Earlier this year, BenQ reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to try their new product, the ScreenBar Lite. They released their original ScreenBar in 2018 but have recently released a new, smaller version, called the Lite. Whereas the original ScreenBar is meant to fit over your monitors, the new one clips onto your laptop for a more portable experience.

With the working landscape leaning more and more towards remote working and working on-the-go, it can be hard to control the quality of your workspace when you’re abroad.

Cue the ScreenBar Lite. It’s flexible, lightweight, portable—all of the features you’d want in something to bring with you on-the-go. They’ve reimagined their first Screen Bar product to work specifically for laptops, but still provide the lighting options that the original one does.

I’ve been using the ScreenBar Lite for a couple of months now, so I think I can provide a pretty good review on how it works for me.

Design

Much like the original Screen Bar, the Lite version is also wrapped in a black aluminum alloy that’s sleek and quite aesthetically pleasing. Visually, the original ScreenBar is a little more beautiful with a rounded tubular structure that gives it a very high-tech look and feel. The Lite comes in more of a triangular shape that doesn’t blend as seamlessly into the look of my laptop set up as the ScreenBar would with your monitor. Especially if you have a black monitor, the original lamp blends right into the bezel and looks like it belongs there.

The LEDs of the Lite lamp provides ample light to illuminate my entire workspace, even when my laptop is propped up with a stand. You’re able to not only adjust the brightness of your lamp, but also the warmth of your light, which is pretty cool.

It also has an auto-dimming function that uses an ambient-sensor, which is usually the setting that I use it at. Although it does still illuminate my desk when propped up on a stand, I do wish that the lamp provided a bit more swivel for me to be able to customize the angle in which I want my lamp to shine.

Usability

An improvement from the original ScreenBar that the lite possesses is the organization of the buttons. To reach a certain level of warmth or brightness with the original lamp, you have to click the same button (either Brightness or Temperature) repeatedly until it cycles through the settings and gets to the desired mode. The Lite has a Brightness mode and Temperature mode. Once you select the mode, all you have to do is is press the down and up arrows to adjust the setting.

I love that the lamp reclaims some space on your workspace, which is why it makes for the perfect travel/remote work buddy. It comes in a plastic carrying case that protects it while you’re on-the-go, but if you wanted to save space, the lamp could easily fit in your bag or luggage without the case as well.

The lamp is also powered by a USB cable for you to plug into your laptop while you’re working. If you’re a power user, who uses all of their USB ports, this might pose an issue. However, even though I use most of my USB ports all the time, I usually have an adapter or dongle that gives me a few extra USB ports so it hasn’t been an issue for me yet.

Do I recommend it?

The BenQ ScreenBar Lite is a product that you can’t really judge whether you need it or not until you’ve tried it. I have noticed that this light is a lot easier on my eyes than a traditional desk lamp, and it’s super friendly for laptop or computer work since it provides no glare on the screens whatsoever.

If you are someone who’s always on-the-go, working in different spaces, and feel a lot of eyestrain because of it, the ScreenBar Lite is a great tool to invest in. However, with it’s $99 USD price tag, I do only recommend this to those who feel like having a portable lamp solution is exactly what they’re looking for.

Personally, although I never thought that I would need this product, I do really love it’s functionality and portability now that I have it, and will be taking it with me on business trips.

What do you think about the ScreenBar Lite? Is it something that you could find helpful in your day-to-day work life?

*This product was gifted from BenQ. All opinions are my own.*

So for all my freelancers and remote-workers out there, this one’s for you! 

Today I am working from JJ Bean in Olympic Village. 

Location

Located right at the corner of Columbia and W1st Ave, It’s a bright corner spot with giant windows which I LOVE. Even on a rainy day the light fills up the entire place which is a huge plus in my books. They have a bunch of great couch seats with two people tables that line the right side of the coffee shop. Or you can choose to sit at their hightop bar area.

It’s two blocks up from the infamous baker island, so I think this would be a great place to go in Spring/Summer. You can go take a walk to baker island when you need to step away from your computer. 

Is It Busy?

I got here at around 12pm on a Wednesday and there were still quite a few spots left. It doesn’t seem like many people come here to sit and work as most guests are here for about 15 minutes only. But I checked the popular times on Google and seems like it’s only relatively not busy during the week (Tuesday–Friday) while Sat, Sun, and Mon get pretty busy at times. 

Are There Outlets?

NO. None that I can see. So if you’re planning to get some work done here, come with your laptop charged! 

Is There Food?

Yes, they have a great selection of sandwiches and wraps all under the $10 mark. They serve them with a small side salad too which is great. My favourite is their Ham and Aged Cheddar Turnover. Such a great breakfast pastry. 

Those are all the main questions I wonder when I’m looking for a place to work. If you have anymore points you think that I should add to my list, let me know! I’ll be sure to add them to the next post. 

Until next time,