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LED desk lamps have a lot going for them. Besides being energy efficient, LED lamps run much cooler than conventional desk lamps, and you can expect the LEDs to last for 10-15 years. Watch out for poorly made LED lamps though — I have an Adesso Lamp that lost 7 of its 20 LEDs in the first year, and other Amazon buyers had the issue.
Here is our round-up of the best led desk lamps:
Best Overall – The Softech DL-90 Multi-Function LED Desk Lamp
This lamp was just released this year by Softech, and it has a lot going for it. The lamp incorporates 27 high-power daylight LEDs. The Color Rendering Index of the LEDs is rated at 90+ (excellent).
The lamp has four distinct lighting modes and 40 brightness levels in total. The first two modes are for desk work: a reading mode with mid-range colors (4300K-5300K) that are easy on the eyes, and a study mode which has a high range color temperature (6000K-7000K). The lamp can also be switched to a relaxation mode and a sleep mode — these have softer, warm color temperatures.
This lamp uses 10 watts or less of power to provide light equivalent to a 100 watt incandescent bulb. It is said to last about 40,000 hours or 20 years of normal use.
A handy feature of this lamp is the “auto off timer”. The timer will turn the lamp off after one hour, saving your power if you forget to turn it off. It has a USB charging port.
The Softech DL-90 lamp is available from Amazon for about $159. There’s also a version that incorporates an iPod/iPhone dock for $179.
Award Winning – The Z-Bar High Power LED Desk Lamp
The minimalist Z-Bar High Power LED Desk Lamp is an attractive lamp that features the latest LEDs.
It has six daylight white LEDs that use only about 9 watts of electricity at full brightness (the LEDs generate about 240 lumens of light).
The Z-Bar has a built-in 4-step dimming function that will take the light down to save even more on electricity or it can be used to create softer lighting for the task at hand. The adjustable joints can be placed in almost any position without tightening or loosening knobs or screws, simply move the light to where you need it and the lamp will hold to form.
The Z-Bar received an I.D. Magazine “best of category” award a few years ago.
The Z-Bar LED Desk Lamp is available from Amazon for around $170. It comes in three colors: red, silver and black.
A Magnifying Lamp: TheFulcrum Magnifier 12 LED Floor Lamp
The Fulcrum Magnifier is an illuminated magnifying lamp has a 5-inch diameter lens has 2x magnification power with a 6x inset for fine details. This lamp gets an average rating of 4.2 of 5 from 44+ reviewers on Amazon.
It has 12 glare-free LEDs and a flexible gooseneck that allows you to position the lamp exactly where you need it. It comes with an AC adapter, but may also be operated wire-free with three alkaline D batteries (see our article on The Best D-Size Rechargeable Batteries).
The Fulcrum Magnifier is available at Amazon for about $75.
The Best Lamp with Yellow & White LEDs – EcoLight LED Table Lamp
The EcoLight LED Table Lamp receives great reviews from owners (see the comments on this post and on Amazon). Made by IMG Lighting, this lamp has a unique feature: a touchpad that allows you to adjust the brightness and warmth of the light. This is possible because the lamp has both yellow and white LEDs. The lamp uses just 12.9 watts of power at maximum brightness, and produces 600 lumens.
The EcoLight is available from Amazon for around $219.
The Budget LED Lamp – LED Extended Gooseneck Lamp
This is a new LED lamp that is getting good reviews on Amazon (four reviewers have given it 5/5 stars). Reviewers like the weighted base. It runs on just 2 watts, producing 100 lumens of light.
The LED Extended Gooseneck Lamp is available for about $100 at Amazon.
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61 Responses to The Best LED Desk Lamps For 2012
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I’m an early adopter of LEDs. I bought the Balmuda Highwire when it first came out in 2007. I paid around $650 for the Highwire. The design was sharp and I got alot of compliments when people swing by the office. The problem back then and still exists now is that so many of the LED lamps were just for show, and weren’t that bright. However, whats the point of any lamp that you can’t use? I have to use the lamp to read, not just look good on my desk.
I went through like 3-4 high end speciality lighting stores checking out LED lamps and back in 2007 only the Balmuda performed as good as it looked. If you check out the Balmuda they only use 4 LEDs, but each diode was extraordinarily bright. So when we were moving into new offices I wanted to get a dozen more Balmuda Highwires for my management staff, but they don’t make them any more so I had to start the hunt all over again. I spent the time to look and test out the current generation of LED lamps from all the major manufactures. I don’t know why so many of these lights are so dim (most were about 40 watt bulb in brightness) or were stuck using LED technology a generation back (even Balmuda used only 4 LEDs back in 2007, why are these companies using like 20, 30, 40 lousy LEDs in a single lamp). If we’re spending hundreds on a lamp the quality better be there.
The only lamp that stood out were the desk lamps from IMG Lighting. The lighting quality is as good, maybe a bit better, than my Balmuda, and it seems to use the same formula as the Highwire by using a few high quality LEDs instead of a bunch of low quality ones. The other LED lamps from other makers were sleek in design, but they fell short when it came time to “shine.” Again, whats the point of a lamp if it won’t light up a desk. In the end, we bought IMG Lighting’s lamp for our offices and we’re very happy with them. I think Balmuda takes the cake when it comes to design with its sleek milled aluminum, but it was also expensive at $650 (back in 2007 too!). The IMG Lighting lamp it is great value for money.
Good reviews.
The Softech DL-90 Multi-FunctionLED Desk Lamp seems like it would be a good buy. The design is attractive and it has great ratings from customers at Amazon. I can’t believe the lamp has four distinct lighting modes and 40 brightness levels. I’m not sure I need all that.