put away the tinfoil hats people. This wasn't intended to be an advert for Cidly. I am sure it is no coincident that the email that appeared in my inbox from cidly roughly coincided with Cidly's post here (which I didn't see, despite checking in every few days). Had I seen it I would not have posted this. Was only looking for feedback as this is the first all 5 watt unit from a Chinese manufacturer that seemed reasonably priced. If memory serves Bysen is the only other, although that could have been COBs, I converse with overseas OEMs daily, but am not affiliated with anyone,or in anyone's pocket etc. I have been buying panels from various sources for about 2 years. I get the sense that asking an opinion about any foreign manufacturer will get the same response, so I will refrain from that in the future.
But for anyone that is curious I was able to get the 5 watt diode selection from their rep.
Available in 5 watt:
If I were to select spectra I guess I would go with something like this:
2x 2700
2x 12K
24x 660
4x 620
8x 460
no ir/uv, waste of money imho, probably be some time before you see 5 watt 390-410nm diodes anyway, but I still think they're a waste. Best results I have had are the red/blue balanced with whites. I suspect that supplemental UV via floros is the way to go, but I have not tested this. I do not see the point of adding IR/FAR red to a panel, if anyone can explain why this would be a good thing I am all ears.
I dont have English spec sheets for the older Apollo, but it appears as though they are achieving roughly the same output by using fewer (5 watt) diodes than the previous models (3 watt). Fewer diodes, same output (roughly). So there doesn't seem to be any price advantage over the old series. Still going to get a demo so I can see for myself.
Cidly said their primary service issues are drivers, either defective or come unconnected during transport. I asked for a failure rate in %, we'll see if they answer that one or beat around the bush. (edit: just emailed me 0.03%), also noted their best sellers are Apollo 20,18 and 16. If there are any resellers out there I would be interested to hear if you think their RMA estimates are correct.