If you’ve ever driven at night on a dark and lonely road, you’ll appreciate how important your car headlights are. You might know that there are different types of car headlights. In the past several decades, car lighting shifted from incandescent light bulbs to all-famous halogen headlights, and then from xenon lights to LED lights in cars. It has become stronger and brighter.
But whether you love modern headlamps or still a crazy fan of the classics, you should always remember that headlights are necessary. While looking at things aesthetically, they do keep in the car spotlight. The brighter they are, the more attention they grab. More to this, they surely keep you and other fellow drivers safe during night driving. So, whenever you’re on the road, make sure your headlights are bright and in working condition.

Unfortunately, opting for low-quality car lights, which are made without proper calculations, are the sources of such incidents. Conversely, they don’t light the road in the long run due to inadequate engineering. So, you have to be very picky when it comes to headlights because premium ones not only clarifies the driving journey, but even consumes less battery, and provides a luxurious appearance to your car.
If you’ve ever been to the car shop and were confused when the salesman was asking what kind of car lights you wanted, then this article is for you. Scroll down to see the durable, and superior headlights that will fit your car flawlessly. We’ll cover the different types of car headlights that there are, explain their uses, and select the best one.
Here is a complete list of the best car headlight for your car.
Best Car Headlights Guide & FAQ
Even some of the darkest valleys and highways are vivacious when the headlights are sound. And you are much more safe and secure from life-threatening accidents. As a car owner, you should know what headlights suit your car, but generally, you should only choose the famous brands to make sure you don’t have to replace them for some long durations. Such decisions are advantageous in the long run as it saves your time and money. Plus, your car battery doesn’t drain quickly, as good headlights consume moderate energy, and you get free from additional costs.
How to Adjust Headlights?
Car lights have come a long way from the original tungsten filament light that was first introduced and was subsequently replaced by the halogen headlight bulbs in the early 60s. They remained the standard for almost 30 years until the early 90s when “Bayerische Motoren Werke” released the BMW headlamp, and 13 years later, Audi released the LED headlights.
Did you know that your headlights don’t point straight forward, but are actually aligned towards a side depending on your country’s drive side? For countries with left-lane traffic, the cars have low-beam headlights that dim to the left, which distributes the light with a downward/leftward bias.

This bias helps drivers see the road and signs ahead without blinding oncoming traffic. For instance, this means that you cannot buy a headlight in France if you’re going to drive in Ireland unless you get the lights calibrated.
This is where a car headlight adjustment chart comes in. It is an important document that you’ll need during your headlight assembly. It will give you the proper instructions for aligning your headlights. Now that we know a bit more about car headlights, let’s define some terms that we’ll need going forward.
Auto-Leveling/Load Adjustment: This is usually used on trucks. It means that the headlights will adjust themselves and dip the beam downwards so that other drivers don’t get blinded if the vehicle becomes higher or lower based on the load carried or its acceleration or deceleration.ECE & SAE: As you can probably guess, this is a standard rating.
ECE means that the lamp can be used in the EU and most industrialized countries outside it. The SAE is the rating used in the US. Lumens: This is the standard used to measure light output. If you are wondering how many lumens is a car headlight (how bright a car headlight is), most cars use 700 lumens on Low Beam headlights and 1,200 on high beam headlights.
What Are the Different Types of Car Headlights?

A reflector headlight is a headlight configuration where the light comes from a bulb in the center of the headlamp and is reflected off the sides of the housing. This spreads the light from the bulb unto the road in front of the car.
Headlights reflector VS headlights projector
Projector headlights, on the other hand, project the light rather than simply reflecting. The housing of projector headlights is different, which allows more control on the light beams as they are emitted from the housing. Reflector headlights are the most common style of headlights and are mostly found in older models.
What are Halogen Lights?
Halogen headlights usually contain a gas, usually a combination of nitrogen and argon, and a tungsten filament, all encased in a glass tube made to resist very high temperatures. When the halogen bulb receives electrical current from the car, the tungsten filament heats up and creates light.
Halogen bulb headlamps are the most common headlights that you find in the automobile world and are estimated to be installed in as much as 80% of all cars worldwide. It became standard in the 60s because it was cheap and easy to replace, which meant that car owners could easily replace headlights. In addition to these, halogen bulbs come on quite quickly.

However, there are some disadvantages to using a halogen bulb headlamp. The first is that they are inefficient and dim when compared to other light options. A standard halogen bulb would produce only 1300 lumens. Halogen headlights are also extremely sensitive to substances, and oily residue on the glass will affect the heat distribution and lower the lifespan.
LED Headlights
Light-emitting-diodes (LED) car lights are some of the most energy-efficient headlamps available. They became available quite recently, and are considered one of the best headlight bulbs on the market.

They are versatile and can be made into different shapes other than a bulb, giving designers more design options, as they could great small and big headlights as they wanted. LED headlamps are also much cooler than other headlights, which makes them last even longer. However, they still require heat sinks and cooling to function optimally.
What are hid headlights?
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) or xenon headlights contain a mixture of gases and rare metals that are heated to generate a bright white or blue glow, which looks great. HIDs are about two to three times brighter than standard halogen bulbs, producing over 3000 lumens.

They require more power to start but consume lesser power to continue running. They are also known as Xenon headlights, as they contain Xenon as one of the chief gases in the bulb.
Laser Headlights
Lasers are being proclaimed as the next best headlights on the market. They are a very new technology that uses lasers to create light. Not to worry though, it’s completely safe as the lasers are emitted from the headlamps, rather, the headlight assembly uses lasers to excite gases instead of electricity.

It is also very versatile. Laser and LED bulbs are the most adaptive headlights, able to switch between high and low beam headlights in under a second if an oncoming car is detected. While Laser headlights are very new and might take a while to become mainstream as they are only found on luxury cars right now, they offer significant promise in the future.

Summary
Now you know your car headlights, and the next time you’re planning to buy new car parts, you know what else to add to your list of “must-haves.” Headlights are not only used to lighten up the way, but they even work to send signals to other drivers and riders whenever you are about to overtake or planning to switch lanes.
So, it is also advisable that you replace your car’s headlights after every few years because even some of the expensive lighting equipment loses their illuminating power when utilized on the daily basis. Therefore, keeping them in a tip-top condition is one of the best ways to maintain your car. Also, getting next-level car lamps enhances your vehicle’s overall look. And lastly, a pair of headlights allow you to drive with confidence and peace of mind.