LED Work Lamp Square
Whether you’re spending a night cramming for an exam or drawing up blueprints, working from home can get taxing on the eyes. Fortunately, smart LED lamps can help ease the pain of long-hours spent in front of the screen.
The RETRAC work lights come with an impressive 5-year warranty and a rugged die-cast aluminum housing frame, stainless steel mounting hardware and a powerful flood beam pattern to illuminate a larger area.
Adjustable Angle
Long nights cramming for an exam or drafting up plans for a construction project can become tiring when the lamp on your desk doesn’t provide enough light. Smart LED bulbs use less wattage to deliver more lumens and also run cooler so they don’t overtax your eyes. Those benefits are even more important in a work light, as the brighter lights can cause distracting glare and eye strain.
We looked for a work lamp that could adapt to our changing tasks with ease. The best lamps have multiple settings for color temperature and brightness, so you can change them according to your mood or the time of day. We also tested the stability and build quality of each model. We weighed the lamps and squeezed their clamps to see how easy they were to move and adjust. We also flexed each one’s arm to test its range of motion and threw them around our office to check out their durability.
RETRAC LED lights are engineered to shine bright, last long and stand up to the elements. They are encased in die-cast durable aluminum housings, which look great and reduce heat buildup. They are also rated for a high 10-80 voltage range and can be used in a variety of applications such as construction equipment, forklifts, 4×4 off-road vehicles, emergency lighting and farming machinery.
Adjustable Height
The Uplift lamp clamps onto a desk edge and can reach nearly 40 inches up and 43 inches out, making it the tallest lamp we tested (PDF). It has a LED Work Lamp Square sturdy but flexible aluminum arm that stretches like an NBA center’s reach and can be rotated to focus the beam of light where needed. It takes a little work to assemble the lamp and secure it to our test desk, but the process is quick and straightforward. It doesn’t have the sleek, modern look that many other lamps have, but it does strike a good balance between practicality and price.
Grote’s BriteZone LED lights are powerful and durable, with brightness that far exceeds halogen bulbs. They have a 10-80 voltage range and blunt cut hardwires that allow them to be mounted on a wide variety of machinery and vehicles. The Traveller work light has been torture-tested to ensure it can stand up to the rigours of heavy use, and it’s priced to fit any budget.
The Anglepoise 90 Mini is a spring-tension lamp that can twist and turn with ease, but it’s not as adjustable as the Uplift. It has an intriguing design that channels power from the base to the shade-head assembly without any visible cords, allowing the two to move as one unit and stay in place while you flex and jimmy it around.
Adjustable Head
The adjustable head of this LED work lamp square lets you point the light where you need it. It has a high-quality polycarbonate lens that protects against damage and allows you to focus the light on a specific area. It also has an aluminum housing that can withstand vibration and dust. This work light is perfect for a wide variety of applications, including 4×4 off-road vehicles, construction machinery, and more.
Melanie Pinola has written about technology and home-office topics for more than a decade. As she has gotten older, her eyes have started to hurt more when she works at the computer, and she’s particularly interested in task lighting that can help alleviate the problem. She’s also an experienced writer who has tested and reviewed gear for Wirecutter.
During the 2022 tests, she tried each lamp in a home-office environment and worked beside it for a minimum of three hours. She analyzed the brightness and color temperature of each, tested arm reach and swivel, and may have lightly slapped each lamp to test its stability.
While the rangy design of this lamp isn’t going to win it any style awards, it’s utilitarian and unobtrusive. It clamps to the edge of a desk and requires no table space to install. Its elongated head can impressively reach up and outward, craning nearly 43 inches up when fully extended (PDF). The LED assembly is sheathed in smooth aluminum and emits 685 lumens.
USB Port
The Cedar Hill table lamp has a USB port and an AC outlet in its base, which makes it more convenient than other lamps. It also offers three color temperature modes and a built-in timer with preset brightness adjustments. It’s LED Work Lamp Square slim and light, so it won’t take up a lot of desk space. However, it isn’t height-adjustable, and the base is quite large at 2 inches, compared to other models’ 1/2-inch to 1-inch bases.
A sturdy LED work lamp square is a great addition to your workspace, especially if you’re an amateur or professional mechanic. Its sturdy aluminum housing and polycarbonate lens are highly durable, and the LEDs are protected against dirt, dust, and water damage. It also comes with a warranty that’s valid for three years, which is longer than most warranties.
This 12-24V reversing LED work lamp is a powerful and compact solution for your car, truck, or trailer. The LEDs are encased in a die-cast aluminum housing that’s made from impact-resistant material. It also has a clear polycarbonate lens for increased visibility and is rated for use in a variety of vehicles and environments. The mounting hardware and Deutsch connector are easy to install, so you can get it up and running quickly. The LEDs emit a white steady light or an amber flashing light to improve visibility on the road.
