The NextLight 420h - The Best LED Grow Light Under $500

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Deciding on an LED grow light can be challenging. There are so many options and it’s hard to know where to start and what to look for.

The price can range from a bit over a hundred dollars for a low end LED grow light to well over a thousand dollars for something top of the line. How do you know which one you need?

Today we’re looking at the best options under $500. For the price of a new gaming console you can get a powerful and well-built grow light that will easily last at least five years. You can use it day after day and grow after grow knowing that it will always deliver great results.

If you’re just getting started, you’ll want a light that’s easy to use and will work well in a range of conditions. There are many different factors that contribute to plant health, but a consistent and powerful source of light is easily the most important. If you have the budget to spend a bit of extra money on one thing in your grow kit, make it your light.

We recommend the NextLight 420h as the best grow light for under $500.

With its all white spectrum, true 3’ x 3’ flowering coverage, and NextLight’s famous custom support, this light is pretty tough to beat!

The 420h Advantage

Coverage

You'll want at least a 3’ x 3’ grow tent if you're just starting out because it lets you grow a bigger plant without taking up too much space. (If you’re interesting in growing in a 2’ x ‘4 space check out our post on the NextLight Plus Pro)

The 420h is perfectly designed for flowering in a 3 x 3 tent. You’ll get strong, even coverage over the entire space.

5 Year Warranty

We’ve talked about this in previous articles about NextLight but we can’t stress enough how much of a life-saver this warranty is. In the unlikely event that you have any problems with your light, NextLight will overnight ship you a loaner light and you can use the same box it arrives in to ship your light back for servicing.

You’ll have quick replacement to get through your grow and your plants won’t notice a thing.

NextLight is an American company with a US based support and service team.

NextLight’s Full Spectrum

One all white spectrum you can use from seed to harvest.

Onboard dimming

You can adjust intensity from 25% to 100% without an external dimmer or manual height adjustment.

IP65 Wet Rated

You’re using your light to grow plants. Plants also need water to grow. At some point, your light is going to be exposed to water no matter how careful you. The 420h can handle getting wet and will keep on chuggin’ along.

Passive Cooling

Many LED grow lights use fans to drive heat away and prevent their internal components from overheating.

This adds two potential issues for you to deal with:

Additional heat in your grow environment that needs to be managed
Fans are often the first thing to break on a light and are critical to prevent overheating.

The 420h uses passive cooling — it’s low operating heat and large surface area make an internal fan unnecessary.

No additional heat management and nothing that can break, two less things for you to worry about.

Runner-up

The Mars Hydro FCE-4000 is another great light that’s with a bit more power at a bit lower price point.

It has many similar features to the 420h, an all white spectrum, on board dimming, IP65 wet rating but as Mars Hydro is not a US based company don’t expect the same responsiveness from their support team.

Overall this is a great alternative to the 420h if price is your biggest concern and don’t want to sacrifice too much quality.