Hikari LED vs HR Supernova— my review

[Bonanza]

TLDR-- Bulbs the same, $200 price difference. Buy Hikari.

I bought the Hikari LED bulbs and was completely happy with them. Not a problem. However, there was -some- strangeness to the light pattern by way of artifacts and slight dark spots, and was persuaded by HR’s videos to try their bulbs. $238 later, I got the HR supernova v4 in the mail, with the anti flicker modules as well.

They seemed nice out of the box. Anyway, cramming all that stuff into the housing was a HUGE pain on the drivers side. I elected not to take off the grille. Despite the clocking ring (set screw into pre-drilled holes; Hikari has a free spinning ring that allows perfect up/down orientation), neither HR bulb lined up completely straight. Both are slightly canted. The Hikari bulbs both were able to be perfectly vertical, so this was frustrating. With one side HR and the other Hikari, I flipped the switch and.....

Huge disappointment. They looked exactly the same, but the HR bulbs appearing warmer in color. I was frustrated with myself that I spent $200 more for the same output. Sigh.

I went for a drive, and I will say the beam pattern is more “full”, in that I didn’t notice such an intense hotspot dead ahead and there is more of a fuller beam. The LED chips were slightly offset in the HR whereas they are stacked in the Hikari, so I suspect that’s the cause of the minimal oddness in the light beam.

If you’re wondering between the Amazon special Hikari bulbs and the HR supernovas, take it from me and go Hikari. HR Supernovas are not worth the price premium, as the difference is quite negligible. Both are much brighter than stock of course. I was perfectly happy with Hikari, but assumed there must be some reason for the cost of the HRs. Their video did show a noticable difference between LED bulbs, so I decided to try it. The Mopar LED headlights are not worth $1k, I wasn't eager to buy Chinese headlights on Amazon, and some headlights like Oracle's I think are hideous. (Sorry Oracle).

Hopefully this will help some of you make a similar decision in the future.

pics: (parked) HR on the left, with a slightly warmer color pattern. HR installed on both against the wall. Regarding the wall picture-- Here's why the HR videos were persuasive. The contrast between the bright headlight and the dark surroundings make for a confused camera. The exposure produces a somewhat misleading image. Here, it sure seems like it's bright, and it is to some degree.

As to cutoff, yes the beams have a distinct cutoff for the primary beam. But look closer. The wall is filled with flooded light. I noticed it right away when I started driving. The trees above me have flooded light on them.

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[Jeeperjamie]

I bought the Hikari LED bulbs and was completely happy with them. Not a problem. However, there was -some- strangeness to the light pattern by way of artifacts and slight dark spots, and was persuaded by HR’s videos to try their bulbs. $238 later, I got the HR supernova v4 in the mail, with the anti flicker modules as well.

They seemed nice out of the box. Anyway, cramming all that stuff into the housing was a HUGE pain on the drivers side. I elected not to take off the grille. Despite the clocking ring, neither bulb lined up completely straight. Both are slightly canted. With one side installed and the other Hikari, I flipped the switch and.....

Huge disappointment. They looked exactly the same. I was frustrated with myself that I spent $200 more for the same output. Sigh.

I went for a drive, and I will say the beam pattern is more “full”, in that I didn’t notice such an intense hotspot dead ahead and there is more of a fuller beam. The LEDs were slightly offset whereas they are stacked in the Hikari, so I suspect that’s the cause.

If you’re wondering between the Amazon special Hikari bulbs and the HR supernovas, take it from me and go Hikari. HR Supernovas are not worth the price premium, as the difference is quite negligible. Both are much brighter than stock of course.

pics: (parked) HR on the left, with a slightly warmer color pattern. HR installed on both against the wall.

I learned a long time ago to not trust HR Revolution, their videos are bogus at best and misleading. By trial and error on my JKU I was able to eliminate the good from the bad. Just because something sells for less doesn't means it's garbage and just because something sells for more doesn't mean it's better. It sucks you spent $200 to see for yourself that they aren't any better but sometimes that's what you got to do. May you can prevent someone else from wasting their money.

Me for instance before the JT I was completely against Bulbs, 3yrs ago I would of told you a Cibie setup was the only bulbs I would ever run on a Jeep. If you don't know what that is look it up, it's pretty much the best way to go for bulbs and it doesn't cost a lot, but that was 3yrs ago. Technology has come a long ways and I can tell you first hand just like @Bonanza has experienced the Hikari Bulbs are good bulbs and have a light pattern that when adjusted properly does not blind on coming traffic. I have been completely satisfied with mine and would recommend them as well. Are there better options, sure for 7 times the money, but you got to ask yourself, are they 7 times the money better. I'm satisfied with my headlights.