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If you look anywhere that sells LED Strip Lights, you’ll notice that something called “COB Tape” dominates the industry now.

In plain english, COB tapes are the newer, seamless strips that don’t have that dotted look of the tapes from years ago - what we call SMD tapes.

Now strip lights have been around long enough that you may well have some in your own home, and they may well be the SMD “dotted” style tapes too.

If that’s you then you might be asking yourself, “is it worth it to upgrade to the seamless COB strips?”. Well, we think it is worth it, so here are three reasons why upgrading from SMD tape to COB tape is worth it.

You Stop Seeing Dots

This is the obvious one. The biggest advantage COB strips have over SMD strips is that they don’t give you that dotted look. Instead they give you a lovely, seamless beam of light.

It goes without saying then that if you have SMD strips, and they’re in plain view, then switching to COB tapes is a no-brainer, as they simply give you a far better quality of light.

Rather than having to look at individual dots (and partially burning out your retinas in the process), you get a much gentler glow that’s easier on the eyes, and creates a far nicer environment to be in.

Of course, if your strips are hidden away and there purely for the ‘washing’ effect, then this is less relevant to you, however, you may still benefit from switching to COB tapes…

Wall Washing Looks Less Spotty

Now this one will depend on a few factors, but the main one being how close your strips are installed to the wall onto which they are ‘washing’.

If there isn’t a lot of space, then you may get uneven wall washing from your strip lights - where the intensity of light on the wall dips every few centimetres. This is of course due to the dotted lights from your SMD tapes.

Switching up to COB tapes eliminates this completely, giving you 100% evenly distributed light.

The end result again being that the glow emitted from the tapes are much more gentle, and easier on the eyes.

You Have Far More Options With COB Tape

As the industry has veered more towards seamless COB strip lights, any subsequent developments in LED tape technology has gone ahead with COB in mind.

Here’s an example:

One of our newest ranges is our Cut Anywhere tape, which as the name suggests, is LED strips that can be cut anywhere. With our standard COB tapes, you can only cut it at pre-designated solder points, so our Cut Anywhere range gives you loads more flexibility with your lengths.

Put simply, this just wouldn’t have been possible with SMD tape. Let’s say the point at which you need to cut your tape is the exact point where the SMD is…you’re then going to end up with a tape that’s either a bit too small or a bit too long.

Another new trend that’s becoming more popular as time goes on is single colour pixel tape, that chases when you switch it on - this looks infinitely better with seamless COB tape, and would look far more jerky with SMD based strips.

And whatever the future holds for LED strip lights, you can bet that it will involve COB chips rather than SMDs.

Switching To COB Strip Lights

There are two main considerations to make when switching from SMD to COB.

The first is finding a tape that is like for like, not just in terms of colour, but also brightness.

Colour is relatively simple - if you’ve got 3000K dotted tape now, you can simply switch up to a 3000K COB tape. Brightness is where things aren’t quite as straightforward.

You may have a 9.6W SMD tape, but do you replace it with an 8W COB tape, or a 14W COB tape? This will come down to personal preference, and what your use case is for your strips.

The second thing you will almost certainly have to at least check, is the voltage.

Most SMD tapes ran at 12V, however there has been a shift towards 24V COB tapes, as the higher voltage options can be ran at longer lengths without risking voltage drop (this is where your tape starts to dim at the end furthest away from the power supply).

What this means is that if you’re switching from a 12V tape to a 24V tape, you will need to change your power supply.

Getting The Support You Need

If you need any assistance with switching your strips from SMD to seamless COB, such as our flagship Aon LED Strip Lights, then our team can help you out.

All you need to do is give them a call on 0116 321 4120, or send an email to sales@wled.co.uk.

Don’t forget that you can also reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram too.