Ultimate LED Bulbs - Ultra High CRI - The Honorable Quest

Other Types of Lights LED Light Bulbs
520

Haven’t been here in a while, but I have bought some new lightbulbs recently and I measured them all. I never see a lot of actual measurements for “common” LED bulbs in North America, so maybe some people would find this useful.

I recently bought and measured
Soraa Vivid 12W 3000K BR30 (65W equivalent)
PLT 9W 3000K BR30
90+ Lighting 9W 3000K BR30

Feit Enhance 90+ A21 (100W equivalent) - from Costco
Euri 17W 3000K A21 (100W equivalent)

90+ Lighting 3000K A19 (60W equivalent)

And some cheapies from Walmart / Lowes (heh, yeah, they’re pretty bad)

I put the graphs and charts here if anyone want to check it out
https://www.beesinspace.com/led_spectrums/

The summary is
Soraa is Amazing (as to be expected from their price tags)
both the PLT and 90+ BR30’s are quite good, but no where close to Soraa

The Costco Feit Enhance might be “CRI Cheating” (see it’s spectrum plot - it definitely has some unique anomolies)
The other A19/A21 bulbs are pretty good, but not great.

I also have some Philips 100W eq I just picked up - but I didn’t notice they’re “daylight” 5000K and that’s way too blue for me for inside. I’ll still test them to see about CRI and whatnot (and use them outside where I care less)

I’ve also ordered some Philips Warm Glow (variable CCT - gets warmer as you dim them) and will measure those too when they arrive. It seems they’ve been discontinued now, so while it was always on my list to get some as I slowly transition everything to LEDs, it became a priority (and I kind of bought quantity with 3 or 4 replacements in mind too as who knows if there will be other dim to warm bulbs available that aren’t “smart cloud connected” soon - yes, I watched the Technology Connections video, and then spent way too much money buying bulbs that are about to be not available anymore)

I was kinda holding out for Sun-Like to get their act together, but when more than half the bulbs in my kitchen died and I couldn’t see anything, i just can’t wait anymore for “the best” led bulbs. I guess Soraa’s will have to do

521

> I put the graphs and charts here if anyone want to check it out
https://www.beesinspace.com/led_spectrums/

thanks for the charts!
really appreciate the R9 info

do you have any info about the R9 value of this Waveform bulb?

522

An update to my previous post. I bought some high CRI bulbrite brand and had 2-3 go out in a open air fixture. Can’t really recommend those based on my small same size. Too bad

523

The Philips Warm Glow got updated from 80 to 90 CRI, so the 80 have been discontinued. Are you referring to these or are you saying the 90CRI are discontinued now also?

Both Soraa and Sunlike are violet pump LEDs which for me moot any CRI or DUV issues, the violet pump LEDs i’ve experienced have none of the light quality issues i’ve spent the last 15 years trying to resolve, they just work and i’m transitioning to them wherever feasible. Ideally i would use them exclusively.

524

The Warm Glow ones have actually been updated again to 95CRI, and in all of the other color temperatures.

Sadly, they are Canada exclusive currently as noted in my post that @jon_slider noted :smiley:

https://old.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/vk7qmm/very_new_high_cri_bulbs_came_in_philips_ultra/

525

To answer some of the questions since my last post:

No, I don’t own any waveform bulbs. I read somewhere that they had lifetime / reliabiliby issues, so I bought one Soraa Vivid bulb from 1000bulbs to test only. Also 1000bulbs just lowered the price on them - the one I bought was $24, and now a week later they lowered the price to $18 :frowning: As I mentioned on the page with the spectrum plots, I found a better deal on them in a box of 10 from prolampsales, so if I decide to get more of them, I’ll get them from there.

I do believe so. This video from Technology Connections on youtube is what alerted me to this. Home depot in the US put them (along with a lot of other philips bulbs) on clearance. I was only able to find one box of 2 warm glow CRI90 bulbs lost at the back of the clearance shelf checking 2 local home depots. The CRI90 ones are still available on Amazon, but it seems like nowhere else. When you go to the Philips lighting webpage about Warm Glow, and hit the button at the top that says “Browse warm glow bulbs” it comes back saying “No Products Found”.

Now, that said, the “Ultra Definition” (CRI 95) warm glow bulbs seem to be rolling out in Canada, and some are available at walmart.com, but neither the philips lighting Canada or US web pages seems to acknowledge their existence. So, is it a new product and the website is not current? Or are they also discontinued and they’re pushing everyone to Hue / smart “connected” junk now?

526

Too bad soraa doesn’t make 3000k A19, seems like a missed opportunity

527

Anyone make thermal tests of these lamp’s ?

528

Hi,

Thanks to this forum I learned I could do TMS30 analysis using the Osram tool and Argyll, so I bought an old i1 pro on the local Craigslist and processed the Philips LED I recently bought that were claiming 927 spec so CRI>90

Results:
Control : 70 W Halogen

Osram LEDStar Classic 75: I bought these bulbs a couple years ago, I always thought they were a little yellowish

R9=3 , not very good !

Philips Master Value LEDBulb : I bought these bulbs a couple months ago

You can clearly see a red LED was added, which gives CRI 93 and R9 65
Not bad for a couple euros ! These bulbs are ‘filament-like’ so they have a large angular diffusion like classic halogen bulbs, which I needed
There is no stroboscopic effect I had with other bulbs

Overall I’m very satisfied, I used to still have all halogen bulbs in my home because I hated LED colors, and only use LED bulbs in summer because of the heat, but this year is the first time I think I won’t need to go back to halogen in Fall !

529

I’m trying a bulb I haven’t seen mentioned yet — the Kaufman BLF10.

It’s an RGBWW smart bulb with upgradable Open Source ESPHome firmware to connect to Home Assistant. It is flicker-free. I don’t have the tools to test the light quality, I’m curious if anyone has tried these?

530

There have been quite a lot of these over the years but the hackable ones are drying up. Considering how “open” this bulb is trying to be I would see if you get a reply from the maker about the spectrum. Trust but verify I guess. Too bad it’s A21 sized.

I have a pretty big Home Assistant install myself but high CRI/quality smart bulbs are few and far between.

531

Not exactly a bulb but I got a TV for my media room and decided to try some bias lighting since the room is best used very dark.

6500K is the standard white calibration for film so the best bias lighting (behind TV) is that.

Got a 4 meter open box strip of MediaLight Mk2 from biaslighting.com and can say the CRI is as advertised. 97.8 CRI 88.3 R9 quickly bounced off a neutral light gray wall.

I tried some hue products but they only go to 6000K and avg 80-85ish CRI.

532

This guy over at reddit tested a bunch of bulbs, and apparently the pulse rate is bad on the Norb Smile. Links to video and charts in the Google spreadsheet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/vbbmzj/how_to_replicate_full_spectrum_sunlight_indoors/

533

I have Soraa’s 2700k ZeroBlue/Healthy bulb, and they have a violet peak to help color rendering without the circadian rhythm hit. I haven’t done any tests and I’m comparing to random store bought bulbs, but I’m happy with it for bedroom lighting.

Comes across as a bit more white/yellow than the orange I get from the Cree 2700k I have.

534

That's a good find. I shortcut his spreadsheet.

I find it interesting he doesn't mention the Waveform lights in his conclusion, despite testing them. I'm pretty much sold on them everywhere in my house they bit, but it's too bad they don't make some 40W equivalent options for my bedroom.

535

Indeed. He seems focused on getting full spectrum light and as little blue peak as possible. He did cross-post here and said:

I’m personally pretty sensitive to flicker, so the GE Sun Filled don’t seem like a great option for me, and currently looking at options to eliminate blue peak in the places I spend most of my time. I’ve ordered some of the Shanpu/Flashpu bulbs, and am about to order some of the Sunlike bulbs and will see how I like them.

I’ve got two Soraa Vivid 3000k PAR30’s in my kitchen, and I might just get some of the GE Sun Filled 5000k PAR30’s for the other two fixtures to see how they feel in practice.

536

I have some results to share.

Phillips Ultra HD, Soft White: (the new Canada bulbs) purchased from Amazon; acceptably 2700k but they noticeably dull bright colors and are yellow-tinted. Not as high CRI as the numbers would suggest.

GE Filled with Sun: about the same as above, perceptually slightly more vivid colors.

Phillips Warm Glow 150W: vivid colors, noticeably on the magenta side of the BBL curve. Totally acceptable at 2700k full power, strange magenta tinted light when dimmed at 2200k, probably straying too far off the BBL curve.
https://a.co/d/e3CljJu

Great Value Soft White spotlights
https://www.walmart.com/ip/515130585
A sleeper hit. 3000k, must be nearly on the BBL curve. No perceptual tint at all, feels like white light. The highest CRI of all of the above, colors are super vivid.

GE Relax HD: About the same as GE Sun-Filled, slightly duller colors.

537

Took a visit to Ikea and tried a bulb marked “NEW” online.

TRÅDFRI
LED bulb E26 800 lumen, smart wireless dimmable/white spectrum globe

205.187.37

I was hoping since it was new it would be more impressive but it’s fairly underwhelming. The CCT range is unique since it goes down to about 2200 and up to around 4000. Using Zigbee2MQTT in Home Assistant I dialed in the 2700,3000,3500 etc CCT and at full power it’s surprisingly close to that CCT in reality (within 10-15 Kelvin). A bit more variable at different dim settings.

CRI is acceptable but not “amazing”. Around 92-93 overall CRI and 50-55 R9. DUV is above the BBL in all cases ranging from ~0.002-0.0045

I used a frosted glass shade that is open at the bottom to test and you can see the cool and warm LED’s making a fuzzy grid pattern on the glass. I suspect it hasn’t had enough “room” to properly mix the tint.

538

Walmart has a sale on some WiZ 800lm A19 high CRI RGB smart bulbs (wifi) so I decided to grab a box to test. 4 for $15, gotta try it despite the fact I hate wifi smart devices. I believe they are made by the same people who make Hue for Philips.

Overall the spectrum is pretty good.

They go from like 2020K to like 6500K CCT and have full colors. I think below 2700 or so they are cheating with Red (630-635nm). Duv varies greatly but it’s mostly on or under BBL. The actual CCT is not bang on using the “WiZ” app like the Ikea bulbs above.

539

Thanks, especially for sharing the ArgyllPRO screenshots at various CCTs.

The Ecosmart zigbee bulbs from Home Depot have been hitting a sweet spot for me - Zigbee control, CRI 96-97, 2700K-5600K, R9 80+. But every once in a while, they have this weird flicker/pulse about once a second, and their price has gone up as well. Keeping my eyes peeled for a suitable alternative, and the WIZ are a contender.