Exactly a year ago today I reviewed what has become my favorite desk lamp, the BenQ WiT e-Reading LED Desk Lamp, I mean I really do love the lamp, it’s the best lamp I’ve ever bought or reviewed really, I can highly recommend it for sure. I use the lamp everyday, I’ve tried others but I’ve always gone back to it for my desk lamp. BenQ has sent me another of their lamps for review, this one is the BenQ Genie e-Reading LED Desk Lamp and it’s almost the same as the WiT lamp with some subtle differences and it’s slightly smaller as well. I agreed to review it because of how much I liked the original lamp and well because I was in the market for another decent lamp to use with my 3D Printer setup as well. The BenQ Genie is just as good as the original, it provides the same lighting, it looks great and it’s very well made. Read on to learn more….
Specifications and Features
BenQ Genie – Silver Genie e-Reading LED Desk Lamp
Do your eyes sometimes hurt when you’re working on your computer, reading a book, doing paperwork or even just playing on your mobile device? You may be in a poorly lit environment. Most offices and libraries already have decent desk lamps to illuminate the room. However, even the best desk lamps perform poorly and can even cause reflection glare on computer screens and gadgets. That’s why we re-imagined, redesigned and revolutionized the common desk lamp to match changing times. Introducing the BenQ e-Reading Desk Lamp. The World’s First Lamp Designed for e-Reading. We live in an age where most of our time is spent staring at screens, from e-readers for reading our favorite books, to computer screens and mobile devices for work and play. That’s why we need a task lamp that is specifically designed for the digital era.
Unlike the regular task lamps, the BenQ e-Reading lamp has wider lighting coverage. Developed specifically for the usage of monitors, kindles, tablets, and other devices, as well as for use in large workspaces, the desk lamp distributes light evenly across the desk. It delivers a 90cm illumination range, 150% wider than any regular reading lamp, helping you see everything from your keyboard to your entire desk. Its patented “brighter at the sides, darker in the middle” illumination is designed to eliminate glare. When using the computer, lighting should be sufficient for you to see the text as well as the screen. But in most cases, the bright light on the display screen “washes out” the images.
The lamp’s intelligent e-Reading mode reduces the contrast glare and the reflection on your screen. To enable it, just touch the metal ring for 2 seconds. The built-in sensor detects the ambient lighting, delivering “brighter on the sides, darker in the middle” illumination. Reduced glare on your screens means longer, more comfortable hours for work, play, reading, surfing the net or just enjoying digital media.
The control knob makes this lamp completely adjustable to your needs. You can easily switch from relaxed mode to mode suitable for working with just a simple twist of the knob. Select warmer light tones when reading to relax. Select the cooler tones when doing tasks that need you to concentrate and be alert.
With the BenQ e-Reading lamp, life, work, play and entertainment becomes sheer joy. Get your BenQ e-Reading lamp today. Illuminate more and see the difference.
-BYE-BYE BURNOUT: With BenQ’s lighting technology, our LED panels will give you 50,000 hours of lifespan. That’s 8 hours a day, for 17 years!
-MOOD LIGHTING: The BenQ e-Reading Lamp can easily be switched from warm tones for casual reading, to the cooler tones for concentration and work. With the twist of a knob, you can choose the right lighting suitable for concentration and productivity or for relaxation.
-ZEROFLICKER TECHNOLOGY: BenQ e-Reading Lamp provides constant and flicker-free illumination and no more unstable lighting to harm your eyes.
-SMART LIGHTING: The BenQ e-Reading lamp has a built-in an ambient sensor. With a longer touch of the control ring, the sensor automatically detects the light levels of the room and adjusts its brightness accordingly. Don’t know what is the best lighting for your screen reading? This e-Reading mode will smartly do the job for you.
-FLEXIBILITY: The BenQ e-Reading Lamp has a ball-joint that optimizes the flexibility of the lamp cap, plus highly durable torque springs and precision friction control to counter-balance the weight. You can adjust the light to the exact angles you need.
Specs:
Light source: Dual color LED
Color Rendering Index: > 80
Illuminance: Center Illuminance 1800lux (Lit 40cm from a surface)
Luminous Flux: 2,700K: 800lm 5,700K: 900lm
Color Temperature: 2,700K ~ 5,700K
Power Input: 100V ~ 240V AC, 50Hz ~ 60Hz
Power Consumption: 18W (Max.)
Materials: Aluminum alloy, Engineering resin
Dimension: 25cm x 25cm x 56cm
Net Weight: 2.4kg
Gross Weight: 3.4kg
Price: $139.00 (from Amazon at time of review)
The Review
Let’s start with a video unboxing and then move on:
The BenQ Genie comes packaged very well in an attractive box with pictures and information on it for you. The lamp is packaged well inside of the box with lots of cardboard to keep it safe and unmoving.
Once you’ve got everything unpacked you’ll find the lamp base, lamp, power supply, accessory bag, user guide and quick start guide.
Inside of the small bag is an hex wrench, two screws and a cover for the screws on the lamp arm, you won’t need to provide any tools at all for assembly and it’s easy as it’s just two screws. The power supply is small and has a short power cable coming from it.
The lamp base and arm extension are about 21 inches tall. The arm can move from vertical to about a 45 degree angle so you can adjust it to your liking. The base is heavy and solid and it has six rubber feet on it that are rather tall, they will keep the lamp where you put it and make sure the base won’t damage your furniture.
The lamp I got for review is silver but you can get other colors like blue and red and gold and a few others. The power cord is a heavy duty braided cable with a female connector on the end where the power adapter connects to. The cord is nice and long and should reach anywhere you need it to.
There is no power switch on this lamp, it has a touch sensitive silver circle on the end that’s used for powering the lamp on and off and to enable the ambient lighting mode. Next to the circle is a white knob with a silver top which is for adjusting brightness levels and color temperature manually. The knob is also a button, you can push it down. To change the lighting brightness levels you just turn the knob or dial right or left, but to adjust the brightness levels you push the knob and then turn it right or left. That’s it, that’s all the controls for the lamp, it’s simple to use really.
The lamp itself or where the LEDs are located is curved to provide even lighting over your whole desk or work area, and yes it really does work that way. There is one row of LEDs on one side of the lamp, there are 36 LEDs in total but there are 18 that are white and then 18 that are a yellowish color. All the white ones being on would be the brightest and whitest light with just a hint a blue at 5700K. All of the yellow ones on would be the dimmest setting with a color level of 2700K. The yellow and white LEDs come on at varying levels of brightness for the color temperatures in between. The lighting section attaches to the stand with the two included screws and it has a ball joint so the lamp can be positioned wherever you need it to be. The ambient light sensor is located near the joint right where to LEDs would end, it looks just like a small hole really.
To turn the light on you just tap the silver circle and it remember what mode you had it in last and comes back on to that mode which I think is a great feature. I’ve been looking for a good lamp to illuminate my 3d printer and print bed so that’s what I’m using the BenQ Genie for. I can have it set to bright in the daytime and then lower it at night and still be able to see everything just fine. For my uses it works perfectly.
To activate the ambient lighting mode you just hold your finger on the silver circle for 2 seconds and it will engage and use the light sensor to automatically adjust the lighting. There is a green LED that will light up next to the circle to let you know it’s working and on.
Conclusion
The BenQ Genie is a very attractive lamp for sure, it’s subtle looking but yet stylish and rather elegant really.
The construction is truly top-notch, it’s finished perfectly all around.
The multiple lighting modes can be appreciated by anyone, there’s a mode for any mood! Seriously though, the lighting levels can easily be adjusted to your liking and needs. The color levels can be adjusted as well easily with just a turn of the knob. I very much like the ambient lighting mode as it adjusts itself to your surrounding and it’s great for reading or watching a movie.
The light can get very bright and since the lamp is curved it spreads and shines the light all over your work space to illuminate everything as needed.
Like the original BenQ WiT e-Reading lamp I reviewed a year ago I can recommend this one as well, it really is just a great lamp all around.
For the original BenQ lamp I reviewed last year I did have a couple complaints or cons listed but this one, for my uses, is perfectly fine, it’s perfect really. The cons I had listed though were the price, it might be considered expensive and this might apply to this lamp as well but I think it’s well worth the cost. The other con I had listed was that it didn’t get dim enough for my preferences, but for my setup it’s fine.
+Excellent quality
+Looks great
+Simple to use
+e-Reading Mode
+Easy to adjust brightness
Cons:
-None that I can find
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Disclosure: This product was given to me for review by the company for review purposes only for free or at a discounted price.
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