Review – BenQ e-Reading Lamp

When I was first sent the BenQ e-Reading lamp to review, I was struck with a burst of inspiration. The e-Reading lamp is especially designed to be ideal for desks, making reading from electronic screens a much more pleasant experience.

Now as I’m sure you can guess, we do have a LOT of screens in our house – probably at least a dozen if you count devices like phones and games consoles. So a lamp is definitely a good addition. The only trouble was, our desk is currently pretty tiny, and houses not just 2 screens but the accumulated junk of months of home living. You know the type – letters from schools, Christmas lists, USB sticks, children’s drawings. The detritus of life, basically.

So the thought of setting up (and photographing) this wonderful lamp on the junk-pile that is our desk wasn’t an appetising one, to say the least.

This is the part where the burst of inspiration came in. What other uses could I put a lamp to in our house – more importantly, uses that aren’t currently covered by an existing lamp? Well, I could think of about a dozen – and my plan was to set each up in turn, photograph them and present that as my post. But this is where life got in the way… Here, I’ll explain:

A Lego-sorting light

Now admittedly not everybody needs a light to help them sort out their Lego pieces. Let’s face it – most people probably don’t even sort out their Lego pieces in the first place. But we’re not most people, and we have our Lego (well, my Lego – the kids sadly ignore my lead) sorted into colours. And anybody who knows Lego will know there are quite a few colours. So when we often sit and sort out a new haul of Lego (usually bought from a car boot sale) it can be really useful to have a good light over you – especially for some of the all-too-similar colours. So this would have been ideal for that. But in the period where we’ve had the light, I have somehow managed to not get any new Lego. BUMMER.

A light-box light

Now this is one I actually managed – photo below. Following on from the above, I often end up taking photos of my Lego creations for my Instagram account, and I use a light box for this. Unfortunately though, my light box didn’t come with any lights, so I’ve always had to just muddle through. Thankfully, the BenQ light was perfect for this job, creating (as it does) a really even and natural light. So I’ll definitely be repeating this one in future…

A wicked sewing light

Both of our boys are in the cubs (well, one is a cub and one is a beaver) which means they regularly come home with badges to sew onto their jumpers. In fact, we currently have a pile of 7 different badges that need sewing-on. And having a light to use while sewing them on – a tricky task usually done in the evenings – would be ideal. The only trouble is, the past 2 or 3 weeks that we’ve had the light have also been Christmas party season. Or Carol services. Or school plays. Or any number of other evening engagements. So the sewing kit has remained firmly in the cupboard. Arse, there goes that plan.

An actual e-Reading light

Having finally admitted defeat for my plan to present 12 “alternative” uses for the light, I realised I’d better do the unthinkable. Yes, it was time to tidy the desk. ARGH! 15 hours later, the crud was finally gone – well, gone enough for me not to be afraid of posting a picture anyway. So I setup the light in the place it was supposed to be, and there it has remained ever since. I’m even using it as I write this. The proof is below.

It’s an excellent light, as it happens. It has a swanky touch-control thingy on the top, which allows you to put it into a number of different light-level modes. It’s got a very flexible arm which you can bend into virtually any position, and a very cool curved lamp head, which just looks cool. It also works very nicely as an e-Reading light, providing just the right level of light required to stop me squinting at the screen.

All in all, I’d highly recommend it – though I’d encourage you to carry on where I failed, and try to find some alternative uses for it! If you want to buy one for yourself, you can find it on Amazon, and probably elsewhere too!