The best reading lamps
The last reading light you will ever need to buy.
A Serious Light is the reading light 99 in 100 people keep after trying it at home. It puts the clarity of daylight and up to 12x more light on your page than a 60W bulb.
99 in 100 people who try a Serious Light at home keep it.
Alex Pratt OBE | Founder
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm
Print looks as sharp as it does by a window the moment you switch on.
When small print gets harder in the evenings, most people put it down to their eyes, and read a little less each year without ever deciding to. After forty years we can tell you it is usually the light. At 60 your eyes need three times the light they did at 20. These are three of the changes owners tell us about.
Small print is easy to read again.
You can read your medicine bottle and your bank statement at arm's length. On the HD Original and HD Pro, one turn of the ring shapes the beam from fine print to a full newspaper.
Darkness outside makes no difference to your reading.
The light engine rebuilds the full daylight spectrum with 98% colour accuracy, flicker-free, so small print stays crisp and colours look true however late you read.
You can read for as long as you want.
Dim it to suit your eyes and it comes back at that level next time. The arm holds where you put it and is guaranteed for life.
The Serious Readers story
I built the first HD Light for my mum.
By 1988 the lights we made were already on production lines and in laboratories, and then my mum began losing her sight to macular degeneration. I built her the first High Definition home reading light so she could carry on reading, and stay independent.
Every light on this page descends from hers. You do not build a cheap lamp for your mum; you build the best one you can, and then you spend forty years making it better. That is still the rule for every reading light we make, and it is why we take the small print on your page more seriously than anyone.
This is the difference on your page.
An ordinary bulb only looks white. It leaves gaps across the spectrum, and your eyes work to fill them in. We call that junk light. Daylight has no gaps, which is why reading by a window on a clear morning is easy, and Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds it with 98% colour accuracy, flicker-free.
An ordinary bulb only looks white. It leaves gaps across the spectrum, and your eyes work to fill them in. Daylight has no gaps. Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds it with 98% colour accuracy, flicker-free.
Customers living with AMD and cataracts tell us print looks sharper and higher in contrast under one. The home trial lets you check that against your own eyes.
Find the best light for meBuilt to be the best we can make.
If you want the cheapest lamp, a Serious Light is not for you. It is a reliable tool for people who want the best light.
Serious Lights have been chosen for operating theatres, the British Museum and the Heathrow control tower, where fine detail and true colour matter. A warranty is only worth the company standing behind it, and ours has been building and repairing these lights for forty years. In 2025/26 alone we repaired or upgraded 1,350 of them.
A five-year warranty on the light, with a replaceable light engine inside it.
A lifetime warranty on the arm. The flexible arm holds wherever you bend it, for good.
The HD Original and HD Essential are hand-built in Aylesbury, around fifty a day. When something goes wrong, we repair it or we replace it.
▶ See how the light works
Which are the best reading lamps UK readers can buy?
If you read most evenings, do your crossword, sew, or live with AMD or cataracts, we built these reading lamps for you. Most people choose the HD Original, as a floor light or a table light.
If you read most evenings, or live with AMD or cataracts, we built this for you. Most people choose the HD Original, as a floor or a table light.
HD Original
This is the light we recommend: everything we have learned in forty years, in one light. Shape the beam to fit your page, dim it to the level that suits your eyes, and both are just as you left them at your next switch-on, so the light is already right when you sit down.
This is the light we recommend. Shape the beam, set your level, and both are just as you left them at your next switch-on.
Perfect for evening reading, wherever you settle.
From about 19p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialAbout 16p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialTry it at home for 90 days
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery, and it arrives fully built
Arrives fully built, ready to use
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Learn more about this light
Floor light specifications
Heavyweight (most popular): 152cm, 6kg, 23cm base.
Lightweight: 144cm, 3kg, 20cm base.
3,600 to 7,200 lux at 50cm depending on beam width. 98% CRI, 4,000K, 630 lumens. Flicker-free.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
Table light specifications
Heavyweight: 71cm, 4.5kg, 20cm base.
Lightweight: 68cm, 2.2kg, 18cm base.
3,600 to 7,200 lux at 50cm depending on beam width. 98% CRI, 4,000K, 630 lumens. Flicker-free.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
See our other models, or let us help you choose.
HD Pro
If you are after the best rechargeable reading lamp, this is the one: you can change the brightness from a remote, or read anywhere in the room on its battery, added when you order or later. You shape the beam to fit what you are doing.
You can dim it from a remote or go cordless and read in any room, now or later.
Perfect for readers who want the remote in one hand, or to read anywhere.
From about 22p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialFrom about 19p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trial90-day home trial
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Click to view specifications
152cm, 4.8kg. Quick-change cordless battery in the base, arm slots out for servicing. Optional carpet feet.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
HD Essential
Small print is easy again under full Serious daylight, with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer.
Small print is easy again, with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer. You switch it on, you sit down, and you read.
Perfect for everyday reading.
From about 16p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 30-day home trialFrom about 14p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 30-day home trial30-day home trial
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Click to view specifications
Heavyweight (most popular): 152cm, 6kg, 23cm base.
Lightweight: 144cm, 3kg, 20cm base.
Replaceable LED bulb rated for three years of life, under a 5-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm. 6 watts, pennies a week to run.
Click to view specifications
Heavyweight: 71cm, 4.5kg, 19cm base.
Lightweight: 68cm, 2.2kg, 18cm base.
Replaceable LED bulb rated for three years of life, under a 5-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm. 6 watts, pennies a week to run.
Not sure which one? Answer six quick questions.
Tell us how you read, and we will point you at the right light.
What will you use your light for?
Choose all that apply
How do your eyes feel right now?
Choose one
What frustrates you about your current light?
Choose all that apply
Will it stay put, or move around the house?
Choose one
Once you are settled, do you mind reaching up to adjust it?
Choose one
Where will your light live?
Choose one
For the way you read, we recommend
Not what you expected? Call free on 0800 032 9364 and an adviser will help you choose.
Not all light is the same.
We fuss over mattresses, diet and exercise, yet light rarely gets a thought. We have spent forty years on nothing else.
We have spent forty years on nothing but the light you read by.
An ordinary standard lamp lights the room and leaves your page in shadow.
It is not only about brightness. An ordinary bulb gives out only part of the daylight spectrum, so print looks flat, colours look wrong and your eyes work harder to fill the gaps. That is junk light.
Read how the light works
Every word looks sharp under true daylight, indoors.
Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds the full spectrum of noon daylight with 98% colour accuracy, so black print turns crisp on white, down to the smallest type. See the independent research.
Aim the light exactly where you want it.
The head swivels through 350 degrees to bring the beam over your shoulder, slow-start technology fades it up gently, and every adjustment holds exactly where you set it.
Opticians say the right light matters as much as the right glasses.
More than 500 UK opticians recommend a Serious Light to their patients. These five say why.
Lighting has a huge impact on our ability to see. Serious Readers lights are well designed, simple to use, and provide accurate colour and detail representation.
Serious Reader Lights simulate strong natural daylight, relieving eye fatigue and improving reading. The range of styles, warranty and customer care means I recommend with confidence.
The clarity a Serious Readers lamp provides is second to none. Patients are amazed at the difference. Just like correct prescription glasses, the right lighting is so important.
Serious Lights are among the best I have come across. They provide natural, high quality light that improves comfort and clarity, easily adjusted to direct light exactly where needed.
The right light is as important as the right glasses. It reduces strain for close work, vital for anyone with cataracts or macular degeneration. Patients really appreciate the difference.
▶ Watch optometrist Tracey Taylor explain why.Watch an optometrist explain why.
Owners tell us what changed for them.
From more than 10,000 five-star reviews.
▶ Hear what owners have to say.
“Not cheap but well worth the quality of life you get from these lights. My eyesight is too precious to waste time with inferior lighting.”
Mrs Thoday, Market Rasen
“When I first looked at your lights I thought they were expensive but when you look at the quality, the old saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is true.”
Mr Robotham, Lincs
“Just a note to say how very pleased I am with my HD Essential Table Light. It has made such a difference.”
Mrs Lillie, Cruden Bay
Household names and professionals read and work by Serious Lights.
Household names read their scripts and manuscripts by it. Lifeboat crews, air traffic controllers and telescope engineers work under it.
The Serious Light that arrives at your door carries the same engineering.
Why Stanley Gibbons rely on Serious Lights.
Watch George James catch two fakes.Head of Philately, Stanley Gibbons
Get the answers you need before you order.
Here are the questions people ask us most, starting with the obvious one: which reading light is best?
Which are the best reading lights?
For most people the answer is the HD Original, and it is the one most of our customers choose. It shapes the beam, dims without steps and keeps both settings for next time, so it is the best reading light for books, and it does the newspaper just as well. If you want one rule, the best light for reading is the one that rebuilds daylight.
Pick the HD Pro if you want the remote, or the best cordless reading lamp, since you can add a battery that runs it with no cable at all. Pick the HD Essential if you want the simplest of the three, with a fixed wide beam. All three are true daylight lamps carrying the same spectrum; what changes is how much control you get over it.
What makes these different from an ordinary lamp?
Two things set them apart. The first is the light itself: Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds natural daylight to 98% colour accuracy, which an ordinary bulb cannot manage at any brightness.
And the engineering that delivers it: a beam built to land on your page at reading distance, and dimmed to suit your eyes. Print stays sharp and colours stay true, however small the type. With the home trial, you can read by the light you use now and by a Serious Light in turn, and decide which you prefer.
Will it help with macular degeneration or cataracts?
Serious Lights are not medical devices. What they do is put far more usable light on your page.
Customers living with AMD, cataracts and poor eyesight tell us print looks sharper and higher in contrast under one. The home trial lets you find out with your own eyes.
How bright is it, in numbers?
Measured at 50cm, the HD Original gives you up to 12x more light on your page than a 60W bulb. Narrow the beam for the smallest print and the light concentrates to 7,200 lux; spread it wide across your newspaper and it holds 3,600. Colour accuracy is 98% CRI, which is why print stays black and colours stay true.
The light engine is flicker-free and it dims without steps, so the full amount is there for the smallest print and you turn it down for everything else. So if it is the best bright reading light you want, check for both: light in reserve for the smallest print, and a dimmer so you are not sitting under all of it every evening.
The only real test is to try one at home. You have up to 90 days, and if it is not for you, we collect it free from any UK mainland address and refund you.
Start my 90-day home trialMore questions
Should I choose the floor light or the table light?
The best lamp for reading depends on where you sit. A reading standard lamp suits wherever you read with no table beside you, because it stands on its own.
Where there is a side table at the right height, a table light does the same job from a lower start. Both carry the same daylight, so choose by where you sit.
How do the lights compare?
Every light here carries the same Daylight Wavelength Technology™ and the same 5-year warranty. What changes is the control you get over the beam: how you shape it, dim it and direct it. Here are the three side by side, if you are still deciding what is the best reading light for you.
Most popular
HD Original
The light most people choose
|
HD Pro
The most advanced of the three
|
HD Essential
Daylight made simple
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | All-round reading | Cordless and remote | Plain and simple |
| Finishes | Black or Heritage White | Black only | Black or Heritage White |
| Beam | Adjustable, shapeable | Adjustable, shapeable | Wide, even, fixed |
| Dimming | Stepless with memory | Stepless with memory | Press-and-hold, with memory |
| Remote & cordless | No. | Yes, optional | No. |
| Home trial | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days |
| Warranty | 5 years, lifetime arm | 5 years, lifetime arm | 5 years, lifetime arm |
| Table light price | From £299.99 | From £349.99 | From £249.99 |
| Floor light price | From £349.99 | From £399.99 | From £299.99 |
| Start my 90-day trial | Start my 90-day trial | Start my 30-day trial |
HD Original
The light most people choose
HD Pro
The most advanced of the three
HD Essential
Daylight made simple
What bulb does it take, and what does it cost to run?
All three reading lights here run on LED, which is why a lamp this bright costs pennies a week. That is true of any LED lamp, so what makes the best LED reading light is the LED itself: an ordinary LED bulb only looks white, and a Serious Light rebuilds the full daylight spectrum with 98% colour accuracy. The HD Original and HD Pro use a replaceable light engine rather than a bulb, and the HD Essential takes a replaceable LED bulb.
The best LED reading lamp has to run cool as well, and these do, so you can sit beside one all evening, and you are not up a stepladder changing a bulb every year.
Why do they cost more than an ordinary lamp?
You pay for the daylight spectrum, an arm and dimming that hold where you set them, a five-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm, and a forty-year-old company standing behind both. Most lamps are built down to a price, and we build Serious Lights to be repaired rather than thrown away. With the home trial, you can judge it at home, and if it is not for you, we collect it and refund you in full.
Is now a good time to buy the best reading light?
Yes, because from October to March most people read by lamplight every evening, so the difference between an ordinary lamp and the best one shows up on more nights than at any other time of year. With up to 90 days to try it at home, you can judge it on exactly those evenings.
How long does delivery take?
UK delivery is by DHL tracked courier and usually takes two to three working days. It is free with your code.It costs £12.95.
The Original and Essential arrive fully built, and the Pro's arm simply slots into its base. Either way, you plug it in and read the same evening.
Buy it once, and read by it every evening from now on.
The best test of any reading light is a long dark evening, and you have plenty of them ahead.
Quote code at checkout.
Start my 90-day home trialTry it at home for up to 90 days. If it is not for you, we collect it free from any UK mainland address and refund you in full.
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm.