The Best 9012 LED Headlight Bulbs in 2023

This is my buying guide on the best 9012 LED headlight bulbs in 2023. Below is a quick summary of my top recommendations. Scroll further down to read my in depth, hands on reviews, for each headlight brand. I’ve also included photos and my test results below.

BEST BUDGET

Fahren Krieges 2023 Upgraded 9012 LED Headlight Bulbs

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• Plug and play
• 22,000 lumens/set
• 6,500K Cool White
• +600% brighter than halogens (advertised)
• Best budget 9012 LEDs
• 60,000-hour lifespan
• 120W per set
• All-in-one unit
• IP68 Waterproof

Best Overall

Firehawk 2023 New 9012 LED Headlight Bulbs

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• Plug and play
• 20,000 lumens/set
• 6,500K Cool White
• +500% brighter than halogens (advertised)
• Best overall 9012 LEDs
• 50,000-hour lifespan
• 61W per set
• All-in-one unit
• IP68 Waterproof

PREMIUM CHOICE

Sealight X2 9012 LED
Headlight Bulbs

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• Plug and play
• 20,000 lumens/set
• 6,500K Cool White
• +600% brighter than halogens (advertised)
• Worthy contender for 9012 LEDs
• 60,000-hour lifespan
• 150W per set (advertised)
• External CAN bus driver
• IP67 Waterproof

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If it’s time to replace your fog or low-beam lights, you may need a 9012 headlight bulb.

The factory-installed 9012 bulbs in your vehicle may be ok, but I recommend you upgrade to LEDs instead. In this category, whiteness and longevity make a big difference.

For over ten years, I’ve been using and testing headlight bulbs and have seen many excellent ones and quite a few that aren’t so good. So instead of you going out and trying a few, I’ve done the homework for you.

I’ve looked at more than a dozen 9012 LED headlight bulbs and narrowed it down to three.

The Firehawk 2023 9012 LEDs are my pick for overall best; the reliability and quality are superior to the others.

I’ve also listed one for the more budget-conscious readers and a runner-up for the best.

Are you ready to find your next 9012 LED replacement headlight bulb?

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Best Overall

Firehawk is, hands-down, my favorite 9012 LED headlight bulbs. They’re super bright and have excellent heat retention.

Advertised Specifications

The Firehawk 9012 LED headlight bulbs are advertised at 20,000 lumens per set and claim that they’re 500% brighter than standard halogens. My tests confirmed that they’re a lot brighter, but five times might be a bit of an exaggeration.

It’s so important that a driver can clearly see objects in front of them and from far away. The standard amber/yellow Kelvin color of halogens doesn’t do that for me. I loved the crisp, clear, 6,500K cool white that the Firehawks provide.

Firehawk promotes these bulbs as having a super-focused beam pattern with no shadows or dark spots. I noticed a few issues in my tests (see below); it wasn’t perfect, but a vast improvement on halogens. 

These bulbs are an all-in-one unit with a built-in CAN bus driver and a 12,000 RPM silent turbofan. The units are made from 2mm thickened red copper and contain 40 pieces of aviation aluminum heat sinks.

At only 62 watts per set and with the robust design, these should remain reasonably cool. They’re advertised to last 50,000 hours, which is becoming a common claim for LEDs lately; however, I’m yet to see any bulbs that last that long.

They’re IP68 waterproof, which is the highest rating possible, meaning that these can be taken out in the rain, sand storms, snow, or fog and continue to perform at their peak.

My Observations

The first thing I noticed and appreciated when I opened the box was the striking red finish. This color is one many other companies use, so they’re unique.

Surprisingly, nothing stands out as being overly advanced or upgraded. The materials used to make these bulbs appear pretty standard.

It’s an all-in-one item with an adjustable collar. The beauty of this is that without the external driver it doesn’t need as much space in the light fitting. What concerned me at first was that the fan was enclosed in a small area. My test results proved my concerns weren’t valid.

With most of these items being plug-and-play, I don’t really see the need for an instruction manual. Firehawk provides quite a detailed manual with many images.

Overall it’s a pretty compact item and should fit most car headlights without too much problem.

My Tests

The advertised specs were impressive, and the unit was ok, so I wanted to see how they tested. 

The results demonstrate why these bulbs are my favorite 9012 LED bulbs.

As always, I set up an LED meter 20 feet away from the bulb. My comparisons are made against standard factory-installed halogens. For the projector test, I used 725 lux as the base for halogens and 910 lux for the reflector test. 

How did the Firehawk 9012 LEDs perform? Extremely well.

Let’s start with brightness. The initial output from the projector test was 1,332 lux; that’s not the brightest output I’ve seen, but still, 607 lux  more than halogens, so they’re twice as bright as stock. The Firehawks are number one for me because of the heat retention. 

After 27 minutes —the average commute time in the US — they only dropped to 1,172, which is 88%. That’s very, very impressive. Considering that 77% is the average, these are way above.

The reflector test is often where the brightness claims come from. The initial output from the Firehawk 9012 LEDs was 2,280 lux, 1370 higher than halogens. That’s around 250% brighter, about half of the 500% claimed. Still, it’s a massive improvement over halogens.

The advertised super-focused beam pattern got slightly fuzzy at the top center but wasn’t overly distracting. I liked that the hot spot was low, so that’s a bonus. I also observed a slight amount of scattering on the bottom left.

For some reason, Firehawk got overly specific with its published watts of 31. My observation was 29. That’s also impressive, as I’ve tested others that can be as much as 10 watts less than advertised.

The compact fan was a concern until I tested the unit’s temperature.  After 27 minutes, it was only 122°F. This figure is much lower than many others on the market and explains the 88% heat retention.

The Firehawk 9012 LEDs passed my tests with flying colors and are my firm favorite for best in the category.

What Other Drivers Are Saying

Amazon drivers also like the Firehawk 9012 LEDs giving them an overall rating of 4.4/5 stars.

The apparent improvement in both whiteness and brightness was the overwhelming response from most drivers.

Some reviewers experience installation issues in older models, so it’s important to confirm before you purchase that they suit your vehicle.

Summing it Up

With a heat retention of 88% and more than double the brightness of halogens, the Firehawk 9012 LED bulbs are my pick for best overall.

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Best Budget

If you need to save a few dollars on your halogen upgrade, the Fahren Krieges 9012 LED bulbs may suit.

Advertised Specifications

Fahren makes excellent LED headlight bulbs, often priced lower than the others. In this case, I think I know why; you’ll find out in the test results below.

Here’s what is advertised.

22,000 lumens per set and 600% brighter than standard halogens. Now that sounds super-bright, my tests confirmed this, but did they get to six times brighter? 

Like the Firehawks, the Kelvin color is 6,500 cool white, excellent for providing more clarity to objects down the road.

The unit contains one CSP chip, providing a 360° beam without black spots. This degree of lighting should also offer a super-focused and safe beam pattern. Does it? Find out in my tests.

The Fahren Krieges 9012 LED headlight bulb is an all-in-one unit. Now these are great for easy installation but have been known to be problematic with getting too hot and the built-in CAN bus driver causing some errors.

These are 60 watts each, which is a considerable draw on power; how will that affect the heating?

Speaking of which, they’re equipped with powerful 12,000 RPM silent fans, and the body is made from aviation-grade aluminum and a hollow heat sink. 

Fahren promotes that these LEDs will last 60,000 hours. This figure creeps up year by year. The standard used to be 30,000. I’m yet to see anything last 50,000, so this latest number is a bit of a wish, in my opinion. 

Fahren only provides a 1-year warranty, which is standard but on the low side. Does that mean they need to be replaced yearly?

They’re IP68 waterproof, like the Firehawks, so feel confident taking these bulbs out in all types of poor weather.

My Observations

When I opened the box, the first thing I saw was a black bag. That was intriguing. Inside was some double-sided tape, some zip ties, and a teeny-tiny wrench for the adjustable collar., 

It also contained quite an extensive user manual that you don’t need as these are plug-and-play, and with no external driver, it should only take a few minutes each to install.

I like the look of these; they’re different from other LED bulbs. For starters, they’re all silver, and the base where the fan is held is a cool box design. These stand out in a crowd, and I imagine you’d get comments from other drivers when they see them.

Overall the units feel sturdy, and they’re obviously high-quality. But how do they perform?

My Tests

With claims of 600% brightness and 60,000 hours of life, I expected great things from these lights, and I almost got that.

In the projector test, I observed an initial lux rating of 1,908, almost three times brighter than halogens. So for projector lights, that’s above average. After 27 minutes, they dropped faster than the Firehawks and settled at 1,488, 78%, 1% higher than average. 

This result had me wondering about the effectiveness of the cooling system. 

The reflector test impressed me. An initial lux rating of 4,180. That’s four and a half times better than halogens, not quite the 600% advertised but close, and a massive improvement. 27 minutes later, it also dropped 78% to reach 3,260.

The super-focused beam pattern was evident; even the usual weak spot in the lower center was smaller than most other LEDs. However, I did spot some scattering in the top left, right, and lower left due to the extreme brightness. 

These bulbs will need to be aimed carefully to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

Fahren advertised these at 60 watts, yet I observed only 44.2 watts which is quite a difference.

Now for the temperature check, and here’s why these are cheaper than others. They get hot! After 27 minutes, the temperature reached 231°F, explaining the low heat retention. I suspect that at this level, they’ll burn out faster than some others. 

The 60,000-hour claim, I can’t imagine, is close, but I might be wrong.

What Other Drivers Are Saying

Amazon drivers collectively rate the Fahren Krieges 9012 LED headlight bulbs at 4.5/5 stars.

What the drivers most love are that they’re super bright, easy to install, and, surprisingly for me, live a long life.

As I suspected, the built-in CAN bus driver does cause issues for some, so a decoder needs to be installed in some vehicles.

Summing it Up

You can save some money by purchasing Fahren Krieges 9012 LED headlight bulbs. You’ll love the extreme brightness, they get hot, which makes me think they may not last long, yet Amazon drivers stated the opposite. Give them a try.

 

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Worthy Contender

My runner-up for best are the Sealight X2 9012 LED headlight bulbs. These are ideal if you’re looking for fog light or daytime running replacements.

Advertised Specifications

I get the feeling that marketing is taking over from actual specifications. I’m increasingly seeing inflated specs that my testing doesn’t confirm.

These Sealight X2 9012 LED bulbs are an example. It lists them at 20,000 lumens and 600% brighter than halogens, yet my tests showed something very different. 

There is a legitimate reason these are my runner-ups, though, and it has nothing to do with brightness. My tests will reveal all.

Like the other two featured, the Kelvin color is 6,500 cool white; this works better in fog lights than halogens, as you need better clarity.

Sealight also promotes these bulbs having a better beam pattern with the refraction-focusing design, ensuring a well-defined dividing line and providing 1600 feet long visibility. Once again, my tests had something different to say.

Here’s another claim that I couldn’t confirm. Sealight advertises these at 150 watts a set. My testing showed this is double; 75 watts per set sounds more reasonable. 150 watts draws a lot of power, and these would burn out very quickly at that rate.

The bulbs contain an internal fan that operates at 20,000 RPM. That’s almost double most of the competitors, so is it marketing hype too, or is it correct?

A 60,000 hours lifespan forecast has crept in again, and we will see this number rise as newer models are released. There’s a standard 1-year warranty which makes me feel that they’ll only last that long.

They’re waterproof rated at IP67, which isn’t the top, but enough to feel confident driving in extremely wet or foggy conditions. 

My Observations

Don’t get me wrong, Sealight makes excellent products at reasonable prices, and these are fantastic bulbs. They just don’t match the marketing hype.

Inside the box are rubber gloves to protect your hands, zip ties, and double-sided tape for the external driver.

A very detailed instruction manual is included, but I don’t feel it’s needed.

Now to the bulbs. Like all Sealight products, these are solid-looking units, they feel robust, and I have confidence in them just by handling them.

Sealight puts a lot of thought into its products right down to its logo covering the fan.

Speaking of the heat fan, it seems rather shallow, and I wonder if there’s enough power there to keep things cool. 

I love how compact the external driver is; which made the installation into smaller fittings a non-issue.

A great-looking bulb, and I was very eager to test it.

My Tests

Now to the testing vs. the claims.

Remember that for the projector test, halogens have an initial rating of 725 lux. The Sealight X2 9012 LEDs came up with 954 lux, which is 249 more than halogens. That’s about 130% brighter. 

What is impressive, and why they’re my runner-up, is that after 27 minutes, they only dropped to 842 lux, which is 88%, and coincidentally, the same as the Firehawks.

Factory halogens in a reflector have an initial lux rating of 910, and the Sealight X2s delivered 1,864 lux. That’s over 200%, but a far cry from the 600% advertised. Once again, after 27 minutes, it dropped to only 88% at 1,645 lux.

As for the beam pattern, it showed excellent coverage of the standard weak spot in the lower center. What I didn’t like was the very high cut-off, which made me feel these may not extend as far down the road as others or the 1,600 feet as advertised. I also noticed the pattern was a little weak on the upper and lower left.

The reason I think these bulbs are 75 watts total is that I only observed 34.8 watts for each bulb.

The best news of all, and why the heat retention is so good, is that after 27 minutes, the temperature of the main unit was only 113°F and the driver 123°F.

These nice low temps and excellent heat retention could mean they will last a long time, but 60,000 hours? I’m not sure.

What Other Drivers Are Saying

The Sealight X2 9012 LED headlight bulbs are a relatively new product, so don’t have too many Amazon reviews just yet, but they’ll come. They have a 4.2/5 star rating right now, but I expect that to increase.

The positive reviews all state how easy they are to install, and the brightness over halogens is easily noticed.

They don’t fit all models, so even the smaller external driver isn’t quite tiny enough. This is why it’s so important to check the make and model of your car can accept this brand of 9012.

Summing it Up

If you ignore the hype and take the bulbs for what they are, they’re an excellent 9012 replacement for your halogens, especially for fog lights. But for me, nothing compares to the Firehawks in this category.

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