A high-brightness vertical light emitting diode (LED) device includes an outwardly located metal electrode having a low illumination side and a high illumination side. The LED device is formed by: forming the metal electrode on an edge of a surface of a LED epitaxy structure using a deposition method, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), evaporation, electro-plating, or any combination thereof; and then performing a packaging process. The composition of the LED may be a nitride, a phosphide or an arsenide. The LED has the following advantages: improving current spreading performance, reducing light-absorption of the metal electrode, increasing brightness, increasing efficiency, and thereby improving energy efficiency. The metal electrode is located on the edge of the device and on the light emitting side. The metal electrode has two side walls, among which one side wall can receive more emission light from the device in comparison with the other one.