The 10 Best Light Therapy Lamps to Help Naturally Boost Your Mood

Tested in native environments by GHI experts, this light therapy lamp is one of the most comprehensive options on the market, as it's completely customizable to your surroundings and preferences. Rothman notes that the SmartSleep gadget is controlled with your smartphone, supercharged with sensors that monitor the temperature and humidity in the room alongside noise and light levels to sync its glow. Testers appreciate that Philips' mobile app makes it easy to customize alarm clock settings (you won't have to fiddle with any dials or buttons) for bedroom use — but this lamp can also function well in an office or living room setting. 

With more than 2,500 5-star reviews from Amazon shoppers, Miroco's freestanding light therapy device has a few capabilities that put it ahead of other standalone light boxes. Its brightness is fully customizable with interval settings for morning and evening use. It also comes equipped with automatic timer settings that range from 10 to 60 minutes in length. Furthermore, its design allows you to fold it flat and carry it in a bag to work, school, the gym, or a studio.

This alarm clock uses both light and sound to get you out of bed naturally and is also loaded with a sunset simulation to help you wind your day down at bedtime. Rothman is impressed by its backup batter and how customizable it is — everything from brightness to the time display — as well as its one-tap snooze ability. Testers noted that the Philips SmartSleep helps establish a pleasant wake-up experience (a godsend on dark winter mornings!) and shared, on average, they felt more refreshed in their morning routines. Philips has another SmartSleep model at a lower price point, but Rothman notes that this model doesn't simulate sunset nor does it come loaded with many other features that makes this clock standout. 

This highly-reviewed light therapy box is designed to be portable, and can be positioned around your home or office throughout the day. The manufacturer touts that this light box operates at 10,000 LUX, a brightness that can be quite uplifting if it's placed directly in front of you. It lacks multiple functions compared to other light therapy lamps and gadgets on this list, but if you're looking for a low-cost option to test increased light exposure in your space, this Amazon best-seller could work nicely. 

This mini fixture from Circadian Optics manages to pack in the same benefits of larger models on this list. Designed for travel, it's a straightforward light box that turns on with a single touch; three different brightness settings can help you optimize for daytime and nighttime usage. The Luxy Light is built with a single shade of pure white, modeled after high-noon sunshine at 5500K, similarly to other light fixtures in an interior space. 

LifX's bulbs will work with any floor lamp or fixture you already own, and they're WiFi-connected and enabled, which means you won't need a dedicated smart home hub to control them. The bulb is adjusted with mobile apps and home ecosystems like Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Alexa; it can rotate between colors and brightness of your choice. Given its capability range, these bulbs are better suited for light exposure at times beyond waking up and heading to bed, and fit well into living spaces. In lab tests, Rothman notes that experts felt that setup wasn't as intuitive as other devices on this list. 

Tested extensively by GHI experts, this light therapy gadget is best suited for those who might be working in a multitude of spaces throughout the day — travelers especially — since these glasses expose wearers' to enhanced green light in any setting. The manufacturer recommends users' wear the glasses first thing in the morning, typically for an hour, to help guide your circadian rhythm over time when sunlight cannot.

As SAD lamps continue to grow in popularity, these tools are starting to look less like medical devices and more like chic accent lights. 

This circular light-therapy lamp from Brightech is about the size of a makeup mirror at just 8 inches in diameter, and it has a pink-colored base to set it apart from the ubiquitous all-white models. Plus, it has an angled kickstand to keep it propped up at your desired angle.

This SAD lamp gets up to 10,000 lux, though users can dim it by holding down its control button at the top. Although it lacks a timer function, it does have something that most other light-therapy devices do not: a USB port for charging your phone!

For those who typically wake up well before the sun rises, this pick is a great one to consider for balancing your body's circadian rhythm and to resolve sleep problems. 

It emits strong 10,000-lux light while positioned 12 inches away from the user, and it also gives off a pleasant feeling of warmth as well. We also like its slim, streamlined design, which looks similar to a regular desk lamp.