If you spend as much time at your desk as I do, having effective office lighting is essential for reducing eyestrain and thus increasing your productivity as a result.
One of the most important type of lights for your office is a monitor light, as this sits directly on the top of your monitor it doesn’t take up any valuable desk space, and just as importantly, it perfectly illuminates your keyboard and mouse.
BenQ are surely the market leader when it comes to premium monitor lights, and this year they released the new ScreenBar Pro.
Is this the best monitor light on the market in 2024? Keep reading this review to find out.
Inside The Box
Inside the box we simply get the monitor light, a USB-C cable and a power adaptor. To be clear, the ScreenBar Pro powers just fine via USB-C, so the power adaptor is simply included for those people that don’t have a spare USB-C port available.
It’s also worth noting that unlike the older ScreenBar Halo model, there is no external remote control unit with this new ScreenBar Pro, all the controls you need are provided via the touch buttons on the monitor light itself.
These touch controls allow you to adjust brightness and colour temperature, there’s an auto-dimming option and a new ‘Presence Detection Function’, this essentially provides you with an automatic light on/off capability via user motion detection.
The design of the ScreenBar Pro is very minimalist and noticeably smaller than the older ScreenBar Halo. Note that is partly due to the fact the new ScreenBar Pro does not have any rear lighting for behind your monitor.
Operation + Light Output
I’ve been using the ScreenBar Pro on the Apple Studio Display monitor in my office for the last week or so, and it’s certainly been a smooth performer so far.
Firstly it’s a snug fit on the Studio Display, secondly the light output has been superb. BenQ gives this monitor light a 1,000-Lux rating, and it is plenty bright.
The light does drop off a little towards the edge of my workspace, but in the centre my keyboard and mouse are beautifully illuminated.
Using the touch controls on the light bar has been fine, but I think some people may miss the external remote of the older and more expensive ScreenBar Halo. It really depends how often you like to adjust the brightness and colour temperature, I tend to set it and leave it, so it isn’t really a big deal for me.
Final Thoughts
For me the BenQ ScreenBar Pro has lived up to its name, offering a professional and functional solution to illuminate the key area of my workspace.
The design is clean and minimal, it has all the controls and adjustments you could wish for, and so comes highly recommended for all those users that work in the evenings and need a comfortable and well-lit workspace.
At £119 in the UK, the price is reasonable for a premium office accessory that should last you a very long time. BenQ gives this product a a general life expectancy of 50,000 hours, it also ships with a one year warranty and is available in black or silver.
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