The Best Reading Lights

Gabriella DePinho tested 13 reading lights for Wirecutter over several weeks of nighttime reading, then ran each one at full brightness for 12 hours to see which would give out. The Glocusent LED Neck Reading Light lasted all 12. Wirecutter named it the best wearable reading light, and one staffer later took it on six flights and hotel stays before it needed a charge.

TechGearLab bought eight lights, and Miya Tsudome and Ruth Bruckbauer read with each one for at least 30 minutes in a dark room, judging light quality, versatility and whether it woke a partner. Their verdict on the Glocusent: "No other light we tested could outperform the Glocusent in versatility." It hangs around your neck, so it lights a mass-market paperback, a thick hardcover or a Kindle the same way.

The owners agree. Lela Burris read with it for a week at Organized-ish and wrote, "Of all the lights I have ever used in my life, this one is absolutely my favorite." CNN Underscored editorial director Chelsea Stone prefers it to clip-ons, which she says make a book heavier and need constant readjusting. TODAY's Colleen Sullivan uses hers in bed, on dog walks and on flights, and points out that it never gets hot against the skin. Each arm has its own switch, three color temperatures and a 90-degree beam, so you can light both pages in 3000K yellow while the other side of the bed stays dark.

This is the light Wirecutter named best overall after its 13-light test. "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," DePinho wrote. After 12 hours at full brightness its four-dot battery gauge had only dropped to two, and long-term owners told Wirecutter they top it up only "a handful of times" a year.

It weighs 1.41 ounces. Burris said it "slides onto the back of the book like a paper clip and didn't move at all." The USB-A plug is built into the body, so it charges from a laptop or wall adapter with no cable. SFGate's Lily Alig named it the best portable reading light and liked that the clear page rest lets you read straight through it instead of moving the clip as you reach the top of a page.

Three color temperatures run as warm as 1800K amber, and it remembers your last brightness setting. On Amazon it runs about $6 less than the neck light.