Which Chinese LED Are the Best? - Comparing Mars Hydro, Viparspectra, and Roleandro

I've been digging around a ton for different lights this last week and trying to formulate an idea on which is best. Maybe you all can help fill in some blanks or correct things? This is via extensive digging for each on amazon reviews, amazon question answering, forum wandering, and reddit. Some could be wrong.

Disclaimer: I know, cobs cobs cobs, but some of us aren't really willing to dump 500 into a grow for just some personal pot

Here's what I've come up with so far, just comparing 300w:

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Roleandro 300w

Positive:

• High red spectrum = Good for flower
• White light instead of blurple
  
• $70 on Amazon
  
• Galaxy Hydro is the creator, and they are pretty well known
• 2 Year warranty (Middle)
• Company seems desperate to get them out there as the new kid on the block, so great customer service often reported

Negative:

• Runs hot
• Low blue light for veg
• The 2nd gen 300w lights themselves are still pretty unreviewed and new.
  
• 124w actual power
• No daisy chain for multiple lights

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Viparspectra 300w

Positive:

• High blue for veg
• Daisy chain ability in 300w model
• A lot seem to consider them to be the most reliable right now
• 3 Year Warranty (BEST)
  
• Reflector
• Runs cooler than the others
• Infared LED's are apparently a good thing, can't find much non conflicting info on this

Negative:

• Low on red light for flower
• 136w actual power
• At $90, they are by far the most expensive 300w light.

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Mars Hydro 300w

Positive

• Relatively equal blue and red spectrum
  
• TONS have been bought thanks to 2packs on eBay and cheap prices, so lots of success stories
• New generation uses 5w leds, bringing it up to par with the other two
• Lots of videos / guides to converting them to a Cob setup when they inevitably die
  
• 2 pack on eBay for $140 matching roleandro

Negative

• Runs hot
  
• I haven't yet seen anyone say a bulb or 8 didn't burn out/die relatively quickly
• 1 year warranty (WORST)
  
• 135w actual power

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Each company offers these lights in a 600w variant (~240 actual w average)

They, of course, have completely different lights too that are worth noting. Anyone know much about these?

Vipaspectra's 450w (I've seen a ton of positive coverage on this one as a single light for a 3x3 grow)
MARS Hydro Reflector96 (Another I've heard great things on, but it's older)
Roleandro's COB 400w ($99, but they are the cheapest possible COBS. Still, good for electricity bill and $10 more than viparspectra for it?)
Roleandro's CREE Cob 400w (I'm guessing better than the other, but also more pricey at $179)

TL;DR I'm thinking of going for a Vipaspectra 300w or 450w + for veg, and adding a Roleandro 300w for flower for the red.

Why knowingly buy a shit product ??

Buy once, Cry once

Morriston55 said:

Why knowingly buy a shit product ??

Buy once, Cry once

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When I was a kid, I got into pc gaming on a shitty $600 Comaq to play runescape, Sim games, and strategy games on. It wasn't anything amazing, but it got the job done and I had fun with it without breaking the bank. When I got older and found that I truly loved PC gaming, I went out and dropped 1600 on a bunch of components for a custom build that suited my exact needs and have done that every 4 years since.

Same deal here. I'm not looking for a commercial grow or to create the god of setups. Just a budget, entry level, deal to test the waters. This is the newbie section, and a lot of people here are using chinese LEDS. Why not analyze which compaq is less shitty? Later on if you find out you really love it, you can build that badass $500-1000 COB array, but right now I just want a cheap compaq that gets the job done.

I'll start by saying, that I purchased "cheap" Chinese made LEDs, for my first grow.
I only used the lights for one grow as I wasn't impressed at all, but to each their own. It had me reconsidering with the old adage in my head "Buy nice, not twice". So I went with a Cree C.O.B set up.

Aiming for 35 watts per square foot with LEDs should provide enough light for good growth, all things considered. You'll want to get some white balanced glasses/ for viewing the plants if you're getting red and blue dominant diodes.

If you get the Mars, you can always try the DIY Cree Modification that I think GrowMau5 successfully did.

Best of luck on your grow!
Rund

It's so tempting to ge one of these lights, but they are honestly not good quality. I imagine that by this time next year good COB lights will be priced right for beginners..

If I had to choose I'd go with Mars 5w. Definitely don't do the 3w mars. They can hardly give those things away (But they probably make a nice veg light) I don't trust Roleadro based on their offering of products and claims.. The other company I never heard of.

I bought meizhi reflector series, same price range as the others you mentioned and so far I like it for what I paid

Buy them all and give them a test run and let us know.

Rundskop said:

I'll start by saying, that I purchased "cheap" Chinese made LEDs, for my first grow.
I only used the lights for one grow as I wasn't impressed at all, but to each their own. It had me reconsidering with the old adage in my head "Buy nice, not twice". So I went with a Cree C.O.B set up.

Aiming for 35 watts per square foot with LEDs should provide enough light for good growth, all things considered. You'll want to get some white balanced glasses/ for viewing the plants if you're getting red and blue dominant diodes.

If you get the Mars, you can always try the DIY Cree Modification that I think GrowMau5 successfully did.

Best of luck on your grow!
Rund

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I actually ended up grabbing 2 roleandros. Amazon was randomly having a 30 min lightning sale on them for $55 a pop. I couldn't resist haha. They aren't blurple, but I might get a vipaspectra to supplement with some blue.

sunny747 said:

It's so tempting to ge one of these lights, but they are honestly not good quality. I imagine that by this time next year good COB lights will be priced right for beginners..

If I had to choose I'd go with Mars 5w. Definitely don't do the 3w mars. They can hardly give those things away (But they probably make a nice veg light) I don't trust Roleadro based on their offering of products and claims.. The other company I never heard of.

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Yeah, I wouldn't doubt based on the prices of these.

It seems like all mars are 5w now. The older generation one is 3, and some people actually prefer it. I lost the reason why in the jumble of other information i've been absorbing.

Roleandro is actually Galaxy Hydro, which is the best selling Amazon light, with a huge history of reviews there. I wouldn't doubt plenty are fake, but it's hard to fake a star rating like that as an actual labeled Amazon Best Seller. I ended up scooping up a pair today when a lightning 30 minute sale happened where they dropped to $55 bucks. Usually companies agree to do that when they are trying to get their name out there or going belly up, so hopefully it's the former and they are confident enough in the Roleandro product line that people will like them and spread the word.

dandyrandy said:

Buy them all and give them a test run and let us know.

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I just got 2x Roleandro and will probly pick up a vipaspectra. Unfortunately I'm a first time grower so there are plenty of other things that can go wrong haha.

TheSkyway said:

I bought meizhi reflector series, same price range as the others you mentioned and so far I like it for what I paid

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I didn't hear too much about that one. What are some bonuses/negatives of it? I can edit it in up there for anyone looking for cheapo lights like us.

Viper220x said:

I didn't hear too much about that one. What are some bonuses/negatives of it? I can edit it in up there for anyone looking for cheapo lights like us.

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I only got the older model which is no longer available, but it works pretty good, for the price.

Pros= has veg and flower switches, runs quiet and cool

Cons: not that great of a warranty, for $100 more you can buy a timber cob light

First ... What " isn't " made in fucking china ? Whether it is a full build or components.
So that method of thinking is open for debate ....

Mars Hydro 600 : will grow decent buds ....
Good price points and fairly popular for a BLURPLE light.
Power draw is half than advertised ( mostly to lengthen life of diodes ).
Mars 600 draws 278 W @ wall. Which at least grows like a 300w light.
Price $ 139 on fleabay and amazon. Good company distributor , located in San Leandro
california.



ViparSpectra 600 : currently using

Fantastic veg growth and flowering , has a more bluish / White with red.
Dual switches , but recommend BOTH ON for full cycle. Similar draw @ wall .
IR diodes built in.

The ViparSpectra 450 is another popular model.

Very happy with this light. Seriously look at how the leaves respond to it.
I only added G8 Deep reds for bloom supplement. But overall kick the shit out of my old hydro.



As far as other brands , i dont know. I based my purchases on actual grows from others using it. If the claims of light maker sound too good to be true , run away. Lurk the forum and look at various journals , see if its what you are looking for.

Yes we all know ... Cobs , DE lights , HID and other shit people squawk about are better options , but to get into the game , pick something that has grows under its belt.

They are good veg lights but I wouldn't recommend flowering with them.

viparspectra. the others use 3w diodes. vipar uses 5w.

a 600w with 3w diodes will have less growth potential than a 300w with 5w diodes.

this is the exact reason why COB are so good. a pair of 50w COB will grow better than any of the 300w-600w china lights.


i actually dont know this as fact and cant pull references without doing back research which i will not do for free. but i will suggest researching it for yourself.
i have read this multiple places and it is one of the main reasons as i understand that COB is so sought after and effective.


i own the 600w viparspectra

I have the mars 300 and the 450 vipar. Only used in veg. I have 315 lec cmh for flower

The mars and vipar veg ok, but if I veg under the 315 it takes half the time for my plants to get to size I run in my 3x3x7/ tent. Needless to say I have to veg aweek or so to get plants to right size
Under 315 before flip never been a chop,clean,new girls be day on 12/12

i saw this and looking at it, it seems like the best. it has the right amount of led's in the right ratio for good plant growth as well as 5w diodes.

https://www.amazon.com/MEIZHI-600W-Grow-Light-Spectrum/dp/B01HFZ3QN0

I use the shit out of the "600w" galaxyhydros from amazon. Ive got 2 of them. The plants love them. I also have 3 300 w Mars hydros and 1 480 watt Mars. The galaxyhydros are the best out of the bunch

stay smokin'