How to Choose and Buy LED Strip Lights Buying Guide

1. Chips
Chips of LED strip lights include domestic ones, Taiwan-made chips, as well as imported chips(including chips from U.S., Japan, Germany, etc.). Different chips are labeled with different prices. The most expensive chips come from U.S., which is followed by Japan's and Germany's. Taiwan-made chips are affordable for many manufacturers.

2. Sealing
There're 2 types of sealing, resin sealing and silicone sealing. The resin one is cheaper, but the thermal performance is a bit weak. The silicone one has good thermal performance while the price is more expensive.

3. LED Color Consistency
Though currently there are a lot of packaging factory, but most of small packaging plants have no color separation machine. Thus it is difficult to control the quality. Without spectral separation of the LED, the color consistency would be poor. The light effect of LED strips is not so good. of course. the price difference will be relatively large.
smd led strip

4. Soldering Effect
There're 2 types of soldering, manual soldering and machine soldering. The later is much better than the former one because the soldering quality is much better. A good soldering ensures a good protection of chips from burning out.

5. Certification
You'd better check whether the FPC is certified with environmental certification, or UL certification. Also please check whether the manufacturers have LED patents. LED strip lights with certification or patents are more expensive.

6. Brightness
Different prices for different LED brightness. Purchaser must be clear the difference before they make a decision.

7. Colors
Because it's more difficult to do color separation process of white strip, and green strip, the price of these color strip lights are relatively high. Stip lights in red, yellow, blue and other colors are cheaper. Lights with special colors, such as purple, or brown, are most expensive.

8. Size and Specification
The prices can be different due to different sizes and specification. For example, the price of 0603 LED strips is different from that of 1210. The prices of 1210 and 5050 also differ from each other.

9. Surface Cleanliness
The surface of strip lights, which are produced with SMT technology, is much cleaner. But the one produced with manual soldering can be found with traces of stains and cleaning. Also there remains flux and tin slag on FPC surface.

10. Packaging
Normally, LED strip lights, usually 5m or 10m in a roll roll, will be packed with anti-static packaging trays, and moisture-proof outer package. Some manufacturer would not use the package tray or waterproof package for cost-saving purpose; thus lights from these manufacturers are cheaper, but the quality is not as good as the other's.

11. Label
There is a printed label mark, instead of extra paper printing labels, on lights' package. Specifications and parameters of poor quality strip lights could not match the product's itself.

12. Accessories
Usually, LED strip lights will be sold accompanied with user instructions, specifications, and connectors or deck. If not, you'd better check the light quality once more.