BenQ ScreenBar Review: $109 for a Desk Lamp?

$109 for a Lamp Sounds Ridiculous

It does. A desk lamp from Target costs $15. Why would anyone spend seven times that?

Because the BenQ ScreenBar does something regular lamps can’t: it lights your desk without lighting your screen. No glare, no reflections, no eye strain. Just your keyboard and documents illuminated while your monitor stays crisp.

I’ve been using one for four months. The 6pm headaches I blamed on screen time? Gone. Turns out I was just working in bad lighting.

How It Works

The ScreenBar clips onto your monitor’s top bezel with a weighted clamp. No adhesive, no drilling, no permanent attachment. Takes 30 seconds to install.

The light bar uses asymmetric optics to throw light forward and down onto your desk while keeping it away from your screen. It’s not magic — just clever engineering that regular desk lamps don’t bother with.

Power comes from USB-A. Plug it into your monitor’s USB port or any powered hub. Draws 5W, about the same as charging an older phone.

The Auto-Dimming is Actually Good

Most auto-brightness features are garbage. Too aggressive, too slow, too something. The ScreenBar’s is genuinely good.

It uses an ambient light sensor to maintain 500 lux on your desk surface — the level recommended for office work. When the sun sets, the ScreenBar gradually brightens. When you turn on a room light, it dims.

I’ve left it on auto for three months and never touched the manual controls. That’s rare.

No Glare. Seriously.

I tested this on three monitors:

• 27” Dell matte display: Zero visible reflection
• 24” LG glossy display: Zero reflection except at extreme angles
• 15” MacBook Pro: Zero reflection

The asymmetric optic design works. Regular desk lamps create a bright reflection right in your field of view. The ScreenBar creates none.

This is the entire product pitch. If it doesn’t matter to you, buy a $20 LED desk lamp instead.

Build Quality is Premium

Aluminum body, weighted clip, solid buttons. Feels like something from Apple’s accessory line. I’ve accidentally knocked it off my monitor twice; no damage, no scratches.

The clip fits bezels from about 0.4” to 1.2” thick. Most modern monitors are around 0.5”. Thicker gaming monitors might be tight — measure first.

The Controls Are Annoying

Four touch-sensitive buttons on top of the bar: power, auto mode, brightness, color temperature. They work, but they’re touchy. Light brush = accidental input. You’ll hit the wrong button sometimes.

The ScreenBar Plus ($179) has a desktop dial controller instead. It’s better but not $70 better.

Color Temperature Matters

The ScreenBar adjusts from 2700K (warm, incandescent) to 6500K (cool, daylight). I keep it around 4000K during the day and 3000K at night.

If you’re doing color-sensitive work (photo editing, design), stick with 6500K to match your calibrated monitor. For normal work, warmer temperatures are easier on the eyes.

vs. Regular Desk Lamps

A good LED desk lamp costs $30-50 and does… most of this? Kind of?

The difference is glare. A desk lamp positioned to illuminate your keyboard will reflect off your screen. Position it to avoid reflections and it won’t light your desk well. The ScreenBar solves this by mounting above your screen and aiming light away from it.

If you don’t care about glare, skip the ScreenBar. If glare bothers you, nothing else works as well.

vs. the BenQ ScreenBar Halo ($179)

The Halo is wider (50cm vs 45cm) and has back-lighting that illuminates the wall behind your monitor. Looks cool, but doesn’t reduce eye strain more than the standard ScreenBar.

The regular ScreenBar covers any monitor up to 32” just fine. Save the $70.

Who Should Skip This

If you don’t work at a computer all day: Overkill for casual use.

If your desk gets natural light: A bright window does the same job for free.

If $109 is rent money: It’s a lamp. A nice lamp, but a lamp.

If your monitor has a curved screen: The ScreenBar clip doesn’t work well with curved monitors. BenQ makes a curved version.

The Verdict

The ScreenBar is expensive for what it is. I felt stupid buying a $109 lamp.

Then I stopped getting headaches. Then I noticed I wasn’t squinting at my keyboard in the evening. Then I realized I’d been working in bad lighting for years without knowing it.

For anyone spending 6+ hours a day at a monitor, it’s a legit quality-of-life upgrade. The price is hard to swallow, but the thing works.