My Review

As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of gadgets, especially when it comes to gadgets that can actually help you out in your everyday life and make you more productive.

The BenQ LaptopBar is one of those gadgets. Not only is it the perfect accessory to have in your laptop bag, it’s also great to use around the house.

This is the thing with laptops, we often forget about their true purpose which is portability and being able to take them with you anywhere you go.

I mean laptops have gotten extremely powerful over the years and let’s face it, they’re more convenient for most people as they eliminate the need for having a massive computer tower.

With that in mind, it is still essential that your workspace is comfortable and adequately lit, no matter whether you’re working from home, the hotel or a cafe.

Poor lighting can lead to eye strain, headaches, fatigue and stress which can affect productivity and potentially the quality of your work.

That is exactly why I think the BenQ LaptopBar is a game changer for people who work from laptops. I mean put it this way, I can’t imagine carrying a massive lamp with me in my laptop bag everywhere I go. That would be ridiculous, not to mention trying to find a mains power outlet.

The BenQ LaptopBar isn’t just a light that goes on top of your laptop screen, it’s so much more and in this blog post, I will be discussing the benefits of this device as well as my experience of using it in my everyday life.

So without any further ado…

The BenQ LaptopBar in everyday life

When it comes to gadgets, I strongly believe that in order for them to become useful, they have to benefit me somehow in life.

I know that this may sound obvious, but not everybody is the same.

The BenQ LaptopBar is one of those gadgets I consider to be extremely useful. Here’s why…

I think it’s fair to say that in this day and age, we forget to core purpose of laptops which is portability. The whole point of laptops is that they are small, lightweight and easy to carry with you to the office, cafe or to use when out and about.

But that has changed with a hybrid working culture. Many people now have the option to work from home and the office. This requires a new approach to making your workspace more suitable for work and productivity.

The BenQ LaptopBar is a perfect example of a tool you could use at home and when out and about. Let’s face it, not every environment you sit in will have enough natural light.

I remember my student days when I used to write my dissertation in the library which happened to be inside of a historic building where the lighting conditions weren’t the greatest especially when working in the evenings. The BenQ LaptopBar would have been perfect for this scenario.

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What makes the LaptopBar even better is the fact that it is designed with portability in mind. It comes with a handy pouch where you can put the battery and the actual light in to protect it.

Let’s talk about features

Inside the box, you get a pouch, the battery, the light as well as two magnetic stickers.

I think the fact that the LaptopBar comes with a pouch is excellent. It makes it the ideal gadget to have in your everyday tech carry.

But let’s talk about features because the features that the LaptopBar has are actually pretty impressive!

For starters, we already talked about my student days of working in the library till late, well let’s continue talking about that. As it starts to get late, it gets dark, therefore choosing a warmer temperature in the evenings can actually help prevent eyestrain and help you wind down for the day.

When working in the library or anywhere for that matter, I use a free app called F.lux which gets rid of that blue glow from my screen. I think that using this software combined with the BenQ LaptopBar would work extremely well for me.

The LaptopBar also allows me to choose a brightness level which is a neat touch – no pun intended as the device doesn’t actually have a power button. It can be turned on by simply waving your hand near the sensor.

It also has an auto-dimming feature that remembers your brightness preferences and intelligently adjusts based on both ambient light and personal settings.

Speaking about neat features, the device itself doesn’t need to be plugged in to use, the mount it comes with is actually a 2550 mAh rechargeable power block that charges using the included USB-C cable.

The LaptopBar can be mounded in 2 ways, Folded form allows you to reduce your field of vision for better focus. In this form, the LaptopBar isn’t extended and the light concentrates on your keyboard.

With expanded form, you can maximise your field of vision. I tend to use expanded mode when working at a desk and folded for when working elsewhere and I have my laptop on my laps.

Using the BenQ LaptopBar

I’ve been mainly using the LaptopBar with my Chromebook and my work laptop, which works out great as the pack comes with two magnetic stickers, which unfortunately once you remove, can’t be reused.

As for my Huawei MateBook D15 laptop, as the lid is magnetic so I didn’t have to use the magnetic stickers.

The stickers themselves are very well designed as they don’t leave any residue.

To adjust the lighting, you simply slide the touch bar.

Moving on to more important things, BenQ states that based on a 50% brightness level you can get up to 160 minutes of use on a full charge, which I tend to agree with.

Overall, in terms of usability, I think that the BenQ LaptopBar is very user-friendly and well thought out.

I’ve been using it for a while and as an early bird who finds it difficult to concentrate in the evenings, it helped me work many late evenings and early mornings when it’s still dark outside.

The Verdict

To summarise this review, I think that the BenQ LaptopBar is a remarkable piece of kit that every laptop user should have.

When it comes to work setups, I’m a huge fan of this type of technology and having used various screen bars from other brands, I definitely think that they work well for your desk setup, especially as you don’t have to have a massive lamp taking up space on your desk.

The fact that this type of technology is now also available for laptops is absolutely fantastic and a perfect addition to your work bag or everyday carry.

At the time of writing this article, the BenQ LaptopBar is priced at £119 on Amazon (Non-Affiliate), and looking on Amazon, you can get an extra 5% off until the 5th of November, which I think is an excellent price for what you are getting.

Disclaimer: BenQ did send me the BenQ LaptopBar to try out and give you my honest thoughts about it, but they are not sponsoring this blog post, all views and opinions are my own.