Which one to choose：COB VS SMD led strip?

Light is to space what air is to life. In space design, light is an indispensable decorative element. The most commonly used is led strip. LED strip is often divided into cob and SMD. What is the cob light strip, what is the SMD light strip, and which one is more suitable for you? Of course, each design has its own advantages, which will be explained in this article. I hope this article can be helpful to you.

1. Compare to COB and SMD LED Strips

• What is COB and SMD?

COB is the abbreviation of “Chip On Board”, which means that the chip is directly packaged on the PCB. The COB led light strip is a light strip that encapsulates the chip on a flexible board. Chips mostly use flip-chips, which are linearly solid-bonded on the PCB, and then a layer of packaging glue mixed with phosphor is directly dropped on the surface of the chip.It is a new type of process technology, Its internal structure is composed of PCB(printed circuit board), phosphor encapsulation, chip and gold wire.

SMD refers to the term “Surface Mounted Device” LED Strip Lights, which are the utmost shared LEDs in the market. The LED chip is eternally fused to a printed circuit board (PCB), and it is especially popular because of its versatility. The PCB is built on a rectangular-shaped, flat object, which is what we usually see as SMD. Its internal structure is composed of PCB(printed circuit board), solder point, bracket, phosphor encapsulation, chip and gold wire.

• Beam Angle
  

Before, we learned about the structure of cob led strip and SMD led strip. The cob chip is directly connected to the PCB, emitting light directly from the bottom without any obstacles, so the light-emitting angle can reach 180 degrees. The patch led strip has a bracket,  so its light-emitting angle can only reach 120 degrees under the influence of the bracket.

• Good flexibility
  

The flexibility of cob flexible led strip is one of its characteristics. It is very soft and can withstand stronger deformation, which makes it easy for you to get the shape you need.

With the strong adhesive, the led cob tape are easy to install in narrow places. such as modeling, advertising, luminous signs, contours and so on.

• Uniform light

The application of these two technologies will result in a significant difference in the quality of light that is produced. This is mainly because they both feature different numbers of diodes used which affects the brightness and extent of the light. Therefore, COB led strip light will produce an even and glare-free light. When it comes to SMD, the light produced features a glare and is best used as a point light.

SMD led strip light also has its advantages. Compared with cob led strips, SMD led strips have many kinds of products and rich colors, such as 2835, 5050, ws2812b and other different product series. The colors also include single-color, RGB, RGBW, CCT, rgbcct, Digital, etc., which can easily meet your different lighting needs.

In addition, if you want the SMD light strip to bring the same linear light as the led cob light strip, you can use LED aluminum channel and neon tube to solve the dark area and light spot of SMD led strips.

There are also hundreds of different styles of aluminum profiles, which are suitable for different installation methods and different application scenarios. You can find these on the COXO website.

2. How to Choose?

The type of lighting option you decide to choose will depend on various factors, including the light’s efficiency, brightness, cost-effectiveness, and application. Both lights are reliable, produce bright light, and are energy efficient. For instance, if you want more brightness, You can choose SMD led strip, which can achieve higher brightness. If you want uniform light and no spot light effect, You can choose COB led strip.

3. Looking For a Lighting Supplier For Your Projects?

Shenzhen COXO Technology Co., LTD is a lighting manufacturer in China. It mainly provides LED strips, connectors, LED aluminum profile, power supplies, controllers and other products. We can provide one-stop solutions for your indoor and outdoor lighting projects. Welcome to contact us for quotation.