# Brightest 5mm LEDs and where to find them?



## twentysixtwo (Aug 28, 2018)

I'm looking at some home projects / retrofits and was wondering what the gold standard is now for 5mm LEDs, and where to get them.

Thanks much,


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## sandalian (Aug 28, 2018)

I believe Yuji is the current standard for brightest 5mm LED.
It's available in a 1000 pcs/pack from their website.


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## iamlucky13 (Aug 29, 2018)

The Yuji's are definitely not the brightest at ~8 lumens. They have the nicest tint of any 5mm, which is even more significant in my opinion.

Nichia makes a version of the GS that is rated for 70mA drive current, rather than the usual 20mA. I don't know if they're the brightest 5mm available, but they should be noticeably brighter than a typical 5mm LED, at 28 lumens typical rating.

http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/product/led_product_data.html?type='NSDW570GS-K1'

There's a couple related part numbers you might try a search for to see if you can find a vendor that sells small quantities:

NSDL510GS-K1
NSDW510GS-K1
NSDL570GS-K1
NSDW570GS-K1


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## archimedes (Aug 29, 2018)

_... moved to "LED" subforum ..._


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## twentysixtwo (Aug 30, 2018)

Wow! 28 lumens in a 5mm, that is astounding...THanks for the info


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## bcm00re (Dec 14, 2020)

Can anyone recommend the best/brightest 5mm LED in 2020? And where/how to buy them? I am hoping to hear you can get more than 28 lumen out of a 5mm now.


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## id30209 (Dec 14, 2020)

bcm00re said:


> Can anyone recommend the best/brightest 5mm LED in 2020? And where/how to buy them? I am hoping to hear you can get more than 28 lumen out of a 5mm now.



You are asking too much. Those lumens are SMD ratings and not Wired.
But you are lucky anyhow.
Sophia has 5mm emitter at 3400K and 96CRI. Tested and confirmed at 130mA and giving around 27lumens


Sent from Tapatalk


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## bcm00re (Dec 14, 2020)

I can live with that -- thanks!! Now where can I buy these?


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## bcm00re (Dec 15, 2020)

It would seem the Sophia one is going to be hard to source. Can anyone here recommend an eBay seller that offers quality 5mm white LEDs (understanding they won't be near as bright)? I found some suggestions in old threads but their links are no longer valid.


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## Katherine Alicia (Dec 15, 2020)

you could try giving rngwn a PM here: https://budgetlightforum.com/node/69056


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## bcm00re (Dec 15, 2020)

Thank you Katherine!


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## Katherine Alicia (Dec 15, 2020)

Happy to help!


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## alpg88 (Dec 15, 2020)

nichia gs used to be the brightest, not blue, 5mm leds, they also could handle 30ma, they make about 30lm,

there are 5chip 5mm leds that run at 100ma they even have wide base on the negative leg for heatsinking, i tried several of those, at 100ma they do not look much brighter to an eye than nichias. nor they last long at that current, they look very cool at low current, low enough to see each chip separately,


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## bcm00re (Dec 15, 2020)

Thanks for the info! Wow the Nichia GS can really do 30 lumen with just 30ma? That looks impressive when the newer Sofia LEDs take 170ma to get the same output (but to be fair I suspect the Nichia isn't high CRI). Anyone know how many lumens I can get out of a Nichia CS? I found someone selling 100 for just $10 shipped which looks tempting unless the GS is orders of magnitude better.


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## Lynx_Arc (Dec 15, 2020)

I believe in order of brightness and efficiency it goes Nichia DS, then GS. I have some DS and GS and the GS have a purple tint and a rectangular beam pattern. I prefer the output of the Cree 5mm over Nichia GS. I don't think the GS can do 30 lumens using 30ma if that were at 3.2vdc nominal that would be around 300 lumens/watt. I think more likely around 80-100 lumens/watt is a better target range. I think it was more like 27 lumens at 100ma or so. I actually prefer the Cree 5mm LEDs over the Nichias even though not as bright has a nicer beam and a whiter bluish tint than ugly purple.
Unless you "need" the plastic beam type package I'm preferring the SMD chip type LEDs over 5mm now as better tints and nicer floody output and efficiencies of 80-120 lumens/watt I think.


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## id30209 (Dec 16, 2020)

I’m not sure Nichia is still on point... 
Have you checked meassurement by djozz?
Here presented are 2 Sophia’s with CRI so high that Nichia is not nowhere close but 32K goes high in output







Sent from Tapatalk


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## pambihira (Dec 31, 2020)

following this post. Looking to acquire Sophias, and Yujis some time soon.


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