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Nearly everyone has a flashlight in their pocket these days in the form of a smartphone, but it’s not a very good one. Sure, it does the trick for walking home in the dark or pinpointing the keyhole, but try balancing it to illuminate the guts of your PC or the box you are rummaging through in the attic. You can bet it will slide over and plunge you into darkness at the most annoying moment possible. What you need, my friends, is the Wiz Luminaire Portable Light.
This multipurpose wonder lamp is a marriage of old and new that has brightened my life (pun intended), and it’s just plain practical. It has an adorable curvy design with a convenient handle, is wireless, offers hours of illumination, and recharges via a USB-C port. As with nearly everything these days, it hooks up to the Wiz app so you can choose animated smart lighting scenes for any occasion. When my daughter’s not using it as a night-light, I like to roam around holding it aloft like a town watchman of yore. Unlike a phone flashlight, you can set this lamp down or hang it on a hook to radiate warm light in every direction.
Venturing into my attic space means fighting my way through piles of boxes and old stuff that I am reluctant to throw away but definitely should. This cold, dark labyrinth has no lighting, and is tough (and creepy) to navigate by smartphone flashlight alone.
I’m still psychologically scarred from the time I dropped my phone, which disappeared into the insulation and plunged me into darkness several feet from the hatch. A perfectly timed scratching sound (source unknown) sent me frantically feeling my way around with my heart hammering in my chest. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know what happens next. I bumped my head on a beam, knocked several piles of junk over, and barely made it out alive.
I resolved to get a better light. By the next time I had to retrieve something from the attic, the Wiz Portable Lamp had just arrived, and I brought it with me. When bathed in pleasant warm light, my attic feels far less ominous, and I found what I needed in record time. Since then, I’ve picked up this trusty companion for everything from fetching the cat at night to searching the back of the big closet to taking the trash out in the dark.
This lamp puts out 400 lumens, which is about the same as a regular 40-watt bulb. There are touch-sensitive controls on top, which allow you to turn it on and off, change light modes, and dim it for a gentler light. There is also an app that offers more lighting options, including colors and dynamic lighting effects. When my partner is sleeping, I sometimes use it in candlelight mode for reading, as it emits a softer glow than my bedside lamp and I can put it anywhere.
If Wiz feels unfamiliar to you, you might feel safer knowing that its parent company is Signify—the same brand that owns Philips Lighting. (Signify acquired Wiz in 2019.) Unfortunately, the two do not work together right now (you cannot use the Philips Hue app to control Wiz lights and vice versa), but considering both brands are committed to the new unifying Matter smart home standard, there’s a chance this will be possible in the future.
Mood lighting with animated effects can go a long way in striking the right atmosphere for a party, gaming session, or a cozy cuddle-up. But most smart lighting options are permanent fixtures in your chosen room. That’s yet another reason why I like the Wiz Portable Light—it brings colors and effects wherever you want them, and is a great way to dip your toes into the smart lighting scene.
I’d use the Wiz more often, but my daughter likes it too much. She’s a fan of the party mode, which resembles a color-changing lava lamp, and bedtime mode is perfect as a night-light for her. She even discovered a Halloween mode that brought atmospheric lighting to her spooky sleepover. With the app, I can also turn the lamp off remotely after she nods off and schedule it to wake her in the morning.
Aside from a wide choice of preset colors and effects, you can create custom lighting with an enormous color palette and tunable warmth. You can also sync the light with your circadian rhythm so it emulates daylight with cool bright light during the day and warm, muted light at night. It even works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri voice controls.
I have used it outdoors in dry weather, but the Wiz Portable Light is only IP20-rated, meaning you should avoid using it in rain and keep it clear of spills (generally just use it inside). The other drawback is the limited battery life. Wiz claims up to 10 hours, but it feels more like four to six (depending on your chosen effects and brightness). It’s best to plug in the USB-C cable whenever it rests somewhere for a while.
It’s fairly pricey for a lamp, but considering it serves as a night-light, portable lantern, reading lamp, and accent lighting all rolled into one, it earns its keep.
