A great desk lamp can be a valuable asset to your home office. They can be the finishing touch that makes your work area feel complete and polished, and they can also make a strong impression on guests or anyone who stops by your desk to visit. While there are many different options on the market, it is important to choose a light that will fit your needs. A good way to do this is to look at the features that each light has to offer and decide which ones are most important to you.
Some lamps will have a built-in LED, which can be convenient because it eliminates the need for a separate lightbulb. However, it is best to choose a lamp that allows you to supply your own bulb, because this will give you more flexibility when choosing a lightbulb with the right temperature and color settings for your space.
Another option is to consider a smart desk lamp, which can be controlled with a smartphone app or by using your voice assistant of choice. These can help you control the brightness and color of your light and adjust it to match your mood or the time of day. Some models have fun settings, such as syncing the light to music or a scene mode that adjusts the lighting to recreate experiences such as festivals and fireworks.
An affordable option is the Ikea Forsa, which has a sleek design and comes with a replaceable LED bulb that’s rated for up to 50W of power. Its rounded lampshade and sleek metal base can complement any decor style, making it an excellent choice for a budget-friendly home office. Its flaws are minor, but worth considering: The Forsa’s arms can only be fully extended to 20 1/2 inches and it doesn’t cast as much light as our top picks when angled at full height.
For a more expensive option, the Dyson Lightcycle Morph offers an adaptable design with a swivel head that can be docked into the base to save space or create a reduced ambient light for reading. Its unique design and hefty price tag may not appeal to everyone, but the Lightcycle Morph is a great example of how high-end technology can be incorporated into a functional home product.
A more traditional option is a banker piano lamp, which has an oblong metal or glass shade that can be angled upward to focus the light where you need it. Banker piano lamps are available in a variety of finishes and designs, so they can match any style in your home office. Some even have a pull chain, so they’re reminiscent of the old-fashioned lamps that were once popular in offices. While these lamps have a classic appearance, they’re often more top-heavy than our picks and can be hard to balance with other items on your desk. Also, they typically have only one tactile button for turning the lamp on and off.
