Advanced Platinum Series LED Grow Light Review

Advanced Platinum LED grow lights enjoy a stellar reputation, but cost less than other top lights.

Are these lights really as good as they say or is it just a bunch of marketing hype?

After an extensive review, I’ve learned that the answer isn’t that easy.

There is definitely some hype and also some misleading information provided by the manufacturer (unfortunately all-too-common in this industry).

On the other hand, these lights are very impressive, especially when you consider the price.

Obviously, they’ve got a few weaknesses, but overall, these light represent some of the best value LED plant lights on the market.

I highly recommend them.

There are six lights in this series: the Advanced Platinum P150, P300, P450, P600, P900 and P1200. Let’s begin by comparing them.

 

Advanced Platinum Series Comparison Table

 

Advanced Platinum LED Grow Light Review

Actual Wattage And HID Equivalent

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The table below shows the actual wattage and the HID equivalent wattage for each fixture in the Advanced Platinum Series:

The actual wattage figures are averages.

Because these lights have separate veg and bloom modes, the actual power draw will vary, depending on the mode. In veg, the light will use less power than in bloom, because your plants do not need the same intensity during vegging.

In terms of wattage for money spent, this line of lights is on par with some of the most expensive LED fixtures on the market.

There are not many lights that deliver this kind of power for such a relatively low price and the ones that do, generally have quality issues, because the manufacturers cut corners elsewhere.

 

Platinum LED Grow Light Spectrum

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Platinum LED use a a combination of differently colored LEDs (12 different color wavelengths in all) to create a full-spectrum light that is specifically tuned for all stages of plant growth.

The image below shows the light spectra of a Platinum LED fixture, a cheaper LED light and an HPS bulb (the colors) overlaid with the chlorophyll absorption graph (the lines).

As you can see, both Platinum lights and cheaper LEDs have a lot of light in the same wavelengths where chlorophyll absorption is highest (the peaks occur at the same wavelengths).

This shows that these LED lights provide specifically those colors of light that plants need the most.

By comparison, HPS bulbs give off a lot of light in the green and yellow ranges. The chlorophyll absorption at these wavelengths is very low, meaning plants can’t use this color of light.

This is why good LED fixtures are so much more efficient than HPS: you’re not paying for the electricity to produce a bunch of lights your plants can’t use.

When compared to cheaper brands, the Advanced Platinum Series lights give you more output in the red and blue ranges, plus they have infrared and ultra-violet diodes.

In the graph above, the ultraviolet range is the small purple peak on the far left of the graph and the infrared range is the small red peak at the far right.

These lights all feature separate veg and bloom modes that have slightly different spectra.

In vegging mode, the red light output is dialed back, since plants don’t need as much red light during this stage. As a result, the unit uses even less power and you save.

This ability to save money by configuring the spectrum is a feature generally found on the most expensive fixtures, so it is a welcome surprise to see LED grow lights in this price range that give you the ability to customize the spectrum.

 

PAR And Coverage Area

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Platinum LED do not provide PAR charts, but not many manufacturers do. Instead, they provide single PAR numbers for each light at various distances from the top of the canopy.

The problem?

An individual PAR value tells you how powerful the light is dead center. It tells you nothing about the intensity around the outside of the coverage area.

Platinum LED claim to give you the highest PAR output per watt. But if all of that PAR is concentrated in the middle and the values a foot or two off center are very low, then the light would be useless for anyone growing more than one plant.

I find single PAR values misleading and I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed in Platinum LED here.

I know most LED manufacturers use figures that are slightly misleading, but there are also a few who don’t and I wish Platinum (and others) would follow their lead.

Now the bizarre thing is this: the Advanced Platinum Series lights actually give you a pretty good light distribution throughout the coverage area. It’s not too far off the top brands, so I don’t get why they are using these misleading values.

That’s something you would expect from manufacturers whose lights are sub par, but these are actually quality lights. I hope Platinum publish some PAR footprint charts for their lights soon.

The table below shows the PAR value (dead center only, unfortunately) and the coverage areas during vegging and flowering for each light at 18 inches from the top of the canopy.

The reason there are separate coverage areas for vegging and blooming is that plants need less light during vegging. As a result, you can move the light further from the canopy, which increases the coverage area (while decreasing light intensity).

During flowering, plants need more light, so you have to move the fixture closer. This decreases the coverage, focusing more light on a smaller area.

A common complaint about most LED lights is poor canopy penetration. Most LED diodes simply don’t give you the same penetration as a powerful HPS bulb. This was actually my biggest worry in switching to LED.

That’s not an issue here, though. Platinum LED lights get create a powerful light that penetrates as deeply as the top LED brands and also an HPS bulb (this is in part because the fixture can hang much closer to the canopy).

Overall, the Advanced Platinum series of lights are equal in light output and coverage area to most of their more expensive competitors and they outdo any similarly priced lights.

 

LED Type And Configuration

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Platinum LED use only top-bin LEDs from quality US manufacturers like Bridgelux and CREE. These high quality diodes give you maximum output and reliability, while consuming less power.

Each diode is also fully zener protected, to help guard against unwanted line surges. They are rated for 100,000 hours of use. This is longer than almost all competitors and gives you 8-10 years of use without a bulb change.

Each diode is outfitted with a 90 degree lens that focuses all the light downward onto the canopy. None of the light you pay for goes off in a different direction and is wasted.

All of the lights use only 3 watt chips. These offer the best compromise between intensity and heat.

5 watt chips are more powerful and will penetrate more deeply into the canopy, but they also give off far more heat. 1 watt diodes give off very little heat, but they don’t achieve sufficient penetration to flower plants.

Most top brands use 3 watt chips, while some have started using 5 watt chips. Personally I prefer 3 watt chips, at least for now.

In the future when the more powerful chips become more efficient, I think we will see excellent lights using 5 watt and even 10 watt chips.

For now, the extra power is not worth the additional heat, since the fixtures need to be outfitted with heavy and expensive heat sinks and fans to take care of it.

 

Heat Output

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One huge advantage of using 3 watt chips is that they do not emit much heat.

Platinum LED don’t provide numbers for the heat output (few manufacturers do), but all the P Series lights emit about the same amount of heat as their competition, which is, of course, far less heat than an equivalent HID bulb.

What this means for you is that you won’t need to run air conditioning units to deal with the heat from your lighting. It’s enough to just keep air flowing through your grow room. 

 

Operation

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These lights are incredibly simple to operate. You just need to hang them (hangers included), plug them in and turn them on. There are two power switches: one for veg and one for bloom. Simply flip the veg switch for vegging and both switches for bloom. And that’s it.

I run my lights off 240 volts and Platinum LED lights automatically detect all international voltages. There’s no need to flip any switches; simply plug the appropriate power cord into the fixture (all international power cords are available) and turn on the power switch(es).

 

Dimensions

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What’s Included

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When you buy an Advanced Platinum Series LED grow light, you also get easy-to-use hangers and a power cord (all international cords available).

All P Series lights come with a complete US-based 5-year warranty that even covers shipping charges, as well as a 90-day satisfaction guarantee. If you are not happy with your light for whatever reason, you can return it within 90 days for a full refund.

Very few manufacturers offer a warranty and/or return policy this good and certainly no manufacturers with lights in this price range.

The best warranty policies are generally reserved for the very top-end lights, making Platinum LEDs warranty and satisfaction guarantee that much more impressive. They’ve basically removed all purchasing risk.

 

Pros And Cons

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Pros

• High intensity of light, especially considering the price
• Low power usage
• Great spectrum for both vegging and flowering
• Separate switches for veg and flower
• Lower price than the competition
• Great warranty and return policy

Cons

• Coverage area slightly smaller than top competitors (those fixtures cost much more, though)
• PAR measurements provided by manufacturer only taken from dead center; no values for the outside of the coverage area

>>> Read owner reviews on Amazon

 

Price

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The Advanced Platinum lights are priced well below competitors that deliver similar results. Other lights in the same price range are far inferior. Overall, price is the biggest advantage of these fixtures.

 

Advanced Platinum LED Series: Conclusion

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If you are looking for an affordable LED grow light that performs well above its price point, this series of lights is for you.

They cost less than competitors with similar performance and they outperform all similarly-priced competitors. You get a competitive coverage area, a powerful light, a 12-band spectrum perfectly suited for all stages of growth, along with low power usage and low heat output.

The Advanced Platinum Series LED Grow Lights are easily the best lights you can buy for this price, which is why I give them the highest Grow Light Info rating I’ve ever bestowed: a 4.9 out of 5. Click the button below to head to the product page on Amazon.