I remember seeing your thread years ago and I followed along with most of it but didn't feel inclined to make the change since it seemed like the LED technology was still changing for the better. Obviously, we are now almost 5 years past your initial post in that thread and I am again thinking of making the change. When I commute to work, it's always in the dark in the morning (but has been only a handful of times since Covid).
Yeah, I expect the technology has probably continued to improve since the model I picked. At least, one would hope. I feel for you, trying to figure out what to buy is horrible because you can't believe or trust most "specifications" which lie about everything, and most users' reviews being generally useless. And when a reasonable model does come out, they often disappear before any long-term data is known.
I can say that the bulbs I chose were, in fact, dimmer than the HID I had before. But the HID had to be replaced because the bulb hi/low movement was sticking and the bulbs were scorching the reflector. At least what I found has a great pattern and is a little brighter than the conventional bulbs.
Doing a quick Amazon search, I found these which are fanless and non-adjustable angles.
Yikes. No heat sink OUTSIDE the headlamp assembly. That is a big red flag. And having no adjustability is a negative (to me, anyway). Also only claim 30K hours life, when 50K is the standard. I like that there are no external power boxes (which is surprising) but that means the regulator is ALSO at/in the bulb, adding more heat!
I also found these which are a funky design, but they claim better heat dissipation because of it
But still no heat sink outside the assembly.
And then I found a BeamTech bulb
Ditto
LED's are very sensitive to overheating. Too much heat will make them dimmer faster and reduce their life. I can't believe they can dump enough heat INSIDE the headlight enclosure to be safe. Perhaps the technology has changed and my assumptions are no longer valid, though?
But from what I still think is true, I would look for a fanless design with a reasonable external heatsink, as well as adjustable tilt (if possible).