BenQ e-Reading LED Desk Lamp Review - Does Your Monitor Need a Lamp?

BenQ is well-known for its professional monitor lineup and I’m quite surprised that they also made a LED desk lamp. Moreover, this is the world’s first desk lamp designed for e-reading.

The lamp was first introduced in 2015 under the name BenQ WIT but it wasn’t widely available until late 2016. This is a very expensive product, so I tested it thoroughly to see if it’s worth the price.

Unboxing & Installation

Features & Performance

Inside the box, there are the lamp body, a pedestal base, and a power adapter (100-240V AC, 50 – 60 Hz). Putting them together is quite straightforward, you will just need to place the lamp on the base in a proper direction, then secure it by tightening the screw. All done, the lamp is ready to use now.

The base is huge and heavy. This is helpful to keep the lamp stable and also allows us to adjust the arms freely. However, a disadvantage is that you can’t move it easily and it takes a significant footprint on my desk. I even can put my 2 phones on the base. In case you have a small desk and there is no space left, you can use the desk clamp or the floor stand which is sold separately.

The body of the lamp includes 2 arms and the lamp head. It doesn’t feature a minimal design as my current Xiaomi Mi Lamp but it still looks stunning. The build quality is unprecedented as compared to any other desk lamp. All parts are made of metal (aluminum alloy, zinc alloy), and feel very sturdy. I guess that it even won’t be broken when it is fallen to the ground. Even the power cable is braided, so it brings the feeling of a premium product.

The most interesting part of the lamp is, of course, the head. It has a unique curved shape which is said to solve all lighting problems. As compared to traditional lamps, the BenQ can deliver a 150% wider lighting coverage. The head is connected to the body via a ball joint, so it is more flexible, you can adjust it up and down, as well as tilt it to the left and right.

You can also find a beautiful metal ring, a knob, and the LED lights. The knob is used to adjust the brightness level (up to 1800 Lux) and color temperature (2700~5700 K). The metal ring is used to power on/off the lamp but more interestingly, you can touch and hold it to enter the Eye-care mode. In this mode, the lamp’s brightness and color temperature will be adjusted automatically according to the ambient lighting condition. The idea is great but it doesn’t work well all the time. For example, when I turn on the lamp as the only light source in my room, the light color is too cool and not suitable for night reading.

The BenQ lamp is really a beast in the lighting world, not just because of its size but also its brightness. All my previous lamps are not that bright and some are even not bright enough for book reading or professional works.

However, the e-reading feature seems to be a gimmick. I tried to position the lamp in front of the monitor as suggested in the manual but there is always reflected glare. It’s better when I use my laptop because I look down in that case but I still can’t see any benefit of placing a lamp between my eyes and the display. A setup with hidden light sources is still the best for my workstation. Therefore, I use the BenQ lamp just like other traditional lamps because it doesn’t reduce glare or make my eyes more comfortable.

The BenQ LED Desk Lamp is the most powerful lamp I’ve ever used. Just buy it for the industrial design and high-quality lighting, not for the gimmicky features.