Recently I came across few downlights on Shopee/Lazada but do not know how to differentiate branded vs no brand LED downlights. See below for my comparison.



Philips: https://shopee.com.my/PHILIPS-MESON-59466-1...3f-a5d358846695
No brand: https://shopee.com.my/product/244022032/4781463737

The one I highlighted in green means superior than the another. Philips' lifespan is 15000 hrs which is 3x more than "no brand" but the price RM18 is almost 3x. In terms of warranty, Philips can only provide 1 year. Should I consider to go for no brand since it can provide 2 years warranty? Usually what are the coverage during warranty period?

Does 1200lm (no brand) perform better than 950lm (philips)? Will it be too bright? Will there be any difference in terms of color temperature based on same 4000K for Philips and "no brand"? Will it provide same functional lighting and atmosphere?

Philips stated that it can give 80% energy saving. Do you think "no brand" can give the same assurance?

Besides pricing, warranty, the other things to consider is easy of installation (for future replacement), please advise if "no brand" can easy to install as well.

Also want to know.

Will energy saving means less heat also?

I believe downlight, whether branded or no brand, it's the same when it comes to installing.

Regarding brightness, I guess have to buy one each and test it out..

If today buy non branded light, and need to change 2 years later, it's very unlikely will get the same non branded light, so brightness might be different from the older (the previous non branded light).

For me, Important is:

1) Bulb holder must be porcelain. Do I need to explain why porcelain?
2) The light bulb should save electric.
3) The light fixture look futuristic and nice.


Did I tell you I worked for lighting shop > 8 years?

Bought and installed osram ledvance for my house, 2years plus so far none "terbakar"

I go to my nearby shop and asked what is the most common size for phillips.
1. They will most likely always carry that size.
2. They will most likely carry phillips brand.
3. Higher likelyhood of phillips color temp to be consistant.
4. When one dies, I just pick up a new one from that nearby shop.

Its rm18 not rm105 like it was 10yrs ago.

Place where i work before had a rule...never skimp on light fittings and bulbs that need various other things when you want to repair such as speciality tools, authorised personnel and places difficult to access that you needs to rent skylift, gondola...

downlight is a hassle to change. if you know DIY okay, if dont get longer lifespan.
Brightness is important, never not bright enough.

Wonder that no brand spec is trustable. RM6.9 for 2yrs warranty?

Now use std bulb for downlight. Easy change and easy get. Alot varity from color to lumens.

use better one last longer unless u are very free to change often

that being said, no name one also have sirim and NON-sirim products
the sirim ones like feel-lite OK
the non-sirim ones.. hahaha if the house catch fire

Also time is money
For my own house i use Wago connectors
Easy to replace no need screwdriver and confirm sure good contact even with those tiny wires

This post has been edited by ceo684: Sep 11 2023, 11:27 AM

Branded or not most important is the wiring , make sure neutral is well connected , most of the shorter life span due to neutral when install the screw only sit on the insulation

For my case, i want to install led E27 light bulb as the downlight cause i won’t install plaster ceiling. My question is, what type of bulb holder is the best in terms of durability and safety.

Found this on Lazada but not too sure if it save for long term use

Philips the company will still be here 3 years from now. Also, I've not heard anyone claim warranty from lights before. More likely than not, I've lost my receipt 6 months after owning something.

TL;DR - get something reputable and sleep peacefully at night.

Also need to consider the "quality" of the light output. Although same lumen and colour temperature, Branded vs non-branded also will have difference in terms of the lighting feel. Non-branded one will dim or become inconsistent output after few months.
I have installed Philips meson recently for my house mostly. So far statisfy with the quality of light output.
13W for bedrooms are sufficient. For living or dining area, 17W. Toilet 9W...these are just rough reference, need to see your lighting planning/design if want more details.

There are all durable and safe. You hardly touch the Light fixture accept change the bulb.

For safety, makesure ground the light fixture body if it metal. It is the workmanship that ensures the safety.

The bulb socket mostly is plastic. It will crack after like 10yrs. Cause the heat will degrade the material. If you can find the porcelain, ceramic or bakelite type is the best.

I decide to go for branded LED downlight. But, i heard one contractor said that philips LED will be more difficult to install. Is it true? He advised me to go for Megaman or OSRAM. Both also from Germany. I believe all of them are same quality standard, right? or do you have any thoughts on this?

For Megaman 5 inch 12W, I can get better deal at RM16.90/unit with 2 years warranty. Have not negotiated yet. I was thinking to get lower rate with bulk purchase 20-30pcs.
For Philips with same size & power output the best deal I can find is around RM17-18/unit with 1 year warranty only. Another deal is RM22/unit with 2 years warranty.

Should I go for Megaman? Anyone using this brand b4?

Question: Which one is better? and why?
1. Megaman beam angle: 120°
2. Philips beam angle: 110°

This post has been edited by goolie: Sep 12 2023, 01:45 PM

nowadays with increasing competition from China those philips, osram almost no difference compared to good quality china oem.

at the end of the day the factory and manufacturing equipment all the same also...

BTW, Osram Ledvance is owned by China company already. Not owned by Osram but they have license to use the brand name

All same la install method. Your contractor bullshit you nia. In general we go for branded just to make sure they are safe (got safety tested etc). Otherwise, you wont go wrong with any of the branded ones. Just dont go for those RM2 taobao no brand untested uncertified ones ok dy.

My take is choose the colour you like, then decide on the lumens you want. Then go for the cheapest branded one that fits the spec (ledvance, philips, panasonic etc).

Yes, you maybe working in lighting shop for 8 years but nowadays LED downlight most likely no more in bulb form. So, porcelain socket is not really applicable anymore

I would go for surface mount LED downlight. Any protrusion like object will attract spider for its construction Something like this (unless you like vintage look)

https://shopee.com.my/LED-Surface-Mount-Dow...09-92df3171dff4

I have seen a demo by one of the PHILIPS Professional Partner in my condo demo.
As per normal our corridors were using those generic China LED DL D150 18W (rated 1500lm). They showed up with an equivalent D150 size DL but running only 12W (rated 1300lm). Hence it is a direct fit.
The generic China 18W when measured using a light meter only got about 70-80lx while the PHILIPS 12W under same condition got 110-120lx.
They then bring up another unit same sized but running at 9W (rated 950lm) and was measured at 65-75lx. Now JMB deciding to go for 9W or 12W model. Running 12H per day, every 1W saved is equivalent to RM 2.40/year. The unit offered is with 5-Yr warranty.

China 18W got about 70-80lx, are u talking about beam angle?

For this "Running 12H per day, every 1W saved is equivalent to RM 2.40/year", where can we get proof on this?

How do we calculate our electricity bill? Let say I use 1x 12W LED running on 12 hours per day, how much is monthly electricity cost? Is the calculation below correct?

Total consumption: 12W x 12 hrs x 30 days = 4320W (4.32kWh)

For the first 200 kWh (1 – 200 kWh) per month, the rate is 21.80

So estimated bill: 4.32 * 21.8/100 = RM0.94

This post has been edited by goolie: Sep 13 2023, 08:28 AM

They demo using a digital light meter as brightness of a lamp is not measured by the eyes. The light meter will measure the brightness, the higher the number the brighter it is.

The savings RM 2.40/Year you can download the respective tariff table from TNB and calculate it.

Yes, good point, if you have 8 downlights buy 10, 2 keep as spare. Save the hassle of finding replacement later

Me too. Replaced all the E27 old downlight with osram ledvance, never replaced any yet

I try to calculate but could not get RM2.40 per year.

Every 1W running on 12hrs daily will save Rm2.40, but I only can get RM0.94

1W x 12 hrs x 360 days = 4320W (4.32kWh)

For the first 200 kWh (1 – 200 kWh) per month, the rate is 21.80

Estimated bill: 4.32 * 21.8/100 = RM0.94

so it should be RM0.94, right?

This post has been edited by goolie: Sep 13 2023, 08:33 AM

I think the main point is with no brand higher wattage DL vs branded similar or slightly lower wattage DL, will obtain lower lx (Lux) which is light output unit measurement. Like I said before , branded DL give more "quality" light output and consistent vs non branded one.

You cannot use 0.218 if average bill is over.

Use your average rate bill to calculate.

Our condo is on 0.509KWH rate + ICPT 0.0037 = 0.546KWH
Corridor lights are switched on 12H/day = 4.38KW

For own house use, the average usage is 4Hrs/day, therefore only RM 0.80/year for every 1W. However, the quality if the light you get from PHILIPS will be much more better especially they are rated at CRI80. Generic ones, they usually do not quote their CRI ratings, so it could CRI70 or worse only.

The demo also mentioned that PHILIPS utilizes L70B50 meaning during the warranty lifespan the light output cannot be lower than 70% from the 1st day installed. If lower it is considered warranty claim. Cannot really remember the B50 ratings already

Duralux and Iwachi downlight good ?

Go for philips je la if wana peace of mind

I used Opple and working fine 7 years later. So far none need replacement

go for philips , i've been use no brand before but won't last long

I have no good experience with Philips light bulb, it usually fail within a year.

Meanwhile, my bathroom is using a cheap MR DIY brand bulb, it's been 3 years and it's still working.

any LED bulb or downlight with high CRI spec?

Mostly high CRI LED is in videographer light equipment.

Hardly able to find it in the normal bulb and downlight here.

Try amazon.

The highest CRI downlight I have is this model. Brought it from Home depot.

Phillip has an ultra definition bulb but seems like cant find it here
It only cost 4usd each on amazon.

The ultra efficient is not too bad at 80+cri, same like osram
Yeelight advertised some of their light at 90+ but not sure about it

I am using PHILIPS GEN9 MyCARE Bulbs with CRI90.

There also another downlight from PHILIPS that I use is CRI90 also but forgot the model. Not easy to find. For 6" I paid something like RM90. But light quality is really good.

https://www.jllelectrical.com.my/showproduc...ulb-3000k6500k/

This 1? price seems acceptable

3500k is very yellowish?

High CRI light very hard to find locally.... at most also 80+

Taobao got more choices when it comes to 90+ CRI

No, not this shape series. It looks like conventional round bulb type. Either 3000K or 6500K is a matter of preference.

China branded specifications, I will take it with a pinch a salt. Many over promised, under deliver.

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