I was looking for an LED reading lamp that I could clamp to my headboard. This seemed like it might do the job, and it does.
The product description is not very clear and the instructions that come with it are in Chinese, so I'm writing this mostly to clarify what this lamp is.
There are four ways to power this lamp:
AAA batteries (4).
Lithium Ion battery, type NB-5L, which is used with Canon cameras. The lamp comes with one battery and can charge the battery if plugged into one of the following power sources.
USB mini-jack, from any USB port on a computer or charger.
Standard 5-volt power supply with a round connector.
The clamping mechanism is unlike any I've seem before and can clamp to any flat-surfaced object from very thin up to over 2 inches thick. It can also clamp to round objects up to about an inch in diameter. The clamping mechanism has three parts: the lamp itself, a sliding plate which locks into one of six distances from the lamp, and a spring-loaded insert which can be placed between the lamp and the plate to allow clamping to thinner or round objects. The insert is a clever idea, but also has one flaw. There are holes on both the lamp and the plate to make sure the insert is aligned correctly, but there's nothing holding it in place. This means you have to be careful to hold the insert while unclamping the lamp or you're likely to drop the insert behind your headboard or whatever else you're using to hold the lamp.
The lamp can also stand on its own, making it useful for doing close work that needs good lighting.
The single LED bulb is bright enough for reading at reasonable distance, up to maybe two feet. It has one dimmer setting. The lamp head moves up & down and twists around to accommodate most close reading positions. There is a timer button, presumably to turn the lamp off if you fall asleep while reading. The timer turns the lamp off after about an hour on any power source. Both buttons light up when in use. I got two to three hours of light from rechargeable AAA batteries (Eneloop) and three to four hours from the included NB-5L battery. The lamp does not charge AAA batteries. There is a power/charge indicator lamp between the USB and 5V jacks.
This lamp is an interesting, attractive, and practical design. It's the kind of solution I hope to see more of as designers learn to take advantage of the possibilities offered by ever-brighter LED's. Were it was not so easy to drop the clamp insert and if they had made the effort to include instructions in English, I might have given it five stars.
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