Cordless bedside lamps with a rechargeable battery compared

What a lamp has to do at the bed

At the bed, light has two jobs. In the evening it should be warm and subdued so that you can wind down, and at night a faint glow for orientation is enough. Both point to a lamp that dims a long way down, instead of only switching between bright and very bright. How light and sleep are connected is explained on the page about light and sleep, and the basics of colour temperature are under colour temperature and kelvin.

A cable at the bedside table has practical drawbacks. It needs a socket near the bed, it lies in the way, and the lamp cannot be moved without unplugging. A built-in battery solves this but brings its own questions: how long does it last at the level you actually use? How is it charged? And what happens if the battery is empty in the middle of the night?

The distinction matters. A rechargeable table lamp is, as a rule, a mood and orientation light. If you read in bed for longer, you need light on the page of the book, not in the room, and are better served by a directional lamp. Before comparing, think about whether the lamp should provide atmosphere or reading light.

Then there is the place where it stands. A narrow bedside table often holds an alarm clock, a phone and a book, so the footprint should be small. A lamp without a cable cannot pull anything down, but it can fall over itself, so a stable base is no minor matter. If you leave the lamp in the living area during the day, also pay attention to the material, because wood or metal look different up close from smooth plastic.

Battery capacity versus runtime: how to read the figures

Milliamp hours (mAh) describe a quantity of charge, not energy. Only with the cell voltage do you get the usable energy in watt hours: for a lithium-ion cell with 3.7 volts, 1000 mAh corresponds to about 3.7 watt hours. The product pages calculate this way when a listing gives no voltage. What then matters is the lamp's power consumption: the brighter the level, the faster the energy is used up. This is why suppliers give runtimes as a range, the long value applying to the darkest level and the short one to the brightest.

Two examples make this tangible. The Auxmir LED night light gives, according to the listing, a 3000 mAh battery with 310 hours in the lowest mode and 19 hours at maximum brightness. The FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp gives, according to the listing, a 1500 mAh battery with about 80 hours at the darkest and about 10 hours at the brightest level. Both ranges are consistent in themselves but say nothing about the level you choose in the evening. We have not measured anything; these are listing details.

Not every figure adds up. For the Liyabber rechargeable table lamp, two-piece set, the listing gives 5600 mAh and 12 to 48 hours. The product page points out that this ratio of 1 to 4 fits poorly with a dimming range of 5 to 100 per cent, as at the lowest level the lamp should last considerably longer. For the PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp, there are 4000 mAh and 8 to 16 hours, and the product page calculates that the lower figure would not quite be achievable with the 2 watts given in the listing. The conclusion: a large mAh figure is no guarantee of a long runtime, and a runtime figure without a reference level is a weak yardstick.

The smallest capacity in this comparison belongs to the EGLO La Seca foldable LED table light with 1200 mAh. According to the manufacturer, the lithium-ion battery is permanently installed, and the manufacturer gives no runtime. The product page arrives by calculation at about 2.5 hours at the 1.8 watts of the listing. That suits a light for short stretches, not a lamp that runs through the night.

Charging port and charging time

When charging, the port decides everyday use. USB-C fits many chargers and power banks, and a cable you already own is enough. According to the listing, the Auxmir LED night light (4 to 5 hours), the WALDWERK oak bedside lamp and the Liyabber rechargeable table lamp, two-piece set (5 to 6 hours) charge via USB-C. The EGLO La Seca foldable LED table light charges, according to the manufacturer, via a micro-USB cable on a USB power adaptor with 5 volts and 1 ampere, an older connector for which you may need your own cable.

The Suright LD121 foldable rechargeable table lamp can, according to the listing, be operated after charging or directly on the plugged-in USB cable. A power adaptor is not part of the delivery there, only a cable, so you need your own USB source. Operation on the cable is a fallback when the battery is empty. For the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp, the listing gives 3 to 4 hours of charging time. For the Dorifun bedside lamp 2-piece set, it says only that the battery is charged via USB; charging time and output of the port are missing. For the PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp, the listing names neither charging time nor charging port.

None of the documents provides a statement on how durable the batteries are over many charge cycles. That remains open. A permanently installed battery also means that when capacity declines, the lamp cannot carry on with a new battery. If you use the lamp every evening, you should allow for that.

Brightness, dimming range and operation

On brightness, the documents are sparse. Only the manufacturer of the EGLO La Seca foldable LED table light gives a luminous flux, namely 170 lumens total luminous flux in three levels at 3000, 4000 and 5000 kelvin. For the other models, no lumen figure appears in the listing. The product pages estimate the order of magnitude from battery and runtime: for the Dorifun bedside lamp 2-piece set, the brightest level works out at a power consumption of about 0.33 watts, and even at 100 lumens per watt that would be only around 33 lumens. That is night light order of magnitude. What amount of light is usual for a room is shown on the page How many lumens per room.

More important than peak brightness is the dimming range. The PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp gives, according to the listing, 5 to 100 per cent, as does the Liyabber rechargeable table lamp, two-piece set, while the Suright LD121 foldable rechargeable table lamp gives 30 to 100 per cent. For falling asleep, a low starting value helps, because 30 per cent of a bright lamp can still be a lot in a dark room. How bright the lamp actually is at that point cannot be judged without a lumen figure.

For operation, touch appears most often in the documents, alongside the dial of the WALDWERK oak bedside lamp, which according to the listing dims smoothly and can be found by feel even in the half-dark. A memory function for the last setting is given in the listing for the PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp, the Suright LD121 foldable rechargeable table lamp and the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp. It prevents the lamp from starting at full brightness at night. According to the listing, the Auxmir LED night light is supplied with a remote control, and the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp has a timer with switch-off after 1, 2 or 3 hours.

On colour temperature: the Suright LD121 foldable rechargeable table lamp offers, according to the listing, 3000, 4500 and 6000 kelvin, the Liyabber rechargeable table lamp, two-piece set 2700, 4000 and 6500 kelvin. For evening light a warm value makes sense, while cool levels suit the desk better. Multicolour RGB modes, as named by the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp and the Dorifun bedside lamp 2-piece set, are more of an extra for mood or a child's room, and kelvin figures are missing there.

Material, IP rating and place of use

A cordless lamp is allowed to wander, and then the question of material and moisture protection arises. The WALDWERK oak bedside lamp relies, according to the listing, on oak and metal. That is a decision for the furnishing piece, not for additional functions, because the listing names neither an app nor a timer.

For the bathroom, terrace or balcony, the IP rating is what counts. According to BS EN 60529, it describes how well a housing shields against dust and water. The PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp gives, according to the listing, IP54, that is, protection against dust and splashing water from all directions. IP54 does not cover water jets and immersion, and the rating is not sufficient for the spray area of a shower. The EGLO La Seca foldable LED table light carries, according to the manufacturer, IP20, so it is purely an indoor light. For the other models there is no IP rating, so treat them as indoor lights. For bathroom zones under BS 7671 Section 701 and for the IP rating, the page IP rating in the bathroom explains more.

In a child's room, stability and ease of operation play a role. According to the listing, the Auxmir LED night light and the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp are described as orientation and ambient lights, not as a reading lamp. According to the listing, the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp has a hidden loop for hanging. A cord in or on a child's bed belongs out of the child's reach, and the listing does not give the length of the loop. None of the devices is a sleep aid with a documented effect, and that should be kept clearly separate.

The models compared

The table summarises the details of the respective product pages. Listing values are stated according to the listing, and only for the EGLO do they come from the manufacturer. No rating is attached to this. Where something is missing, the product page names nothing on it.

The runtime column is not directly comparable, because the suppliers use different levels as the yardstick. 310 hours applies in the lowest mode, and for the PreeOtti, 8 to 16 hours applies across the dimming range. Use the figures as a guide to the order of magnitude, not as a ranking.

Which design suits whom?

For a plain night light with a low dimming value and memory, the PreeOtti cordless LED table lamp is designed, according to the listing, going down to 5 per cent. An alternative to it is the Suright LD121 foldable rechargeable table lamp, which is foldable and offers several colour temperatures, but only starts at 30 per cent.

If the lamp is to stay in the room during the day, the WALDWERK oak bedside lamp puts the material at the centre, and the dial needs no menu. In return, extras such as an app or timer are missing, and the listing does not give the battery capacity.

For a long runtime between two charges, the Liyabber rechargeable table lamp, two-piece set with 5600 mAh is the largest battery figure in the comparison, in a two-piece set for two rooms. Note the product page's comments on whether the runtime figure is consistent. If you need a cordless additional light for only a few hours, you can look at the EGLO La Seca foldable LED table light, where the manufacturer's details are more complete but the runtime is short.

For a child's bed, nursing or changing, the Auxmir LED night light, the FOMYHEARD rechargeable bedside lamp and the Dorifun bedside lamp 2-piece set come into question, all described as orientation or mood lights. Soft light does not replace medical treatment and is not a documented sleep aid.

You can find more lights in the home lighting category, and if you first want to clarify which lighting job the lamp should take on, the lighting calculator helps.

What to look for before buying

First check which level the runtime figure refers to, and plan with the level you use in the evening. Second, check the dimming range and the memory function, because both decide whether the lamp dazzles at night. Third, check the charging port: USB-C is available on many chargers, while with micro-USB you may need your own cable. Fourth, check footprint and weight if the lamp is to stand on a narrow bedside table. These details are missing on some product pages, in which case a look at the dimensions in the shop helps.

Finally, note that we did not have any of the devices in hand and have not measured anything. All figures come from manufacturer and listing documents, with no documented hands-on testing. A rechargeable lamp is practical, but it is not a replacement for room lighting. If you use a charger and cable at the bed, you should lay them so that nobody trips over them.