Couldn’t find a thread with this particular discussion…I’ve been trying to find a ‘definitive’ answer for the past year since I started growing as to whether quantum board-style full spec LED lights are superior to burples, and while it seems based on the responses in this post and also other things I’ve read that the general concensus is that burples are being phased out and full specs are the way of the future, I’m still coming across some conflicting info that I’m hoping someone with pretty vast experience and knowledge can help clarify. I know that of course some of this is subjective based on personal experience and preference, but I would think by now there’s been enough experimentation and research out there to answer this once and for all.
My first light was a full spec, cheap but worked great for my seedlings and plants in early veg (which is all I was working with at the time). It also doesn’t generate much heat, is lightweight, unobtrusive, and best of all makes no noise. I still use and love this light and am considering purchasing another one.
I then got my first burple based on whatever research I had done at the time, the main reason being that they seemed to be more powerful and have more targeted specificity with the dual-switch function. I thought this would both be best for the plants and also my electric bill. I also got it because I planned to start flowering in a tent soon and didn’t think my other light would be powerful enough for that (despite the description saying it is for both veg and bloom, I wouldn’t really consider flowering plants with it). This light hasn’t been terrible, but it also hasn’t been great. Buds haven’t been very dense and it’s also heavy and noisy with the cooling fans, but it’s still fully functional after 7 months of non-stop use. I ended up buying a second one of these soon after.
You might have noticed that the above light is no longer available on Amazon…probably a month or so into flower I got overzealous and felt I needed a third grow light for my 4x4 grow tent (in retrospect I couldn’t have been more wrong–not only did it make it incredibly hot inside the tent, but all the weight ended up making the tent collapse halfway through flower which was pretty catastrophic). My budget was tight, so I bought an even shittier Chinese-made burple from Amazon for under $50. I don’t want to go as far as to say that this light is awful, but if I thought the Bestva lights were bulky, loud, and obtrusive, I had another thing coming. The description for this light says that they have a more improved spectrum or something like that, but the light it gives off is very pink, even with only the veg switch on, which feels wrong considering plants use blue light the most when vegging. Ended up buying another one of these too because Amazon knocked the price down to $35 and it’s still in use today, but I’d like to replace them soon. The sounds of the fans are driving me insane. The plants seem to veg ok under it (flowering is the same as Bestva, not the densest buds by any means), but it just pisses me off.
This prompted me to do more research on the burple vs full spec argument, because I really liked my full spec light a lot better than any of the burples I’d owned, and from what I was finding I began to lean much more towards the full spec side. I bought this HLG light a little over a month ago for seedlings and clones based on glowing reviews online, and it’s not bad but not much more impressive than my first light, which was less than half the price. Time will tell of course, and I know HLG is a much more reputable company. But I’ve been finding over the past few weeks that plants under the burples grow much faster than plants under this light.
A little over a week ago I came into a little extra change and took the plunge to get another flower tent, and this time my research led me to Viparaspectra, specifically the p1500. I haven’t owned this light very long, but so far I love it and it blows all my other lights out of the water. No noise, barely any heat, not too heavy, bright AF, and not to mention a sleek, sexy design. I’m already pretty sold on Viparaspectra and will probably stick with this company until I feel otherwise, but they too have a burple series of lights which I then started looking at to compare against their full-specs. Couldn’t find any exact side by side comparisons.
Gear addiction is a real thing, guys, and as soon as my budget allows I’ll probably be looking to set up another tent (most likely for veg, as this is currently a higher priority). I figured while I save I’d continue to research grow lights, and the first site I came across ranks a Phlizon burple as #1 best light for 2022 (most of their other top candidates are burples too). I just don’t get how with all the arguments for full specs people can still rank a burple above all others, and of course this is just one website’s evaluation, but it made me reconsider the entire argument all over again. I do feel like the full specs, in addition to all their other perceived advantages, definitely have a lower power draw for their output too (250W for the 1200w burples vs 150W for the p1500). The link is below.
I know I said I was probably going to be a Viparaspectra guy for a while, but I came across this light below on Amazon yesterday and it looks pretty awesome for the price point, especially because it has a built-in timer function which I like. I know it’s probably made in China, but when you’re working on a budget most of your gear probably is lol. I might buy this one for my next light, but I’d like to clear some of this up first. Thanks in advance for any input, and sorry for the long post. I like to be thorough!
