The Best Ring Lights

Ring lights in the 18-to-20-inch range are pretty common for a very good reason. They are very versatile. For example, they’re able to produce an attractive glow from as close as 18 inches or as far as about five feet. This Neewer 18-inch ring light kit has a reflective layer of silver behind the 240 LEDs. This creates a brighter but more diffused glow. It’s fully dimmable from 100% down to 1%. This lets you dial in exactly the brightness you need. A small, two-button remote control lets you control the light from afar.

This kit is ready to go right out of the box. It includes a light stand, filter set and smartphone adapter. Use the adapter to mount your smartphone in the center of the light for straight-on vlogging, selfies or when engaged in video calls. You can also stand the light to the side of the camera and use it as an off-axis key light or side light.

Rotolight makes some larger ring lights, but this package is sized ideally for smartphones. In fact, the package includes the light, mini-tripod and a mounting bar that holds both the light and smartphone. If you’re a vlogger who broadcasts from your smartphone, this super-lightweight kit (the ring light weighs about five ounces) is perfect for adding just the right amount of extra light from the convenience of a tabletop. If you don’t want to use the light on its mounting bar, it can also be mounted to a camera’s hotshoe or slid onto a shotgun microphone.

The 80-watt-equivilent bulb will run for about four hours on a charge. It uses three AA batteries and throws a beam of soft light that’s great for illuminating your face. Also in the box is a four piece filter set. This lets you adjust color to direct daylight, indirect daylight, mixed or tungsten. You can’t lose the filters (at least not easily), because they’re stored in the back of the ring light’s housing when not in use.

While the ESDDI 18-inch ring light is similar in some ways to the Neewer model—they’re both 18-inch LED lights with phone mounts and light stands—they’re also quite different. Most importantly, this light is equipped with 432 LEDs, which makes it significantly brighter despite being the same size.

The ESDDI 18-inch Ring Light has a color temperature range from 3200k to 5600k. The light intensity is dimmable from 100% down to 10%. While there’s no remote control, both settings are easy to adjust via a pair of knobs at the base of the ring. There’s no need to install color or neutral density filters; just dial in the setting you need.

The Whellen Selfie Ring Light is designed specifically for delivering illumination to videos made from your smartphone or laptop computer. It also works great for brightening up your face during video calls or virtual meetings. The 3.5-inch diameter ring is small and portable. At only half an inch thick, you can slip it into almost any bag.

The ring light slips over and straddles your mobile device or computer’s camera, so the lower part of the donut covers part of your screen. The upper part curves above the top of the display. Meanwhile, the smartphone or laptop’s camera lens pokes through the middle of the ring. You only lose a little of the screen behind the light.

In operation, the ring light takes about an hour to charge via USB. It’ll give you around 90 minutes of illumination before needing to be plugged back in again. The light unit has a single button which is used to turn on the light, cycle through the three lighting modes (warm, cool and a combination) and vary the brightness.

Lume Cube’s main focus is on designing and selling lighting products for a wide range of videography and photography-related applications. The company also offers several products specifically for use with mobile devices or computers that’ll light up someone engaged in a video call or virtual meeting, for example. This 12-inch ring light system is rather versatile. It’s large enough to nicely light up someone’s face and upper body using a full-spectrum, bi-color light that offers a 3200K to 5600K adjustable temperature.

The light easily adjusts between 100% and 1% brightness and can be powered using the supplied battery pack or an AC adapter. Both a smartphone mount and camera mount are included, as is a 6.5-foot tripod stand and carry case. Due to the size of the ring light, it’s better suited for video production or portrait photography, but it works perfectly fine as a primary light source for video calls or virtual meetings.

The Rotolight NEO 2 LED Camera Light is round like a ring, but it’s really a key light— lacking the donut shape, you won’t get the signature circular catchlights common with rings. However, if what you need is the ability to shine a lot of light on your face or some other subject using a compact and portable light, the Rotolight will likely be perfect.

Powered by six AA batteries, it runs for about two hours. You’re able to adjust color temperature from 6300K to 3150K and generate 2000 lumens worth of light. Mount the light to a desktop stand and use it while vlogging or streaming, or use it in conjunction with any camera for continuous lighting or as a sync flash (up to 1/8000 of a second).

It’s always nice to encounter a lighting kit that’s designed from the ground up for desktop video applications, like participating in video calls, vlogging or video streaming. The Elgato Key Light is a compact lighting panel with a desk clamp. The light puts out a substantial 2800 lumens via 160 OSRAM LEDs. This is more than enough to provide bright light to a subject that’s between three and five feet away.

The Elgato Key Light is app-controlled from your smartphone or computer. You can adjust the color temperature (2900K to 7000K) and brightness without turning away from your streaming camera. Even better, this light nicely integrates with Elgato’s popular Stream Deck, so you can turn the light on and off, or adjust color temp and brightness from the tabletop panel.

The Neewer Dimmable USB LED Video Light Set doesn’t output a huge amount of light—just 1000 lumens. That said, you can arrange this pair of lights to serve as a direct key light on either side of your streaming camera. Alternatively, set them off to the side for off-axis lighting. The lights come with their own tabletop stands. Use this as a low-cost standalone lighting kit or as an accessory to another key light or ring light.

Each panel has 66 LEDs. They’re adjustable from 100% down to 10% using the in-line control on the power cord. Speaking of power, the lights plug into USB ports. But don’t get too excited—these lights draw too much power for most laptops and tablets, so you should plug them directly into a PC or into a USB power adapter. Need to adjust the color temperature? The lights come with four color filters.

Although it has a circular design, this light serves more as a key light (as opposed to a ring light) that attaches to a computer’s monitor. That said, the Lume Cube Video Conference Lighting Kit is designed to light up your face and upper body when you’re participating in a video call or virtual meeting, or sitting in front of your computer while hosting a live stream, for example.

You’re able to easily adjust the light’s brightness and temperature to complement your skin tone. The mount for attaching the light to the back of your monitor is included. This light can be powered using its own rechargeable battery or be plugged into the USB port of your computer. The dimensions of the light are small (3 x 1 x 6 inches), so it’s easy to transport with your laptop computer. An optional stand for the light is sold separately.

This circular light is a larger version of the Lume Cube Video Conferencing Kit. It comes with an adjustable arm that clamps onto a desk. The stand has three separately posable joints, so you can set it at whatever angle it’ll serve you best. Instead of a switch or dial, the light is controlled using a touch sensitive slider (located on the arm) that you run your finger along.

You’re able to adjust the light’s brightness and temperature, although it must be plugged into an electrical outlet to function. Thanks to the light’s brightness (despite the relatively small diameter of the circular LED fixture itself), it has the ability to light up your entire work area. You’ll discover that this light kit is exceptionally well made—with a sturdy desk clamp and an arm that provides for endless positioning possibilities.

This is a smaller, scaled down (less bright) version of the Elgato Key Light. It’s designed to be positioned on a desktop using its own stand. When turned on, it’ll light up a single person as they’re sitting at their desk and engaged in a video call or virtual meeting, for example.

Despite its relatively compact size, the light uses 80 Osram LEDs and generates up to 1400 lumens. The brightness and temperature (2900K to 7000K) can be controlled from the light fixture itself or from a mobile app. The kit comes with the light, ball head mount, power supply, telescopic pole and base.

A smaller size ring light (up to 12-inches) will do a decent job surrounding your face and potentially your upper-body with light. However, not a lot of light will reach the areas surrounding you. So, if you want to brighten up a larger area (as well as most of your body), you’ll want to use a ring light with a larger diameter.

This Mactrem ring light offers a 22-inch diameter and comes with a 75-inch adjustable tripod stand. The temperature of the light can be adjusted between 2500K and 8500K, while the brightness is adjustable between 1% and 100%.

So, if you need to shed light on more than one person, a larger area or on products you’re photographing, for example, this larger and more powerful ring light will prove to be rather versatile.