Best Daylight Desk Lamp Reviewed: Updated for 2023

Did you know that working in a windowless office could cost you as much as 46 minutes of sleep a night? You wouldn’t think that having a good daylight desk lamp could make that much of a difference to your overall health and wellbeing, but you’d be surprised.

Working in a dimly lit environment has been found to negatively affect your mood, lead to eye strain, aching shoulders and stiff necks, and even sick building syndrome, which can lead sufferers to experience symptoms including poor concentration, irritability, lethargy, and headaches. That’s why it’s worth investing in good lighting. In fact, one study found that increasing illuminance levels boosted productivity by as much as 20%.

If you are struggling to survive working from home in a poorly lit space, then it’s time to get some proper lighting. The best daylight desk lamp will not only help you read and see your papers, files, keyboard, and computer screen better, but it will also positively impact your mood and health.

So, take a look at our updated reviews and choose a good desk lamp for your office environment. You’ll be working, sleeping, and feeling better in no time!

Picking the best daylight desk lamp can be a bit complicated. There are lots of types of desk lamps on today’s market, and they come at all price points, colors, shapes, and sizes. It can also be hard to figure out what exactly each lamp is designed for, as they all have different designs,and functions.

To help you choose the right desk lamp for your working space, we’ve put together the best daylight desk lamp reviews.

Best Daylight Desk Lamp: Our Top 4 Picks

Best Overall: Taotronics Stylish Metal Table Lamp

Featuring 5 different light temperatures and 6 levels of brightness, this modern, yet classy, lamp offers both style and function

Second Best: Lumiy Lightblade 1500S

This elegant, yet minimalist, lamp adapts perfectly to all kinds of work situations thanks to a multitude of settings and brightness levels

Best for Reading: Benq Eyecare

With a built-in ambient sensor, this lamp does the work for you, automatically adjusting its brightness to offer a superior reading experience

Best Space Saver: Wilit U2

This multi-functional lamp has been designed to take up minimal space, making it the ideal choice for small work spaces

Best Overall

1. Taotronics Stylish Metal Table Lamp

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This lamp will be your desk’s new best friend. The TaoTronics Stylish lamp is smooth, sleek, and feels very solid, with a heavy base and a slim body. Serious quality light is produced by this lamp: crisp, bright, without any flicker and you can fully customize the light intensity and color. It has been designed with five different light temperatures (ranging from 3000K warm white to 6500K cool white light) and six levels of brightness to suit all your needs.

With its Advanced Memory feature, there’s no need to spend time searching for your favorite brightness and temperature setting, as it will remember it for you. Once you’ve found your ideal light setting, simply save it with the touch of a button, so it can quickly be accessed the next time you use the lamp.

The lighting angle in this lamp is super versatile, as you can rotate the neck, head, and base. The lamp is able to spin 180 degrees, so you can easily move it if you’re getting glare in your eyes. It’s also ideal if you’re switching from one task to the next and need to change where the lighting is aimed, or you move the lamp to another location and need to adjust it accordingly.

The modern, yet classy look of this lamp is both functional and stylish. One of the best design elements is that it has a USB port in the base, so you can charge your phone while you work without having to use one of the ports in your computer.

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This lamp fantastic, minimalist, and beautiful desk lamp feels sturdy, but it’s flexible enough to allow for easy adjustment. Its brushed metallic finish is fingerprint resistant, meaning one less thing to worry about.

The various light settings are great for a variety of activities, the natural light being great for bedside reading and the soft uniform light ideal for working. The light doesn’t flicker unlike other more budget lamps, and the manufacturers rate this lamp as lasting for around 50,000 hours.

Second Best

2. Lumiy Lightblade 1500S

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The Lumiy Lightblade is designed to fit into small workspaces with its minimalist appearance, which is both beautiful and sleek. Despite its small size, this lamp can brighten your whole desk with its 1500 lux producing clear and sharp light. The color temperature ranges from 6600L, which is great for high concentration work, to 1800K, a more relaxing orange-tinged light. It can easily transform your working space to a bright and warm productivity zone, beautifully replicating natural light.

Some of the best features of this lamp are the touch sensors that allow you to monitor how much energy it expends, as well as how bright you want the light to be, and its pivoting head, giving you more control of where you want the light to hit.

That being said, it’s not a lamp for twisting and bending, as while the lamp head can be rotated, the angles are not very wide. However, that’s not an issue for small desks, as it’s light enough to move it around if you need to adjust the light to a certain area.

The Lumiy consumes very little energy, making it great for everyday use without spiking your energy bills, and produces a minimal amount of heat when compared to incandescent or halogen lamps. There lamp comes with an integrated timer, which is really helpful if you need a reminder to give yourself a break from time to time.

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The Lumiy Lightblade 1500S is a super versatile desk lamp, designed to meet all your lighting needs. The USB charging port in the base of the lamp is a very handy feature as it frees up the USB ports in your computer or laptop for other office needs.

The light provided is very similar to natural light, which makes it easier on your eyes, and works great for people that need natural or neutral lighting that won’t skew color hues. If you are looking for a modern-looking lamp that works in multiple situations, provides natural light and is energy efficient, this is the lamp for you.

BEST FOR READING

3. Benq Eyecare

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The BenQ Eyecare is one of the tallest desk lamps on the market, easily surpassing the height of your desktop screen at 23.2 inches. As the light shines from over your head, it’s very soft and its height allows it to light up a large desk area.

No glare is created on your desktop screen, thanks to the LEDs allocation and the smart light diffuser. To make it even more pleasant to your eyes, the temperature and brightness can be customized with a gentle press and turn of the knob.

BenQ have incorporated a zero flicker technology, which means there will be no flickering lights to hurt your eyes or induce fatigue. The built-in ambient sensor can be programmed to automatically detect the room’s brightness and adjust the light brightness accordingly. Even though the lamp is sturdy, the ball-joint base will allow you to find the perfect angle for your reading or working experience.

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If you spend long hours writing or reading at your desk, or you work in front of a computer screen all day long, we can’t recommend the BenQ EyeCare lamp enough. Trust us, your eyes will thank you.

BEST SPACE SAVER

4. Wilit U2

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If you are looking for a compact daylight desk lamp to fit your small workspace, that is also multifunctional and creates a clean and neat working space, look no further than the WILIT U2. This multi-functional lamp is great for tight work spaces or deskside tables. It will create a clean and neat working space without any clutter.

The WILIT U2 is designed to work in confined spaces, as its very slim, though taller than regular laptops, so it won’t obstruct your view. Changing the light angle is also easy, with its 150 degree angle foldable neck.

Despite being small in size, it has impressive functions, illuminating at a CRI of 80, giving you sharp and crisp light. It won’t light up your whole room, but it will still give you more than enough light to do basic office work at your desk. The light is dimmable, with three intensity levels, which is useful if you share a workspace and don’t want to disturb other people with your light.

The WILIT U2 is more than an LED daylight desk lamp, it also has a dimmable light, calendar, thermometer and alarm clock built into the display screen (which is also dimmable, so it won’t distract you if you use it at night.) This makes it an ideal addition to your bedside table!

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This is the lamp for you if you’re looking for a small, yet smart, lamp that gives off quality light and is also a space saver, as it works as a clock, thermometer, and alarm.

5. Taotronics TT-DL13

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If you’re in the market for a high quality LED desk lamp and you have a tight budget, this option from TaoTronics is the lamp for you. This lamp is more functional than decorative, as it’s not exactly sleek, but it does what it’s meant to, offering flicker-free and stable, crisp light along with five colour temperatures and seven brightness levels. All these options mean that the light is easy on your eyes, as you can conveniently adjust the illuminance levels amongst the multitude of settings until you find the right light for you.

This TaoTronics lamp is extremely versatile, ranging from full white for enhanced concentration to warmer temperatures when you’re reading at night. A drawback is the lamp doesn’t remember its last setting, so if you want a setting that’s not its default mode, it can be a bit of a hassle. The flexible body means that you can twist and turn it, adjusting the distance and angle at three places: the neck, head, and where the arm joins the base.

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This lamp will light up your workspace for a lesser price point than other similar daylight desk lamps, with its energy efficient LEDs. If you are looking for a reliable and long-lasting LED lamp, but you don’t have a high budget, this is the lamp for you.

6. Brightech Lightview Pro

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This is the lamp you need if you do any work that requires you to focus on small details, as in the circle of the LED comes a 5-inch diameter magnifying lens made of high quality glass, with a magnification power of 2.25. Whatever you place under the lens appears crystal clear, making it a great option if you’re carving, creating jewelry, or need to focus on the small details of a blueprint.

The light projected from the Brightech Lightview Pro is very powerful, due to its 56 mini LED bulbs distributed in a circle. The lumens emitted from the bulbs are more than enough to highlight all details of your workspace. The body of the lamp is flexible, having been designed with swivels and rings you can bend and twist at the head and the arm, pivoting the light exactly where you need it.

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This lamp is everything a highly detailed work lamp should be: it has a magnifying feature and is very bright. If you’ve ever had to strain your eyes to read or write, then this lamp will bring clarity to all your activities, while also working great on phones or tablets.

Why Should I Have a Daylight Desk Lamp?

The importance and benefits of proper lighting in any work environment is clear to see, yet it’s not always easy to get enough sunlight in your office. You may not have any windows or your ceiling light may not be providing you with the illuminance levels you need.

A desk lamp can offer just the right amount of lighting, exactly where you need it. Several even allow you to control color temperature and light intensity, which you wouldn’t be able to do with your average ceiling light.

Plus, you can easily move it from room to room, so if you work from home, this can be a big plus point.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Daylight Desk Lamp

Not every desk lamp is created equal, but which features should you be paying particular attention to? We take a look at some of the different factors you need to consider when choosing your ideal desk lamp.

Style

Taste is personal, so the style and finish of your desk lamp is up to your personal preference. However, we recommend choosing a desk lamp that matches the decoration style in your work space, such as a contemporary and modern desk lamp for a contemporary or modern decor.

Another good idea to bring harmony into the room is to match any bronze or nickel handles from your drawers to your desk lamp finish. That being said, you shouldn’t pick a desk lamp just based on how it looks.

Size

The size of your desk or work area will help you in choosing the right desk lamp for your workspace. For example, if your desk is large, the best option is a desk lamp with a longer arm, so the light reaches across your whole desk. Another consideration to keep in mind is your workspace configuration, such as if you are working on a desktop computer or a laptop, to make sure the light covers your entire work area.

If your desk runs on the smaller side, you could consider a lamp that you can clamp to your desk, or one that you can mount on the wall, so it doesn’t take away any necessary space.

Amount of Light Needed

As we age, we need more light to see properly, and our eyes become more sensitive to glare, so it’s important to purchase a quality desk lamp that has a controlled beam of light. Proper task lighting will save you headaches and eye strain, which is beneficial at any age.

The amount of light you need will also depend on the activities you normally do at your desk. If you are drawing up floor plans, you need a wider beam spread than you would need if you are just working on your laptop.

Why Choose an LED Lamp?

In recent years, LED lights have become the norm for office lighting, for a number of reasons. LED is a better lamp choice compared to other light sources, as not only are they less expensive to run, they are also more ecologically friendly and run cool to the touch.

Other benefits of LED lamps include:

Color Temperature Versatility

In most traditional lamps, the color temperature is fixed, and the issue with this is that you normally don’t use a lamp for a single purpose. LED lamps, however, now offer a wide range of color temperature, from blueish white (6000K) which stimulates and alerts you, to orange light (1600K) which induces sleep. This varied color temperature, along with dimming capabilities, make LED lamps the best option for your eyes, since they can be used for all purposes with their different settings.
Less Maintenance

A good LED bulb can last up to 50,000 hours, so even if you use the lamp 8 hours daily, you still wouldn’t need to change the bulb for 17 years. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the bulb expiring at the worst possible moment.
Environmentally Friendly

95% of the electricity received by an LED bulb is used to produce light, in contrast to fluorescent bulbs, which use 95% of their power in heat. Therefore, LED lights not only won’t make your eyes dry, they also won’t feel hot to the touch, and the lamp will use a lot less electricity. LED bulbs also emit a lot less carbon dioxide, and can be used for a longer period of time than regular bulbs, meaning lower utility bills and less waste.