These amazingly tiny surface-mount LEDs are a simple way to add lots of super-small yet bright colorful dots to your project. They're the mini versions of the LEDs in our digital DotStart strips and matrices, featuring full chainable 2-wire control. They're incredibly small, just 2mm x 2mm (much smaller than APA102-5050-RGB). This small size makes them quite tiny, so hand soldering might be a bit tricky. SMT techniques using solder paste and hot air work best. Inside each LED, there are red, green, and blue lights. The RGB LEDs are controlled by a tiny chip that takes 24-bit color levels through the clock and data input and handles all the PWM control for you. You only need to'set' the color data once. Like DotStars and similar NeoPixels, you can connect them in a chain, with the output of one LED feeding into the input of another for almost infinitely long strips. This product comes in a strip of 10 pieces. Please note that this is a surface mount part. It's possible to solder thin wires to the pads, but it's designed for use on an SMD PCB. If you're not confident with hand soldering SMD parts, check out our other RGB LEDs like the thru-hole ones or those in pixels/strips.
Using these DotStar Micro LEDs is a great way to add color to your projects. First, if you're going to solder them, it's best to use SMT techniques with solder paste and hot air because they're so small that hand soldering can be difficult. Once they're soldered onto your SMD PCB, you can connect them in a chain. Just connect the output of one LED to the input of the next one. You can create really long strips this way. To set the color, the tiny chip inside the LED takes 24-bit color levels through the clock and data input. You only need to set the color data once, and the chip will handle the rest. As for maintenance, keep them away from extreme heat or moisture. If you're not comfortable with SMT soldering, we suggest looking at our other RGB LEDs like the thru - hole ones. And remember, this is a surface mount part, so it's designed to be used on an SMD PCB, but you can solder thin wires to the pads if needed.
