Hobolite LED Lights Bring a Touch of Style to the LED Lighting Market

Lighting News

by Julian MitchellMay 19^th, 2023

A new lighting company, Hobolite, is marketing its range of LED lights and accessories to a wide spectrum of videographers and photographers with prices from around $300 to $3000. Let’s look at the details.

The lights come in kits with continuous LED bi-color models. Hobolites immediately stand out from similarly priced products with almost a consumer market feel to their industrial design. (Tell us what you think of the designs below in our comments section).

Kits and accessories

Initially, Hobolite LED lights are available in three kits, each with different lights, prices, and accessories. The kits are called Mini, Avant, and Pro. Interestingly, resellers like B&H have further mixed and matched the lights and accessories to expand the kit choice.

The Mini standard kit includes a 20W light with accessories like a barn door, honeycomb, diffuser dome, color filter gels, and adjustable lens, all for $299. A variant of the standard kit is a similarly priced Creator that adds a V-mount cold shoe adapter, a V-mount Bullhead tripod adapter, and a desktop tripod. The kit is priced at $399.

The Avant 100W standard kit includes similar accessories but adds a V-mount clamp, a V-mount handle, and the Avant power supply. Again, there are variations to this kit, including Starter kits and Creator kits.

The 300W Pro kit adds the Pro Remote Control, a 95W V-mount battery, a dual V-mount charger, a softbox, a tripod, and a semi-rigid case. All the cabling that you need is also included. Again, there are another five kits designed around the Pro light, with assorted mixes that are also available if you want to further tailor your order.

More about the Hobolite LED lights themselves

Spec–wise, the smallest of the Hobolite LED lights is a COB design that offers 20W with a CRI/TLCI of 96+ and bi-color from 2700k to 6700K. The lens will let you spot and flood from 15˚ to 45˚. The battery integrates into this model and results in a weight of just over one pound. Its dimensions are 2.56×3.25×4.1in. There is also a quick-release V-Mount adapter for other batteries and accessories.

The light unit itself is covered with faux leather and has large knurled controls at the top. Aircraft-grade aluminum covers the rest of the light. A four-button quick-setting system takes you into its UI. The 100W light is also a COB design and has similar specs but with a weight of just under 3 lbs. 

The 300W Hobolite is ‘Bowens mount compatible’ and comes with a detachable 3.5 inch high-contrast control panel for remote use up to 20m. The light has a built-in active cooling fan and Hobolite’s Smart Thermal Response system. All lights have Bluetooth and NFC connections for app control.

Design and origins

Hobolite is part of the Chinese company AEC Lighting. They call themselves ‘China’s best manufacturer of work lights”. Among their products, they include UV–C lights for sterilization and motion sensor work lights. Hobolites give them an entry into the huge content creator market but for some, their designs wouldn’t work in the tough day-to-day professional world of lighting. However, their style might appeal to creators who value good-looking kits as highly as performance. I can think of many YouTubers who would consider these lights as desirable additions to their sets, especially if they’re in-picture.

So what do you think? Let us know in the comments below why you would consider investing in Hobolites or why they wouldn’t fit in to your production gear.