But how do you actually know? All the branded stuffs also made in China nowadays. In fact many lighting supplier here in Msia source their lights direct from China also except maybe certain high end brands

For example brand like Philips, I can buy the same model that is available here in Taobao for cheaper, especially if you buy in bulk. If you dont trust 3rd party sellers you can always buy from their official stores, same as Lazada / Shopee only. And there's even more choices of models available there

https://m.tb.cn/h.5CXF1chNx02TMhE

This post has been edited by ZeneticX: Mar 24 2024, 02:10 PM

Branded Made in China and China Branded are very different. If you traced back my earlier post, I have seen FSL LED T8 Tube 18W being outclassed by PHILIPS 10.5W tube. Lux level in fact the FSL 18W even loses out to PHILIPS 10.5W. My condo just changed the 6" Downlight from China Branded 18W to PHILIPS 12W. Again the lux level is higher. I saw the demo before.

Buying from China is no big issue, just ensure the voltage range is 220-240VAC and not 200-220VAC.

This post has been edited by brutus: Mar 24 2024, 09:58 PM

the biggest problem with china brand is the fake spec. For those that matches branded their price within margin of error too. As you said most branded like Philips and osram are made in tongsan, with so many parallel import the price is already cutting throat why bother the hassle to choose what is good in chinese brands instead just buy branded and get done with it?

All I'm trying to say is given its a branded light like Philips, the choices from China more often are better than what we have here. To avoid counterfeits just buy from their official store there then it should be fine.

As above. You can stick back to branded lights like Philips or Osram but still they have models with better specs not available here. The only issues is warranty but I usually just buy in bulk with a few spares. Any issues (which is rare in my experience) I can just change without worrying about finding a replacement. And when you buy in bulk the price is usually cheaper than local sellers (which of course they also buy in bulk then sell at a higher margin)

Of course buying in bulk is not always an option especially if you just want to replace a few lights, but for those who are doing renovation and starting from scratch its worth looking into

This post has been edited by ZeneticX: Mar 25 2024, 04:29 AM

Where did u buy them in bulk? Doing some house renovation now. Looking to buy quite alot for whole house.

Taobao. I shared the link above for their philips official store. You can also try searching for the type and brand you want which you may find lower price from other stores. But if you worry about counterfeits or no confident about non branded stuff then just stick to the official stores

Also pick a suitable time to buy when there is a sale going on (usually double digit dates like 4.4, 5.5, 6.6 etc)

Personally I am using this downlight for my whole house and it looks really good for the price despite being non branded

https://m.tb.cn/h.5CryDWFTyaaouDt?tk=a0GDWoLsigC

If you can read Chinese then its always good to check reviews before you buy. Most of the time people will call out low quality or counterfeit products

This post has been edited by ZeneticX: Mar 25 2024, 05:06 AM