Comparing task lamps and desk lamps?
This one is built for reading.
A task lamp is designed to look right on a desk, and most of them do. We build ours around the light instead, so it puts real daylight on your page and the arm reaches out over your book rather than standing in the middle of the table. Try one at home for up to 90 days, and if you do not love it we collect it.
Alex Pratt OBE | Founder
Or call free on 0800 032 9364 · quote GP2635
From £174.99 · Save up to £225
10,000 five-star reviews from the readers who use one every day.
What a reading light does that a task lamp does not.
A good task lamp is a proper piece of design and it will light a desk perfectly well. If what you actually want is to read small print for two hours without your eyes tiring, you are asking a lamp to do a different job.
Most task lamps are designed around how they look.
Most of what you pay for is the shape, the finish and the name on the base, and the bulb inside is usually an ordinary one. It gives out a narrow, uneven light, so print looks flat, colours wash out, and your eyes work harder for every line.
We start at the other end, with the light itself.
Daylight Wavelength Technology™ recreates the full spectrum of natural daylight with 98% colour accuracy. The difference shows at the first switch-on: black print sits sharp on white paper, and the smallest type reads clearly again. See the independent research.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen…
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen…
And the arm reaches out over your book.
A flexible arm and a swivel head let you shape the beam and bring it out over the page, so the light lands on your book and not in your eyes. Dim it to the level your eyes want, and every adjustment stays where you set it. The base takes up little more room than the lamp you have there now.
Judge it in the chair you actually read in.
We have hand-built reading lights in Buckinghamshire for forty years, and 99 in 100 people who try one keep it. Read under one at home for up to 90 days. If you do not love it, we collect it and refund you.
Find your reading light.
All three sit beside you and put the same daylight on your page. Where they differ is how much control you want over the beam, and all three are up to half price while summer stock lasts.
Our most popular light
HD Original
Shape the beam to fit your page, dim it to the exact level your eyes want, and the memory brings both back at your next switch-on, so the light is already right when you sit down.
Perfect forThe side table beside your reading chair. It reaches over your book, shapes to the page, and remembers where you left it.
90-day home trial · 5-year warranty · Free delivery worth £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Code GP2635 at checkout
Specifications
Sits on a side table, desk or shelf beside your chair. The adjustable arm and head bring the light out over your book, and every setting stays where you leave it.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee. 7 watts, pennies a week to run.
Our latest and best light
HD Pro
The Pro gives you the finest control of the three without leaving your chair. Shape the beam, dim it with real precision, and add the optional remote control, or the optional battery that runs it fully cordless with no cable to the wall.
Perfect forReaders who want the remote in one hand, or no cable at all.
90-day home trial · 5-year warranty · Free delivery worth £12.95
Code GP2635 at checkout
Specifications
Sits on a side table or desk. The arm slots out for servicing, with a remote control and a quick-change cordless battery available as options.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee. 7 watts, pennies a week to run.
Daylight made simple
HD Essential
Small print is easy again, in our simplest light. It carries the same Serious daylight without the extra controls, using a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer. You switch it on, you sit down, and you read.
Perfect forPlain, everyday reading by your chair. Switch it on and sit down.
30-day home trial · 5-year warranty · Free delivery worth £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Code GP2635 at checkout
Specifications
Sits on a side table or desk beside your chair. One switch puts full daylight on your page in a wide, even beam.
Replaceable LED bulb, 3-year guarantee. 6 watts, pennies a week to run.
Which reading light is right for you?
Start with what you want from it.
“I just want the best all-round reading light.”
HD Original The one most people choose. Shape the beam, set the level, and it remembers. Black or white. Table light from £199.99“I want to unplug it, or adjust it from my chair.”
HD Pro Our latest and best, with cordless and remote control options. Black only. Table light from £224.99“I want proper daylight at the lowest price.”
HD Essential One switch, full daylight on the page. Black or white. Table light from £174.99Still not sure? Call free on 0800 032 9364 and an advisor will give you an honest steer.
Side by side
The three table reading lights, compared.
← Scroll to compare →
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Most popular
HD Original
Our most popular table light
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HD Pro
Our latest and best
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HD Essential
Daylight, simply delivered
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| Best for | All-round reading | Cordless and remote | Simple value |
| Offer | Up to half price | Up to half price | Up to half price |
| Finishes | Black or White | Black only | Black or White |
| Beam | Adjustable, shapeable | Adjustable, shapeable | Wide, even, fixed |
| Dimming | Stepless with memory | Stepless with memory | Press-and-hold |
| Remote control | ✕ | ✓ optional | ✕ |
| Cordless | ✕ | ✓ optional | ✕ |
| Home trial | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days |
| Warranty | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
| You save | Up to £200 | Up to £225 | Up to £175 |
| Table light price | From £199.99 | From £224.99 | From £174.99 |
| Order Original Table | Order Pro Table | Order Essential Table |
“
We now have 4! Once you've tried them, you can't revert to ordinary lamps.Mrs Fisher, Devon
Before you order.
A few straight answers.
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, shaped and dimmed to your eyes. Print stays sharp and colours stay true, however small the type. The home trial lets you compare the two in your own chair.
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, and 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.
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. An ordinary lamp is built down to a price; this one is built to read under for years. The home trial lets you judge it at home before you commit.
Will a table reading lamp take over my table?
No. The base takes up little more room than the table lamp you have now, and the arm reaches out over your book instead of standing in the middle of everything. It suits a side table, a shelf, or a desk if you want it as a reading desk lamp, and the head adjusts so the light comes onto your page rather than into your eyes. Every table light here is also made as a floor light if you would rather it stood on the floor beside you.
Why are they so much cheaper right now?
Summer is the quiet season, so we run our strongest prices of the year to keep the workshop busy. These are current lights, brand new and boxed, not seconds or old stock. We hold more White than Black, so White carries the biggest saving. Once a finish sells out, it is not restocked.
Do the home trial and warranty still apply?
Yes, in full. You get 90 days at home with the Original and Pro, 30 with the Essential, and the standard warranty on every light. A clearance light gets the same service as one at full price.
How long does delivery take?
UK delivery takes five to seven working days by tracked courier, free on every light in this clearance. The Original and Essential arrive ready to use, and the Pro's arm simply slots into its base. Either way, you plug it in and read the same evening.
How long does the clearance last?
These are our summer prices, and the best-selling finishes go first. Once one sells out, it is gone for good.
While stocks last.
Summer is our quiet season, so these are the strongest prices of the year. Up to half price with code GP2635 at checkout or over the phone. Once a finish sells out, it is gone.
See the offersOr call free on 0800 032 9364, Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm.
Prices effective until 30th September 2026. Offers cannot be combined.