Competitor Comparison

Irradiance figures above 200 mW/cm² are generally produced by measuring very close to the panel and/or using optics that concentrate the beam. Infraredi confirmed its 250 mW/cm² figure is measured at 0 cm. Closer measurements and narrower beam angles raise the reading at a point, but can reduce the evenness of light distribution across the treatment area. Irradiance is only comparable between panels when measured at the same distance and the same beam angle.

The vendor's own product page contains conflicting wavelength information.

These prices are published in USD and shown above as approximate AUD conversions. Calculations use an indicative rate of A$1 = US$0.706 and are rounded; delivery, taxes and exchange rates may change the landed cost.

Some panels include blue wavelengths such as 450 and 480 nm. Blue light sits outside the red and near-infrared range that red light therapy research is built on, and it does not penetrate tissue in the way red and near-infrared light does. This row therefore counts only the red and near-infrared wavelengths each panel emits. See our wavelength research for the studies behind each wavelength we use.

A narrower beam makes a panel look stronger on paper. Beam angle sets how tightly each lens concentrates its light, so two panels of equal output report very different irradiance unless the distance and the beam angle both match. On a simple geometric model a 30° lens concentrates its output into roughly a quarter of the area a 60° lens covers at the same distance, which raises the reading at a point without producing any more light. Hero300 Elite uses a 60° beam: its 172 mW/cm² solar-meter reading at 7.5 cm (3") is approximately what a 30° panel would read at about 15 cm (6"). This concerns the concentration of the light, not the size of the panel - where two panels have similar dimensions they treat a similar area of the body, and the wider beam trades a lower headline figure for more even delivery with fewer hotspots. This is a geometric approximation intended to aid comparison, not a laboratory measurement.

Irradiance can be measured with a solar meter or with a spectrometer, and the two do not agree. A solar meter is a broadband sensor calibrated for sunlight: independent laboratory testing of the TES-1333 - the meter used for the readings in this table and for our Dosage Estimator - shows it over-reads red by roughly 1.2x and near-infrared by roughly 2.6x. A panel weighted towards near-infrared therefore posts a much larger solar-meter figure than a red-rich panel of identical real output, and near-infrared is invisible, so the weighting that produces the biggest headline number is the one you cannot see. We measured Hero300 Elite on both instruments at 7.5, 15, 23 and 30 cm: applying those published correction factors to our solar readings reproduces our spectrometer readings to within 2% at 15 cm. Distance compounds the problem - across those same four distances, at an unchanged spectrum, our own solar-to-spectrometer ratio moved from 2.00x to 1.70x on distance alone. BlockBlueLight publishes both figures for the PowerPanel MEGA - 167 mW/cm² by solar meter and 89 by spectrometer at 15 cm - and states that its solar figure is "for competitor comparison purposes only and shouldn't be used for dosing purposes". Several figures in this row are published with no instrument and no distance stated, which means they cannot be converted or compared at all. Our Dosage Estimator works from the corrected values.

Peak is the single brightest square centimetre; average is what your body actually receives - and the area that average was taken over decides everything. These are not all measured the same way: PlatinumLED's accredited average is taken over a 15 x 15 cm square at the centre of the panel, where any panel reads highest, while Mito's is taken over the full panel footprint, an area roughly ten times larger. A central-patch average and a whole-panel average are different quantities and cannot be ranked against each other. What can be compared is evenness. Mito's accredited pair is 72.5 peak against 53.5 average and PlatinumLED's is 112.2 against 83.1 - drops of 26% each across the measured area, with PlatinumLED's near-infrared varying by 3.4x between its brightest and dimmest points. Sampling across the face of Hero300 Elite in a separate session returns 73.1 peak against a 65.9 average, a 10% drop, which is what a 60° beam is for. Distance matters as much: irradiance from a large panel does not follow the inverse-square law at close range, so a reading at 7.5 cm cannot be compared with one at 15 cm. Hero300 Elite holds roughly 90% of its 15 cm reading at 30 cm; the BIOMAX 900 holds 86%. Five of the panels in this table publish no spectrometer figure at any distance.

Several vendors advertise "free shipping" that applies only within Australia, or within Australia and New Zealand. InfraHeal's site states "free worldwide shipping" on the product badges and "FREE SHIPPING AU & NZ" in its site banner; that row is marked as conflicting for that reason. This row records free shipping worldwide, not free domestic shipping.

A wavelength count tells you which wavelengths a panel can emit, not how much of each it delivers. A panel can list a wavelength while assigning only a small number of its LEDs to it, and the published specification will look identical either way. Where a manufacturer does not state the distribution, the intensity of any individual wavelength cannot be determined from the specification. This table marks equal distribution only where the manufacturer states it, and records "Not specified" where it does not. Joovv states a 74 red / 76 near-infrared split across its 150 LEDs, which is close enough to even that this table records it as an equal distribution. BlockBlueLight publishes an unequal split for the PowerPanel MEGA - 16/17/17/14/14/13/9% - which is disclosure without equality: its weakest wavelength arrives at roughly half the share of its strongest.

Panel wattage is quoted two different ways, and they are not comparable. Some manufacturers publish a nominal LED rating - LED count multiplied by each LED's maximum rating - which produces headline figures like 900 W or 1,500 W. No panel runs its LEDs at maximum, because doing so would overheat the unit, so that figure is a theoretical ceiling rather than anything the panel draws. BlockBlueLight, for instance, advertises 1,500 W for the PowerPanel MEGA - 300 LEDs at 5 W each - while publishing 580 W as what it actually draws. Every competitor figure in this row is that brand's own stated draw, not its marketing headline. Separately, bigger LEDs are less efficient: an LED's wall-plug efficiency falls as its output power rises, so 5 W LEDs produce less light per watt than 3 W LEDs and reach the same irradiance only by drawing more electricity. Hero300 Elite would need 455 W of 5 W LEDs to produce the irradiance it currently produces on 273 W of 3 W LEDs - 182 W of extra power for no extra light. Why 3 W LEDs outperform 5 W

Joovv publishes its irradiance only as ">100 mW/cm²", with no measurement distance and no upper bound. A figure quoted as a minimum tells you what a panel exceeds, not what it delivers - it is satisfied by 101 mW/cm² as readily as by 200. Every other irradiance figure in this table is a stated value.

Joovv does not state whether its LEDs are single- or dual-lens. The entry here is our reading of the product photography on their own site rather than a published specification, and we record it as inference rather than as a manufacturer claim.

TLA's zero-EMF claim appears on the Pro IV 1500 product page but names a different device in the body of the paragraph - the "TLA Black II 1800". We record the claim as it appears and flag it as unverified for this model rather than assuming it carries across.

Contradictory information; specifications say 360 LEDs, however photos show 140 LEDs. The entry here is our reading of the product photography on their own site rather than a published specification, and we record it as inference rather than as a manufacturer claim.

Mito claim this is a full-body panel however, being just 20cm longer than most half-body panels and having the same 300 LEDs and a thinner profile, we would still consider it a half-body panel.

EMF and noise readings are only comparable at the same measurement distance; the distance is shown alongside each figure.

“Not specified” means the detail was not found on the current product or policy page; it does not necessarily mean the feature is absent.

The Dosage Estimator provides approximate, research-informed educational guidance and is not medical advice.