Should I buy cheap LED lights?

I have good experience with 9(10$) and 6W (6$) bulbs in the MI-light series from futlight.
4sevens sold em for a while and that is where I discovered them. Now I order them directly from Futlight and I use them where I can.
They are relatively cheap for what you get if the remote control function is usable to you.
The main difference I have noticed between high quality and low quality bulbs are the amount of aluminium cooling fins.
We all know how important this is for the life of the led itself. The main problem with this is that they do not look like normal bulbs and are sometimes to big.

When I touch a Futlight bulb in use they are close to burning hot but not quite, meaning you can still touch them for 10 seconds without it being uncomfortable
Some of the oldest one have been going for years. But one of them (the old models sold by 4sevens) suddenly flickered and got dimmer during a hot summer day.
It still worked only with less output. Except for that one I've had no problems.
Now I usually dim the bulbs in the warmest area down a couple of notches from max during the warmest days.
For what it is I think futlight bulbs are a good midpoint between quality and price.

I got into this hobby completely by mistake. I am a occasional joint toker that lives in a
very rough urban area. Walking past fentanyl addicts’, K2 smoking crazies, crack heads and
all sorts of other wacko’s JUST to but some green to smoke. Seeing 4 dead bodies and actual
drug zombies, I was ecstatic when I found 7 seeds, a light bulb went off in my head, “I can grow my own and not have to deal with this stuff any more”. I quickly grabbed the dirt out of some long dead pots of Easter tulips, tossed the dried out bulbs and threw some seeds in. Long story short, that didn’t pan out well and I found myself on the internet, mouth agape and jaw on the floor to discover just how far the cannabis industry has come since my last years in
high school and my wrinkled up copies of High-Times that were already 5 years old in 1992.

(This is just an opinion thread, I do not own a par meter nor do I pretend to be an expert.
This is a public service post ONLY. Don’t hate me if I’m bashing a light you like and are
comfortable with using. Everyone’s situation is different. Thank you)

Found ILGM and from there it was all down hill.
When I decided to purchase an LED light I first went with the cheapest thing available on
Amazon. It worked well for my seedlings but other than that it was completely useless. And
when I say useless, I do MEAN absolutely useless. Total waste of money and time waiting
for it to arrive. I’m sure you’re all familiar with this gem:

Cost: $20 on Amazon.
25W
Gives off a purple hue light, the only thing it’s good for is the first week of seedlings.
Is it worth it? Absolutely NOT. Avoid at all costs.

I did some more reading on ILGM and found out I needed way more light than what I had.
My second Amazon purchase was this Giixer 600W grow light. Veg and Bloom booster
switch, The light isn’t a bad light if you want to grow a single autoflower. The light is decently
made, two fans that are very quiet, almost zero heat just 6 inches from the plant canopy.

Giixer 600W LED with bloom booster
Cost: $60-$70 on Amazon
Says 600W but it’s more like 250-300W in all honesty.
Veg and Bloom Switch (or you can run them together)
This is like a very cheap mini Blurpurple or King LED
Was it worth it? If I had to buy this again, I wouldn’t knowing what I know now.
If you’re pinched for cash and want to grow a single plant, This is an OK option if nothing else
is available.

With a little experience under my belt and my second plant being neglected I just had to find
something better. I came across a few posts talking about BloomPlus LED’s. Pulled the trigger and bought a PB 1000. The light itself is pretty simple and straight forward. Nothing
hidden or left to figure out, Waterproof board, LED’s laminated to an aluminum plate then coated with a silicon layer for waterproofing…
This was by far my brightest LED to date. extremely impressive right out of the box.
Strong red LEDs with hyper white and orange LED’s. There is a Bloom switch on this
board so that option is available to you if it’s something you require. The brightness is good
but definitely NOT 1000W. More like 400-500w. Still, on it’s face it was an upgrade.

Bloom Plus 1000W LED
Cost: $78.00 on the FleaBay
Says 1000W but more like 400-500W
Veg with a switch for Veg&Bloom mode. Can’t separate the two.
Generates a LOT of heat, seems decently built, straight forward.
It helped my second plant without a doubt. Increased the brightness of my grow area
substantially.
Was it worth it? Yes for the most part. If someone needed an LED for a 2X3 or a 2X2 area, and already has a decent exhaust, this isn’t a bad choice.

Now that my grow area was brighter on one side than the other, I had to retire the Giixer
and shop for something equally as bright as the Bloom Plus. Again, I turned to the forums
here and read a little about Carambola. The bigger 1500 and 2000W LED’s were a little out
of my price range. Found the 1000W Carambola on Fleabay again and the price was decent.
Did a little research and found out they were once a Top shelf LED supplier, 5-8 years ago.
This light was even more impressive than the Bloom Plus. However, again, I was a little
disappointed that it wasn’t a true 1000w LED. It was getting closer though and this is right
about 600W in brightness. The LEDs gave off a noticeably whiter and redder color hue.
The plant under it was definitely reacting to the difference.

Carambola 1000W LED
Cost: $85.00 Fleabay
Says 1000W but closer to 600W
I’m glad I bought this light even though it’s in mothballs now because it showed me what
REAL grow lights with an LED source was supposed to be like. This opened my eyes WIDE.
Worth it? Yes, absolutely.

Once I bought my tent, it was time to move to the big-boys table. Pony up to the bar and
order my first shot of whiskey. Little did I know, the ‘cheap prick’ in me had one more swing
left in him. Again, I was surfing the internet and found out about COB LED’s. As I waited for my tent to arrive, I saw a sure fire deal that I couldn’t pass up. A UFO COB LED, what could
go wrong, right? Well, I dodged a bullet on this bad boy. 300W Deep spectrum 390-450nm
LED’s. Having read somewhere before that the lower the NM on the light spectrum, the better
and more effective it is when time for bloom. Again, that ‘cheap prick’ had his way with my
credit card, and in short order it arrived before my tent did. I was actually shocked. The 300w
light was as bright as my Carambola LED, half the price and it was bigger than I thought,
The light it gives off is definitely a deeper IR because you can feel it on your exposed skin
if you’re in the tent long enough. This Grow-star is something different. Although it’s china
made, it’s not the average piece of communist slave labor crap.

Grow Star 300W Full Spectrum LED with Deep Red IR
Cost: Amazon $47.00
Says 300W and it is every bit of 300W.
Before I finally boxed up and buried the ‘cheap prick’ in me, he finally bought something
decent before I smacked him in the head and put him 6 feet under.
Was it worth it? For under $50 bucks? Hell yes.

This post is just an example of what NOT TO DO.
DON’T buy cheap crap if you can help it.
For all the money spent on this junk, I could have bought a CLW Solar Extreme 550.
Save the little extra money to buy right the first time. You’re not going to find you’re way
around an obstacle that has been attempted by the smartest minds in this hobby. Think
you’re doing or discovering something new? You’re NOT. Listen to the guys and gals
that have been down this road LONG before you showed up to the party.
A wise man made a comment on my post once and it couldn’t be more profound.

Buy NICE or buy TWICE,

I’m now using a California Light Works Solar Extreme 250. The $350.00 I spent on this
light was eclipsed LONG ago with all this junk that passed thru my door. I could of had
this light LONG ago. Avoid my mistakes and do yourself, your check book and your
family a favor. Think about where you’re going with this hobby and purchase a light
suitable for THAT application the first time.

My Wattage comparisons are from memory, after visiting a Hydroponics store and looking at the varied HPS, T5’s and plasma lights, and how bright they were in comparison.