One of the coolest things about building a personal brand and a social following is that from time to time, companies want to send you stuff.
Usually it’s design books, but BenQ have been extra generous… a few years back they sent a 32″ 4k monitor, which I still use and love to this very day, and earlier this year they sent a rather fancy desk lamp which promises to be the worlds first e-reading desk lamp.
When you’re sent something like this, you’re expected to write up a review in some shape or form…
But I hang my head in shame as I’ve had the lamp for months. I use it ever day, and until now I’ve not told many people about it! Oops (sorry BenQ!).
My excuse is that I went full time in March, and… I’ve been so busy!
I even managed get the University of Cambridge as a client for a logo project! Wowza. I still can’t quite believe that happened.
But here we are… better late than never.
Here’s a few thoughts on the WiT e-Reading Lamp from BenQ.
The worlds first e-reading lamp
I’ve had desk lamps before. I normally plan to use them when sketching.
But the reality is that they end up just sitting on my desk gathering dust.
In all honesty the last one I had found it’s way into storage on the top of my book shelf, and that one actually ended up going to a charity shop as it had become un-used clutter.
So when BenQ offered to send a lamp, I wasn’t actually that excited (well, maybe a little). But who turns down free stuff?
But I’ve had this lamp now for a few months, and I use it almost every day… and… I love it.
Yes… I, Ian James Paget is in love with a lamp. 🥰
So let me tell you why something as boring as a lamp is actually quite amazing.
Firstly… It looks slick!
This isn’t something I ever thought I’d say about a lamp, but… it looks freaking awesome.
It’s like a beautifully designed sculpture.
The light itself is shaped as an arc, or as BenQ gracefully put it, “Smile Curve Technology”.
The light itself is then topped with a layer of colour.
The arm and base of the light is white, but the cable that links from the top, down through the core of the frame is also the same colour as the smile of the light.
This makes the cable, which is normally an ugly thing that you want to hide, become a design feature you enjoy looking at.
I know I’m getting all excited here about a freaking cable, but it’s also wrapped in some kind of material too, rather than plain plastic, and… it just looks damn cool, and feels really high quality.
The on/off stitch is also a chrome ring at the rear of the lamp. You tap it to turn the light on, tap again to turn it off, or hold you finger on it to adjust the mode. I’ll tell you more about that later, but… it looks slick.
It’s a well made desk lamp
I’ll openly admit that any time I’ve bought a lamp it’s been a pretty cheap one.
I actually don’t think I ever spent more than £20 on a lamp. So it’s no big surprise that a lamp costing £169 is significantly better than any other I’ve purchased.
I’ve always said, you get what you pay for, and that seems to be the case with lamps too.
I’m actually sat looking at it now as I write. The shapes. The detail. The finish used. The joints. The cable. The feel of the movement. It’s a very… very… well designed, and clearly a carefully made product.
Even when I inspect closely, it’s pretty much flawless. It’s damn good quality.
It also happens to be eco-friendly materials too, which is an added bonus.
Super wide lighting
This is one of the bigger ‘unique’ features of this lamp.
The BenQ WiT features wide lighting, up to 90cm range which is apparently 150% wider than typical lamps.
My old lamp would basically form a bright, focussed spotlight over my desk… Kind of what you expect right?
But this lamp, it spreads the light across my whole working area, meaning I can see my sketchbook clearly, my notes, my keyboard, my Pantone books.
It’s a pleasant, even lighting, and one of the reasons I use it so frequently.
Reduced reflection glare
This lamp claims to have “Reduced Reflection Glare”, and… using it now, the lights not reflecting off my monitor, or iPhone.
It’s not a problem I’ve had myself in the past, but I can appreciate that this could be an issue for some, which probably causes eye strain.
Not sure how it compares to other lights, but I can be certain that it’s a pleasant light.
If it’s been a problem for you, then this lamp is worth considering.
Intelligent controlled lighting
To control the lamp there is a chrome metal ring. Touch it, and it turns the lamp on and off.
But if you touch and hold the ring for a few seconds it activates something called ‘e-reading mode’.
I admit I didn’t actually really know what this did. I can see the light did something, and a little green light displays at the top, but until writing this review I wasn’t actually certain what it did. So I’ve got out the manual for the sake of providing correct information.
In the instruction booklet they use the term ‘eye-care’ mode, and it says that the lamp automatically adjusts the lamps brightness according to the ambient lighting conditions, and automatically optimises the colour temperature for screen reading.
Wooooah! How clever is that? I’m so glad I read the manual at last… 🤦♂️
At the rear of the ark is also a circular knob that rotates. When you twist this the lighting colour temperature changes.
At one extreme it’s a very white/cool lighting. At the other extreme It’s a very warm, orange colour lighting.
Check it out in the video below.
My final thoughts
There becomes a point when you just need light.
You turn the lamp on, and forget about it.
I’ve not really played around with the controls much since first setting it up, but since I’m writing about the lamp now, I’ve been playing… and… I messed with the brightness, temperature etc.
… then somehow it felt too bright. Doh! But then I activated the e-reading mode, and it so perfectly adjusted to a pleasant lighting once again.
I actually had no idea how intelligent this thing was!
I’ve been using it for sketching a lot. Even in the day. It sits perfectly over my working area, and lights everything up so consistently. I’m likely to use it every time for that reason.
I also use it every time I’m selecting a Pantone colour. As the WiT offers high CRI (Ra>95) and high R9 score, it’s able to reproduce colours faithfully so I can ensure I choose the best colour for the task at hand.
I know this is only a lamp, but… its a damn sexy, and seriously practical lamp.
I love how it looks, and now writing this I appreciate the technology involved more than before.
So, if you need a good lamp for your office, I highly recommend the BenQ WiT e-Reading Lamp. Buy on Amazon UK here, or Amazon US here.
Thank you to BenQ for giving me a product I never knew I needed.