The Best Reading Light for the Earlier Nights and Darker Mornings This Winter

As watchful nights draw in and stretch ever-longer after the height of summer, bookworms and studious students alike will be wanting to burn the midnight oil and knuckle-down with a good book. Getting a good balance of brightness, colour temperature and adjustability for when you inevitably sit up / roll over / almost jump into a different chair entirely (Books are great, people) and need to redirect the light without missing a word.

This list covers the tiny to the gadget-laded to give you the inspiration to create the perfect reading corner and survive these long, colder nights.

Best Reading Light for Headboards ULT300

Starting strong in more ways than one. The ULT300 is fitted with 24 strong LED lights, fixes to a headboard easily with the strong clip grip and is fully poseable at any angle thanks to a stable, strong gooseneck! (I wasn’t kidding when I said starting strong).

This thing is great for serious stay-uppers who need a good hour or so in bed before sleeping or before getting up. The comfort of being in bed as you normally would, with the convenience of the lamp just tucked above the headboard is like something from the character introduction in a YA novel.

For those without headboards you can just as easily clip the heavy-duty clamp around your bed frame, bending the gooseneck up to shine across as you lay on your front or side. The amount of light the 24 LEDs emit is variable, with as few as 3 of them active if you so choose. The range varies from enough light to sleep with right up to desk lamp levels of illumination, all directed exactly where you want thanks to the gooseneck.

The real turning-point is the complete remote usage thanks to the battery pack. This means endless nights of use without a break to recharge and, more importantly, no restriction on where you can attach the lamp since no cables are needed.

If you’ve a headboard and read in bed, you can’t go wrong with the ULT300.

Best Reading Light for Travel LEC002

Jumping right out of bed and hitting the road now, the LEC002 is great for a touch of light on the go. There’s a joke there somewhere about always having some “light reading” with you at all times but I can’t articulate it. But I digress.

The LEC002 is a little USB powered light strip in a rubberised flexible frame. “Little” is the operative word, with almost a polar opposite design philosophy to the previous entry. This light instead focuses on minimalism, with no clip and just a simple USB connector. Plug the LEC002 right in to laptops, power banks, mains USB ports and any other powered USB socket to receive immediate LED light.

The power isn’t incredible and the range is short that the rest of the options here, but it’s directional enough for reading and can even be used in a room where someone else might still be sleeping as you nestle into a book!

The USB is the only way to turn on this particular model, but the small size, low energy use and convenience of the LED strip light outweigh the operation in many cases. From commutes in the darkened skies to hotels and camping with just a power bank available, having a USB LED like this can help you read anywhere.

Best Reading Light for Desks and Offices LEC210 + LEC215

We’ve cooped up in bed with ULT300, we’ve flown the nest and travelled the world with LEC002, now it’s time to get back to the everyday with the LEC210 or more recent LEC215. These LED lamps are made for desktop or office use but still contain that August spark of practicality and portability.

The lamps themselves feature 6 hours of rechargeable battery releasing 220 Lumen of visible light from energy-efficient LEDs in the head. There are 24 LEDs in the lamps, but unlike ULT300 the LEC210 and LEC215 have an attached stand with a few tricks up its sleeve…

The stand for LEC210 is just 7 cm square and directly holds the shaft of the lamp. The light on top is attached so that it can fold upwards and downwards which gives you even more space and adjustability.

For larger desks, the LEC215 features a full 15cm diameter circular base for extra stability and can not only fold for storage, but also rotate up to 180 degrees at the joint. This creates better coverage and more adaptability at the cost of a physically larger lamp. August nailed the slim design though, so even with the extra space taken up the LEC215 is still only 378 grams and incredibly portable.

The lamps are made all white or all black to fit in with your tech (We know which one the Mac owners will pick up) and look professional or minimalist depending on work or home placement.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic”

While I don’t disagree with that fabulous quote from Stephen King, they’re only as portable as your light source! Unless you only read by sunlight, but then think of all those hours you’re missing out on getting more time in!

Explore our range of ready lights from this article and, if you need more lighting-based inspiration check out our energy-efficient home and garden motion sensor lights so that you can get up to read without searching in the dark for a lightswitch