The Best Reading Light

I’ve used many book lights over the years. For this review I spent multiple hours reading in the dark with the 13 models we tested. I also had Wirecutter staffers try out a few of our options while traveling or sharing a sleeping space.

I also spoke with an ophthalmologist to understand how much light people need to read for optimal eye health.

For about $15, the Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light offered all of the features we wanted, plus features we didn’t even know we should want. This light seems to be growing in popularity in online book-lover communities and on #BookTok—and it lives up to the hype.

It has customizable light settings. This reading light offers five brightness levels as well as three light temperatures to choose from, allowing you the greatest level of light customization of all our picks. When used on books of varying sizes, this device was able to cast enough light so we could read both pages clearly. We were also able to twist the light to adjust the angle as needed. Our testers found that the device never interfered with turning the pages, which was not true of all the lights we tested.

It has a compact design. This model is lightweight and has a slim clip, which made it a good option for both hardcover and paperback books, unlike bulkier options we tested. Unlike many of the lights we tried, you can clip the light to the front or back cover and still have a pleasant reading experience. Its slim design made it the easiest of all the lights we tested to store at home and pack away for travel.

It’s easy to charge and has a long-lasting battery. The USB-A connector makes for easy portable charging and is covered by a piece of plastic that was easy to take off and put back on. One of the other lights we tested had a similar charging mechanism, but the battery life of the Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light lasted significantly longer.

Unlike any of the other lights we tested, this reading light has a power indicator. All four of the lights shine green when fully charged. When we left it on full brightness for 12 hours, the power indicator dropped to two lights, which means we used about half the battery life. (This was the only light that we were able to approximate the remaining battery power of during our testing.)

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The buttons are relatively sensitive, so some testers said they accidentally changed their light settings when adjusting the clip’s placement on the book. None of our testers had any issues with it turning on in a backpack or handbag during our testing.

If you’re looking for a wearable option, the Glocusent LED Neck Reading Light is the best available.

It’s wearable and multifunctional. The device is designed to sit around your neck and illuminate whatever is in front of you. It never felt heavy or uncomfortable during our tests. Because this light is wearable, it works well regardless of whether you’re reading hardcovers or paperbacks. It can also easily be used as task lighting, such as for knitting or crocheting. Some of our testers even set the light on a shelf to illuminate a hotel bathroom when the overhead lights went out.

It’s customizable and has a long battery life. The light offers three brightness levels and three light temperatures, and both bulbs at the end of the device can be turned on together or one at a time. We particularly loved this light’s long battery life—it lasted on full brightness for 12 hours straight during our testing. Senior staff writer Elissa Sanci has been using her Glocusent LED Neck Reading Light since February and took it on six flights and hotel stays throughout the country before having to charge it again.

We’ve seen very similar neck lights under many other brand names on Amazon; a representative of Glocusent confirmed that it produces this light as a white-label model in addition to its own branded version. To ensure that you get our specific recommended model, however, buy it directly from Glocusent or its Amazon shop.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Testers with fuller chests found that the light could cast a shadow on their books, depending on how the arms were angled. Adjusting the way they were sitting or how they angled the lights got rid of the shadow.

The arms can be bent inwards to fold the light for packing purposes, but the light can still be a little bulky in a bag compared with others we tested. We’ve found that the buttons are sensitive and the light has accidentally turned on while toted in a backpack.

If you’re committed to hardcover books (or an e-reader that isn’t backlit), the Vekkia Dual Heads Rechargeable Book Light is the best light for you.

It has a bendable neck with two light settings. The device easily illuminates two pages, thanks to the two lights on bendable goosenecks. We bent each over both pages, and the lights never interfered with turning the page. You can turn each light on separately, and both offer two brightness levels, so you can adjust the lighting—but unlike our top picks, you cannot adjust the light temperature.

It has a sturdy clip. The clip grips a book cover well and stays in place throughout use. The clip is bulky, which does affect how the pages lay, but it was less disruptive than several other lights’ clips. We don’t recommend this light for paperback use, as the clip is too heavy and can tear the cover, but it works for hardcover books.

If the Vekkia Dual Heads Rechargeable Book Light is out of stock, try this similar Vekkia model, which also worked well for hardcover books. The light was bright enough to cover both pages, but we prefer the dual-headed option for more light customization if it’s available.

If you want a light to use beyond reading, we recommend the Black Diamond Wiz Headlamp from our headlamps guide.

The light is bright enough. In our testing, this headlamp provided bright enough light to read comfortably in the dark. It was brighter than the rest of the reading lights we tested, but it wasn’t too strong or harsh, like our other headlamp picks. The white-light setting works best for solo reading; if you’re reading a bedtime story to a kid you’re looking to impress, the multicolor lighting option can be a nice added touch.

It’s good for all ages. Although this is a kids headlamp, our adult testers were able to adjust the straps to comfortably fit their heads. The other headlamps we love were far too bright for indoor use.

After consulting with book lovers on staff, including Wirecutter’s staff book club of over 70 members, we chose which lights to test based on the following criteria:

• Adjustable brightness: Different situations call for different types of lighting. We looked for lights that offered at least two brightness levels and a variety of light temperatures for a more customizable experience.
• Convenient for travel: Reading lights are useful beyond just reading in bed, so we prioritized lights that fold or take up minimal space and can easily fit into a travel bag.
• Good for paperback or hardcover: We wanted to find options that work well for reading hardcover and paperback books of all shapes and sizes. The lights needed to allow for easily turning pages, illuminate the entire page, and not tear or damage book covers.
• Long-lasting light: We looked for lights that would last 12 hours straight without dying or noticeably dimming.
• Easy to use: We wanted to find models that felt intuitive to use and weren’t so complicated that we needed to read (and reread) the instructions.

We called in 13 models to test that were recommended by staffers, rated highly on Amazon and other bookstore sites, or recommended on Reddit, TikTok, and other social media sites. We used them over the course of a few weeks to get a feel for daily use and convenience.

In our latest round of testing, we got our hands on the Gritin 9 LED Rechargeable Reading Light, the Gritin 19 LED Rechargeable Reading Light, and the EastPin Neck Reading Light. We chose to test the Gritin lights because of their high number of positive reviews on Amazon, and we wanted to try the EastPin light because of its unique design. But we ended up dismissing all three.

The Gritin 9 LED Rechargeable Reading Light provides long-lasting battery life, adjustable light temperature, and LED-light power indicators. Its bulky and heavy base put it in contention for our pick for hardcover books, but we favored the Vekkia model’s dual-head design and adjustable brightness options over the features in this Gritin model.

Much like the Gritin 9 LED light, the Gritin 19 LED Rechargeable Reading Light has a long battery life, LED-light power indicators, and options for variable light temperatures, as well as a heavy, bulky clip-on base. The Gritin 19 allows you to toggle the brightness, but we found that the feature was unintuitive to use. We still prefer the dual goosenecks of the Vekkia Dual Heads Rechargeable Book Light because that design allowed for more targeted lighting angles and was more intuitive to use. We’ll continue to test this Gritin light against the Vekkia model to see which one performs better over time.

The EastPin Neck Reading Light offered an unusual design and a bright, long-lasting light, but we found it far too bulky to be truly travel-friendly. And we didn’t like that only one of the device’s two lights offered an adjustable lighting temperature.

The MightyBright Recharge Light is chic and aesthetically pleasing, but its dimming feature wasn’t intuitive to our testers, and the gooseneck got floppier with more use. At about $32, it was the most expensive light we tested, and the light quality wasn’t as good as cheaper lights we tried.

The Vekkia Bookmark Book Light’s unique design intrigued us, but the neck of the light was too short, so it got in the way of turning the page. You have to remove the bookmark part of the light from the clip base to charge it, and we found it challenging to get it back into place to use again.

The popularity of the Dewenwils USB Rechargeable Book Light on TikTok and its $10 price made us try it, but the light felt cheap and bulky, and it didn’t offer the same brightness and warmth options that the similarly designed Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light did. The light went out during the fourth hour of our 12-hour test; it lasted the shortest amount of time out of all the models we tested.

The Juesi Flat Book Light is also popular on TikTok (video) for being aesthetically pleasing, and we were surprisingly pleased with how bright it was and how long the light lasted. However, the light was not dimmable, it required batteries, it only worked on books of a certain size, and we had to move the light when turning each page.

The Vitchelo V800, our former budget-pick headlamp, is far too bright for indoor use. It’s potentially good for outdoor, nighttime reading, but we did not test it for effectiveness in that particular situation.

This article was edited by Alexander Aciman, Catherine Kast, and Christine Cyr Clisset.