Today, we’re going to take a look at the Etekcity LED Folding Desk Lamp. A desk lamp is not something that first comes to mind when it comes to technology. However, the Etekcity LED Folding Desk Lamp looks to change that. But, even with the all the bells and whistles that have been added, is there a need for a desk lamp on steroids? Let’s find out.

Design

What’s in the box

1 x Desk Lamp

1 x User Manual

1 x Adapter

1 x CR2032 battery (for clock)

1 x Cleaning cloth

The lamp is minimalistic in nature. It has a foldable lamp that swivels 180 degrees. The base itself swivels 275 degrees. The base of the lamp is weighed down and has four modes of lighting with five brightness levels. The entire lamp is made out of plastic. On the back of base is a USB port (5V/2A) for charging various devices.

On the lamp is an LCD display with the temperature, time, calendar and alarm. On the opposite of the LCD is a compartment for battery backup. There are also buttons above the compartment that allow the user to change the time, along with moving the temperature between Fahrenheit and Celsius.

The light itself is a CRI:80+ LED with five brightness levels. It has a power consumption of 15W. It comes with an alarm and a snooze function.

Ease of Use

The lamp’s touch/tap aspects are enjoyable for the simple fact that you don’t have to fumble for an on switch. With a simple tap, you can switch between the different light modes, dim or brighten the lamp, or set it on a sleep timer.

I had no issues with changing among the modes when the lamp was on. My only complaint is that you have to hit the power button before you can switch between light modes. When the lamp was off, I found myself oftentimes tapping a certain light level without it turning on.

I think it would be a bit more convenient if the lamp would turn on when I tapped a certain light mode, without having to tap the on-switch first. Speaking of touch, the base is a fingerprint magnet, but Etekcity throws in a pretty handy cleaning cloth for it.

Performance

It’s hard to talk about the performance of a lamp. It’s supposed to turn on and off. It does that. It switches between each mode with a tap. According to Etekcity, the lamp will last up to 50,000 hours, possibly up to a decade. So if I’m still writing in ten years, we’ll see how well it’s still performing.

The four modes on the lamp change the temperature of the light. The modes include reading, studying, relaxation and sleep modes with a temperature range of 3,700K to 4,100K. Switching between the modes did, in fact, change the temperature of the lamp.

Etekcity also mentions that the environmental temperature display may be affected by the lamp’s temperature. For the Celsius temperature it may be accurate to ± three degrees. I have noticed that the temperature does run a little bit higher when the lamp is on for a little bit of time.

While Etekcity calls the lamp a desk lamp, I could see this having better functions as a bed-side lamp. Though, the white LCD light does tend to be a bit bright, but I found that folding the lamp down covers the light up nicely. Though, in a desk lamp capacity, the lamp’s LCD is plenty bright and visible in most lighting.

Other than that, the lamp is performing the way it should.

Price/Value

Depending on where you want to buy the lamp, you’ll find it on sale from $64.99 – $199.99. The sale price on the sites I’ve seen though, is $49.99. My guess is that’s what it actually retails for. Regardless, you get a lamp with some neat niche features and different lighting modes for a smaller price.

Wrap Up

The Etekcity LED Folding Desk Lamp has some neat bells and whistles. I like the temperature function and the date feature is convenient in those times of need. At $50, the lamp packs a USB charger, an alarm and multiple light temperatures for a few situations. Add that to the fact that you can put the lamp in a wide variety of angles, you have yourself a pretty versatile lamp for about $50.

Etekcity Desk Lamp $49.99 MSRP

(USD) 4.3 Out of 5 Nailed It Multiple light functions are handy, built-in alarm, calendar and thermometer are a nice touch, decently priced, built-in USB charging port is convenient. Needs Work Can’t just turn on the lamp by pressing the various light temperature buttons, LCD display is a bit bright in the dark. Bottom Line This little lamp packs in a lot of convenience for a small price and is perfect for the tech-enthusiast at heart. Design 4.00 Ease of Use 4.25 Performance 4.50 Price/Value 4.50

*We were sent a demo unit of the Etekcity LED Folding Desk Lamp for the purposes of this review.