Our tests showed that a Bluetooth speakerphone won’t necessarily produce better results than a smartphone. But we found a few models worth checking out.

Best lighting foroffice with no windows

On the internal use light strips the individual LED’s are spaced out, therefore the light from them creates spots, if they were closer then the spots would be reduced and be less like to be seen.

You might not find the CRI rating in the product description, but that doesn’t mean the ring light has a low CRI. Contact the manufacturer and ask for the number. If they don’t get back to you—or, worse, they don’t have a website—move on to the next ring light you’re considering.

How far or close you put a ring light depends mostly on your comfort level and the size of the light. But I found that for video-call purposes, somewhere between 2 and 3 feet was most flattering.

Lighting for computerworkstations

We’ll be testing more ring lights soon with the goal of recommending specific picks. In the meantime, the current guide remains a reliable resource for finding great lighting options.

Wirecutter’s Melanie Pinola has spent years testing and reviewing various gear—including home-office essentials such as webcams, USB microphones, and office chairs—for Wirecutter and other sites including Lifehacker, PCWorld, Popular Mechanics, and Laptop Magazine.

You should be able to bend the light and raise it up or down to get the most flattering light for whatever you’re shooting. People who wear glasses, for example, might need to raise the light and adjust it at a steeper angle to avoid glare and reflections.

Having multiple brightness levels means you can adjust the lighting to any environment—whether it’s cloudy or sunny, morning or night, or you have few or many other light sources.

It’s easy to get up and running with Zoom, but you may not know about some of its best, most useful videoconferencing features.

While you can easily buy a light strip diffuser they are also quite easy to make and don’t require much other than something to diffuse the light.

Best lighting for computer workamazon

There are many options on the market where you can buy a diffuser tube, a plastic or aluminium tube that is usually solid on one side, you then have a cover for this which is the diffuser, a slightly opac white section that allows light through while stopping the strong spots of light to shine through diffusing the light so you get a glow.

None of the above diffuser mounts work with the current version Hue Light Strip. I have now ordered all 3 and none fit. They are too narrow by 1/16 of an inch. Perhaps they have changed them since they were reviewed.

It’s also worth considering the height range of the ring light’s stand. The greater the range, the more versatile it will be to accommodate all kinds of situations.

Smaller, USB-powered lights are great for mobile use. Ring lights that are 12 inches or smaller can be powered via USB, whereas the larger ring lights use an AC/DC adapter because they need to draw more power. So if you want a ring light that you can use outdoors—tethered to a laptop or USB power bank, without an outlet nearby—a ring light that’s 12 inches or smaller is ideal.

Best lighting forhome office video conferencing

A CRI of 90 or higher is best. Ring lights with a CRI of 90 or above are considered excellent, whereas those with a CRI between 80 and 90 are thought of as good, according to Westinghouse Lighting.

However, with the way Hue light strips work, you usually find spots of lights from the LED’s themselves instead of a nice glow which is certainly what you want when running them along kitchen units.

Another way is to make your own diffusion LED profile using some cable trunking to attach the light strip too, and then cover it with some fabric to diffuse the light.

More steps between the coolest and warmest color temperature levels mean more flexibility in suiting your skin and environment.

Lighting plays an important role in the image quality of your videos and photos, second only to the quality of your camera. But you don’t have to invest in a complicated lighting rig to get better close-ups.

If you have a LED Light strip then the quickest and easiest way is to buy a differuser profile, they are not too expensive and come in large packs so you have plenty for the future, they are also the best looking solution and can be easily fixed in place.

Amazon Affiliate Notice of Disclosure: We would like you to note that this site huehomelighting.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Find the right temperature for your skin tone. Wirecutter’s Rago said that warm light generally works best for most skin tones, but if it’s too warm, a person could look orange. Bluish light can make a pale person look lifeless.

Expect to pay between $50 and $100 for a good ring light that has all of the features we mention above. Paying any more than that is likely throwing money away.

In addition to a stand, most ring lights come with extras such as a carrying case for the light, a mount for your phone, and a Bluetooth remote to take a photo on your phone from a distance.

More expensive doesn’t mean better quality. While researching this guide, we saw a Wescott 18-inch Ring Light that cost nearly $200 despite having only two color temperatures (cool and warm). Some ring lights cost twice as much as similar-size lights without adding more features or benefits.

Color temperature, measured in kelvins (K), greatly affects the aesthetics of your photo or video. The room you’re in, the clothes you’re wearing, and your skin tone can all look different depending on the light’s color and temperature.

These accessories make using a ring light easier, but they’re just extras. Prioritize the features above when choosing a ring light.

“It’s really empowering,” said content creator and educator Gia Goodrich, “because you know that even if you’re showing up without makeup, you feel insecure, or you’re in your PJs, you can at least light yourself in a way that makes you feel good.”

CRI is one measure of light quality; the higher the CRI (the closer to 100, the better), the more colors the light can render and the more precise the image is color-wise.

For desktop use, a 12-inch model is best. If you plan on using a ring light propped up on your desk—not on a tall stand on the floor—look for a moderately sized model, like the Godox LR120 12-inch LED Ring Light. These have stands designed for desktop use and cost less than larger models.

We still recommend these models if you can find them in stock. But if you can’t track them down, here are some tips that will help you choose a suitable replacement among a sea of similar-looking lights.

Properlighting for computer work

A professional video producer shows how you can tweak the lighting you have in your home office to elevate your video-call look.

Whether you work from home or you need to nail a job interview via Skype, these are Wirecutter’s tips for looking and sounding like a pro on video calls.

Some larger models have a built-in USB port for phone charging. A few lights we tested that are 14 inches or larger had a USB port for charging your phone while it’s attached to the ring light. That’s convenient for long shoots.

As a freelance writer, Melanie Pinola wrote for Lifehacker, Popular Mechanics, ITworld, HowToGeek, PCWorld, and The New York Times. She joined Wirecutter as a writer on the home-office team in 2019. She died in October 2024.

Improving the lighting when you are in front of the camera isn’t just about vanity: Having great lighting that helps you look your best breeds confidence.

More flexibility is always better. Bonus points go to ring lights—such as the Yesker 14-inch—that include a flexible gooseneck mount for your phone; this is great for getting the angle of your phone just right too.

A ring light is exactly what its name suggests: a doughnut-shaped light, typically made of rows of LEDs. The halo shape diffuses light over a wide area, reducing shadows and washing away blemishes for a more-flattering appearance. The space in the middle of the light is a great place to mount a camera or phone because you get an even distribution of light around the lens.

Mike is the founder of Hue Home Lighting, a huge Hue fan with far too many lights, covering home and garden. A smart home gadget addict and also enjoys the odd bit of DIY

A ring light is a simple, cost-effective option that anyone can set up and use. It makes the most sense when you need just a bit more emphasis on yourself in a space without a lot of natural light and you don’t have the time or energy to invest in a pricier professional lighting setup.

Copyright 2024 huehomelighting.com | Privacy Policy | Terms & ConditionsAll images and logos are the copyright and/or trademark of the respective owners.

You will find it hard to get smooth lighting with the LEDs so far apart. You can only hope to make it less apparent. I personally went with different lights with diffusers to make smooth lightning for under and over my cabinets. Good luck!

Light strips are a great way to bring a strong line of light along edges of units and cupboards, and are perfect for kitchens.

Besthome officelighting foreyes

Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).

If you are looking for a Philips Hue light strip, the outdoor light strip is better diffused than the indoor version, the LED’s are closer together making the overall light effect better. If you can make it work depending on your indoor use, the outdoor strip is better, however it cannot be cut and is a bit more bulkier as it is designed for outdoor use and is therefore weather proof.

But going too big causes issues, too. On the flip side, the 18-inch models were overkill: They were so bright that they created washed-out images at all but the lowest brightness levels.

To avoid the spotting effect you need to diffuse the light, and there are many options to do this. To diffuse the light you need to cover the LED’s frosting them so that the light is then diffused reducing the spotting being seen.

The bigger the ring light, the better the light output and quality. We looked at 10-, 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-inch models suited for sitting at a desk or standing.

Best lighting for computer workreddit

Many of the latest ring light models also have a Wi-Fi remote to power the light and adjust the color temperature or brightness.

Without it, you can look grainy, out of focus, or even shadowy—like an anonymous witness in a true-crime show. A ring light is a simple tool whose diffuse glow can bring you out of the dark and make you look more professional.

I have tried using a diffuser channel but there is still spotting with the hue lights. Are there more strategies to diffuse the light even further?

Besthome officelighting for computer work

You can certainly find other lighting setups that produce better portrait or video lighting—such as this two-light kit Goodrich recommends, which includes lighting umbrellas, several light stands, and a number of photo bulbs. But they’re more expensive and more complicated to set up and break down.

Look for lights that can adjust brightness in 1% increments. With some ring lights, you can adjust the brightness from 0 to 100% in 10% increments (10% brightness, 20% brightness, and so on), but we prefer models that let you fine-tune the brightness to the nth degree. Some ring light descriptions will specify this; it might be called “stepless adjustment.”

That is odd, we have updated the article based on your feedback, we shall try and source some wider versions and update soon.

10-inch lights aren’t great for most uses. These smallest lights had stands that raised the light only an inch off the desk, creating spooky, unflattering under-chin lighting. You could prop one of these lights up on a stack of large books or a box, but we think it’s worth paying a little more for a larger, brighter light that has a taller stand.

More color temperature settings is better. Most of the ring lights we considered had at least three color-temperature settings: cool, neutral, and warm. We preferred those that offered more color-temperature steps between the coolest and the warmest levels; this allows you to dial in the setting that looks best with your skin and environment.

For anything else, a 14- or 16-inch ring light will do. These larger models should suffice if you want to keep the stand off of your desk or you plan on using the ring light while standing. The 14-inch ring lights we tested, including the Neewer 14-inch and Yesker 14-inch, were plenty bright in our testing. A 16-inch ring light, such as the Neewer 16-inch, would be brighter. But that extra luminance is really only useful if you’re going to position the light several feet away from you.

These all work well and you get fixture and fittings included with them, and for the money you also get quite a lot of trunking making it ideal for even the longest of runs.

Wirecutter’s Rozette Rago and Michael Hession, our head of photography and video, helped me determine the most important features to look for in a ring light.

After researching and testing more than a dozen ring lights, we’ve learned that it’s a fast-moving category with lots of brands that may be here today but gone tomorrow. Many of the best ring lights we’ve tested are either now discontinued or have recurring stock issues. This includes the Neewer 14-inch LED Ring Light (RL-14), Neewer 16-inch LED Ring Light (RL-16), Yesker 14-inch Ring Light, and Godox LR120 12-inch LED Ring Light.