The Sanrise Aqua LED is a new flagship light from the Chinese manufacturer whose fixture is stealthily hiding a cool suite of innovative features. LED fixtures have gotten so slim over the last few years that it’s easy to make a very different light that superficially looks like a generic black box.
In Sanrise’s case, the black box is more of a slim black slab and you’d be forgiven for overlooking it, as most of the really cool action is under the hood. The sleek Aqua Sanrise uses the usual array of white and blue LEDs, with a smattering of red and UV thrown in for good measure and balancing out the spectrum. But there’s a few details about the arrangement of the LEDs that really is worth a second look.
First of all, the Aqua Sanrise uses Cree XPE and XTE diodes which are tightly grouped into clusters of three, and each ride a common secondary lens – the tight grouping allows all the LEDs to fit under one relatively small lens, and should really help with color blending wether you’re using the available 90 or 120 degree beam angle. By far the most interesting feature of the Aqua Sanrise is the use of individually replaceable LEDs.
The LEDs used in the Aqua Sanrise ride tiny little boards that click into their electrical connector and are further secured into place with just two small screws. Clearly, most people will likely use the stock array of LEDs that are offered in the light fixture bit not since the MaxSpect Mazarra have we seen user-replaceable individual LEDs, but we are excited about the return of this feature.
The Aqua Sanrise is available in two sizes, a 160w with 36 LEDs, and a 220w with 48 LEDs, with the option of using either 90 or 120 degree cluster lenses. The Aqua Sanrise has both a manual adjustment knob on the edge of the fixture for direct control of the three LED color channels, as well as wireless connectivity with mobile devices using the Android or iOS application. The only thing we’re not quite sure about is where you can get the Aqua Sanrise or how much it will cost.
What makes the Aqua Sanrise LED truly stand out is the reintroduction of individually replaceable LEDs, allowing users to not only have a high performance, app-controlled LED light but also to be able to fine tune the LEDs to whatever spectrum users desire. Most importantly though, from what we can see it appears that the Aqua Sanrise looks really good over small and large reef tanks, and we are really looking forward to seeing this lighting fixture in use over actual reef tanks. [Sanrise]
