While having a table lamp on your desk helps to read better, it can also occupy your desk and the area around the monitor. With the new BenQ ScreenBar USB office lamp, you will be able to save your desk space, it will not block the monitor screen, and won’t cause eye strains for longer sessions. We take a look at the new BenQ USB-powered ScreenBar.
Design and Features
Table lamps are often used by those who handle a lot of physical documents, read books, help out their children with educational projects, and so forth. The only issue is that table lamps are often known to be big in size. It not only takes up some of the desk space, but the bulb portion also occupies the front of the screen when you try to adjust the direction of the light. With the BenQ Screenbar, the design is very compact and sits on the top of the screen without the need to sacrifice any space on the desk.
The main Screenbar portion is long and cylindrical in shape with dimensions of 45cm x 9.0cm x 9.2cm. The weight of the device is hardly 0.53g, thanks to the aluminum alloy and polycarbonate materials. The lamp is easy to set up and just takes a few minutes of your time. There is absolutely no need to tighten any screws to fix the device to the monitor.
BenQ has provided a clip attachment that is easy to connect with the ScreenBar and can be set on the top edge of your monitor. The clip sits firmly attached to the monitor. However, the company does state that the ScreenBar fits best on monitors with curvature above 1500R and also will depend on the design and thickness of the screen.
We tried the ScreenBar on the BenQ 32-inch EW3280U 4K IPS monitor that we had previously reviewed. And as you can see, the ScreenBar easily fits a large 32-inch monitor. Another great feature of the lamp is that the asymmetrical optical design illuminates the desk portion and does not reflect or shine on the monitor screen, eliminating the chances of reflective glares that are seen with normal table lamps. You can also turn the ScreenBar by +10 or -10 degrees to adjust where the light falls.
The BenQ ScreenBar isn’t just a normal monitor lamp. It has a panel to control the device with four different touch-sensitive buttons. On the left side is the button for manual dimmer adjustment, then comes the button to adjust the Hue. On the right side, there is the button for auto dimmer function and the last one is the main power button.
For more convenience, the ScreenBar is USB powered and does not require any sort of power adaptors. Since most of the monitors come with built-in USB ports, this will be very easy to connect and use the lamp. And in case your monitor does not have a USB port, you can always connect the device to any of the ports of your CPU, your keyboard (if it has any extra ports), or even a normal phone charger. Yeah, we tried that and it worked well. The device consumes only 5W of power.
The BenQ ScreenBar USB Powered Office Lamp features a Dual-color LED as its light source. The illuminance is 1000 Lux in the middle when at a height of 45cm, and the luminous flux is 320lm. The color temperature ranges between 2700K and 6500K. When using the Hue adjustment button, you will be able to switch between different color temperatures like a cool or warm light, depending on your preferences.
BenQ also states that the LED on the ScreenBar is fine-tuned to offer eye-care while using the device. The ScreenBar is compliant with IEEE PAR1789 regulation of flicker in LED lighting, which means it offers a flicker-free experience. The lamp is also IEC/TR 62778 assessed to be free from blue-light exposure.
Verdict
The BenQ USB-powered ScreenBar office lamp is a good monitor add-on for all sorts of users out there. Whether you are a graphics professional, a teacher, a parent, a gamer, or just a casual user, the ScreenBar suits any eliminate the need to have a separate table lamp with different color temperatures to choose from that suits your preferences.
The device is very easy to set up and is powered by a USB port with only 5W of power requirement. The ScreenBar helps to reduce eye strains and does not cause any reflections on the screen of the monitor. The lamp is certified to be free from Blue-light effects. The ScreenBar also helps to maintain a near-desktop setup and saves a lot of your desk space.
