To safely drive on the road, there’s a couple of equipment you can get for your car. Among those, an automobile’s headlights are probably the most important.
Many people opt for Sylvania products because of their high quality and durability. But since the manufacturer offers a wide variety of car products, the average customer might find it challenging to make a choice.
There are two popular Sylvania headlight models that we’ll compare below—the Silverstar Ultra vs Zxe.
Main Features of the Silverstar Ultra
The Silverstar Ultra model has been around for a pretty long time, which is why it’s quite the popular choice. The model covers a wide range of your needs as a car owner.
For example, the Silverstar headlights are blue light coated, making it easier on the eyes of both you and pedestrians. The product also features Xenon technology that fuels the bulb with safe halogen gas. However, there’s more to the Ultra than what meets the eye.
Let’s go through the other main features of the Silverstar Ultra model:
Light Output
A Silverstar Ultra bulb has a voltage power that ranges from 800 to 1,000 lumens. This, in turn, means a clear vision of the road ahead. It also means the Silverstar model increases your car’s visibility up to 40%, which is quite decent.
Not just that, but the Ultra headlight’s high output of light helps you see the front of your car on a broader scale. Meaning they allow you to have a crisp and clear visual further down the road. They’re supposed to boost your peripheral vision by 50%.
Light Temperature
Light temperature is the feature responsible for the headlight’s color and its strength. For the Silverstar Ultra model, it has a color temperature of 4,100k. As a result, it’s a white light bulb with a safe-on-the-eye blue coating.
It’s worth noting, though, that this range for a color temperature is quite rare to find in the shops of other manufacturers. In addition, while Silverstar’s temperature won’t give you LED white light clarity, it still does an excellent job of providing a bright vision of the road.
Design and Technology
The manufacturers at Sylvania generally like to go the simpler road when it comes to installation. That’s why the Silverstar Ultra is user-friendly and easy to install. Sylvania improved on its classic bulb models and created a pair of unique and stylish headlights.
The interesting thing about the Silverstar model is that its design features exposed wiring. That way, you can see the inner workings of the headlight, such as the filament and the power transmission wire. Plus, the bulb’s size is suitable for multiple standard cars, trucks, and SUVs.
In addition, the technology behind creating this headlight makes it easy to plug and build the bulb in your car. As a result, the Ultra’s shelf life expectancy is somewhere between 1 and a half to 2 years.
Main Features of the Silverstar Zxe
The Silverstar Zxe headlight is a recently released model by Sylvania and so hasn’t been around as long as the Silverstar Ultra. As a result, the Zxe bulb features a lot of improvements.
Similar to its forerunner, the Zxe is a white light bulb. It’s also both SAE and DOT approved. However, this model doesn’t feature the Ultra headlight’s blue coating.
Here are the main features of the Silverstar Ultra headlight:
Light Output
Compared to the Silverstar Ultra, the Zxe has 1,400 lumens. This makes the latter model brighter and more HID-like than the Ultra bulb. A similar point between both models, however, is that they’re both fueled with Xenon halogen gas.
In addition, because the Zxe headlights aren’t blue-light coated, their shine can be quite luminous. This provides vehicle drivers with a better visual of the road they’re on. It also increases your chances of safety and visibility on night-time drives.
Light Temperature
As mentioned before, higher temperature equals stronger voltage power, and the Zxe headlights slightly one-up the Silverstar Ultra in this category by 10%. That’s because Zxe bulbs have a temperature of 4,200k. Consequently, the bulb’s light power increases by 1000k as well.
Similar to the Ultra bulb then, the Zxe model gained a lot of popularity because of this hard-to-find technology. Zxe headlights grant you an HID or LED feel without having to buy and install a kit that’ll provide the same results.
Design and Technology
Because both models are made by the same manufacturer, the technology behind either isn’t that different. Their design, on the other hand, slightly differs. The Zxe model has metal scraps that cover its inner wirings as opposed to its predecessor—the Ultra.
Consequently, Zxe headlights have a cleaner finish. Plus, it’s made the model more expensive than the Ultra one, even though they both have similar bulb sizes.
Zxe bulbs also burn faster and at a higher rate than the Silverstar Ultra, making their life expectancy much shorter. Zxe headlights are expected to last anywhere from 18 to 24 months before you should replace them.
However, as both headlights use Xenon technology, the light can be harsh on bystanders. It can also harm your eyes in the long term, especially if you’re weak-sighted. That doesn’t mean you can’t use them, though. The two headlights are legal to use on the road.
Final Verdict
Out of both headlight choices, which is the best option to go after? Considering the comparison above and the features we covered for both products, we’ve concluded that the Sylvania Silverstar Zxe is the better bulb.
This is mainly because the Zxe model is brighter and gives you more advantage on the road than its counterpart. Additionally, the bulb is as closest to a LED light as you can get since it provides the same benefits of having one.
That being said, you do have to keep in mind the short life of the Zxe headlights. Remember also, their lack of blue-light coating makes them harsher on the eye, and they’re more expensive.