Best Lighting for Live Streaming: Reviews & Buying Guide

Are you a live streamer or content creator looking to enhance your lighting setup? Finding the best lights for streaming are a great way to make a huge difference in your content’s quality. In this guide, we review the top options for 2024, covering various needs and budgets.

What Are Streaming Lights?

Streaming lights are specialized lighting equipment used to enhance the visual quality of live streaming or video content. Another type of lighting equipment used in streaming is softbox lighting, which provides diffused and even illumination. They are designed to provide consistent and adjustable lighting that helps to illuminate the subject from different angles, reduce shadows, and provide enough light to create a professional-looking setup. Streaming lights come in various forms, including key lights (the main light source), ring lights, light panels, and light strips, each catering to different needs and preferences.

These lights often feature adjustable brightness and color temperature settings, allowing streamers to customize the lighting to match their environment and desired aesthetic. LED technology is commonly used in streaming lights due to its energy efficiency, long lifespan, and ability to produce bright, consistent light without generating excessive heat.

Investing in good streaming lights can significantly improve the quality of your content by ensuring that your face and surroundings are well-lit, making your stream more engaging and visually appealing to viewers.

Best Lights for Streaming

The lighting you select for your streaming setup can have a considerable effect on your viewer’s experience. If you’re getting into live streaming, professional-looking content is not the only benefit of good lighting; it also enables the detailed capture of your reactions and emotions. Many of the listed lights are dimmable lights, allowing for precise control over brightness. Presenting the top choices for the best streaming lights in 2024:

1. Best Overall Streaming Light: Elgato Key Light
2. Best Budget-Friendly Light: Logitech Litra Glow
3. Best Ambient Lighting: Nanoleaf Shapes
4. Best Desktop Light: Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit
5. Best All-in-One Solution: Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam
6. Best Portable Lighting Solution: Elgato Key Light Mini
7. Best Customizable Light Strip: Elgato Light Strip
8. Best Remote-Controlled Key Light: Elgato Key Air
9. Best Ring Light for Streaming: Razer Ring Light
10. Best RGB Light: Neewer RGB LED Video Light Panel
11. Best High-Power Light: Aputure Amaran 200x-S

The selection of these lights is primarily based on their performance, features, and user reviews. This list caters to a variety of needs, whether you’re seeking a budget-friendly option, a portable solution, or a light of professional grade.

Elgato Key Light – Best Overall Streaming Light

Streamers in need of professional-grade lighting will find the Elgato Key Light a game-changer. The CRI rating of the Elgato Key Light is crucial for ensuring accurate color representation, making it ideal for content creators. Its features include high build quality, a sleek, compact design, and bright light that stays cool even during extended streaming sessions. Extensive customization options, including integration with Elgato’s Stream Deck, provide control over a wide range of color temperatures from 2900K to 7000K. The Elgato Key Light is a perfect addition to any desk setup.

Despite its higher price point, many streamers deem the investment valuable due to its user-friendly nature and professional lighting effects. The only downside is the reliance on app connectivity for controls, which might be inconvenient for some users.

Logitech Litra Glow – Best Budget-Friendly Light

For budget-conscious streamers, the Logitech Litra Glow offers natural, cinematic visual effects and variable light brightness and color temperature adjustments. The color rendering index of the Logitech Litra Glow is high, which is important for accurate color representation. It has the ability to attach to your monitor, providing flexibility in height and angle adjustments, making it perfect for basic streaming needs.

The Litra Glow performs its job effectively and is an excellent entry-level option, particularly suitable for those who are just starting out and don’t want to invest heavily in lighting equipment.

Nanoleaf Shapes – Best Ambient Lighting

For ambient lighting in streaming setups, Nanoleaf Shapes are a popular choice. They offer various ‘lighting effects’ that can be created with Nanoleaf Shapes. Their features include a modular design that allows you to create customized lighting patterns with various shapes, such as triangles and hexagons. These shapes are controlled via an app, offering extensive customization options and a wide range of colors and dynamic light effects.

These light panels provide a unique and visually appealing lighting solution for your streaming setup, acting as effective fill lights in a three-point lighting setup. The straightforward installation, typically using adhesive strips, and the aesthetic enhancement these panels provide for your streaming environment are notable. However, the initial cost and the need for additional hardware for more complex setups can be a drawback.

Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit – Best Desktop Light

Offering a versatile and portable solution for desktop lighting is the Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit. It features adjustable brightness and color temperature, making it adaptable to different lighting needs. The light diffusion capabilities of the kit ensure a balanced and soft illumination. The kit includes a desktop stand and a suction cup mount, allowing for flexible setup whether you’re streaming from a PC or a phone.

It receives commendation for its capability to balance soft light and diffused light in dimly lit spaces and its effectiveness as a fill light in close-up shots using the diffuser. However, it does not come with any mounting equipment, which means you might need to purchase additional accessories.

Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam – Best All-in-One Solution

For streamers, the Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam presents a convenient all-in-one solution. It combines a 1080p webcam with an adjustable ring light, simplifying the setup process. The light intensity of the ring light can be adjusted to suit different lighting conditions. The Kiyo supports up to 1080p video at 30 FPS, ensuring clear and sharp visuals for streaming.

The built-in adjustable ring light makes it especially attractive for novice streamers or those who stream while on the move. However, the video quality can be a bit noisy in low-light conditions, and the reliance on software for full control can be limiting for some users.

Elgato Key Light Mini – Best Portable Light

For streamers on the move, the Elgato Key Light Mini serves as the ultimate portable light. Its light output is impressive, providing ample brightness for any setting. It offers a size roughly the same as a smartphone and weighs just 300g. With a brightness of 800 lumens and a color temperature range of 2900K to 7000K, it is a versatile option for various light source needs, including natural light.

Despite the significant advantage of portability, the built-in battery can deplete quickly if not connected to power, and the absence of included mounting equipment may necessitate additional purchases.

Elgato Light Strip – Best Customizable Light Strip

For streamers, the Elgato Light Strip emerges as the best customizable light strip. Featuring individually addressable LEDs, it allows for multicolored ambiance and dynamic lighting scenes such as ebbing, flowing, pulsating, or swirling light. The Elgato Light Strip can significantly enhance a lighting setup for streaming, providing a professional and visually appealing environment. Control is made easy through the Elgato Control Center app, compatible with various devices including Windows, Mac, and mobile platforms.

Despite the enhancement of streaming environments with vibrant and dynamic lighting options, a few users mention its complex setup and potential need for extra hardware for optimal functionality.

Elgato Key Air – Best Remote-Controlled Key Light

Providing high-quality key lights with remote control convenience, the Elgato Key Air ranks as the top remote-controlled key light. Its advanced lighting control capabilities allow users to fine-tune brightness and color settings effortlessly. This feature allows streamers to adjust settings seamlessly without interrupting their streams. It also offers a wide color temperature range, ensuring consistent and bright key and fill lights.

Yet, some users report network connection issues, leading to occasional unreliability. Despite this, the remote control feature and overall build quality make it a valuable addition to any streaming setup.

Razer Ring Light – Best Ring Light for Streaming

With its customizable light spectrum and adjustable brightness, the Razer Ring Light is the premier choice among ring lights for streaming. The light spectrum of the Razer Ring Light ranges from warm white to cool white, allowing for precise customization. It offers a customizable light spectrum ranging from warm white to cool white, and adjustable brightness levels from 10% to 100%. This makes it perfect for various setups, providing versatile mounts for both cameras and smartphones. Additionally, it comes with a durable tripod stand for stability.

Though it offers superior frontal illumination, its functionality is restricted to ring light capabilities. Nonetheless, its performance and versatility make it a valuable tool for any streamer.

Neewer RGB LED Video Light Panel – Best RGB Light

For RGB lighting enthusiasts in 2024, the Neewer RGB LED Video Light Panel is the favored choice. It offers 17 special light effects, six lighting modes, and app control for enhanced customization capabilities. Additionally, it includes a tripod stand for easy positioning.

While users appreciate its vibrant colors and creative potential, a few note an initial complexity in its setup. Despite the higher price point, its extensive features and portability make it a standout choice.

Aputure Amaran 200x S – Best High-Power Light

For those in need of a high-power light, the Aputure Amaran 200x-S stands out as the best option. Its features include high output power of up to 200W, adjustable color temperature ranging from 2700K to 6500K, and superior light quality with a CRI of 95+. Additionally, it offers wireless control via the Sidus Link app.

The Aputure Amaran 200x-S is ideal for streamers who require intense and flexible lighting. Its high output power ensures that your streaming setup is well-lit, even in larger spaces or darker environments. The adjustable color temperature and high CRI rating guarantee accurate color representation, making your content look professional and vibrant.

Despite its higher price, the Aputure Amaran 200x-S is a worthy investment for serious streamers who need reliable and powerful lighting. The wireless control feature adds convenience, allowing you to adjust settings without interrupting your stream.

How to Choose the Best Streaming Light

A few key factors come into play when choosing the best streaming light. First, think about the type of light. Given their affordability, portability, and efficient heat management, LED lights come highly recommended. They are particularly effective for streaming as they provide a consistent and bright light that enhances camera performance.

You should also take into account the color temperature, as it affects how warm or cool the light appears. Adjustable color temperature settings are essential for achieving the exact lighting effect you want for your stream. A bi-color light that allows adjustments between warm and cool settings can be especially useful. In comparison to hard light, which casts harsh shadows with high contrast, soft lighting is generally preferred for streaming due to its capability to create more pleasant shadows and definition.

Lastly, consider the following factors when choosing a light for your streaming setup:

• The light’s brightness: Look for a light with adjustable brightness levels so you can adapt to different streaming conditions.
• Energy efficiency: Choose a light that is energy-efficient to reduce overall power consumption.
• Mounting options: Consider the setup of your streaming space and choose a light that can be easily integrated, whether through stands, clamps, or mounts.

Summary

In summary, good lighting is essential for creating a professional and engaging streaming experience. From the Elgato Key Light, which offers professional-grade lighting, to the budget-friendly Logitech Litra Glow, each product reviewed has its unique strengths. Whether you need portable solutions like the Elgato Key Light Mini or customizable options like the Elgato Light Strip, there’s a perfect lighting solution to fit your needs.

Investing in the right lighting can elevate your streaming quality, making your content more appealing to viewers. Remember to consider factors like brightness, color temperature, and the type of light when making your choice. With the right setup, you can create a well-lit, captivating streaming space that keeps your audience coming back for more.

Frequently Asked Questions