cycle-light/

[Eddy Gordo]

How do the extreme lights compare to Led Lenser?

Led lenser has set a std.

Are extreme lights Led, casing batteries manufacured locally( to define local brand)?

I understand a local brand to be somthing which is made locally with local resources

[JXV]

How do the extreme lights compare to Led Lenser?

Led lenser has set a std.

Are extreme lights Led, casing batteries manufacured locally( to define local brand)?

I understand a local brand to be somthing which is made locally with local resources

I was using a LED Lenser M7R torch as a bike light. It has a zoom head and powered by 1 x 18650 rechargeable battery. It is rated 400lm on max. On wide it is good enough for singletrack at fair pace but not as fast as during daytime. On zoom it is a narrow beam searchlight good for 200m plus - I use it this way on tar. Recharging happens by USB so it is very convenient. You can use the supplied charger or a 12V/USB car charger or your PC. Cost was about R1300 when I got it last year. Excellent light but for cycling use the simple handlebar clamp lets it down. The plastic warps over time and the light sometimes shifts on bumpy track.

 

Recently bought a Extremelights Endurance light. Rated about 2000lm on max. and I was underwhelmed by the brightness. It did not appear significantly brighter than my M7R but the spread of light is better, very even with a nice spread of soft light out wide and a good length of beam all at the same time. M7R can only do one or the other but not both at same time. Battery has 4x 18650 cells and lasts much longer than the M7R but USB charging is not an option.

 

Overall I am quite happy with the Endurance light even though the lumen rating may not be calibrated on the same scale as LED Lenser products. It fits well, battery pack is well made. Bright enough for a technical night ride at reasonable pace but you'll need two of them or a supplementary helmet mounted light if you want to go all-out fast on technical sigletrack at night.

 

The light head is well made too. It gets a bit warm on max. so I normally ride it on the middle setting switching to maximum only when the trail gets fast or technical.

 

The clamp is a bit too tight to fit on the fattest part of my bar right alongside my stem so it goes further out but it does not budge once set up.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Tristand]

The source of the price difference between an expensive light and a cheap one has very little to do with the LED.

 

The Cree LED in question cost about R20 in single prototype quantities so you can budget about half of that on a production run. That disappears in the entire cost of the device, besides it has nothing to do with the battery life which is the real problem with the cheap lights since you can always add more LEDs to get to the equivalent brightness. A decent quality (Samsung, etc) standard cell, the type you get in your laptop battery costs about R100 each. Now a good long lasting light is going to have at least two of those or something in a more exotic form-factor (read expensive). And let us not forget you need to manage that power too, again expensive if you want to do it efficiently.

 

I still think the high end lights are way overpriced but my point was really that the LED has a very small role to play and yet is always what is stressed most.

 

Correction, they are R80 in singles so about R40 at production time.

[Tony datoy]

Interesting read, whoever did the soldering should go on a basic electronic course.

[Eddy Gordo]

Yes, I agree, the Cree Led is the superior one. However there are cheap lights out there with genuine cree Led's. 

 

extreme lights prices are based in the Light lenser and beyond and wanted to know how it differs. Dont all of these come from china anyway? 

[Skylark]

Extreme lights typically likes tooting their own horn to extreme levels, granted they make decent products but why always use spreading disinformation as your marketing technique?

 

Implying any seller on eBay or Dx etc just because they offer free shipping with their lights the led must be fake is categorically a load of extreme BS!

 

Chinese guys are just like us, some are good some are bad, some take pride in their work, work hard and are honest.

 

I for one have got many Chinese led lights that I have been extremely happy with, both the performance and construction, actually lights is one place the Chinese manufacturers excel at relative to what they charge.

 

Actually I have never had any of my 8 Chinese led lights fail, nor the 1850 Li-ion cells. The only place I wouldn't skimp on is the Li-ion charger, get a Nite Core charger, again on eBay they are affordable. Dodgy chargers can cause Li-ion battery failure, it is very rare despite the huge amount of cheap chargers in use but it does happen and the the results can be rather catastrophic.

[ZakAttak]

Oh just to add to my previous post, I bought a Ryder light from CWC for R450 about 2 or 3 years ago, still using the same battery...

 

Claimed lumens = 1000

 

Does it provide the claimed lumens, I have no idea, but I can tell you is damn bright and the proof is one morning, I had brights flashed at me from an oncoming vehicle...

 

Bright enough for me and a very good investment at R450