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Most of us know that working for hours on a computer screen takes its toll on your eyes. Having good lighting is essential to better productivity, mood, and overall health, and a good desk lamp can provide bright light while being energy efficient and customizable.
Are Desk Lamps Necessary?
If you have overhead lighting in your office, you may think a desk lamp is a waste of space and electricity. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The best desk lamps provide auxiliary light, not direct light, for the dim areas around your computer screen, eliminating glare and reducing eye strain and fatigue. Good desk lamps can emulate natural light color and allow you to adjust color temperature and brightness. Most desk lamps are dimmable, and many have extra convenient features like wireless charging, lighting angle adjustment, blue light blocking, and more.
Types of Desk Lamps for the Office
You may be surprised to learn that there are a lot of styles and kinds of desk and task lighting. Different lamps use different power sources and light bulbs and have different functions.
We’ve rounded up the most common types of desk lamps:
Swing Arm Lamps
These lamps have a moveable, adjustable arm that swings.
Clamp Lamp
A clamp lamp uses a sturdy clip to attach to a desk or other surface.
Architect Style
This is the most popular type of task lamp. They feature an adjustable arm and lamp head for lighting wherever you need it.
Gooseneck
As the name suggests, this lamp has a long, flexible neck and can be a table lamp or a clip-on.
Best Desk Lamps for the Office
We’ve done our homework and curated the ten best desk lamps we could find on Amazon. These picks are based on the lamps’ features, design, and reviews. Use this list as a guide when selecting your next desk lamp.
Verilux HappyLight Duo
Top Pick: Our top pick isn’t just a desk lamp – it’s a light therapy lamp. It provides up to 10,000 lux of UV-free, LED full spectrum natural light with three temperature and seven brightness settings.
This table and task lamp is flicker-free and mimics natural daylight and has an Optix lens to control glare, reducing eye strain and fatigue. The lamp has a USB port for added convenience, and a compact form factor, making it perfect for a small desk.
Verilux HappyLight Duo – 2-in-1 Light Therapy & Task Desk Lamp
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OTUS LED Motion Sensor Desk lamp
Runner Up: The runner-up pick is this gooseneck-style table lamp by OTUS. The OTUS lamp’s head is equipped with a motion sensor switch, allowing for a touchless on/off function. The 12 dimmable brightness levels and 3 color settings give you 36 customizable lighting settings to match any mood or activity, and the memory function allows you to save your favorites.
This metal lamp emits soft light to reduce eye strain from long-term computer screen viewing, and the durable metal construction promises to keep this lamp lasting for years. In fact, the lamp is designed to last for more than 25 years using 20% energy consumption as incandescent bulbs.
OTUS LED gesture control Desk lamp Adjustable Tall Task Light
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NovoLido LED Desk Lamp
Best Value: This affordable lamp gives you multiple functions while still being budget-friendly, and has the reviews to back it up. The NovoLido wireless phone charging desk lamp offers LED lighting with warm light and daylight color modes. You can choose your favorite color settings and save them.
In addition, a phone holder, pen holder, and built-in USB charger offer convenience in one durable lamp. The small size of this lamp allows it to be portable, so it can easily go from a task lamp to a bedside lamp.
NovoLido LED Desk Lamp with Wireless Charger
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BenQ e-Reading Desk Lamp
This lamp by BenQ provides a 35″ wide illumination – able to light up your entire desk. A touch knob allows you to adjust the 13 levels of color temperature and 23 brightness levels, while the auto-dimming mode automatically detects ambient light and adjusts its brightness level.
The metal base provides sturdiness when tilting and adjusting the arm. This lamp has a color reading index of over 95, making it a good desk lamp for accurate color presentation.
BenQ Silver Genie LED Desk Eye-Caring Table Lamp
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OttLite LED Dual Head Desk Lamp with Bluetooth Speaker
This LED lamp with dual lamp heads features a flexible neck, a USB port, and a Bluetooth speaker all in one. It is touch control activated and has 3 color modes and 5 brightness settings with an output of 300 lumens. The dual pivoting shades allow for wide light coverage over a larger area if needed.
This lamp promises to be energy efficient and long-lasting and provides daylight illumination for reduced eye strain and fatigue. The lamp’s base is just 4 1/8 inches wide, making it a good, space-saving lamp for a smaller desk or workspace.
OttLite LED Dual Head Desk Lamp with Bluetooth Speaker
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EppieBasic LED Lighting-6 Color Modes and Stepless Dimming Desk Lamp
This tall lamp features an ultra-wide 31.5-inch 24W light bar and a space-saving clamp design with a working height of up to 27.5 inches. It is designed with 45° angled away LED bulbs and side lighting, so it can illuminate your whole desk and keyboard without glare from the monitor.
The lamp has a built-in intelligent light sensor that will detect surrounding ambient light and auto-adjust to the best brightness level for your work environment. It also has a memory mode, 6 dimmable levels, and adjustable color temperature modes.
EppieBasic Workbench Office Lighting-6 Color Modes and Stepless Dimming
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LumiCharge LED Desk Lamp
The Lumicharge LED task lamp is another task lighting option with wireless charging capabilities and a motion sensor. The 10 W universal charging dock uses a patented charging dial and is compatible with all Qi-enabled devices. The motion sensor turns the light on when you enter a dark room.
The wide angle rotation of the arm lets you cast light wherever it is needed, and the dimmable LED panel display features a calendar, timer, and multiple alarm functions. The lamp head LED bulb provides soft yellow, white, and soft white color modes.
LumiCharge 6 in 1 Smart Eye Friendly LED Desk Lamp
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ENOCH Eye-Caring Metal Swing Arm Desk Lamp with Clamp
Enoch’s swing arm lamp features a three-axis design, allowing the arm to be adjusted and rotated 180° and extended to 40.5 inches in height. The base and light head can be rotated 360° to provide multi-directional lighting. It has a strong metal clamp that can attach to a desk up to 2.2″ thick.
This clamp lamp has 3 color temperature modes and 10 levels of brightness. It is USB powered.
ENOCH 14W Eye-Caring Metal Swing Adjustable Arm Desk Lamps with Clamp
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LEPOWER Metal Desk Lamp
This adjustable gooseneck lamp can use an LED bulb, incandescent bulb, or energy-saving bulb. It features a sturdy base and clamp, so it can sit on the desktop, be clamped on the desktop, or clamped on a shelf for overhead lighting.
The space-saving design helps keep clutter at bay, especially with smaller desks. The lamp head is adjustable, allowing you to focus the light wherever you need to.
LEPOWER Metal Lamp Adjustable Goose Neck Swing Arm Lamps with Clamp
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Tenergy Dimmable Desk Lamp with USB Charging Port
This 11W dimmable eye-caring lamp by Tenergy features four lighting modes, 5 brightness levels, and a USB wireless charging pad. It comes with four preset light colors, a 60-minute timer, and touch controls. The arms are adjustable and the base can swivel 180° to aim light in the direction you want.
Tenergy claims to use energy-efficient LED light bulbs that consume 85% less energy and last 20 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs.
Tenergy 11W Dimmable Desk Lamp with USB Charging Port
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What to Look for When Buying an Office Desk Lamp
The best desk lamp should be practical and fit your office needs, but it should also be something that you will enjoy seeing every day. There are a couple of things that you will need to keep in mind when looking for the best desk lamp, including:
Function
Many desk lamps and task lamps are dimmable and have several color temperature and brightness modes.
Size
Think about both the size of the lamp and your available desk space. Where you have limited spaces, clamp lamps or lamps with small bases are much more desirable. For larger desks, go for a lamp with a swing arm or architect design for extra reach. And as a general rule, ensure your light source is positioned higher than your head. It should never be in direct line of sight.
Type of Bulb
Desk lamps use one of three types of bulbs: LED bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, or incandescent bulbs. Each has its benefits – decide which is right for you.
Power Source
Desk lamps will either be battery-powered or need to be plugged in. If you’re going to buy a plug-in lamp, be sure to note the length of the cord.
Style
The best desk lamps will also accentuate your office décor. Since you will likely be seeing the lamp on a daily basis, it is important to make sure it is something that both you and your visitors will enjoy looking at.
Extras
Some extra features task lighting can have are timers, wireless charging, and even Bluetooth speakers. These may not be necessary, but they can be helpful and convenient.
Are LED desk lamps good?
LED bulbs use about 90% less energy and last longer than traditional bulbs. Some studies have shown that LED lighting causes less eye strain and headaches. Many of the best desk lamps on our list are LED lamps – check out their features and see if it’s the right choice for you.
What are the best desk lamps for the eyes?
Look for a desk lamp with customizable brightness and color modes, lamps that are dimmable, or lamps that provide “light therapy,” like our top pick.
How many lumens should a desk lamp have?
This depends on the type of work you do at your desk. Generally, around 450 lumens is good for general work like reading and writing, and 800-1000 may be necessary for intricate, detailed work.
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