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10 best desk lamps for working and studying at home

Brighten up your home office with one of these unique finds

Laurie Davidson
Wednesday 26 May 2021 15:07 BST

For many of us, working from home looks set to stay – in some capacity, at least – and setting up a comfortable, functional work area is crucial to productivity and wellbeing. And lighting is a key part of a successful work environment, so a desk lamp is a must.

An adjustable head and/or arm that can be angled in different directions and set to varying heights is probably the most useful feature of any desk lamp, as you can cast the light to precisely the spot you need it. If you can’t find an adjustable design that you like, consider a fixed yet lightweight lamp that you can move easily for times when you require more direct light.

Dimmer switches that control the brightness of the light are a worthwhile addition to prevent eye strain and adjust as the ambient light changes throughout the day.

Make sure you take into account the size of your work area compared to the size of the lamp; a design shouldn’t take up a large portion of the space and leave you with little room for much else.

Height is also a key consideration, too – it’s no use choosing a short lamp if it’s going to be obscured behind a laptop, for example – so decide where you’d like to put it before you buy.

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Other notable features include wireless charging areas for a mobile phone, designs that clip on to desktops and shelves, allowing you to get light in hard-to-reach places, and coloured shades for those who aren’t fans of white light.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.

The best desk lamps for 2021 are:

Best overall – Ikea riggad LED work lamp: £60, Ikea.com

Best for designer style – Dowsing & Reynolds silver leather cuff table lamp: £124.99, Dowsingandreynolds.com

Best for versatility – Iconic Lights portishead copper clip-on spotlight lamp: £35, Iconiclights.co.uk

Best for casting a softer light – Lighting Lover parasol light: £190, Lightinglover.com

Best for minimal design – Pooky Gerry reading lamp: £111, Pooky.com

Best for a dash of colour – OKA Claudette table lamp: £250, Oka.com

Best for small spaces – Dutchbone devi wall lamp: £139, Cuckooland.com

Best for interesting light patterns – Oliver Bonas blue onda desk and table lamp: £85, Oliverbonas.com

Best for classic good looks on a budget – Next Detroit table lamp: £50, Next.co.uk

Best for a touch of luxury – Anthropologie shelley task lamp: £188, Anthropologie.com

Ikea riggad LED work lamp

Ikea.jpg

Best: Overall

We love this nifty lamp from Ikea, especially its wireless charging pad – simply place your phone (iPhone 8 or newer and Samsung Galaxy S6 or newer models all work) on the charging base and let it do its thing. One less cable to get tangled with the myriad others can only be a good thing.

The arm and head are adjustable and it comes with a USB port and a built-in warm white LED. We’ve come to expect functional products from Ikea, but this is surprisingly sleek and stylish too, and we’re pleased the LED isn’t jarringly bright. A great-value lamp that ticks a lot of boxes.

  1. £60 from Ikea.com
Prices may vary
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Dowsing & Reynolds silver leather cuff table lamp

Dowsing _ Reynolds Silver Leather Cuff Table Lamp - Light Tan £140.99.jpg

Best: For designer style

If sleek, smart and original are at the top of your desk lamp wish list, they don’t come much cooler than this beautifully simple leather-and-metal design. The head and arm are fixed in place, but it is compact enough to move around a desk easily, should you need to direct light to a specific area. The vegetable-tanned leather shade comes in three colours – black, dark tan and light tan – all sat atop a silver-coloured brass base. Aside from its elegant design, we love that it has a fabric, rather than a plastic cord, which adds to its high-end feel. A well-made lamp that looks more expensive than it is.

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Iconic Lights portishead copper clip-on spotlight lamp

Iconic Lights Portishead Clip On Spotlight Table Lamp £35. Iconic Lights (iconiclights.co.uk).jpg

Best: For versatility

Trying to shoehorn a lamp on to your already-crowded desk? Or maybe you need light in an awkward place? This small but perfectly formed lamp has a hinged clip for a base (with protective foam pads that won’t mark furniture), so you can clip it to any surface. We mounted ours on the side edge of a floating wall shelf to give downward-facing, directional light via the moveable head, but it can also be placed on a flat surface just like a regular lamp. If the copper-effect finish is not for you, it also comes in brushed chrome. A clever idea at a low price.

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Lighting Lover parasol light

parasol-table-top-lamp-interior.jpg

Best: For casting a softer light

Another super-sleek design that looks more like an ornament than a lamp, but this light is anything but style over substance. The LED is dimmable and the shade is adjustable for versatility, but the Parasol’s cleverest feature is the way it casts its light. The LED projects upwards from the top of the base and light is reflected off the underside of the shade, making it much less harsh than most desk lamp light. It’s fairly lofty too, at 50cm high, so it easily reached over this tester’s laptop and monitor, which are both positioned on stands. The perfect combination of form and function.

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Pooky Gerry reading lamp

Pooky Gerry Desk Lamp.jpg

Best: For minimal design

This desk lamp is really elegant and unobtrusive, and its super-thin base allowed this tester to slide it under a backless monitor stand, so it took up hardly any extra surface space. The built-in LED has three adjustable light levels, and the hinged base and head allow you to configure it in almost any way you need. At 53cm high, it’ll tower over most things on a desk – great if your work area is piled high with things that you need to keep to hand. We especially like the brushed effect of the metal, it almost looks like wood grain and gives this lamp a wonderfully sleek feel.

  1. £111 from Pooky.com
Prices may vary
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OKA Claudette table lamp

Oka Claudette Table Lamp - Dusty Rose.jpg

Best: For a dash of colour

The first thing we noticed about this lamp was how weighty and solid it felt, then how lovely the pink glass shade looks when it’s illuminated. The lamp is weighty because it’s made of bronze-effect iron, but its finish is refined and the shape incredibly simple, which lets the pink shade do the talking. The head and base are fixed in position and the light casts a much softer glow compared to the other lamps we tested, so it’s a good choice for general work, rather than anything too detailed. Fans of 1930s Bauhaus style will fall head over heels for this beautiful design.

  1. £250 from Oka.com
Prices may vary
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Dutchbone devi wall lamp

Cuckooland Dutchbone Devi Wall Lamp.jpg

Best: For small spaces

We realise we may have cheated a little here by including a wall lamp in our round-up, but hear us out. Nobody ever said a desk lamp had to be positioned on a desk, and some people just don’t have the space for one. This stylish yet functional wall light has a matt-black metal shade (a glossy, deep-green design is also available) and a hinged brass arm that can be extended up to 70cm out from the wall and adjusted in all directions. The light is not dimmable, but the on/off switch is positioned on the cable, so there’s no need to get up and down to turn it on and off. A great alternative if your desk space leaves a lot to be desired…

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Oliver Bonas blue onda desk and table lamp

Oliver Bonas lamp

Best: For interesting light patterns

We love the ridged glass shade and the unusual shape of this elegant Oliver Bonas design, which has more than a hint of Art Deco style to it. It feels sturdy and well-made and the uneven finish of the blue/green glass casts the light in lovely scattered patterns. Its position can’t be adjusted but the light is dimmable – perfect for creating a soft, ambient feel while working. This tester fitted a bulb with a decorative filament as it was just crying out for something as stylish as the lamp itself. It looks like a statement vase when it’s not switched on and is decent value at £85.

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Next Detroit table lamp

Next detroit lamp

Best: For classic good looks on a budget

This timeless-looking chrome lamp reminds us of a fisherman’s pendant light with an industrial-style edge. The ball-jointed arm is adjustable, as is where the top of the shade meets the arm, so the lamp can be manoeuvred into countless positions for perfectly directed light. The open shade means the light is cast across a wide area, so it’s a good choice for larger desks. It’s also available in antique-effect brass with a mottled matt-black shade and base if you prefer a more traditional look. A great all-rounder that’s classic and functional at a low price.

  1. £50 from Next.co.uk
Prices may vary
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Anthropologie shelley task lamp

Shelley Task Lamp £188 with light off.jpg

Best: For a touch of luxury

The delicate, feminine look of this Anthropologie lamp belies its sturdiness. The base and weighted end of the arm are made of marble and the shade and arm itself are iron finished in an aged gold effect. It really is a thing of beauty and the shell-inspired shade is not like anything we’ve seen before. The arm is adjustable, allowing the shade to be positioned up high for general lighting or down low to give a more focused light source. It is heavy, and not a lamp that you’d want to move around often, so find a good spot for it (preferably not hidden behind a stack of folders) and admire it as you work.

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The verdict: Desk lamps

For added extras alone, Ikea’s Riggad LED lamp gets a huge thumbs-up. The wireless charging capabilities on the base and USB port are fantastic extras that really make a difference. Aside from that, its sleek, simple looks won us over and the adjustability and dimmability make it the complete package. And all for only £60.

If good looks are high on your priority list, it’s hard to look past the Dowsing & Reynolds silver leather cuff table lamp and Anthropologie’s shelley task lamp: both are very different in style but both ooze individuality.

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Once the working day is over, there’s nothing better than settling down under one of these reading lamps with a good book

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