So Where's all the Radion G5 Pics

this is me · Mar 3, 2020

With all the hype of G5 and the dump of G4 on the used market, I expected to see tons of Radion G5 over members' tank pics. Who got theirs and who's still waiting? Several vendors shows in stock as early as last Monday.

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

I received my two G5 XR30 Blues and put them together with my G4s. To me they're not as blue as they claim. The lights have more coverage and are definitely brighter when compared side by side. The AB+ on the Blues is definitely not what I expected since I run a modified AB+ on the G4s at 80% intensity with diffusers. Big difference between the two. I can say overall once I played with the G5s for a few days and dialed them in to match my G4s by dialing back the cool white and cyan a bit the color/blend appears identical to the eye. G5s total overall intensity is at 65%. I run my G4s with diffusers and the output/shimmer from the G5s is very similar. Since there are more LEDs the G5s are blinding if they catch your eye which to me is a distraction. I'll be putting diffusers on the G5s once released by Ecotech. Once those are in place I'll test with a par meter to dial things in a bit more. Not sure if its the additional colors on the G5 but several of my Acros colors seem to pop more than with the G4s.

To me the G5s are worth it since the price difference is only about $162 from the G4 XR30 Pros with diffusers that recently were blown out. I'd rather have a new G5 that will hold more value over the next couple years. In the event I decide to move away from Radions. The G4s are great lights that will soon not hold nearly as much value as they once did. I keep seeing G4 XR30 pros with diffusers used for $300. So why would I buy a new G4 XR30 pro with diffuser for $672. Once the G5s are paired with the Diffusers there is only a $195 difference. Personally to me didn't make any sense for me to buy more G4s which may not have lost their appeal but definitely lost significant value.

As for Mobius it still has some bugs to work out it seems from everyone's experience so far. Only complaint I have is occasionally Mobius cannot detect my lights. So in order to change my settings on my lights I have to restart my iPhone, disable my Bluetooth or the restart Mobius app. Only once did I have to restart the G5s for Mobius to recognize them.

ca1ore · Mar 3, 2020

Highgrade said:
The G4s are great lights that will soon not hold nearly as much value as they once did.

I'm counting on it ….. since I need another X30 Gen4 Pro.

Highgrade said:
Personally to me didn't make any sense for me to buy more G4s which may not have lost their appeal but definitely lost significant value.

Depends on what the new ones are selling for. Seems there isn't a bunch of inventory of Gen4 lights anyhow. I'd imagine ETM worked with the large resellers to work down old inventory ahead of the Gen5 launch.

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

ca1ore said:
I'm counting on it ….. since I need another X30 Gen4 Pro.

Depends on what the new ones are selling for. Seems there isn't a bunch of inventory of Gen4 lights anyhow. I'd imagine ETM worked with the large resellers to work down old inventory ahead of the Gen5 launch.

Only one valid place I know of that has G4 XR30s pros in stock with the diffusers is Premium Aquatics. Hit up Luke to confirm. https://premiumaquatics.com/products/ecotech-radion-xr30wg4pro-led-light.html

CrackCorals · Mar 3, 2020

Highgrade said:
I received my two G5 XR30 Blues and put them together with my G4s. To me they're not as blue as they claim. The lights have more coverage and are definitely brighter when compared side by side. The AB+ on the Blues is definitely not what I expected since I run a modified AB+ on the G4s at 80% intensity with diffusers. Big difference between the two. I can say overall once I played with the G5s for a few days and dialed them in to match my G4s by dialing back the cool white and cyan a bit the color/blend appears identical to the eye. G5s total overall intensity is at 65%. I run my G4s with diffusers and the output/shimmer from the G5s is very similar. Since there are more LEDs the G5s are blinding if they catch your eye which to me is a distraction. I'll be putting diffusers on the G5s once released by Ecotech. Once those are in place I'll test with a par meter to dial things in a bit more. Not sure if its the additional colors on the G5 but several of my Acros colors seem to pop more than with the G4s.

To me the G5s are worth it since the price difference is only about $162 from the G4 XR30 Pros with diffusers that recently were blown out. I'd rather have a new G5 that will hold more value over the next couple years. In the event I decide to move away from Radions. The G4s are great lights that will soon not hold nearly as much value as they once did. I keep seeing G4 XR30 pros with diffusers used for $300. So why would I buy a new G4 XR30 pro with diffuser for $672. Once the G5s are paired with the Diffusers there is only a $195 difference. Personally to me didn't make any sense for me to buy more G4s which may not have lost their appeal but definitely lost significant value.

As for Mobius it still has some bugs to work out it seems from everyone's experience so far. Only complaint I have is occasionally Mobius cannot detect my lights. So in order to change my settings on my lights I have to restart my iPhone, disable my Bluetooth or the restart Mobius app. Only once did I have to restart the G5s for Mobius to recognize them.

The g5 blue is meant to mimic ab+ so you should be putting the lights on 100 percent and then lowering the intensity to your liking to achieve the ab+

dadnjesse · Mar 3, 2020

I just switched from 3 G4 pros to 3 G5 Blues. I never used diffusers on the G4's and IMO the G5's are less blinding and don't need Diffusers, plus you lose par with them.

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

austinleelevy said:
The g5 blue is meant to mimic ab+ so you should be putting the lights on 100 percent and then lowering the intensity to your liking to achieve the ab+

I'm well aware of this. All channels at 100% on the G5 Blues is not appealing to my eyes. Definitely way Whiter than claimed. Not blue at all. Seems more like 12k-14k

this is me · Mar 3, 2020

What's the thought on the fan? Noise?

oreo54 · Mar 3, 2020

Highgrade said:
I'm well aware of this. All channels at 100% on the G5 Blues is not appealing to my eyes. Definitely way Whiter than claimed. Not blue at all. Seems more like 10k-12k

Hmm. Sure you didn't get the pro??
I know web photo and subject to "interpretation".. but just for grins

ecotech_gen5_radion_provsblue-png.1442709

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

this is me said:
What's the thought on the fan? Noise?

When they run at full speed they're louder than the G4s, When running at normal speed they're isn't much noticeable difference from the G4s.

TMC1313 · Mar 3, 2020

oreo5457 said:
Hmm. Sure you didn't get the pro??
I know web photo and subject to "interpretation".. but just for grins

Don't the blues have a blue heat sink? Should be very easy to tell apart.

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

oreo5457 said:
Hmm. Sure you didn't get the pro??
I know web photo and subject to "interpretation".. but just for grins

The heat sync is blue and boxes show Blue. LOL I was wondering the same thing. All of the LED diode colors match up. Running the channels all at 100% no matter what the intensity the look appears to be like the Pro in your photo.

Bpb · Mar 3, 2020

Highgrade said:
I'm well aware of this. All channels at 100% on the G5 Blues is not appealing to my eyes. Definitely way Whiter than claimed. Not blue at all. Seems more like 10k-12k

I haven’t seen it. So I admit my expectations are heavily limited, but having used 10,000K halides before, and seeing a roughly 10:1 blue to white ratio on the xr30 blues, it’s hard to believe everything at 100% is anywhere near 10k. The AB+ on previous editions of radion and also on hydras is bluer than my 20,000k mh. Can you share a white balance accurate picture? I’m just super skeptical that it’s actually THAT white

GermanJosh · Mar 3, 2020

Highgrade said:
I received my two G5 XR30 Blues and put them together with my G4s. To me they're not as blue as they claim. The lights have more coverage and are definitely brighter when compared side by side. The AB+ on the Blues is definitely not what I expected since I run a modified AB+ on the G4s at 80% intensity with diffusers. Big difference between the two. I can say overall once I played with the G5s for a few days and dialed them in to match my G4s by dialing back the cool white and cyan a bit the color/blend appears identical to the eye. G5s total overall intensity is at 65%. I run my G4s with diffusers and the output/shimmer from the G5s is very similar. Since there are more LEDs the G5s are blinding if they catch your eye which to me is a distraction. I'll be putting diffusers on the G5s once released by Ecotech. Once those are in place I'll test with a par meter to dial things in a bit more. Not sure if its the additional colors on the G5 but several of my Acros colors seem to pop more than with the G4s.

To me the G5s are worth it since the price difference is only about $162 from the G4 XR30 Pros with diffusers that recently were blown out. I'd rather have a new G5 that will hold more value over the next couple years. In the event I decide to move away from Radions. The G4s are great lights that will soon not hold nearly as much value as they once did. I keep seeing G4 XR30 pros with diffusers used for $300. So why would I buy a new G4 XR30 pro with diffuser for $672. Once the G5s are paired with the Diffusers there is only a $195 difference. Personally to me didn't make any sense for me to buy more G4s which may not have lost their appeal but definitely lost significant value.

As for Mobius it still has some bugs to work out it seems from everyone's experience so far. Only complaint I have is occasionally Mobius cannot detect my lights. So in order to change my settings on my lights I have to restart my iPhone, disable my Bluetooth or the restart Mobius app. Only once did I have to restart the G5s for Mobius to recognize them.

same connectivity issues on G5s, for the first time, they are BOTH connecting at the same time

Naturalreef · Mar 3, 2020

I have to admit, mine doesn’t look as blue as that picture either. I wonder if the software needs tweaking with the templates.

GermanJosh · Mar 3, 2020

TMC1313 said:
Don't the blues have a blue heat sink? Should be very easy to tell apart.

I can confirm that all channels on the G5 BLUE at 100% are Definitely white. even turning down the intensity, they're still white

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

Bpb said:
I haven’t seen it. So I admit my expectations are heavily limited, but having used 10,000K halides before, and seeing a roughly 10:1 blue to white ratio on the xr30 blues, it’s hard to believe everything at 100% is anywhere near 10k. The AB+ on previous editions of radion and also on hydras is bluer than my 20,000k mh. Can you share a white balance accurate picture? I’m just super skeptical that it’s actually THAT white

Trying to work on some pics but good ol Mobius is acting up. Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but still not as blue as I expected. On another note my wife claims I'm color blind. Maybe that has something to do with my perspective. LOL I'll try to grab some comparisons between G4 Pro AB+ and G5 Blue

Highgrade · Mar 3, 2020

GermanJosh said:
I can confirm that all channels on the G5 BLUE at 100% are Definitely white. even turning down the intensity, they're still white

Thank you.... so I'm not crazy

Naturalreef · Mar 3, 2020

I just tested the G5 Blue again @ 100% all channels and it looks very white to me. More like 12-14k. I really hope they need to fine tune the templates, not liking the color at 100% all channels. Also, lots of creaking from the plastic with sunrise to sunset due to temp of led’s.

Devildawgusmc_1 · Mar 3, 2020

I got 2 G5 Pros last Friday to replace the Current USA IC Pros that I had on the tank. Night and day difference, the corals almost instantaneously started to swell and look more lively.