Philips 9006 CrystalVision ultra Upgrade Headlight Bulb (Pack of 2)

I have purchased higher-kelvin bulbs from all the main manufacturers over the last 15 years, and as many of you will know, there are trade-offs. If you want a whiter color halogen bulb, this means a blue tint is applied to the bulb, and then running the bulb harder (with lower "on" resistance for the filament) to overcome the lower light output of the tint. However, a coated bulb typically now has a much shorter life than an uncoated bulb. This is an unavoidable trade-off. You cannot coat something without decreasing overall lumens (light) output. That means a light bulb designer must make the filament burn brighter to overcome the loss of output from the coating.Halogen is a gas that glows around 3,000-3,500 kelvin (filament and gas quality determines the actual color). 3000K-3500K is a yellowish-white light. I've seen a lot of reviews over the years, many often noting "the light is still yellowish". With halogen, this is what we're stuck with. If you can get a xenon bulb, it will be much whiter, around 5500K. Unfortunately, xenon requires 20,000 volts to light (arc, actually, because there is no filament). You need a transformer (called a ballast) to turn a car's 12V system into 20,000 volts. That's why cars with high-intensity discharge (HID) xenon bulbs require ballasts and have a much more expensive headlight system than those with halogen bulbs. So, the fact that we can even obtain a 4000K peak light output with a blue-coated halogen bulb that normally gives 3000-3500K is quite an accomplishment.The above is done by essentially over-driving the bulb. It's the only real way to get the filament to glow whiter, and make it bright enough to shine through a bluish coating, and still meet DOT brightness standards for a 9006 bulb. But of course, the bulb life is shortened very significantly, because its filament is burning hotter.And now we come to the point: This Philips 9006 CrystalVision bulb, installed in left and right sides of my Jeep in July 2015, are STILL working after 4+ years. They are whiter and brighter than standard non-coated 9006 halogens. I can always see the Jeep coming two blocks away, because the headlights are brighter. They don't cause glare, as someone who has installed an HID bulb into a halogen headlight would find, because they are still standard 9006 bulbs. But they do light up the headlight reflector to create a consistent, bright white color. I have also sanded and re-coated these original headlights a few times, just to keep the yellowing-plastic crystal clear. The headlights still look almost new, and that also helps light output.I keep meaning to measure the Jeep's voltage with the ignition on. I suspect it's a little lower than that of the average car (perhaps 13.0v vs 13.6v? I have yet to check). I figure it must be a bit lower, as the bulbs are lasting so long. I've never had a coated headlight, particularly in the 4000K range, last anywhere as close as long as these Philips CrystalVisions. Also, these bulbs were installed in the low beams, but the Jeep doesn't have daytime running lights, so they are only turned-on for evening/night driving. Still, we are into hundreds of hours of "on" time.Now then, I also bought these CVs as H7 bulbs for the other car, and those didn't last nearly as long (6-9 months, about the same as Silverstars & Osrams). But for these 9006 versions, I am just amazed at the light output and longevity. Amazon says there is a new version of this bulb, but I'm going to purchase one more set of this older, "original" version as backups for the still-working bulbs installed 4 years ago. Those bulbs might actually outlast the car. For once, I can truly rate a headlight bulb as 5 stars.

I like the light from these lamps. I made sure to install with rubber gloves to prolong life, so I'll see if I can get a good year out of them at least. Given the fact that a set of these cost me less than the price of one standard OEM replacement bulb from the parts department of my dealer, it's not like I'm spending a fortune if I replace them yearly. Besides, the much better illumination makes it even more worth it. Although they won't be mistaken for HID lights, they are definitely whiter and brighter than standard halogen bulbs. It gives off a nice natural looking white and most importantly, bright light. I like the increased visibility it provides my wife's mini-van. I feel a bit safer when she's driving at night with the kids. That was my primary reason for buying these, not as an HID wanna-be. If you're buying these for a Xenon or HID look, save your money or buy an HID conversion kit instead. My car has factory HID and side by side, they look nothing alike, not even close. However, these perform well against HIDs and aren't exactly a slouch. They actually even illuminate wider laterally than my lamps. I originally thought about installing an HID conversion kit on the van, but after researching online for a few weeks and reading numerous stories about problems ranging from water intrusion to bad ballasts or bulbs, I decided to stick with standard yet brighter bulbs. They may not be as "pretty" as HID lamps but they seem just as bright.

The light produced is very white and the bulbs do produce much more light than the 'OEM' original equipment Philips bulbs my car came with... and these new bulbs do not have a hint of the OE yellowish tint.The bulbs in my opinion don't approach a bluish hue but are straight bright white. This may be due in part to the reflectors in my lens that hide the headlight bulb from eyesight including the blue painted tip.I have Pilot brand white LED bulbs in the corner marker lamps next to my headlights which are even whiter and closer to a bluish tint and much closer to HID color. I was hoping these CrystalVision headlight bulbs would match in color to the LED corner bulbs. There is a much better match with these new headlight bulbs than the normal yellowish OE bulbs.A true HID matching bulb would have a slight hint of blue and even more toward a light purplish color, at least from certain angles as true HID headlights look as you approach and pass them.Overall I'm very satisfied with the greater brightness of light emitted and the color of the light which is a huge improvement over the yellowish OE bulbs. I have tried and seen other bulbs that do have a blue tint or a bluer tint than these bulbs, but you're usually trading down by huge margins in quality and at a steep price, (usually $40-50 or more) only to have the bulbs fail in months or within the 1st year. And that fact has been one of my primary reasons for choosing the Philips brand, as it was the OE brand that came with my car and lasted.The bigger question for these and any 'upgrade' bulbs is how long they will last (they tend to burn hotter).My OE Philips standard bulbs lasted 14 years.A pair of 'Crystal Blue' (brand?) bulbs lasted 3 months in my car.A pair of Sylvania 'Cool Blue' bulbs only lasted 6 months in my car. (Produced a slight blue tint)A Pair of Sylvania 'SilverStar' lasted 1 year in my car. (Produced a similar color as these Philips bulbs)(Note: The Sylvania bulb packaging only rates the SilverStar with 1 out of 4 marks for bulb life. I believe the 'Cool Blue' have either a 1 or 2 out of 4 life rating and the OE bulb have a 3 out of 4 rating I believe. I'm expecting the same bulb life as the SilverStar for the Philips bulb though I'm hoping it will end up being much better considering I got 14 years out of my OE Philips bulbs.)I posed this question about the CrystalVision Ultra 'upgrade' bulbs in an email to Philips but their response was a little confusing (as I'm sure they wanted to be a little vague). I couldn't tell if they were saying the bulbs would last 1-2 years depending on amount of use varying from customer to customer or if they were saying that the life of the bulbs could vary up to 1-2 years from customer to customer depending on the differing amount of use of each.What I do know is that I have had poor experience's with generic aftermarket brand bulbs and with Sylvania's automotive and household bulbs and won't consider that brand again. What more I know from research is that 'upgrade' bulbs that produce a whiter (or other color), brighter light don't come close to lasting as long as OE bulbs.I also looked at purchasing some PIAA 'Super Plasma' bulbs but read multiple poor reviews stating a slight yellowish tint as well as the same critique of the Hella's whiter bulbs.The Philips bulbs are made in Germany (I would consider this a positive point as far as quality goes and what I attribute the length of life of my OE Philips bulbs too).I paid $27.72 for the Philips CrystalVision Ultra bulbs with free Super Saver shipping and have seen the same bulbs in stores from a regular price of $29.99 down to a clearance price of $23.99. Compared this to Sylvania's SilverStar brands ranging from $39.99 - 49.99(Ultra) and Hella's at $49.99.I don't think you can go wrong with the Philips in quality, color of light and especially price in direct comparison with the other brands. The other brands would have to show remarkably better performance for them to justify their inflated price over the Philips... and in my experience with multiple brands and research of brighter, whiter, 'closer to HID' 'upgrade' bulbs, a superior performance doesn't exist in those brands from anything I've come across.