Ring Lights

What a ring light is for

A ring light is a circle of small LEDs behind a frosted cover, with a space in the middle. The phone usually sits in a holder in that space, so the light comes from all round the lens at once. That fills in the shadows on a face evenly. The even, shadow-free look is why ring lights became the usual kit for make-up tutorials, selfies, talking to camera, live streams and video calls from a dim room.

A phone camera does its best work in good light. Indoors at night, a ceiling bulb is rarely enough on its own for a face, and the phone makes up for it with grain and smearing. A good light in front of you is often the simplest single improvement to phone video.

Desk rings and floor rings

• Small rings sit on a desk on short legs or a clamp. They light one face at close range, for video calls, live streams from a desk and close-up selfies.
• Medium rings on a stand light a face and shoulders from a little further back, with softer light because the ring is larger.
• Large rings on a floor stand light more of a person from further away, for full-length outfit videos and filming in a bigger room.

How to choose a ring light

Size is given as the width of the ring, usually in inches across. A larger ring gives softer light at the same distance, but needs a steadier stand and more room. For one face at a desk, a small or medium ring is usually plenty.

Look at the height the stand reaches, because the light and the camera want to be at about eye level, standing or sitting, whichever you will do most.

Then the light itself. White light comes in different colours, measured in kelvin: around 3,000 to 3,200K is a warm white like a household bulb in the evening, and around 5,500 to 5,600K is daylight. Many ring lights move between warm and cool, so you can match the light already in the room and avoid a face that is orange on one side and blue on the other. Some lights give a CRI figure, the colour rendering index, a score out of 100 for how truly a light shows colours; 90 or more is the figure usually looked for in lights for video.

Most ring lights run from a USB plug, so they need a USB charger with a UK plug, a laptop's port, or a power bank away from a socket.

Questions people ask about ring lights

Why does the ring show in my glasses?

A light straight in front of you shows as a circle in the lenses. Raise the ring a little and tilt it down a touch, or move it slightly to one side.

Should I get a ring light or an LED panel?

A ring light gives even light from the front, which flatters faces. A panel to one side gives a face more shape, like light from a window. See LED video lights.

How long does delivery take?

Delivery is included in every price and tracked to your door. Each product page says when it usually arrives.

More to look at

• LED video lights
• Clip-on selfie lights
• Tall tripods
• Phone tripods
• Wireless microphones
• For creators
• Guide: Ring lights and video lights for phone filming
• Guide: Phone tripods, gimbals and selfie sticks