AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[Rimsky]

Just ordered 4 A8se to replace some AI Sol Blues. Controller crapped out, and I'm not in the mood to try to find another. I imagine after 10+ years, the output on the AIs has diminished, especially considering some diodes are burned out. With all 4 at 100% I need more light anyway. Hopefully they show up in a week as claimed.
I wanted to get Reefi's, as I'm quote happy with the one I have on another tank, but these are just so much cheaper.

So you opted for the A8SE and not the A8? I understand the A8SE is the one that costs less and does not come with Cree LEDs nor with Mean Well transformer. Is that right?

 

[paul01609]

Paul I noticed your using the itc parwise could you post a screen shot of the spectrum you managed to achieve with these lights?

Will try at weekend when I have time

 

[Jposch]

So you opted for the A8SE and not the A8? I understand the A8SE is the one that costs less and does not come with Cree LEDs nor with Mean Well transformer. Is that right?

Yes. The value juat isn't there for me on the As. Too close in price to the far superior Reefi Uno 2.0.
I have one on a tank ans it's very nice. But, saving $1,200 I a set of 4 lights is a big difference. $900, not as much to be chancing "probably fine" aliexpress lights.

 

[Rimsky]

Yes. The value juat isn't there for me on the As. Too close in price to the far superior Reefi Uno 2.0.
I have one on a tank ans it's very nice. But, saving $1,200 I a set of 4 lights is a big difference. $900, not as much to be chancing "probably fine" aliexpress lights.

I understand. Can you please give us feedback when you receive them? Overall quality, if you had any serious issues with the app, if possible a comparison with other lights that you may have (vs. G5 even better), etc. I think these lights look promising.

 

[Jposch]

Another factor, if I was looking for cree leds and meanweel divers for a diy build, aliexpress would NOT be a place I looked.
Buying name brand components from a knock off company just seems...unintelligent. lol

 

[Jposch]

I understand. Can you please give us feedback when you receive them? Overall quality, if you had any serious issues with the app, if possible a comparison with other lights that you may have (vs. G5 even better), etc. I think these lights look promising.

I can compare to Reefi, or ai sol super blues. Lol
I'm a halide guy, so takes a lot for an led to impress me. I will say, I really like the reefi. I know it's sounding like a sales pitch...my only gripes are not enough white light, I believe the panel should be larger for the light output, and I'd like a way to adjust the entire schedule intensity up all at once while locking the ratios. The way it is now, you must adjust each channel on each interval, so if I want the same spectrum, but just a bit more light, it's like 100 steps.

With the A8se, it seems that you have to switch back to Chinese after you are familiar with the app in order for the timer and ramping to work without issues. I'll try it both ways. Perhaps they fixed the app issue after all of the bad reviews. Should be here Friday, but I won't gwt them hung for a bit, so I can play around measuring par over a 150g rubbermaid I have sitting around empty.
I'll need to build a whole frame to attach the A8se's to that fits the tank and surrounds the 15" wide halide reflector.
Setup I was running, but I bought a much bigger reflector for the halide that mounts the bulb vertical to increase spread and reduce the hot spotting. The AI sol blues...well, they are weak, old and the controller crapped out, so they are just 100% on with a timer for now.

 

[Onewheeld]

Will try at weekend when I have time

Awesome,cheers pal!

 

[blebs]

anyone try this with an android phone?

 

[Jposch]

Well here is my 6 month review.

I have had the light running on my sps only tank (6 months old) since January of this year. I bought it for $250 USD shipped with a North American power supply. It is as close to a radion as you will ever see. The fans are the same, the lens cover is the same, the housing is near identical with the main difference being the cord runs through the back of this light. The LED count, color and type is the same. I have dissembled my radion G5s to compare components and the only striking difference is the radions run a 10 channel system controlling all colors of leds while the A8 runs 6 and the radion uses Bluetooth connectivity while the A8 uses wifi (will touch more on this).

I currently have the light running beside two g5 XR30 blues and 95% of people would not be able to tell the difference. The color blends perfectly and the par is actually slightly higher than that produced by the radions. The A8 runs a warmer color overall and more closely resembles the pro version of the radion but with minor tweaks in color you can produce the “radion blue” look with very similar par results. With the light set to full intensity I was pushing well over 800 par in the upper parts of the tank. I currently have it set to about 75% blue channels and 20-30% whites and reds and am achieving 600+ par at the top 6” and 150-250 on the bottom 24” down.

Upon first setup I initially struggled with programming the light as it is in Chinese and the English app was not functional at the time. With the help of Google translate and some back and fourth with the supplier I managed to get the Chinese app working while they made improvements to the English app (which is now fully functional). After setup I took the time to create a manual for the light that I provided to the supplier with illustrations on how to program the Chinese app if you only know English. Feel free to reach out and I will provide the document.

As for the connection. I have found it more reliable than the radions Mobius. I have come home many times to my radions being out of schedule, changing times, and only running red/green/individual channels. In all my time with the A8 I only lost connectivity twice. The first time the power went out and the light was running 1h behind schedule until I opened the app and set to current time. The other time the light must have completely lost connectivity and reset to the default 5% on all channels until I reconnected.

Now does it grow coral? Absolutely and oddly enough all my most vivid pieces are underneath the A8.

I have been so impressed with this light that I put my radion G5s up for sale. I figured for the price I sell my G5s for I can purchase about 10 of these lights as they give a discount on 10 units. In all aspects I see that as a win.

Are you using the English version of the App? How do I know it's going to turn off when I set it to? I guess for now, I'll just wait and see.
Also not sure why it seems to not keep the time setting. Asks me to manually change it each time I open the individual light on the App.
I switched the time zone, and doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

[Jposch]

TLDR: Reefi remains the value king as @telegraham has said.
Imo, not even worth spending $300 on the A8 if you only need one or 2 for a tank.

I just got my lights today. A8SE. The cord is a foreign one, but it comes with a very suspect adapter. I'll be replacing the 120v cords with old extra ones.
The X-arm brackets snap in place nice and tight, but the center hole on all 4 has a fracture from the factory.
Won't have a chance to get them hung over the tank for a week or so. Plenty bright. I stand by reefi over the A8 "upgrade" model. For a sliver more money. You get a far superior light. Admittedly, I've never used radions, kessils or hydras. Only cheap crap, DIY, and my current ancient AI sol Blues.
The Reefi UI isn't an app, but just a web portal. No big deal. Seems better than a broken app.
Assuming a viparspectra only draws 105w like other black boxes, I'd definitely go for these. There are lighting presets and schedules. You can even download and upload custom presets publicly, as well as save them privately. Not sure the timer function is working, as I only have a 1hr ramp on each end and 100% power for 12 hours between since that's how I'll run them.
Definitely the same nasty light spill I've seen from radions. The reefi is no BS in that regard. Very little light spill.

 

[Jposch]

Only ran one of them overnight to see if timing worked. Seemed to. Only works right in Chinese mode though. So, I can do everything in English, but then switch to Chinese to send the schedule to the lights. No too bad. The light spill is atrocious. Pretty sure that's normal with Authentic Radions. Idk. Seriously awful. I'd never spend $1,000+ on one of these things. It's worse than halides or t5. Found these reflectors at rhe dollar store though. Lol

 

[Reefing102]

@Jposch I do appreciate the information and follow up to this!

 

[Jposch]

Trouble connecting to access the lights today. I'll try a router reset next, but that's the last thing to try besides delteing app and starting all over. Can direct connect, but will fail again once added to the network.

 

[telegraham]

Only ran one of them overnight to see if timing worked. Seemed to. Only works right in Chinese mode though. So, I can do everything in English, but then switch to Chinese to send the schedule to the lights. No too bad. The light spill is atrocious. Pretty sure that's normal with Authentic Radions. Idk. Seriously awful. I'd never spend $1,000+ on one of these things. It's worse than halides or t5. Found these reflectors at rhe dollar store though. Lol

Maybe Jay didn't give the A8 enough credit when they had it at Ecotech. Sorry...that's just me being a jerk about the spill/glare.

 

[Reefing102]

Trouble connecting to access the lights today. I'll try a router reset next, but that's the last thing to try besides delteing app and starting all over. Can direct connect, but will fail again once added to the network.

Did you get this figured out?

 

[Jposch]

They reconnected after resetting the lights, deleting and reinstalling the app. My wife was acting up yesterday, so could have just been then that. We'll see if it happens again. So far, for the price, they're about as expected.

Did you get this figured out?

I did. May have been me jumping the gun, but I deleted the app, I think I reset the lights? and then went through the whole setup ordeal again.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

My wife was acting up yesterday, so could have just been then that.

Yeah, when my wife acts up, she does have a tendency to effect things around her. Show me where the reset button is. Hehe

 

[Jposch]

Yeah, when my wife acts up, she does have a tendency to effect things around her. Show me where the reset button is. Hehe

that is NSFW and many struggle to find it.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

TLDR: Reefi remains the value king as @telegraham has said.
Imo, not even worth spending $300 on the A8 if you only need one or 2 for a tank.

I just got my lights today. A8SE. The cord is a foreign one, but it comes with a very suspect adapter. I'll be replacing the 120v cords with old extra ones.
The X-arm brackets snap in place nice and tight, but the center hole on all 4 has a fracture from the factory.
Won't have a chance to get them hung over the tank for a week or so. Plenty bright. I stand by reefi over the A8 "upgrade" model. For a sliver more money. You get a far superior light. Admittedly, I've never used radions, kessils or hydras. Only cheap crap, DIY, and my current ancient AI sol Blues.
The Reefi UI isn't an app, but just a web portal. No big deal. Seems better than a broken app.
Assuming a viparspectra only draws 105w like other black boxes, I'd definitely go for these. There are lighting presets and schedules. You can even download and upload custom presets publicly, as well as save them privately. Not sure the timer function is working, as I only have a 1hr ramp on each end and 100% power for 12 hours between since that's how I'll run them.
Definitely the same nasty light spill I've seen from radions. The reefi is no BS in that regard. Very little light spill.

I have the kessil knockoff and it's about the same experience, but being out of only 90$ with shipping, I wasn't upset.

Thanks for the review! I wanted to see what these was about.

 

[Jposch]

I have the kessil knockoff and it's about the same experience, but being out of only 90$ with shipping, I wasn't upset.

Thanks for the review! I wanted to see what these was about.

I really don't seen any hardware concerns, and they have been improving the software, but I suspect like all of the ultra cheap aliexpress lights, they'll wind up on Amazon in no time and the price will double or triple, making them a poor value. I personally don't like the radion style, so that does make me biased against them pretty hard. I did look at the kessil style, but just not enough power for me.