Buyers’ guide: Chips with everything!
Posted on Jun 5, 2025 by Pro Moviemaker
The latest crop of chip-on-board LEDs provide lots of power and are available to suit all budgets
Words Adam Duckworth
Most filmmakers nowadays understand the need for lighting to really boost their work. While there’s a place for light panels, tube lights and practicals, the most popular are COB LEDs.
This is because they not only come in a massive range of sizes, power ratings and prices to suit all, but also offer incredible flexibility. By adding modifiers, a COB can turn from a hard light into a massive softbox, a super-tight focused beam or even a projector unit complete with cookie cutters and gels.
Many offer more than just daylight colour too; they might be bicolour to match daylight or tungsten, with green-magenta adjustment. Some offer not just full-colour RGB but extra colours like lime, amber and cyan so you can dial in the precise colours you need.
Many lights are all in one, plugging right into the mains, while others use a separate power ballast block to make the head more compact. Full Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, app or even DMX control gives versatility, and many can be powered by a range of batteries to keep you going when there is no handy mains socket to plug into. For this buyers’ guide, we survey the COB light landscape to work out which ones most deserve your hard-earned cash.
Amaran 150C
Amaran’s range is for content creators or filmmakers on a budget, but its kit is packed full of features. Take a look at this affordable full-colour COB light, the 150C.
This monolight offers a CCT range of 2700-7500K with green-magenta adjustment, but set it to HSI mode and you have a full-colour RGB option that can produce 90% of colours in Rec. 2020 space. That’s a load of power and adjustability in a small, inexpensive package, as it puts out up to 15,610 lux at 1m and 5600K with the included Hyper Reflector.
It’s not a super-advanced RGBLAC chipset for subtle colouring options, but you wouldn’t expect it from a light that costs this little. A fitted polystyrene carry case keeps it light, while the standard Bowens mount gives lots of modifier options, and the controls are minimal. It also works with the Sidus Link app to control the lighting outputs of lots of Amaran and Aputure fixtures at once.
£342/$359
- Pros: Great value and loads of spec
- Cons: Case is a bit fragile
Aputure Storm XT52
Aputure has gone all out to win the award for most-powerful COB with its brand-new Storm XT52. With output to rival most 9000W HMIs, it is insanely bright, but the white-only light is controlled well. It has Aputure’s Blair light engine, offering tunable white light with a wide 2500-10,000K CCT range, green adjustability and x- and y-coordinate colours covering 70% of Rec. 2020.
With so much power, there’s a lot of heat, but Aputure’s structural design and cooling system prevent overheating, despite the lamp head being compact enough that one person can lift it. The briefcase-sized control box can sit on the ground too.
The XT52 owes its ability to replicate the natural fluorescence of real daylight to an indigo-coloured emitter. The CRI and TLCI are 96, SSI (tungsten) is 87 and SSI (D56) is 86. Not only is it the brightest point source LED in its class, it also offers low dimming for maximum control.
£TBC/$13,700
- Pros: More power than ever!
- Cons: Not cheap or full colour
Godox Knowled MG1200bi
From a massive range of flash to an ever-expanding selection of pro-level continuous lighting, Godox continues to grow. Its high-end series is the Knowled range, a cinematic ecosystem that includes powerful COB, panel and tube lights – and even hybrid fixtures that work for stills as well as movies.
The TIPA World Award-winning MG1200Bi is a powerful bicolour COB that features a maximum power of 1400W across colour temperatures 2800-6500K, with CRI and TLCI ratings of 96. Settings and controls can be changed on the unit itself via four buttons and a control knob or wirelessly via 2.4GHz remotes and a Bluetooth app. A 45° reflector is included, as is an 8m power cable, plus there’s also a high-power fan that provides cooling but is designed to be quiet.
An IP54 rating designates that the light can withstand water spray and rain. The MG1200Bi has 11 special effects, including fireworks, flash, lightning, broken bulb, explosion, fire, welding and more. It uses its own mount fitment for accessories.
£3112/$3490
- Pros: Flagship bicolour LED
- Cons: No full colour or battery option
Godox Knowled M1000R
Filmmakers were calling for a Godox Knowled full-colour LED with loads of power – and now it’s here. The M1000R has 1000W of power and a significant upgrade in design and performance from the current range.
This features a lightweight body and more compact controller, making it easy to transport and store. It’s made for fast set-up and is ideal in smaller or medium studios, tight spaces and outdoor shoots thanks to built-in CRMX and IP54-rated waterproof and dust-proof protection.
The M1000R delivers 1000W of power with colour temperatures from 1800 to 10,000K, simulating natural tones such as sunrise, sunset and moonlight. It can produce 91% Rec. 2020 colour gamut coverage, with flexible modes and four professional dimming curves, as well as warm/cool and G/M adjustments. The light employs the Godox optical system to align mounts and accessories for the best light efficiency, delivering powerful, full-colour brightness while giving complete control over softness or hardness.
£2999/$2799
- Pros: New full-colour LED
- Cons: Not a budget buy
Kenro Smart Lite KSLC101
Kenro’s Smart Lite is a super-compact bicolour unit for just £160, though there’s no US pricing yet. It’s a 60W LED in a palm-sized package.
The CCT range is 2700-7500K, and dimming range is 1-100%. It has a CRI of 96 and TLCI of 97, which proves its colour credentials. The standard reflector does a good job of producing an even spread of light, while a push-on rubber diffuser cap softens the light and widens its spread. The bayonet fitting isn’t the full-size Bowens mount but a smaller version, so the options for fitting accessories are limited.
Power is by mains or a USB-C power bank plugged directly into the back of the head, as there’s no internal battery.
Illumination levels with the reflector are 29,000 lux at 7500K – but this is at 0.5m/1.6ft, that’s half the distance most lights are measured at. Travel down the kelvin range and the power does drop a little. Adjustments are made on the back panel using dials, but it also comes with a wireless 2.4G remote control and has an app for use on Android and iOS.
- Pros: Easy to use, compact
- Cons: No full-size Bowens mount
Nanlite FC-120C
Nanlite’s latest offering is the FC-120C, a compact, full-colour LED spotlight that’s built for content creators and filmmakers. It offers high performance, accurate colour and a high output of 12,850 lux at 1m/3.3ft and 5600K, when fitted with its standard reflector at least.
It’s compatible with Nanlite’s range of compact FM-fit modifiers, but an adapter allows standard Bowens-fit accessories to be attached too.
The colour temperature range is 2700-7500K and it has advanced fine tuning of white light with ±150 green-magenta adjustments. The FC-120C features CCT, HSI, RGBW and special effect modes, each controlled through the user interface on the lamp head or wirelessly via the Nanlink app. It can also be connected to a DMX console.
The FC-120C can be powered with a mains adapter, V-Mount battery or USB-PD, and it can be connected to an optional V-Mount battery grip. It’s equipped with an adjustable cooling system – four fan modes are available to choose the desired output and noise control.
£359/$364
- Pros: Compact and affordable
- Cons: Needs adapter for Bowens mount
Neewer FS150C
Neewer is another fast-growing brand making affordable lighting for filmmakers, and the FS150C is typical of the brand’s top-quality COB fixtures. This is a 130W RGBWW light that offers a huge range of colour controls, as well as multiple power options, app control and fan cooling. With the standard reflector, it gives 19,800 lux at 1m/3.3ft away.
Colours can be adjusted using the RGBCW, HSI or gel modes to replicate the most-used coloured filters. White light is adjustable from 2500 to 7500K too.
If you want to replicate certain light colours without any hassle, there are 17 presets to choose from, including candlelight, moonlight, dawn, sodium vapour lamps and more. Seventeen is the magic number, as this is also how many special effects it has, such as lightning, defective bulb, cop car and fireworks. Its four dimming curves are linear, S-curve, exponential or logarithmic. Power can be from a mains input or from a battery with XLR connections, and Bowens mount is the standard.
£310/$280
- Pros: Lots of features
- Cons: Not the best-known brand yet
Profoto L1600D
Profoto’s new L1600D is a high-end bicolour LED from a brand that’s famous for its flash lighting systems, used by many of the world’s top photographers.
At 14kg/30.8lb total weight, it’s at the top end of what’s reasonable to use on a large stand.
Not only does it pack a 1600W punch but it does so without the use of a separate ballast unit, which slims down the total package and means the light plugs right into a household plug socket.
The head uses cooling fans with Profoto’s own liquid-cooling HydroCTech, which makes it virtually silent.
This rugged IP54-rated daylight LED is built to perform, last for decades and bring a huge swathe of new lighting modifiers to filmmaking from Profoto’s huge range. It also fits Bowens S-type modifiers.
The on-head controls are simple, but there’s also DMX input and output sockets and a free app to change the settings if you wish to use them. And with this standard reflector, the 12° beam puts out 1.225 million lux at 1m/3.3ft.
£8154/$8995
- Pros: Quality of light, build, power
- Cons: Only daylight
This article was first published in the May/June 2025 issue of Pro Moviemaker
