The Best Reading Lights
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Reading before bed is a great way to relax. But getting the right balance of light can be tricky. We want to illuminate the text without disturbing sleeping partners, kids, or roommates. Warm light that is not too bright is also better to help you feel drowsy. Special reading lights may be the answer. They come in a surprisingly wide variety of shapes and sizes, but all will light up your page, not your whole room.
We have tested a library of reading lights over the last few months, tucking into tomes as blissfully unaware partners slept, and these are the very best reading lights for bookworms. There are several kinds of clip-ons, wearable lights, and a bedside lamp among our picks, as well as a tempting alternative to book lights.
Avid readers will also want to check out our Best Gifts for Book Lovers, Great Tech Books, and Best Science Fiction Books guides.
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Best Reading Light
Vekkia’s rechargeable reading light is our top pick for sheer versatility. This clip-on light has an easily adjustable gooseneck that stays put, and the two swiveling light bars have seven LEDs each. The large, padded clamp supports various positions, can open as wide as 2.1 inches, and can serve as a stable base to sit this reading light on a nightstand. Short-press the power button to cycle through five levels of brightness, and long-press to choose from three warm colors with minimal blue light. The battery life is excellent (Vekkia says up to 80 hours on the lowest brightness, and that seems about right). There is a USB-C port for charging.
The downside of this reading light is its size. It is relatively large. The clamp is perfect for hardcover books but can be heavy and awkward for paperbacks. I was careful to clamp onto several pages with the cover, which worked okay. Sometimes, I preferred to sit it on the nightstand or even balance it on my stomach (the base is stable enough to do this). But if small paperbacks are your main reads, our runner-up might be the best book light for you.
Runner-Up
Compact, cheap, and simple, this is perhaps the most portable reading light we recommend, as it folds flat and weighs just 1.38 ounces. It has a clip design that slides easily on the cover of any size of book (a bit like a paper clip). The main body hinges open, and the top part with the LEDs can swivel to hit the angle you need. It offers two colors (warm white and amber) with two brightness levels, and you tap the power button to cycle through them and long-press to turn it off. To charge, you pull the main body out to reveal a USB-A jack that can plug directly into a port or power bank without a cable. This light is also stable if you want to sit it on the nightstand or even prop it on yourself (if you have a top pocket in your pajamas it will sit in nicely).
With great portability comes relatively low battery life, and Dewenwils’ reading light only lasted around eight hours. I also found it started to dim as the battery emptied. It is best used with paperbacks and smaller books. With a large hardback, I had to adjust the light as I read to cover both pages, and it struggled to illuminate fully to the bottom of the page. Be careful if you go for this light, as Dewenwils seems to offer different models that look identical. There is another version that only offers warm white.
Best Wearable Reading Light
This reading light wraps around your neck, so it looks a little funny. But it's a great choice if you're looking for an alternative to clip-on reading lights that are also hands-free. It's lightweight and adjustable, so it's very comfortable to wear even for long periods. It comes with three color temperature modes too. You can swap between yellow, warm white, and cool white, along with six brightness settings with a simple touch of a button. This rechargeable book light offers up to 80 hours of night reading at the dimmer settings.
Best Headlamp for Kids
My daughter loves this funky headlamp for reading at night. There is a choice of comfy, thick, adjustable straps in various colors, it offers three brightness settings (0.5, 15, or 30 lumens), and it scores an IPX 4 rating, which means it can survive splashes. I appreciate that it turns itself off after two hours, so if she falls asleep with it on, it is not a problem. Speaking of which, you get around five hours at the highest brightness, 10 hours at the medium setting, and up to 50 hours at the lowest, though that might not be bright enough for some kids to read and requires a pitch-dark room. It is also handy that the light can angle down slightly, whatever way round you put it on.
The downside is that it takes two AAA batteries (included). I recommend rechargeable Panasonic Eneloop batteries when they run out. It’s also fairly pricey, but remember that it doubles as an excellent headlamp for walking at night or camping.
Best Reading Lamp
Some folks prefer desk lamps when they curl up with a good book, so if you want to lamp things up, this dimmable bedside beauty from Philips Hue is my feature-packed favorite. As a reading lamp, the Twilight is perfect because the front forms a downward-cast cone, and it swivels. A separate back panel can cast mood lighting on the wall. You can also set the precise color and temperature you want, but most importantly, you can fine-tune the brightness to go as low as you want. Since it is a Philips Hue lamp, it supports automation and has a special mode for helping you drift off with warm fading light and wake up with an emulated sunrise. There are also two buttons on the top to turn it on and off and cycle through scenes, but they can be fully customized in the Hue app, so you can link other Hue lights and set up your perfect reading ambiance.
Unfortunately, this lamp is stupidly expensive. It also requires a Hue hub and additional Hue lights to take full advantage of its capabilities. That said, I don't know of another lamp that can go this dim or bright, and that ability to fine-tune and automate will justify the price for some folks.
A Backlit Ebook Reader
E-readers are a great alternative to reading lights because the best models have backlit E Ink screens that adjust the brightness automatically based on the light levels in your room. I used a Kindle Oasis for several years, and it was great for reading into the small hours while my partner slept. Our top Kindle recommendation is now the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It allows you to change the color and sports auto-adjust brightness. It also boasts 32 GB of storage, wireless charging, excellent battery life (up to 10 weeks), and an IPX8 rating for water resistance.
Beyond the high price, the obvious downside of an e-reader is that you must buy digital copies of your books (though they tend to be cheaper than physical tomes unless you buy used). You can get free books if you have a library card, and you might also want to consider Amazon’s ebook subscription, Kindle Unlimited, though some folks won’t want to lock into Amazon’s ecosystem. You can find some alternatives in our Best Ebook Readers guide.
Honorable and Dishonorable Mentions
Photograph: Simon HillOther Reading Lights We Tested
We tested a few other reading lights, some good, some bad. Here they are.
Gritin 16 LED Reading Light for $10: I enjoyed using this reading light from Gritin. It is similar to our top pick, with a clamp design, gooseneck, three light colors, and a range of brightness levels. It is not as versatile because it only has a single head that contains all the LEDs. It also boasts up to 80 hours on the lowest brightness, though mine did not last that long. It is stable if you prefer to sit it on the nightstand, even more so than the Vekkia, thanks to an anti-slip coating on the bottom. But it took me a while to figure out how to hold the power button down to change brightness. This light is still a solid choice and worth a look when discounted.
Philips Hue Go Smart Portable Table Lamp for $160: My previous bedside lamp offers many of the same features as our pick above, but it can also be picked up and carried around, making it great for parents with kids who are up at night. It sits on a charging base and can be fully adjusted and automated for colors, temperature, and brightness. The Twilight offers more customizable controls and can be angled for easier reading, but this lamp is much cheaper.
Energizer Reading Light for $8: This small reading light from Energizer is as simple as they come. The power switch is just on or off (no colors or brightness controls). I like the smaller clamp for reading paperbacks, and the adjustable neck works well, but the light is quite bright. It also takes two disposable Energizer CR2032 batteries that are good for 25 hours of use, and we prefer rechargeable reading lights.
