A cordless table lamp earns its place on a summer evening. Once the light goes, a garden or balcony table needs just enough of a glow to see the other faces round it, find the snacks and read the cards. Because the lamp runs on a battery there is no lead trailing across the terrace, and because these models are weatherproof a passing shower does no harm if one gets left out. In winter the same lamp moves indoors to a hallway, a shelf or a bedside table. This guide covers a test of 20 cordless table lamps.
What follows is recorded testing, translated. Nobody at Truthful Reviews has used these lamps.
What separates a good one
Weatherproofing. Every lamp in the test carries an IP rating, and outdoors it is the second digit that matters, because that describes protection against moisture; the first covers dust and matters little on a garden table. Most of the field is rated IP54, which keeps rain out of the housing even in a heavy summer downpour.
Metal or plastic. The better lamps are built entirely from metal with a weatherproof, rust-resistant coating, so damp simply wipes off. Metal also brings noticeably more stability, a more substantial feel and longer life, and recycles better at the end. Plastic parts stand up less well to constant weather.
Kelvin and lumens. For a relaxed table the light colour wants to sit in the warm-white band, between 2,700 and at most 3,000 kelvin. Below that it turns yellow, above it goes bluish and harsh. Brightness is measured in lumens, and around 200 lumens is the figure to aim for if the pool of light is to reach round the whole table. Dimming then lets the level be fine-tuned, or wound up quickly for a card game or for clearing up at the end.
Glare. How the light leaves the shade matters as much as how much of it there is. Lamps that throw light upwards still cast a usable pool downwards, but as brightness rises they dazzle the people sitting round the lamp, so full output is effectively unusable outdoors. Lamps with a shade closed at the top do not dazzle at all, even at maximum, and simply light the table.
Controls and charging. Every lamp here switches on and off with a brief tap on a sensor pad, with a longer press dimming up and down. At full brightness the batteries in this field last roughly four to six hours, enough for an evening, and much longer when dimmed; recharging takes between four and seven hours, with a red LED flagging a flat battery. The neatest arrangement is a charging dish the lamp simply sits on. A USB-C socket in the base is fine too. A socket hidden under the shade behind a plastic flap is needlessly fiddly.
The picks
Top pick — Nordlux Ara To-Go 2
The best of the field, and no bargain. It is made entirely of robust, rust-free metal, its broad body sits solidly on a table top, and a short leather carrying strap suits the restrained Scandinavian design — though that strap means the lamp is not vegan. It is comfortably the most voluminous lamp in the test and comes in three colours.
Setting up amounts to plugging the supplied USB-C cable into the socket beneath the sturdy switch. A tap on the touch switch brings up the LED ring under the shade, usefully at whatever brightness the lamp was last switched off at. It runs at 3,000 kelvin throughout, a light colour that suits every situation, and its strong 240 lumens dim steplessly under a long press. At the brightest setting the battery lasts about 6.5 hours, and at the lowest up to 18 hours; a full recharge takes about 5 hours. The big shade throws a wide pool of light across the table without dazzling the guests sitting round it, and indoors it scores on looks and brightness equally. The LEDs, which as is now usual cannot be replaced, carry a five-year guarantee.
The drawbacks are small. The side switch has to be found first, where most rivals here can be woken with a tap on top of the shade. And a charging dish would have been more convenient than a cable.
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Design pick — Fatboy Edison the Petit
Mostly polypropylene, all white, and shaped as though poured in one piece, with only the red tag setting off the colour; it feels robust and wipes clean easily. A light pull on that tag switches the lamp on and off, and holding it runs the dimmer from dim to bright. The milky white plastic and the 2,700 kelvin warm-white LED give a pleasant, glare-free light even from directly in front. At a maximum 58 lumens it will not light much of a table, but for general atmosphere it is plenty. The maker quotes up to 8 hours at the brightest setting, and the whole lamp blinks when the battery runs low. Charging is through the supplied USB-C cable in the base. Every part can be ordered individually from the spares page and fitted with the help of an explanatory video. The base is not sealed. There is a smaller version too, called La Surprise.
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Candlelight charm — KooKoo MoriMori
A modern take on a classic paraffin lamp, everything on it robust and made from good-quality plastic, and genuinely nice to look at even in daylight. In the dark the LED rod spreads a warm 2,000 kelvin candlelight charm across the table, though some may miss the flicker. It runs up to 8 hours at full brightness, and the side wheel dims it — but only up to 30 lumens. That sounds slight on paper and yet it makes for properly atmospheric evening light. Built into the base is a Bluetooth speaker fed from a phone or tablet, which for its size produces very respectable sound at the table, although volume can only be set on the source device; two lamps can be paired and play together. A recharge takes 4 hours. Eight other colours are available.
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The eye-catcher — Sompex Ombrellino
A miniature parasol, copied convincingly enough that it looks entirely at home on a garden table, and offered in several colours including a sunny yellow. Everything is metal, which makes it particularly stable, and the LED module looks high quality too; despite the fairly large shade the dynamic shape and slender but sturdy stem stop it looking bulky. The controls are as minimalist as the styling — the touch switch all but disappears into the top of the shade and doubles as the dimmer, and the LEDs are pleasantly bright and dimmable. Instead of a loose lead it has a large charging dish the lamp is simply laid into. Indoors it keeps working as a decorative object through the colder months.
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For bottles — REV Lamprusco Cristal
No base at all: the shade ends in a cork-like fitting that drops into the neck of almost any bottle or vase. It wants a reasonably large glass or earthenware one so it has enough purchase and will not tip in a gust. The whole shade lights up rather than throwing light downwards, so the pool on the table is diffuse and most of the light goes into the room; set too bright it dazzles the people round it, though indoors that can look attractive. The Cristal version tested lights white at 3,000 kelvin and, instead of the flat white shade of its siblings, is modelled on cut crystal, so the light shimmers through the faceted surfaces rather than glowing through frosted glass — a striking effect, more decorative than illuminating. Its maximum 130 lumens is ample for that, and the battery supports it for up to 6 hours. A built-in metal hoop lets it hang upside down instead, from a branch above the table, where it can be run at full output without dazzling anyone. It is entirely plastic.
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Also tested
Nordlux Jim To Go — an airy cage of stout wires that takes up table space but does not feel intrusive, splash-protected, with three steps at 2,700 kelvin: 300 lumens is too bright at the table, the middle step suits a corner, and the lowest 75 lumens runs for 18 hours; 1.5 kg, five hours at full output, 7 hours to recharge. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Zafferano Poldina Reverso — an upside-down classic in weatherproof metal whose LEDs sit in the "base" and shine downwards, switchable between 2,200, 2,700 and 3,000 kelvin, with a small plastic tray in the shade for nibbles or a posy, up to 12 hours of light and a charging dish. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Zafferano Pina — all weatherproof metal, slim but very stable and the least space-hungry lamp here, throwing an impressive glare-free pool at around 200 lumens across 2,200, 2,700 and 3,000 kelvin, with up to 12 hours of light and a six-to-seven-hour recharge, but it forgets the dim level and restarts at full. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Nordlux Ellen To-Go — minimalist Scandinavian metal, warm 3,000 kelvin, no stepless dimming but three steps of which the brightest is 300 lumens, the brightest lamp in the test and almost too bright, running 4 hours at maximum and up to 12 hours low, recharging in 4 hours on a magnetically located dish that is a little too light. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Livarno cordless table lamp — a near-miss, with agreeable design, adequate weatherproof plastic and a good, glare-free maximum 300 lumens, but the LEDs flickered slightly almost throughout and the sensor button was sometimes sluggish; the printed manual is the best in the test, the guarantee runs three years and the LED board and battery can both be swapped. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
IP44 Lix Mini — one of the priciest lamps here and it feels it: all weatherproof metal, a fine design, touch control on the shade, a charging dish, 2,700 kelvin, an impressive pool from only 100 lumens and up to 48 hours at the lowest setting, but it is simply too small to make an impression on a table. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Lumelia cordless lamp — a kit that screws together in about 20 seconds into a stable lamp on a metal base, fixed at 3,000 kelvin and a maximum 180 lumens that suits its narrow downward beam, though light leaks up through the top of the shade and dazzles at higher settings; 4 hours charging for a claimed 14 to 20 hours, with an otherwise identical higher-capacity version claiming 40 to 48 hours. Nothing on the lamp itself identifies the maker, the specification or which battery is fitted, and the carton's technical information is wrong. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Ikea Vappeby — wilful design and colours, solid weatherproof plastic including the carrying handle, heavy enough to sit firmly, only two brightness steps and it could be brighter, but the 2,700 kelvin light is pleasant and glare-free; the built-in Bluetooth speaker has no buttons, just a rotary control for volume and play or pause, so it is better driven from the phone. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Sigor Nuindie Mini — one of the originals of the genre, all weatherproof metal with a heavy base, warm 2,700 kelvin at nearly 200 lumens with finger dimming, up to 12 hours after a six-hour charge, but it wobbles when the touch pad on the shade is pressed and the top of that shade always lets light through. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Suright TL019-WH — among the cheapest here and it shows: a white plastic shade with obvious controls on top, no real feeling of stability, 127 lumens at warm-white 3,000 kelvin that is far too little to light part of a table, an optional colour mode, and awkward charging under the shade. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Elegare Nordic Light — all weatherproof metal and pleasant to look at, but very light and so never quite convincing, with a knobbly touch switch, three brightness steps that put little light on the table, USB-C charging in the base, and no technical data in the manual or on the maker's website. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Nordlux Sponge On A Stick — good-looking, with a very sturdy plastic and metal base and stem, but a plastic shade with a visible weld seam when lit and no dimming, only three fixed steps too close together: 300 lumens for 5 hours, 200 lumens for about 9 hours and 100 lumens for up to 18 hours, then 10 hours on the dish, which has to be aligned exactly; IP44, and it radiates all round rather than down. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Osram Decor Helper USB — rated IP20, and built as a shade plus mount held together magnetically, with three mounts supplied: a right-angled stem, a large clamp for a plant pot or a shelf, and a small adhesive pad fitting; the ball-joint coupling aims the beam anywhere, the LED gives 90 lumens at 3,000 kelvin in steps of 100, 45 and 15 per cent, and the quoted runtime is about 3 hours against 4 hours of charging. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Eglo Mannera-S — a good idea undone by build quality, the screw joining stem and shade so imprecise that the shade wobbles out of the box and cannot be tightened, and once undone the thread does not bite at all; the four ground-spike extensions cannot be tightened either, which is a pity because the IP54 electronics are sound, with three light colours, stepless dimming and a downward-only maximum 170 lumens that lights a small table without dazzling. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
Müller-Licht Ivy White — unobtrusive and entirely plastic, not especially classy but stable enough, with stepless touch dimming and only 160 lumens, which is ample in most situations because the light goes straight down and spares the guests; IP44, a replaceable battery — which on the test lamp had worked loose in transit and slid about inside — and 6 hours of runtime, with USB-C charging in the base and a cut-out that stops it rocking, so it can be used while charging. Search Amazon UK · Search Amazon US
How they were assessed
Each lamp was unpacked and, where necessary, assembled, then assessed indoors for what it could do: how stable it is, how easily it charges, how it is switched on and off and dimmed, how pleasant the light it makes looks, and how the design comes across. Every lamp then had to show, in a garden at summer dusk and into darkness, how much of a table its pool of light could cover, and whether anyone sitting immediately beside it was dazzled.
The short answers
Which cordless table lamp is best? The Nordlux Ara To-Go 2. It has a smart Scandinavian design, is made entirely of robust weatherproof metal, stands very solidly, gives a pleasant dimmable light over a wide radius without dazzling anyone, and its LEDs carry a five-year guarantee.
Where does a cordless table lamp make sense? Anywhere there is no socket nearby. Because the tested lamps are weatherproof they suit a terrace or a balcony, and in winter they light a hallway or a living room indoors.
How long do they run? About four to six hours at full brightness. Wound down with the dimmer, most run for considerably longer.
Verdict
The Nordlux Ara To-Go 2 is the lamp to buy if the budget stretches: all metal, 240 lumens at 3,000 kelvin, stepless dimming, 6.5 hours at full output and 18 hours at its lowest, a wide glare-free pool and a five-year guarantee on the LEDs. The Sompex Ombrellino is the one to choose for looks, with a metal build and a charging dish. For character rather than illumination, the KooKoo MoriMori turns in candle-like light and a decent Bluetooth speaker, the Fatboy Edison the Petit glows softly at 58 lumens and can be repaired part by part, and the REV Lamprusco Cristal turns any bottle into a centrepiece. Good alternatives cost far less than the winner, and the Nordlux Ellen To-Go in particular gives the brightest reading in the whole field.
For more lighting, see our smart bulb guide and head torch guide.
