This BenQ light bar turns itself off when you are away

Looking to brighten up your desk? You have got to check out the BenQ ScreenBar Pro monitor light bar.

Let there be light

When I decided to revamp my work desk a couple of years back, I painstakingly researched all the components that I'll need.

I skipped the monitor light bar, thinking I'll just use my video conferencing lighting panels instead. That didn't quite work out.

• Angle that is great for video isn't ideal for reading.
• It's a chore to keep shifting the angle.
• Too dim at desk level.

I recently started looking around for a proper monitor light bar. And I think I've found it in the BenQ ScreenBar Pro, which was just released earlier this year.

Setting it up

The ScreenBar Pro comes ready to deploy - no screws to tighten or components to assemble.

Simply tear the recyclable wrapping materials off the device, untie the generous 1.8m USB cable, and plug it into the supplied USB adapter.

To "install" it, place the ScreenBar Pro on top of your monitor, using its unique combination of grooves and the spring-loaded clip to seat it properly.

That's it.

Features

To gauge ease of use, I often try new gadgets without first looking at the manual. To my surprise, I was able to tweak the ScreenBar Pro to my liking within minutes.

The device is managed via its front-facing capacitate touch controls. From left to right:

• "Presence" toggle to enable auto-off function.
• Brightness, Temperature selection buttons.
• Two arrow buttons to control intensity.
• A "memory" button. (Hold to set default)
• An "auto" button to set brightness*.
• On/Off button.

It looks like a lot, but I found it to be rather intuitive.

FYI, there are 8 colour temperature graduations and 16 brightness levels.

*Based on ambient lighting condition.

Overall experience

Below are some thoughts about the BenQ ScreenBar Pro.

• I loved the auto-off feature, which switches the light bar off after 5 minutes. Plonk yourself back in your chair, and it turns on in seconds thanks to its sensitive ultrasonic sensor. This beats my lighting panels which I have to manually turn off.
• From the angle of the ultrasonic sensor (angled downwards so your colleague doesn't trigger it), to the non-slip design of the clip, a lot of care has been taken into its design. This extends down to its user guide - which is well written.
• It's worth noting that the flat USB cable is built into the ScreenBar Pro. This reduces bulk but some users might worry of breakage over time. After seeing it for myself, I personally liked it and think it'll be fine.

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro retails at SG$239.

However, if you purchase it using this link any time over the next 10 days (Until August 4, 2024), you can get it at $199 - that's $40 off!

Do you use a monitor light bar? Why and why not?