Cordless Rechargeable Lamp, Cube-Black&Gold

IN THE BOX

The Amingulry Table Lamp comes in a proper retail box, well-protected and ready assembled, with a simple instruction leaflet. All you need to do is connect the USB charging lead to your USB charger.

GOOD BITS - lots

+ Elegant design
+ Touch-sensitive control
+ Control dimming and colour temperature
+ Quality materials, good and heavy
+ Very stable
+ Long runtime from battery
+ Nice rubbery charging cable
+ Comes in a nice box, important if giving as a gift
+ Comes ready assembled, no fiddling required

BAD BITS - nothing major

- Light isn't very bright: good as a bedside lamp, ok as a table lamp, but not bright enough as a desk lamp
- Use of a Lithium Polymer battery is unusual, Lithium Ion batteries are more common
- The USB charging socket should be on the side of the base so the cable is less visible when left plugged in
- The USB charging lead should be longer, so it's easier to plug in
- You need to provide a USB-A charger (up to 2A) but most people have spares

BUT... DOES IT NEED A BATTERY?

I've seen a lot of lights that run off Lithium Ion batteries, charged via a USB lead. In general, the reason for the battery is obvious: to make a torch or book light easily portable; to make a patio light or garden light safe in the rain; to provide light automatically during a power-cut.

But in this lamp I'm not so sure a battery makes sense. When I use it as a bedside light or table lamp, I leave it plugged in. What's the point of disconnecting the charger cable and then having to reconnect it every few days to charge? If left plugged in, the only obvious function of the battery is to provide light during a power-cut, but it doesn't turn on automatically, so it's not really a major selling point.

OK, the battery also allows you to carry the lamp around while it's lit, but really, do you need that?

The downsides of the battery are significant:

- Extra cost for manufacturer - passed on to consumer
- Shorter product lifespan (presuming the lamp fails once the battery fails)
- Impact on the environment of manufacture
- Impact on the environment of disposal, end-of-life

BATTERY RUNTIME MYSTERY - UPDATE

The manufacturer claims 16 hour run time at maximum brightness, which I questioned, based on the specifications. However, it's true - currently still running after 15 1/2 hours.

CONCLUSION

I like this lamp so much, I have to give it 5 stars BUT ONLY AS a cabled bedside light (ignoring the battery). It isn't bright enough to read by or use as a desk lamp. It would be a perfect bedside light if the manufacturer:

+ Removed the battery
+ Moved the charging socket to the side of the base
+ Provided a longer charging cable

The lamp can be moved around the house, and is in a corner of my sitting room. It has three colour modes each of which can be dimmed. It's on the same charge that came with the lamp when it arrived therefore it will probably need recharging in a couple of hours. It's one of those items that had an instant appeal for me because of its slightly retro style and is also a very pretty lamp. The shade is acrylic. There is a smooth felt base which eliminates the lamp scratching the surface on which it's placed. It needs to be connected to a USB slot in order to charge it up, and a lead is provided for this. Once charged, it can be put anywhere as it's not dependent on a plug socket and the other plus with chargeable lamps such as this, there are no trailing leads for babies or toddlers to grab hold of if they're crawling around. This lamp is a real hit for me.