BenQ ScreenBar Halo 2

This bright and brilliant screen bar will light up your world in ways you may not even have thought of

- TIM DANTON

Here’s the theory: many PC users, especially programmers and designers, prefer to work in dark environments as it helps them concentrate. They don’t want to fiddle with desk lamps or switch on overhead lighting, they just want to focus. This has given birth to a product category of monitor light bars that perch on top of screens, lighting up your desk area while all around you grows dim.

BenQ's ScreenBar Halo 2’s sits at the premium end of the market. It’s BMW versus Fiat when compared to the Soamco below, and this extends to its sheer size: BenQ’s offering stretches the full width of a 27in monitor, while Soamco’s will only stretch across the top of a 24in screen. That makes the latter easy to take on travels, but I know which I’d prefer on a permanent desk setup.