For Saga readers
The last reading light you will ever need to buy.
Ours is the light 99 in 100 people keep after trying it at home. The HD Original gives you the full daylight spectrum with 98% colour accuracy, a beam you shape and dim, and an arm guaranteed for life. Saga readers can try one at home for up to 90 days and judge it against the lamp it replaced.
99 in 100 people who try one at home keep it. Saga readers can try one at home for up to 90 days.
Alex Pratt OBE | Founder
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm
As seen in Saga Magazine
Saga Magazine prize draw
One Saga reader will win an HD Pro Floor Light, worth £499.99.
The HD Pro is the most advanced light we make. You widen or narrow the beam, dim it to the level that suits your eyes, and you can order it with a remote handset or as a cordless. The winner's light is delivered free.
Enter the prize draw at saga.co.ukSaga runs the draw and holds the entries, and the full terms are on their site.
What changes when you switch on an HD Light.
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: older eyes need more light, and an ordinary bulb does not give it well. These are the three changes Serious Light owners name most.
You can read small print again.
You can read your medicine bottle, the footnotes 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, with up to 7,200 lux on your page.
You can read just as well at night.
The light engine rebuilds the full daylight spectrum with 98% colour accuracy, flicker-free, so reading at ten at night is no harder than at ten in the morning.
You can read for as long as you want.
Dim it to the level that suits your eyes, and it comes back at that level the next time you switch it on. The arm holds where you put it, and it is guaranteed for life.
The Serious Readers story
I built the first HD Light for my mum.
By 1988 our lights 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, and Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds it with 98% colour accuracy, flicker-free. That is what makes a daylight reading lamp different from a brighter bulb.
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.
See the reading lightsBuilt to be the best, not the cheapest.
We aim to build the best reading lights UK readers can buy, not the cheapest: a high-grade, reliable tool for people who need or want the best light they can have. Nothing is priced for show.
Serious lights have been found in operating theatres, at the British Museum and in the Heathrow control tower, places where people need to see fine detail in true colour, and the philatelists at Stanley Gibbons grade their stamps under them. A warranty is only worth the company standing behind it, and ours has been building and repairing these lights for forty years.
A five-year warranty on the light, with a replaceable light engine inside it.
A lifetime warranty on the arm. It holds where you put 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
The offer for Saga readers.
An ordinary reading lamp lights the room. A Serious Light puts real daylight where you read. If you read most evenings, do your crossword, sew, or live with AMD or cataracts, we built this 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
Shape the beam to fit your page, dim it to the level that suits your eyes, and the memory brings both back at your next switch-on, so the light is already right when you sit down.
Shape the beam, set your level, and the memory brings both back at your next switch-on.
Perfect for where you read every night.
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, lifetime on the arm, and a replaceable light engine
Free delivery, and it arrives fully built
Arrives fully built, ready to use
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.
See our other models, or let us help you choose.
HD Pro+
It gives you the finest control of the three. Shape the beam, dim it with real precision, and add the optional remote. Fit the optional battery and it runs fully cordless, so if you are after the best rechargeable reading lamp, this is the one.
It gives you the finest control of the three, with an optional remote. Fit the optional battery and it runs fully cordless, which makes it the best rechargeable reading lamp here.
It comes with its rechargeable battery and remote, so you can read anywhere in the room and change the brightness without getting up.
Perfect for readers who want the remote in one hand, or no cable at all.
From about 22p a night over the five-year warranty.
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.
From about 19p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trial90-day home trial
5-year warranty, lifetime on the arm, and a replaceable light engine
Free delivery
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 watts, pennies a week to run.
HD Essential
Small print is easy again, in our simplest light: full Serious daylight with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer.
Our simplest light, with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer. You switch it on, you sit down, and you read.
Perfect for plain, 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, lifetime on the arm
Free delivery
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.
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 read under it?
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
Your best match
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 about brightness. An ordinary bulb gives out a thin, uneven slice of daylight, so print flattens, colour drains, and your eyes strain 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.
Built to put 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.
What opticians tell their patients.
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.
What owners tell us.
From more than 10,000 five-star reviews.
We now have 4. Once you've tried them, you can't revert to ordinary lamps.Mrs Fisher, Devon
▶ Hear what owners have to say.
“I have AMD and have not read a book for over 2 years. Now I have.”
Mrs Simmonds, Guildford
“It's like being given a new set of eyes.”
Mr Hurford, Lincolnshire
“Worth every penny. I wish I'd bought one years ago.”
Mr Ross, Bridlington
You will be in good company.
Household names read their scripts and manuscripts by it. Lifeboat crews, air traffic controllers and telescope engineers work under it. When yours arrives, you will share a light with every one of them.
The Serious Light that arrives at your door carries the same engineering.
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 remembers both settings, 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 its optional battery runs it with no cable at all. Pick the HD Essential if you want our simplest light, 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. 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 ours in turn, and decide which you prefer.
Will it help with macular degeneration or cataracts?
Our lights are not medical devices. What they do is put far more usable light on your page.
Customers living with AMD, cataracts and age-related vision change 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 puts between 3,600 and 7,200 lux on your page. 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 all of it is dimmable, 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 it at home, which is why the trial exists. Read under one at home for 90 days, and if it is not for you, we collect it free 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 stands on the floor beside you and brings the light down over your shoulder, which suits a sofa with no table next to it. A reading floor lamp like this also frees up the surface you already have.
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
Our most popular reading light
|
HD Pro
Our most advanced light
|
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
Our most popular reading light
HD Pro
Our most advanced light
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 separates the best LED reading light and the best reading light UK buyers can get from the rest is the LED itself: an ordinary LED bulb only looks white, and ours is built to rebuild 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?
Almost none of it is the shell. You pay for the daylight spectrum, an arm and dimming that hold where you set them, and a build made to last, with a five-year warranty on the light, a lifetime warranty on the arm, and a forty-year-old company standing behind both. An ordinary lamp is built down to a price. Ours is built to read under for years, and that is where your money goes. The home trial lets you judge it at home before you commit.
Why is small print harder to read once the evenings get darker?
In the summer you can read by a window well into the evening, but once the clocks go back most people switch a lamp on by late afternoon. Under an ordinary lamp, small print is usually the first thing people find harder to read.
A Serious Light rebuilds daylight indoors, so small print can look as clear on a dark evening as it does by a window in June.
Is the prize draw the same thing as this offer?
No, they are separate. Saga runs the prize draw for the HD Pro Floor Light, holds the entries and publishes the full terms on saga.co.uk. We provide the light and deliver it free to whoever wins.
The prices on this page are open to every Saga reader, whether you enter the draw or not.
How long does delivery take?
UK delivery is by DHL tracked courier and usually takes two to three working days. It is free if you order with an offer code, and otherwise you will see the delivery charge at the checkout before you pay.
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.
Spend the darker evenings doing what you love.
The reason to try one is the difference it makes to your reading. Saga readers get £50 off the HD Original, the HD Pro and the HD Essential with code A477, at checkout or by phone, and delivery is free.With your code A477 you get our exclusive offer price on every light on this page, and delivery is free.
Start my 90-day home trial90 days to read by it at home. If it is not for you, we collect it free and refund you. Five years on the light, lifetime on the arm.
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm.