Run hot? That's not true. I don't hear the fans running any louder than the T5 fixtures I used to use.
The corners cut are the obvious- not as controllable as the others, not as much advertising, not as many options..
Many are slapping their names on these fixtures. Reefbreeders being one of them.
I believe these are not "cheap", but priced reasonably. The others are price gouging IMO. Offering unnecessary options to make their fixtures sound better than the next guy.
I have 5 of these. 4 non-dimmable, first generation units, and 1 dimmable unit. All are working well and making my tank look great, with very little heat and half the wattage I was using prior.
This is not rocket science. Reef lighting needs to:
1-be powerful enough to keep your photosynthetic creatures
2- produce a light that's pleasing to the eye
These fixtures do both of these things
LED lighting needs to be efficient per watt.
These fixtures also accomplish this.
Jessica, you only need the 120 watt ones.