Surface-mounted LED downlights usually refer to the lamp itself being exposed and installed on the surface of the ceiling or wall. Unlike surface-mounted LED downlights, recessed LED downlights are designed to embed the lamp as a whole into the ceiling or wall, with only the light-emitting surface of the lamp exposed and the outer shell partially hidden inside the ceiling or wall.

"Surface-mounted" refers to the installation method of the lamp, that is, the lamp is directly exposed on the ceiling or wall surface, instead of requiring reserved space or embedded in the wall like recessed lamps. A surface-mounted LED downlight is a lighting fixture with a circular cylindrical shape and an LED light source.