Top 10 Best LED Tail Light Bulbs
Now that LED lighting technology has gotten significantly cheaper over recent years, manufacturers are able to offer a wide assortment of vehicle bulb replacements at an affordable price. LED light bulbs are a great upgrade to any vehicle, enhancing visibility to make your driving experience a bit safer.
While LED headlight bulbs are a more common upgrade, since increasing forward visibility can make a significant difference in your driving experience, upgrading your tail light bulbs serves a purpose as well. Enhancing the visibility of your brake lights, reverse lights, and rear turn signals will make it safer for those driving behind you, helping decrease the possibility of getting rear-ended. Brighter brake lights, for example, can be seen from further away, allowing the driver behind you to react sooner and quicker.
Along with being brighter, LED bulbs tend to use less power and have a much longer average lifespan compared to conventional halogen bulbs.
For more information about LED tail light bulbs, refer to our table of contents.
Table of contents
- 1. Editor's Pick: JDM ASTAR PX Chipsets LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 2. Philips LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 3. JDM ASTAR EX Chipsets LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 4. AUXITO LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 5. Alla Lighting LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 6. LUYED LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 7. Yorkim LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 8. LASFIT LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 9. LUYED White LED Tail Light Bulbs
- 10. Antline LED Tail Light Bulbs
- What are the Benefits of LED Tail Light Bulbs?
- How to Choose the Right LED Tail Light Bulbs
- Recent Updates
1. Editor's Pick: JDM ASTAR PX Chipsets LED Tail Light Bulbs
Available in a variety of fitments, these LED bulbs come in white, red, or amber yellow, so you can use them for your reverse lights, brake lights, and turn signals. The red bulbs features 21 pieces of high power PX chipsets per bulb, lasting up to 20,000 hours. These bulbs use plug-and-play technology and offer extremely bright output, while being waterproof and housed in an enclosure manufactured from aircraft grade aluminum featuring a glass lens.
If you're looking for backup reverse lights, JDM ASTAR offers 1260 lumens per bulb for that particular application. JDM ASTAR offers a one-year warranty on its bulbs.
This particular bulb has an overwhelming number of positive reviews, making it our pick. There are a small number of complaints of premature failure, while other vehicles experienced error codes when using these bulbs.
Pros | Variety of fitments, available in red, yellow, and white, PX chipsets, plug-and-play, aircraft grade aluminum housing, 1260 lumens per bulb, one-year warranty |
Cons | Estimated life of 20,000 hours (lower than other LED bulbs), possible quality control issues, error codes on some vehicles |
2. Philips LED Tail Light Bulbs
A trusted brand in the lighting industry, Philips also offers red and white LED bulbs in a variety of applications for tail lights. These LEDs work for brake and tail lights, backup lights, and even dome lights, glove compartment lights, trunk lights, and license plate lights. Philips claims its Vision LED lights last 12 years guaranteed with fast response time thanks to instant-on capability.
Both the red and white bulbs offer 6000K lighting, making them street legal. These bulbs are moisture proof, as well as heat and vibration resistant.
Overall, most users are very pleased with Philip's LED tail light bulbs, but they are a bit more expensive than the competition. In addition, some users did note that they were a tight fit in their specific vehicle and the bulbs didn't work entirely on some cars.
Pros | Trusted brand, red and white, 12-year lifetime, 6000K lighting, moisture proof, heat/vibration resistant |
Cons | Price, some complaints of a tight fit, number of issues with specific vehicles |
3. JDM ASTAR EX Chipsets LED Tail Light Bulbs
Another offering from JDM ASTAR, these bulbs use EX chipsets that aren't as bright at 1200 lumens per bulb. This particular bulb offers 6000K white output and should only be used as a backup light. Fitments include 3156, 3056, 3456, 4156, 3047, 3157, 3157A, 3057, 3155, 3157NA, 3357, 3457, 3457A, 4057, 4114, 4157, and more. Each set of bulbs use 144 pieces of EX chipsets and come with a one-year warranty.
More affordable than the PX Series, these bulbs do not feature an aircraft grade aluminum housing, but use a similar glass lens.
Like the other JDM ASTAR bulbs, these have an overwhelming number of positive reviews. Some users do complain about early failures and that the bulb isn't snug enough on some fitments.
Pros | 1200 lumens, 6000K output, one-year warranty, glass lens |
Cons | Complaints of early failures, not a snug fit on some applications |
4. AUXITO LED Tail Light Bulbs
Auxito also offers backup LED tail light bulbs that fit the following sockets: T15, 912, 921, 906, 904, 902, W16W as a plug-and-play application without modification. Each bulb features 15 pieces of 2835 SMD LED lights, offering three times the brightness of a standard reverse light bulb. Auxito's bulbs feature a built-in intelligent IC driver for better performance, delivering a more stable input current to protect the circuit for a longer lifespan. The bulbs' 12- to 16-volt wide voltage design offers CANBUS protection so they're compatible with most vehicles.
This company offers a 12-month warranty on items damaged during shipping or confirmed to be a manufacturing defect.
Users found these bulbs to be extremely bright, delivering on their promises. There are however, a small number of complaints of early failure and errors on certain vehicles.
Pros | Extremely bright, plug-and-play, built-in intelligent IC driver, 12-month warranty |
Cons | Only available for reverse lights, small number of complaints of early failure and errors |
5. Alla Lighting LED Tail Light Bulbs
Alla Lighting's offerings come in 6000K Xenon white, pure red, or amber yellow so you can fully equip your tail lights with new bulbs. The Xenon white bulbs features 39 pieces of 2835 LED chips per bulb, with three of the bulbs found inside the projector lens. The amber yellow bulbs also feature 39 pieces of 2835 LED chips and can be used for upgrading the stock T25 socket (3156 / 3157) turn signal light or blinker light.
The pure red bulbs are compatible with both standard type and CK/SRCK type. They also use 39 pieces of 2835 LED chips per bulb, but it's worth noting these are not CANbus error free. For some vehicle applications, it may be required to install a load resistor to avoid any sorts of issues or error codes.
For tail lights, these bulbs work as replacements for turn signals, backup reverse lights, and brake lights. Each 3157 bulb is about 1000 lumens and have a built-in intelligent IC driver for better stable current performance and heat dissipation for improved lifespan.
Alla Lighting offers a fully guaranteed one-year warranty for manufacturer's defects on its products.
While most users are satisfied with this bulb, there are some issues worth noting. The most notable complaint has already been mentioned, with users needing to install a load resister to avoid certain error codes. Others experienced issues just a few months after installing the LED bulbs.
Pros | Available in red, yellow, and white, 2835 LED chips, 1000 lumens, built-in intelligent IC driver, one-year warranty |
Cons | Not CANbus error free, fitment issues on certain vehicles, reports of premature failure |
6. LUYED LED Tail Light Bulbs
Sporting a standard 1156 socket, these LUYED LED bulbs are reverse light replacements, emitting a 6000K to 7000K Xenon white light. These use 54 pieces of 3014 chipsets per bulb and supports a working voltage range of 12 volts to 24 volts. LUYED claims these bulbs have a lifespan of over 40,000 hours.
These bulbs fit a variety of applications including 1156, 1156A, 1156NA, 87, 97, 97A, 97NA, 199, 631, 1073, 1095, 1141, 1195, 1295, 2396, 3497, 5007, 5008, 7506, 12088, 1295NA, and more.
The company offers a one-year warranty from manufacturer defect on its products. These bulbs are sold in a pack of five.
They have an overwhelming number of positive reviews, with owners praising how bright they are. There are however, reports of difficulty installing them in certain applications and a small number of complaints of early failure.
Pros | Extremely bright, Xenon white light, 3014 chipsets, 40,000-hour lifespan, one-year warranty, price |
Cons | Loose fitment on some applications, only available as reverse light replacements |
7. Yorkim LED Tail Light Bulbs
Yorkim's lineup of LED bulbs is quite comprehensive, with a pair of T10 bulbs (Samsung and 5730 chipsets), a T15 bulb (2835 chipsets), and two 3157 bulbs (Cree and 5050).
The T10 Samsung chipset bulb is sold in a 10-pack, with the Samsung LED chips radially mounted around the bulb to create a wide 360-viewing angle. The company promises these bulbs deliver no flickering, no UV light emission, and no IR radiation. They offer 6500K white emission and can fit numerous applications with T10, 921, and 194 wedge base.
The T10 5730 chipset bulbs use six 5730 SMD LEDs radially mounted around the bulb, emitting 6500K white, while the T15 2835 bulbs use 15 pieces of 2835 chipsets for extremely bright performance.
The T15 bulbs are equipped with a built-in CANbus driver to bypass errors for most cars, although some European cars may still require a decoder. These bulbs should only be used as backup reverse lights.
The 3157 bulbs that use 10 Cree chipsets offer 6500K white light with 1300 lumens per bulb. These are commonly used for brake lights, backup reverse lights, and parking lights.
Lastly, there are the 3157 bulbs equipped with 18 pieces of 5050 chipsets for superior brightness.
All of Yorkim's bulbs come with a one-year warranty and are designed to operate at low temperature with lower power consumption and long-lasting life at up to 50,000 hours.
Most users are happy with how bright these LED bulbs are and how well they work, especially given their price. Some users had to purchase resistors to bypass CANbus errors, while others say the fitment was loose in their particular vehicle.
Pros | Variety of bulbs and colors, price, bright, one-year warranty, 50,000-hour lifespan |
Cons | Some users needed resistors to bypass errors, loose fitment in some vehicles, possible quality control issues |
8. LASFIT LED Tail Light Bulbs
Manufacturer LASFIT offers a wide range of bulbs, fitments, and colors. These bulbs feature a unique aluminum heatsink design for better heat dissipation and use high power 3030 SMD LED chips to offer 360-degree beautiful bright light. Each bulb uses 10 LED chips to produce peak output, helping generate less heat compared to other bulbs that sometimes use as much as 50 chips. LASFIT's bulbs also take advantage of a built-in constant current IC driver to ensure reliability even with voltage fluctuations.
Color choices include amber yellow, white, blue, gold yellow, green, ice blue, pink, red, and even dual color.
The bulbs are designed to connect to the same socket and electrical connector, so they'll fit perfectly in the same light housing on most vehicles.
LASFIT offers a 45-day money back guarantee and a one-year hassle free warranty on its products.
These bulbs have a small number of negative reviews, with some users experiencing errors and constant flashing when the bulbs are used for the turn signals. However, most of the reviews are positive, with owners feeling like they purchased quality, well-made bulbs that are as bright as advertised.
Pros | Wide range of bulbs, fitments, and colors, high quality, aluminum headsink, 3030 SMD LED chips, built-in constant current IC driver, one-year warranty |
Cons | Possible CANbus errors on some vehicles, hyperflashing when used as turn signals |
9. LUYED White LED Tail Light Bulbs
Another offering from LUYED is this 3157 socket bulb, featuring 3014 chips and offering 6500K Xenon white light. These bulbs can be used as replacements for reverse lights and brake lights in a vehicle's tail light. Each bulb features 78 pieces of chips, offering 900 lumens.
LUYED claims these bulbs have at least 40,000 hours of lifespan. This product fits 3156, 3056, 3356, 3456, 4156, 3047, 3157, 3157A, 3057, 3155, 3157NA, 3357, 3457, 3457A, 4057, 4114, 4157, and more.
Most users found these bulbs to be very bright and easy to install, but some did have complaints about needing resistors to avoid errors. Some owners couldn't get the bulb to work on their specific vehicle however, so make sure they fit your vehicle prior to purchasing.
Pros | Bright, 900 lumens, 6500K Xenon white light, 40,000-hour lifespan, variety of fitments, easy to install |
Cons | Fitment issues, not compatible with all vehicles, some owners needed resistors to avoid errors |
10. Antline LED Tail Light Bulbs
One of the most affordable options is a 20 pack of LED tail light bulbs from Antline. These bulbs output 600 lumens and feature 50 pieces of 3014 LED chips per bulb. They use a unique 360-degree design to enhance brightness and fits a variety of applications: 1156, 1141, 1003, 7506, BA155, 1073, 1095, 1156A, 1156NA, 1195, 12088, 1295, 1295NA, 199, 2396, 3497, 5007, 5008, 631, 93, 97, 97A, and 97NA.
Antline offers a 1-year warranty of its bulbs if they were damaged on delivery or have a confirmed manufacturer defect.
Given their price, it's not a huge surprise that this product does have some negative reviews, with mostly complaints about quality issues and early burnout. Keep in mind however, that these are some of the most affordable LED bulbs you can purchase, so if you're willing to take the gamble, they are a pretty good option. Most users are happy with their purchase and haven't had very many issues.
Pros | Price, 1-year warranty, 30,000-hour lifespan, low power consumption, 3014 LED chips |
Cons | 600 lumens, possible quality issues, early burnout |
What are the Benefits of LED Tail Light Bulbs?
Although it's generally cheaper and easier to use traditional halogen or light bulbs, switching to LEDs has become much more cost effective in recent years. Upgrading to LED light bulbs means lower power consumption, much brighter light output, quicker response time on brake lights and reverse lights, and a lifespan that will possibly outlast your vehicle. So although LED light bulbs may cost a bit more up front, you won't be switching them as often, meaning they actually save you money in the long run.
How to Choose the Right LED Tail Light Bulbs
Like traditional halogen bulbs, LED light bulbs are offered with certain fitments to replace specific bulbs. You'll want to begin by checking the type of bulb you need for the specific light you wish to swap out, whether it's the brake light, reverse light, or turn signal. If you're looking for the easiest installation process, you'll want to make sure the bulb you are purchasing is plug-and-play, otherwise you may need a professional to install them. Compared to LED headlight bulbs, you may have a more difficult time finding plug-and-play options for your tail lights.
Once you have determined the bulb you need, you'll want to choose the right lumens or light output. The brightness of LEDs is measured in lumens instead of watts, and generally, anything over 1200 lumens may be considered too bright when being used in your tail lights. Brighter bulbs however, are handy if you're planning to go off-road or often drive in inclement weather.
Just as important, you'll want to check with the manufacturer to make sure your specific vehicle won't throw any error codes when using a specific LED tail light bulb. Lastly, some bulbs are recommended to only be used for the reverse lights, so double check to make sure a particular bulb is compatible before installing them as a brake light or turn signal.
Recent Updates
Feb 24, 2022: Promoted Product recommendation removed.
February 1, 2021: Updated with a promoted product recommendation.
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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