What’s the best professional ring light?
Are you looking for a ring light for your work from home desk setup? Here’s our pick of the best ring lights available to buy on Amazon right now.
What is a ring light?
A ring light is a circular shaped LED light that’s used to brighten and lessen shadows on the subject it’s pointed on. You can get small ring lights to go round your phone camera (it’s the tool that all the cool Tiktokers, Instagrammers and Kardashians use), or a larger one that you can position on your desk to improve your appearance on webinars and work calls. Professional makeup artists and photographers also commonly use them.
If your desk is in a dark spot in your home office, and there are huge shadows being cast on your face a ring light is a must - especially if you’re filming for work. Not only will the footage look much better, a brighter appearance on camera is a great pick-me-up when you’re constantly staring at yourself on your computer!
Most professional ring lights are USB powered, so you can plug them straight into your computer (or a USB adapter for a MacBook like this one). They often have a variety of colour settings too, including bright white, warm white and warm yellow, and you should be able to change the brightness of these easily - so play around and find the best setting for the environment you’re in. Lots of ring lights are designed for use with mobile phones rather than laptops, as they’re great for taking selfies, but you can adapt their use for your WFH desk easily.
What should I use a ring light for?
Ring lights are good for Zoom calls and other video conferencing solutions, blogging, photography, live streaming and much more, like TikTok videos, Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels and YouTube videos.
Do ring lights really make a difference?
Many content creators and home workers have noted how much impact a ring light has on their setup. For those working from home making conference calls or webinars, a ring light gives a professional look, and helps to even out tone and shadows caused by lack of natural lighting or harsh room lighting. Content creators rely on 10-18 inch ring lights to smooth their appearance and/or help focus on the objects they are discussing in their content. Once you get your ring light, play around with the position and brightness/colour settings until you find your desired effect.
5 of the best professional ring lights
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GreenSun 12” Ring Light - Amazon
The GreenSun offering is a 12 inch LED ring light that’s primarily designed to light up around your phone for a well-lit selfie. It comes with an adjustable tripod stand (which you can have from 3.15 inches to 74.80 inches tall) and a range of accessories you can set it up for your needs. If you didn’t want to use this for your phone, you could use the tripod to hold the light on your desk behind your laptop or webcam.
Size: 12 inches, with extendable tripod from 3.15 inches to 74.80 inches
Colour settings: 3 colour modes available, with adjustable brightness settings
Power: USB powered with an added Bluetooth remote control
Neewer 14” Ring Light - Amazon
Neewer is one of the most popular names in ring lights, and this offering comes highly recommended on Amazon for its ease of use and range of brightness options available. This 14-inch LED ring light is a more robust option if you’re going to be filming lots, but thanks to the light aluminium stand, is still easy to move - complete with carry bag.
Size: 14 inches, with 61 inch aluminium stand
Colour settings: White and orange colour filters, with adjustable brightness settings
Power: Hot shoe adapter and charger
Neewer 12” RGB Ring Light - Amazon
This Neewer ring light is another great ring light option. It’s highly versatile, thanks to its extendable tripod that you can place on your desk or on the floor and the 2 rotatable phone clips that it comes with, which allow you to have your phone either in the middle of the LED light itself or just below it. You also get to choose from 16 colours in the ring light itself, making it a particularly fun option if you’re filming TikToks or Instagram Reels.
Size: 12 inches, with extendable tripod from 16 inches to 54 inches
Colour settings: 16 colours with 4 modes available, with adjustable brightness settings
Power: USB powered with an added Bluetooth remote control
YMCRLUX 6.3” Ring Light with Suction Cup - Amazon
The YMCRLUX LED ring light is much more compact than many other ring lights available, so it’s ideal for those who split their time between working from home and from their office. It’s a much smaller light too, at just 6.3 inches, and it features a suction cup to adhere to a surface - like the back of your laptop or a mirror - instead of requiring a tripod.
Size: 6.3 inches, with suction cup stand and tape pad
Colour settings: 3 light modes available, with 10 adjustable brightness settings
Power: USB powered
AIXPI 10” Ring Light - Amazon
The AIXPI ring light is a great choice for YouTubers, live streamers and TikTok content creators with its phone holder functionality in the centre of the light. You can also place a DSLR camera there. The tripod also allows for 360° rotation, which can be particularly helpful for content creators - although it still offers everything you need for professional conference call lighting too.
Size: 10 inches, with desk tripod stand and phone holder
Colour settings: 3 light modes available, with 10 adjustable brightness settings
Power: USB powered with an added Bluetooth remote control
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