Budget COB LED Strip Review - High Density, Decent CRI on a Tight Budget
Hi everyone, I recently found a super cheap COB LED strip (less than $10/5m on AliExpress). The specifications are 12V, 480 LEDs/m, 4000K neutral white. I wanted to share the actual test results to see if it’s worth buying for desk lighting or under-cabinet lighting.
Basic Parameters:
Type: COB flexible strip (no obvious hot spots, uniform light emission)
CRI: Not specified by the seller, but visually estimated at 85+ (significantly better than ordinary 5050 LEDs, white light does not have a greenish tint)
Waterproof: IP20 (indoor use)
Actual Usage: Installed in an aluminum heat sink for heat dissipation, using an old 12V 5A power supply, it ran at full power for 2 hours without problems. The brightness is sufficient (visually estimated 800-900 lm/m²), suitable for desk backlighting or kitchen auxiliary lighting. The voltage drop is small; only 0.2V drops at the 5m power supply end.
Advantages: Super uniform, no graininess
High cost-performance ratio, suitable for budget-conscious consumers
Cutable and bendable, DIY-friendly
Disadvantages: White light channel CRI is not as high as high-end 95+, but it’s surprisingly good for this price range
The included adhesive is not sticky; clips or aluminum channels are needed for fixing.
Does anyone have recommendations for COB LED strips within a similar budget? Or sources of high CRI LEDs? I’m considering buying a warm white version to try.
Neither one is making any sense. If you meant 480LEDs/m, that means each LED takes up less than 2.1mm of space: emitter, soldering pads, trace and all. I have never seen this in any sort of illumination device.
If you meant 480LEDs/m^2: why would a strip, a linear object, have a density measured per m^2?
Most of the claims in this review are non-measurable and non-falsifiable, i.e., “not even wrong”. The lack of photos in this review (and past reviews) is suspicious. At this point, I find it not unreasonable to echo @EddieSalita’s suspicion:
It’s an COB stripe, the can do that.
It’s easier for 4000K stripes to looks nice and those COB strips are high CRI more often.
I’m on m phone right now, bit search for Auxmer on AE for ight Quality strips that cost not much for what you get but are still expensive in comparison with those cheap strips.
Quality and good price → Gree (not Cree)
Especially the SunLike strips are very good for the price:
I use them in my non-window bathroom and are very happy with them. I mixed 5000K and 4000K.
I also use those Sunlike LEDs for two of my aquariums. They aren’t very efficient, but the light quality is top notch.