5050 LED: The PocketSize Powerhouse Every Installer Should Know

“Get the spec right today—skip warranty nightmares tomorrow.”

Problem — The term “5050 LED” is pasted onto spec sheets with little context, leaving buyers to guess brightness, heat, and beam shape.

Agitate — Misguess once and a grocery shelf glows dull or an RGB wall looks patchy, triggering overnight returns and profiteating service calls.

Solution — Steal the five factchecks below: true 5050 definition, brighter contenders, real lumen math, beamangle tricks, and a copypaste RFQ clause that filters fakes before they ship.Drop these bullets into your next PO and every XGM reel—pixel ribbon or white flood—arrives bright, cool, and nearly recallproof.

Why “5050” Is a Footprint—Not a Performance Promise

Search what is the 5050 LED? and you’ll meet two extremes: “brightest RGB ever” and “ditch it for midpower.” Both ignore one truth: 5050 only describes a 5 mm × 5 mm shell. What’s inside that square—RGB minis, a single highflux die, or dual CCT chips—dictates drive current, heat, and lumens.

After 14 years shipping millions of LED beads into U.S. warehouses, XGM tracks three repeating mistakes that crush margins:

Footprint confusion: buyers think any 5050 equals “super bright” white.

Thermal mismatch: singlewhite dies on thin FR4 cook at +25 °C, browning phosphor in weeks.

Lab vs. aisle gap: 220 lm/W at 25 °C translates to ~170 lm/W on a 45 °C strip.

The four subsections below fix each landmine with U.S.ready numbers and PO language.

1 ▸ 5050 Defined: Three Personalities, One Box

Ask “RGB, singlewhite, or tunable CCT?” first—because drive current and PCB copper change with the answer.

Tridie RGB 5050s wire three ~350 µm dies to a shared frame; common Vf per channel ≈ 2.1 V (R) / 3.2 V (G,B) and run 20 mA each.Singlewhite swaps in a 1.1 mm die, Vf ≈ 3.0 V, good from 60 to 120 mA—if you mount on MCPCB.DualCCT packs two halfsize dies (warm + cool) under one phosphor for tunable troffers, driven 25–35 mA/side.

RFQ clause:

“Package: 5050; Die map: 3×RGB / 1×White / 2×CCT; RθJB ≤ 15 K/W (RGB) or ≤ 10 K/W (white); 3step MacAdam or λ < 2 nm; Xray sample per lot.”

Suppliers who balk usually rebag offspec stock—avoid.

2 ▸ Need More Punch? 2835 & 3030 Outshine White 5050s

Straightwhite projects get +35 lm/W by switching to flipchip 2835—no aluminum core required.

Benchmark @ 100 mA, 5000 K, 80 CRI:

RGB density? 5050 still rules until addressable 3535 pixels crack $0.09.

Case: NewYork bookstore replaced 5050 whites with XGM 2835 strip. Results—board temp −9 °C, watt draw −13 %, labor savings $4.6 k over 18 months. Their neon sign kept 5050 RGB for tight pixel pitch.

3 ▸ How Many Lumens Does a 5050 Really Emit?

RGB fullblast ≈ 100 lm; singlewhite peaks ≈ 45 lm at 0.18 W—measure again at 45 °C boards to stay honest.

Singlewhite @ 100 mA logs 45 lm but bumps PCB +25 °C on 1oz copper.

Lab flux drops ~8 % on a 45 °C board. Push past 120 mA and heat erases lumen gains—better to double strip count or jump to 3030 highpower.

4 ▸ Beam Angle Tweaks: Stock 120°, Options 150° or 30°

Default dome throws 120°. Need flood? Frost to 150°. Need spotlight? Clip 30° TIR lens—watch fixture height.RGB blend loves 120°. Accent shelves want 60° reflectors; walkway bollards shine at 30° after snapon PMMA cups. Frosting steals ~5 % flux but kills color fringes; TIR doubles center candela yet needs 8 mm clearance.Always retest FWHM and Δu′v′ postoptics. A Denver art piece frosted domes—halo perfect. A Detroit path added TIR lenses—3× center lux, extra 9 mm housing depth.