This is the first monitor light bar that we’ve reviewed to this detail. I can say for sure that the Xiaomi Monitor Light bar is a killer option for desk lighting at its price point (AU$65 or US$60 Including Shipping+Tax). It is almost half the price of the BenQ monitor lamp but performs just as well if not even better in some regards. If you don’t know much about this topic, I suggest you have a read of our comprehensive desktop lighting guide to get an understanding of why you would want a light bar or monitor lamp.
This light bar would be optimal if you had a home office setup because it improves your ergonomics a lot. If you haven’t already we have two articles relating to it, one is a complete guide on how to put together a home office setup, and the other is an article specifically about home office lighting.
If you want a TLDR version:
First impression
Well because we got it shipped from Overseas, the box didn’t come in great shape but that’s perfectly fine since it was kind of expected. More importantly, the light bar itself was not damaged. During the unboxing, I noticed the heft in the monitor mount’s counterweight. The aluminium finish really adds to its elegant design. The manual was in Chinese but just looking at the pictures I could work out how to install and operate the monitor light bar. It wasn’t hard. It was really just plug’n’play. When I turned it on, the beam of light was bright across my table and none on the monitor itself. The remote control had a nice matte texture to it. The feel was good, but more importantly, it looked amazing. The fact that it was wireless earned it bonus points
How is the quality of the light?
It was amazing. Having the ability to adjust colour temperature between 2700K (warm) to 6500K (cool) is pretty cool. I originally had a Baseus Monitor Lamp and it only allowed 3 colour temperate modes which were lacking, the Xiaomi Monitor Light Bar really exceeded my expectation with how even the light looked across the table. It’s rated to have a colour rendering index of 95 which means the colour of items that the light shines on is almost natural. There’s more information here about the Colour Rendering Index (RA).
What about the angle adjustment of the light?
One of the interesting features that comes with the light bar is that it attaches onto the mount magnetically, which also gives you a bit of wiggle room to better direct the ray of light onto your desk. It’s a neat solution to be able to rotate the light and detach only the light bar for cleaning. I think you’re looking at roughly 25 degrees of adjustment according to the Xiaomi Official Product Specification.
But the Xiaomi Monitor Light Bar doesn’t have auto-dimming?
It’s certainly true that it doesn’t have auto-dimming but if you’ve ever asked the people who have a BenQ monitor light bar if they ever use the auto-dimming function a lot of them will tell you no. Why? Because it sucks. From my experience, it won’t get the brightness correct and is often too bright in a dark environment. So I really appreciated the ability for manual control through the dial rather than having the controls on the monitor light bar itself like the solution the Baseus light bar had implemented.
How well does it mount onto the monitor?
I was testing how well it mounts by shaking my table, and it stays on perfectly without moving. The monitor that I tested this on is a 27-inch monitor and it mounted on quite well. I am not sure how well it mounts on monitors with odd backplate profiles as it will prevent the counterweight from working correctly. If the monitor lightbar tilts forward because the counterweight is being prevented from working effectively, you can easily fix it by adding tension onto the USB cable, which will pull the monitor light bar back.
It seems like the maximum thickness of the monitor at the top can only be around 30mm or 1.2inches. So just check that your monitor’s thickness at the top is within those parameters and you should be fine.
Do you have any issues with the remote?
Not at all, the remote was probably the most well-made component in the entire kit. I have used the light bar for almost a year and I have not yet needed to change the batteries, so I’d say it’s pretty energy efficient. The dial turning motion is smooth and changing the brightness and colour temperature was effortless.
How does the dial work?
For your benefit, I will quickly outline the actions of how to work the dial for the Xiaomi Monitor Light bar, it’s pretty simple.
| Turning it On | Press Down and Let go |
| Changing Brightness | Rotate Dial Clockwise to increase Brightness |
| Changing Colour Temperature | Press Down and Rotate Dial Clockwise to get Cooler |
| Turning it Off | Press Down and Let go – when the light is on. |
If you’re stuck trying to open the dial to change out the battery, just follow the instruction below.
- Press down on the base plate so that the baseplate is set to the unlock position
- Shake the baseplate off using an up-down motion
- Install batteries
- line up the unlock icon with the dot on the base plate ring
- Rotate baseplate to Lock Position
Closing Remarks
Compared to its peers, the Xiaomi Monitor Light Bar has really outshined its competition with its quality finish and elegant design. It provides all the functions that you would expect from it at a fairly affordable price point. I would recommend it to anyone needing a light bar. I am definitely excited to review the RGB backlit version, which we have purchased already (not cheap btw, it was roughly 130 AUD including shipping for the PRO edition). The next version, comes with backlights for your monitor which can sync with Razer software apparently. So we’ll check it out and let you know.
