Dyson SolarCycle Desk Task Light Review

Dyson SolarCycle Desk Task Light Review

Buy it at Amazon: Dyson SolarCycle Desk Task Light [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Clean, minimalist aesthetic, cool design, easy to use and versatile task light.

Thank you to Best Buy for sending me this product for free to try.

The Dyson Solarcycle Desk light comes flat packed in its box and the assembly instructions are printed on the underside of the box lid. You’ll receive the weighted base which measures 7 inches in diameter, 1 inch tall and weighs around 10 lbs. A locking ring for securing the vertical track to the base, vertical track measuring 26.5” tall with a pre-installed carriage at the top, 30” ungrounded power cord for the 30 Watt power supply with 9.5 cord, lamp head and horizontal arm assembly, and quick start card and instruction manual.

Assembly takes only a few minutes though despite Dyson’s best efforts to keep the packaging recyclable, there’s still some single use plastics like the protective film over the glossy white base. The bottom of the vertical track has a threaded disc at the bottom that fits into the center of the base. Then to secure it, place the locking ring onto the threads on the underside and turn clockwise to tighten. This can be done by hand and no special tools are required. Next, plug the power connector into the center of the bottom of the light and press the cable into the guide channel.

Before installing the horizontal arm, be sure to remove the blue tape near the power contacts. The Dyson logo appears at the back and the power contacts consist of 4 gold pins in a plastic clip. There’s a removable sticker describing the mode buttons on the light. The first icon is the Re-sync function which allows the light to adjust its settings automatically based on the time of day and your location, provided in the Dyson app, in order to produce simulated natural daylight in an effort to reduce eye strain. The second toggles on and off the motion sensor, with a fixed 2-minute time out, and the third uses an ambient light sensor to adjust the brightness of the light for a constant brightness based on background light conditions. You can remove this sticker if you no longer need the reminders.

The mode buttons are located just behind the lamp head and underneath you can see each button s has its own LED indicator as well as the light and motion sensors. The bulb is integrated into the lamp head and not replaceable, though it’s rated with a 60 year lifespan, well beyond the 5-year warranty period. It consists of a silver reflector and 6 bright LEDs. On top of the fixture, you’ll find touch controls for power, and touch sliders for brightness and color temperature, adjustable from 100 - 1000 lumens, and 2700K - 6500K respectively.

Connecting the horizontal rod with its matching connector requires you to push the top roller, which is on a spring, forward, then inserting the horizontal arm, aligning the connectors and allowing the top roller to slide back into place on the top track. Both bottom wheels should be seated in the track on the underside, allowing the horizontal arm to glide forward and back smoothly. Now we can unwrap the white counter-weight on the vertical track and remove the remaining blue tape.

The light can continuously rotate 360° in either direction without any issues. Sliding the counterweight up and down will move the horizontal arm in the opposite direction with a max lamp height of 23” and minimum height of 4” above your tabletop. The horizontal position of the light can be placed 7” - 17” from the center column and you can freely change the light’s position in 3-dimensional space while it is on without any issues. The light source, however, cannot be rotated and will always point straight down at your work surface. To turn the light off, just tap the power button. The arm is even reversible if you need to install it in the opposite orientation, just make sure the counter-weight is lowered before unclipping the arm. Brightness and color can be adjusted incrementally by sliding your finger along the controls; however, you can also tap on the control to jump to a specific setting. Multiple modes can be active at the same time, for example, the motion sensor and the ambient light sensor. The Syncing function, however, will only work after you’ve setup your location in the Dyson app.

The app is called MyDyson and the unit should pop up automatically since it broadcasts a Bluetooth signal. You’ll hold your phone near the light and press the Re-sync button which should be flashing. Once paired, select the room that it’s in and register your product by selecting the date of purchase. In order to use the intelligent light tracking feature, you’ll need to set the light’s location. The app also let’s you view the light’s status, choose presets like study or relax, or customize the color and brightness with granular control and save it as a new pre-set. There is an “Age adjust” feature which uses your birth year to adjust brightness levels as well, though I’ve never actually been able to get it to work as it consistently gives me a connection failed message. You can set schedules for Away mode, that turns the light on and off in random intervals between 4pm - 11pm. If used in the bedroom, Wake-up mode gradually brightens the light over 30-minutes on your chosen days and times for a gentle waking experience, and Sleep mode delivers a warm and soft night light.

I really like the motion sensing setting as the light will turn on when I enter the room so I can sit and read in my favorite chair. If I need more light, it’s available at the touch of a button, or I can reposition and shift the light’s position to my need. The light can also automatically turn off after I’ve left the room for more than 2 minutes, saving energy and effort. Near the base, on the vertical track is a USB-C charger, with a vertical stop bumper just above it, to stop the horizontal arm from bumping your cable. This port can be used to charge your mobile device at a rate of 1.5A 5 V or 7.5 Watts, so not fast charging, but it works in a pinch.

Overall, the Solarcycle Desk lamp is a task light with modern, industrial aesthetics reminiscent of 3D printing gantries. Its modern design is made from durable materials like aluminum copper and shiny white plastic with a clean minimalist design. There are various modes for a lot of different scenarios and these offer a personalized and versatile lighting experience, whether you need bright focused light for a particular task or diffuse soft light for relaxation.

Buy it at Amazon: Dyson SolarCycle Desk Task Light [Affiliate Link]