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Best Headlamp for Reading – Reviews in 2022

When doing your bedtime reading, it is usually desired to create a cozy and bright light that can brighten up your whole reading pages. But the wrong choice of the light will lead to hotspots in the center of your reading surfaces or glares in line with your eyes. Or when trying outside reading light, the failure light disappoints you at brightening up your maps or roads.

We are about to introduce 3 best-rated headlight options and top headlamp brands. Hope you can pick up your favorites so as to deal with your lighting problems in reading.

In a hurry? There are the best headlamps for indoor and outdoor readers:

Most Lightweight Neck Light with 2 Floodlights and 2 Spotlights, Comfortable with Anti-Slip Pad: LEDGLE Headlamp for Kids & Adults

Rechargeable Head Torch with Adstable Red and White Light for Indoor and Outdoor: Petzl Tikka Headlamp for Reading at Night

More Professional Waterproof Lamp with T-Shaped Adjustable Band: Cobiz Powerful Waterproof LED Headlamp for Outdoor

 

Benefits of Owning a Headlamp as a Reading Lamp

Reading should not be an expensive activity due to the source of light. There are various reasons you should own a headlamp for reading, they include:

– Providing quality illumination.

Unlike other types of lamps like arc lamps or nightstand lamps, it becomes hard to get quality illumination while reading.

With a headlamp, you are guaranteed that the reading material will be fully illuminated as the light focuses on it. To those who have eye strain and love reading, the lamp is your opportunity to relax and enjoy your favorite book.

– Convenient.

It is a bit of a painful adventure to wake up and turn off the switch lights. However, with this reading headlamp, you will turn on and off the lamp as it pleases you without the need to get up.

– Get the desired brightness.

At times, you might buy a nightstand lamp with very high brightness that affects your eyesight or one that is too low.

On the contrary, a headlamp enables you to have the desired brightness while it lasts longer.

– Saves light discomfort to your partner.

You don’t have to sleep early due to having a common light which will disturb your partner’s sleep. A headlight will help you to focus on the book while the other room is dark.

 

What Makes a Good Reading Headlamp?

Light weight, long-running time, eye protection light, and excellent optical lens make the best headlamp for readers.

– Lightweight.

It is uncomfortable to have bulky equipment in your head while reading. Therefore, the need to have a lightweight reading lamp. It becomes efficient and convenient to use for an extended period.

– Long battery life.

It becomes tiring and boring to keep on changing the headlamp’s battery after a short period.

Therefore, it is important to choose a headlamp with a Lithium battery accommodated in a headlamp that has a long life. That means saving time to do other activities and saving the cost of buying more AAA batteries.

– Eye care light.

Eyecare is very important to a reader, which means that a headlamp should have the light that favors the eyes. Ensure to use either LED or halogen lights as they take care of the environment.

For instance, A LED light produces your preferred color accompanied by the right temperature.

– High-quality Optical Lens.

Good headlamps are most featured with optical lenses of high quality. The optical components in these headlamps are designed to focus the lights on the material read for clear ability to read.

 

How to Choose the Right Headlamp for Reading?

– What watts and lumens should I buy?

When reading, it is important to have enough brightness to your reading area for the sake of comfort and reducing eye strains. This can be determined by the watts the headlamps use to produce given lumens.

People of different ages use different kinds of lumens for comfortable reading.

For a young one, the lower watts produce lumens that are enough for reading. For example, using 2-watt lamps that produce 450 lumens is enough.

However, when growing old, there is an increased need for more lumens thus an adult at the age of 60 will likely need 1000 lumens to read.

– Rechargeable or AA batteries?

For a headlamp to work or reading, they require power obtained by recharging it with electricity or through AA batteries.

Before buying the headlamp for reading purposes, it is important to determine what type you would like. It’s worth noting that it has its merits and its demerits.

Besides the bright lumens output and convenience, you need to look if you have electricity to charge when it runs out of power, if not then you can frequently buy batteries when they burn out.

Also, their sizes like how rechargeable is heavier while the battery one is lightweight.

– What weight is suitable?

Most headlamps should have lightweight features so that they can be stable and efficient to use. A reading headlamp should have at least 4 ounces inclusive of the AA batteries or less for a rechargeable headlamp.

A headlamp with less weight is more convenient to use, while reading without feeling the burden of having it on the head.

– Where are you going to use it?

According to where you want to read, there is a certain model customized for indoors and outdoor usage.

For instance, when you are camping outside, it is still possible as there are lamps made with certain features like weatherproof ones that cannot be affected by dust, snow, and water.

Besides, headlamps for reading indoors should look at special features, light lightweight, focused light beam, warm light colors.

– What type of headlamp is suitable for reading?

Before choosing to buy a specific headlamp, ensure that it is the right type for the task.

For instance, if you buy a head torch, it will be suitable as it will focus on illuminating the area under study while a huge light is situated around the neck thus illuminating the area around the book.

– What light colors are the best?

Red and green light colors are considered the best colors for outside camping for reading maps and seeking for SOS.

Yellow and white colors help in preserving your night vision while helping you to do reading tasks indoors. They will help you with better visibility but the pupils will not shrink thus natural light vision won’t be impaired.

– How many modes and settings?

There are many types of modes and settings in various types of headlamps in the market. This kind of lamp can take various modes like a flashlight or a zoomable light. It depends on how you want or where you use a reading material illuminated.

– What is the light beam?

The light beam is the distribution of the light to provide illumination to the surface. Before choosing a headlamp, you need to determine the light beam of your preference.

For instance, floodlight distributes it widely, a spotlight that focuses on a specific area or a strobe light that flashes. According to the reading need, pick the desired headlamps.

– What is the runtime?

Each headlamp has a certain brightness that it emits in terms of the lumens. A run-time, also known as burn time, refers to how long the light lasts when they are on their full set of batteries in a particular set brightness.

Thus, the low brightness may translate to high runtime for a headlamp. As a headlamp only used for reading purposes, it is likely to last a long time without the batteries running out of power.

– Is it weatherproof?

It is important to note that the headlamps to buy should be resistant to weather conditions or not. Different manufactures have come up with various types of headlamps that are resistant to the weather.

For instance, some of you may be in need to read during camping. In these conditions, the weather may be prone to water droplets or increased humidity.

However, by having the headlamps for indoor purposes, you may avoid having them going bad.

– Is the strap adjustable?

Before making any purchase for a reading headlamp, it’s important to check on its straps.

This is an important factor so that you don’t buy a headlamp with short straps that won’t fit you.

Besides, you might have another person who would need to use them.

Therefore, it is important to buy adjustable straps whereby they can accommodate different sizes of heads.

With adjustable straps, reading will be easy as the lights will focus on the book while the headlamp will be securely attached to the head eliminating discomfort.

– One light source, 3 light sources?

One light source headlamp is the most common type as it only has one torch that is used in illuminating the reading material. They are most preferable to those who have better eyesight hence don’t need too bright light to read.

On the contrary, a 3 light source has 3 lamps on the headlamp. It is mostly used for both people who need more clarity or have eye strains.

These sources of light bring more brightness and can be used by the elderly or those with eye-problems.

 

The 3 Best Head Torches Reviews

#1. Best Value – LEDGLE Ultralight Headlamp for Kids & Adults

best lightweight headlamp
Best Compact Headlamp for Reading in Bed
Pros
  • Affordable price
  • 4 available colors
  • No burden for neck
  • 6 levels of light intensity
  • 2 floodlights & 2 spotlights
  • 6500K-7000K super bright light
  • Flexible arm to hug your neck tightly
  • Anti-slip pad also works as massage assistant
  • Connect USB charging port with any device or socket to get charged
Cons
  • There have 2 different models about the length and its old type is a little short for some of the customers

Anti-slip Pad & Neck Length: This item varies 2 models on the neck length. The old version is 10” long and 4” wide while the updated kind is 13.4” long and 4.1” wide. The former is suitable for children and the latter is the optimal choice for adults. And, the arms can be adjusted so as to catch your different needs complying with your reading postures. Besides, the updated item adds a function of massage pad which helps relieve neck pain and sweat-resistant. By the way, the total weight of this headlight is 4.8 ounces, which is so light that imposes your neck without burden.

LED light & USB charge: This lamp contains 2 LED floodlight and 2 LED spotlight with 3 light models. Flood light allows you to achieve clear night view, spot light helps create privacy light without disturbance your couple and the bright light works for illuminating close up work like reading. The light requires 1 Lithium ion battery which means there is no battery expense. USB charger provides convenient charging and allows you get 5- 20 hours’ cordless light in its fully charged.

Check on Amazon

 

#2. Highly Rated – Rechargeable Petzl Tikka Headlamp for Reading at Night

best light for reading maps outside
Best Headlamp for Close Work
Pros
  • Easy to use
  • 3 different light power settings
  • A wide and uniform white or red light
  • It is rechargeable so that it takes you little battery expense
  • Deployment buckle and sturdy strap offer you comfortable headband
Cons
  • Pay attention that this item only uses aaa batteries or cord rechargeable batteries

Dimmable Lights: This item comes from a reliable corporation and a beloved headlight set — Petzl Tikka series. This one has 3 levels of light intensity together with a red light. Yes, it contains 2 lamp heads. The main light source provides white light for reading in the bed and other activities like hiking and nighttime running. Red LED light is also bright enough to allow you to work efficiently in the dark environment or acts as a night lamp in order to light up your bedroom.

Easy to Use: It is an easy operation. Wear it and then adjust the size of the headband through the buckle. There is only one on/off button located at the top of the lamp head. Press down the button for a few seconds to choose white or red light, and then click circularly to customize your own light intensity.

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#3. With Bright Light – Cobiz Powerful Waterproof LED Headlamp for Outdoor

best and brightest headlights
Best Adjustable & Dimmable Headlight
Pros
  • Zoomable bright lights
  • The rotary head allows the light up and down
  • Adjustable headband fitting for all the families
  • Support both short and long-distance illumination
  • 4 lighting modes to satisfy your different purposes
  • Waterproof function proves a good job even on rainy days
  • There is no need to take time and money to choose or buy batteries
Cons
  • It comes with a USB charger rather than a plug-in wall charger. People who mind that do your sums

4 Lighting Modes & Adjustable Headband: This lamp support 4 modes of brightness. Whether you prefer to a higher light or a lower light, whether a zoomed-in light or a zoomed-out light, this headlamp is able to achieve your aims. It is ready to adjust to any models of lights even when you wear it upon a helmet or a hat. Of course, this headlamp designs an adjustable band. If you don’t want to wear it, you can adjust the band so as to make it hanging around your neck.

Swivel Head & Waterproof Function: It also has a 90°rotary head which supports the light upwards as well as downwards. Swivel the light in any direction you want. If you frequently go outside and need light to read maps and scenic introduction at nights, this light is highly recommended for you! What is more, it also designs a waterproof function. The waterproof wire and water-resistant switch help you get rid of the dilemma on rainy days or foggy days.

Check on Amazon

 

What Are The Types of Reading Headlamps?

best reading headlamp for kids and adults

– Neck Lamps

All the headlamps boast a hand-free feature but the silicon material is the area where the neck hug headlights shine. Despite not being waterproof, these lighting series are predominant in indoor reading or nighttime bedroom reading.

They are built in a rechargeable battery, thus sheilding you from extra costs on battery changes. The silicon arms are adjustable to any angle.

At the same time, the anti-slip pad acts as a neck massager, not only to fix the lighting position but also relieve your neck pain caused by long-term lowering your head.

– With Headbands

These kinds of head light always sports a higher lumen than the neck hug headlights. Outdoors illumination is one of their stages due to the waterproof function. Among those lights, some are rechargeable while some are not. So, you need to check the lamp description to get what you required. Here are some hot sale reading headlamps.

– T-Shaped

Confused whether the normal headlights could stay at their position? Worry no more if you buy such a updated version: T-style headlamp. The lamp boasts several shining points.

  • First, they are waterproof.
  • Then, light can be zoomed in and out, awesome for outdoor camping and hiking.
  • Finally, the unique feature is that both of the headbands on the T-headlights are adjustable, hence making a big-headed man easy to wear.

 

Which LED Headlight Brand Is Best? 

There are 3 well-known headlight brands: Petzl, Black Diamond and Energizer. In the beginning, headlamp works as a lighting source of outdoor activities, such as hiking, trail running, jogging, skiing, camping and so on.

With time goes by, people gradually expand their usage on reading and painting due to its lightweight body, special light as well as hands-free function.

Petzl

Petzl team is dedicated to studying and manufacturing the first-class adventure equipment since the 1930s. And headlight, as the most crucial part of outdoor life, is being their key tailoring objects without doubts.

Petzl company mainly design his head lamps with 2 models. One consists of a wide headband and a single lamp holder while the other is characteristic of a sturdy string and a lamp head. The latter also can be used around the neck.

Black Diamond

Black Diamond is also a long-established corporation. Since 1957, its research and development team has been set up.

Now, it is well acknowledged that black diamond expertise does as their customers do before their new lights come into season. It means that their technical team develops their lights entirely on the basis of customers’ lighting needs on climbing and skiing.

Black Diamond headlight is famous for durable usage and multiple functions. And, people all over the world favor the black diamond revolt, spot, icon and storm series.

Energizer

Energizer, a global brand, is one of the largest manufacturers for portable lamps and new batteries. Today, they focus on providing the best quality portable lights with affordable price and creating reliable as well as first-rate services.

In their field of top headlights, they give 2 main forms: head-mounted lamp and neck hug light. Their head mounted lamp features dimmable lights, adjustable headbands, long-lasting battery, durable construction and so on.

Plus, their neck hug light is more popular among kids and bedtime readers. It is lightweight and no risks to damage the skin and bones. Some of the neck lights equip with a sweat-resistant pad.

 

Final Words

Before making your decision, take 4 points into consideration.

First, whether the light intensity caters to your reading tastes? The best choice is neither too bright nor too dim.

Second, what kind of headband do you want? Whether the headband is able to adjust by yourself?

Then, what is the power supply of your desired headlight? How long it can last? And finally comes the price. Choose your lamp in accordance with your cost.

Photo Title Buy
LEDGLE Updated Neck...image Best Value - LEDGLE Ultralight Headlamp for Kids & Adults - 80 LUX Buy on Amazon
PETZL - TIKKA...image Best Rated - Petzl Rechargeable Tikka Headlamp for Reading at Night - 200 LUX Buy on Amazon