According to Battery Junction web site, its only important to have high CRI if you are a mechanic or EMT. Is this really true? Personally, I like the bluish white 5000-6500 that LED’s have regardless of CRI.
Use what you like than.
For me CRI and R9 are key factors.
Mike
Some people like high CRI (including me) for everyday use. It is easier on the eyes, helps with visibility (especially outdoors), and simply looks better in my opinion. Others like lower CRI lights for their higher efficiency and better output. Totally up to you. Though the high CRI crowd totally might judge you if you like bluish tints!
P.s. color temperature doesn’t always correspond to CRI. There are great 5000k high CRI options out there.
It is all about personal choice and that can vary with application too. I like high CRI and 4000K (up to 5000K if high CRI) for most lights such as my kitchen work area or workshop, but prefer warmer for a few lights like the table lamps by the sofa where I spend more time in the evenings.
That is different CRI and different CCT.
These are both 6500K CCT, but one is 70CRI, one is 99CRI. (from Clemence’s website)
ya i think it really depends on your application. for example i use my light mostly for walking my dog…i know what colour he is, so i dont care for high CRI much.
High cri to a lesser extent and warmer color make seeing smaller details accurately much easier, thats why BJ says what they do, its true.
Try high cri and warmer K, my bet is you’ll never go back.
jmo
It’s just like saying lumens are only important if you are a mechanic or EMT.
I have a theory about SOME people that either grew up with cool white lights or currently live or are surrounded with cool lights either at work or in the city or street lights. They have adjusted to low CRI and cool white lights as normal. When I step outside my house at night I don’t see any lights. I wear sunglasses during most daylight hours if I’m outside. I don’t turn lights on in the house until I absolutely need them and certainly none of them are cool white in the house. So I prefer warm tints and high CRI. I acknowledge it may not be a perfect theory and there may be plenty of holes.
I like lights that don`t make me feel like I`m sitting in a dentists chair! 
For me, sometimes it's either objectively subjective, or subjectively objective. Some other times, it's a matter of personality. That's why I like different tints.
I don't like yellow-green tint on non-foliage, but I like yellow-green tint on foliage.
Why can't we all just agree?
CRI is rather subtle. The CCT and tint (green or magenta bias) are far more noticeable than CRI.
Hi CRI LEDs pretty important for photo/videography imo
Or your restaurant. Can’t make customer eat food that looks like black and grey under sodium light unless street food is life
My order of priority:
- Is it bright enough?
- Does the beam profile put the light where I need it?
- Does it have a good colour temperature?
- Does it have high CRI?
My favourite lights are 5000K at 90+ CRI.
Technical issues aside, I like when the light being emitted and the things being illuminated look nice. In my limited experience, high CRI doesn't guarantee that but it can be a step in the right direction.
In other words, if I'm faced with a bunch of random flashlights and no chance to try them all, a high CRI label can help me choose one. This seems at odds with the way a lot of consumers choose, which can be based on the listed lumens. Picking that way can lead to a lot of harsh cool whites.
The colors are reflections of surrounding world. And you say you don’t need to see true colors?
For a flashlight to have a look at things or walking around in the dark, high CRI is not needed, it is a snob thing (I’m a snob).
For home and work lighting, CRI is a hugely underated aspect, the consumer market is wrongly still totally focused on 80 CRI, while I’m convinced that for the wellbeing of people at home and work 90+ CRI (if only because of proper red rendering) is required. People will not recognise poor lighting but they are still affected by it.
I don’t agree.
I’ve had a case where low CRI make it hard for me to tell leaves and stones apart. This was autumn and there were many leaves on the track and due to low CRI they all looked dark grey. I could see around but neverheless with every step I needed to tread extremely carefully using touch rather than sight to recognise what I stepped on. :person_facepalming:
Since then I consider CRI80+ very important for most lights. More than that is still nice to have.
It’s all about personal taste.
I used to use 6500k 70CRI lights, then I bought a Zebralight SC52 in about 4000k and loved the warmer tint, then moved onto 351D in 4000k with 95CRI and its superb for everyday use (in my opinion).
It’s not necessary, but I find it less tiring for my eyes and easier to actually see what I am about to walk into outdoors.
Take the Convoy New L6 XHP70.2 for example. It comes with 4 different LED options with 4 different color options.
How do you know what the CRI is?
N4-7A: 3000K
P2-5C: 4000K
P2-3C: 5000K
P2-1A: 6500K