If you love reading, you’ve probably found yourself devouring pages long into the night. So, if you’ve ever had a book you just couldn’t put down, you should probably invest in a reading light.
But what makes a good reading light? Modern reading lights are convenient thanks to their long battery life, compact size, and portability.
Luckily, reading light manufacturers are also paying attention to health. To protect your eyesight, they offer a variety of brightness settings and warmer color temperatures, measured in Kelvins, or “K.” These range from 1,000K to 10,000K.
If you’re not familiar with Kelvins, here’s a handy guide to understanding the measurement:
- Less than 2000K is equal to a dim candlelight
- 3,000K–4,000K is the typical temperature of warm, yellow-white light
- 4,500K–6,000K usually indicate bright, cool white light
- 6,500K–7,000K is the usual range of cold blue-white/daylight
- 7,000K+: usually indicates industrial light
Choose From 2 Types of Reading Lights
The most popular reading lights fall into two categories:
- Neck lights: horseshoe-shaped lights which rest around your neck
- Clip-on lights: lights that clip right onto your book
If you’re thinking about buying a light, here are some examples of each kind you may like:
Create Your Own Light Bubble With a Neck Reading Light
The great thing about neck lights is that they create a light bubble just for you, while others around you aren’t disturbed. Neck lights are especially appealing to late-night readers whose partners are light sleepers.
The Glocusent Neck Reading Light Has a Host of Helpful Features
One neck light option is the Glocusent Upgraded Rechargeable LED Neck Reading Light. This reading light has three color temperatures:
- Soft yellow (1,800K)
- Warm white (3,400K)
- Cool white (6,000K)
Coupled with six levels of brightness, you can adjust the light to suit your exact needs in any situation.
Other features include:
- A light weight of 4.52, oz so it sits comfortably on the back of your neck
- Timer to automatically turn the light off after 30 minutes
- 80 hours of battery life on a full charge
Choose a Reading Light With a Blue Light Filter if You Read Before Bed
If you’d prefer a neck reading light that also has a blue light filter, making it easier to fall asleep when you’ve finished reading, consider the Vont Neck Reading Light.
Besides the blue light filter, the main feature of this reading light is its flexible design. You can bend it around your neck to make yourself comfortable and then fold it so that it fits into a purse or laptop bag.
Other features include:
- 3 color temperatures
- 3 levels of brightness
- Up to 80 hours of battery life
- Light weight of 5.2 oz
With Clip-On Lights You Clip It on & Forget About It
A clip-on reading light attaches to the cover of your book and illuminates pages with ease.
This Versatile Reading Light Clips Onto Your Book or Stands on Your Nightstand
If a clip-on light sounds perfect for you, the Vekkia Adjustable Heads 14 LED Rechargeable Book Light is worth looking into. It looks a little bit like a whale tail with its two lights, but they’re adjustable to 180 degrees to illuminate both pages of your book. This design makes it a good option for large formats like magazines or children’s story books. And if you want to take a break from clipping it onto your book, you can even stand it on your nightstand.
This reading light will give you 65 hours of reading time on its softest color setting, but slightly less time on its brighter settings.
The Vekkia adjustable reading light weighs in at a portable 4 oz and comes with a micro USB cable for convenient charging.
The Amber Light From Dewenwils Charges Via a USB Port
The Dewenwils Amber Book Light offers eight hours of reading time for every 90 minutes spent plugged into your USB outlet, laptop, or adapter. The reading light clips easily onto your book and has a flexible holder that you can swivel to find your personal comfort level.
This light has three brightness levels and protects your eyes with a warm 1,800K color temperature which gives off an amber glow while also blocking blue light.
Weighing less than a handful of pocket change (1.37 oz), it’s small enough to double up as a bookmark when you stop reading.
Another fun feature is that it comes in a variety of colors, which makes it a fun gift choice, especially for younger readers.
This Clever Light Clips Right Onto Your Glasses
A twist on the clip-on reading light is the Nachteule reading light. (Nachteule means “night owl” in German, where this reading light is made.) This is an award-winning design that clips onto your glasses. And if you don’t wear glasses, it comes with a headband, or you can clip it onto your headphones.
This is a compact reading light that weighs only 0.31 oz and includes a protective case and charging cable (micro USB). The light’s maker claims you can read 200 pages without having to charge the battery, so you can settle down for a long reading session with your night owl.
Reading Lights Are For Book Lovers & More
Though it’s mainly avid readers who are interested in reading lights, all of the lights featured here are helpful for other hobbies including:
- Knitting
- Sewing
- Writing notes
- Sketching
- Illuminating music scores while you’re playing an instrument
But for the book lovers, reading lights aren’t just about letting your partner sleep undisturbed alongside you. Their ability to pool light directly onto your book means you can focus more clearly and enjoy your reading material no matter the time of day.
