The Near Orbit is a LED table lamp which is controlled mainly by the included remote. There are 7 light colours that you choose from to set a mood by your bedside. It can be used for a variety of purposes. It retails for S$69.90.
Tech specs
| Size | Diameter: 320mm Height: 353mm Weight: 700g |
| Remote control | 5 meters control distance Requires 2 x AAA battery |
| Lighting | CRI: 80 Ra Wattage: 8W Lumen: 100lm Colour: RGBW A/C Adaptor 240V (Singapore PSB Approved) included |
| Material | Aluminium Silicone |
Unboxing
In the box, you will receive the following items:
- Near Orbit ring light
- Base stand
- AC adapter
- Remote control
Build quality and design
The ring of the Near Orbit is made from strong aluminum rather than plastic. It is white colour with a slight matte finish on the surface. Build quality is pretty good, the aluminum construction helps to add to the durability of the light. The lamp stand has a good amount of heft and base has rubber anti-slip surface to prevent the lamp from moving too easily.
The light has a unique circular ring design, a mix between a Dyson fan and a ring light. It looks gorgeous when the ring is illuminated with a coloured light.
Light features
The light quality on the Near Orbit lamp is pretty good. The distribution of light is even and consistent. The light around the ring does not light up like a complete ring. On low brightness, you can see the gaps between the bulbs. It is not too obvious and does not affect the distribution of the light at all.
The main feature of the Near Orbit is its ability to display up to 7 colours of light, and also having some cool presets built in. The Near Orbit has its warm-white light turned on by default. Using the remote control, you can choose from the remaining 6 colors – purple, teal, yellow, blue, green, and red.
If you want something more fancy or exciting than the ‘Static’ mode, there are five other lighting modes you can set. Check out the demo videos below:
Stack
Pulse
Chase
Three-Colour Chase
Three-Colour Rotate
Then there is something called ‘Auto’ mode on the remote control. The ‘Auto’ mode has two different lighting presets. One is called ‘Rainbow Swirl’ which gives you seamless RGB ring of light, and the other called ‘Pulse Colour-Cycling’ is similar to the ‘Pulse’ preset, but it changes colour which each pulsation.
Rainbow Swirl
Pulse Colour-Cycling
Personally, some of the modes a little gimmicky and I won’t see myself using it much. It would have been nice to have an ability to control the temperature of the colour as well, like on the Near Smart Strip Kit and the Near Smart E27 Bulb. This would have given us more flexibility on the colour range other than the fixed 6 colours.
Remote control
The included remote control is the main way to control the Near Orbit. Apart from changing colours, you can also adjust brightness of the lamp on the remote. There are 4 levels of brightness. There is also a ‘Return’ button to quickly set the light colour to the default warm-white.
Memory function
The remote has a memory function which allows you to set up to 10 custom presets. This is useful if you have very strict preference on certain brightness and colour settings. For example, if you want warm-white on brightness level 3 while, the purple light to be brightness level 4, you can save both of them as a preset. After which, clicking on the ‘Mem’ button will cycle through your saved presets.
Usability
I place the Near Orbit at my bedside as my bedside lamp. The brightness on the lamp is sufficient for casual surfing of the web or reading a book. As I mainly use it as a bedside lamp, it would have been nice to see a physical button to turn on/off the lamp so I don’t have to keep the remote nearby. The warm-white light and purple light are my personal favourites for setting a chill mood at night. You can also use it as a lighting outlet on your work desk as the warm-white light sets a really chill mood.
Another use case of this lamp would be a ring light for streamers or keeping your face well-lit during video conferences especially in today’s work-from-home situation. The warm-white light is gentle on your eyes and helps to light up your face to bring the focus where it should be. I can see the Near Orbit being a useful tool especially for YouTubers or streamers who may also wish to cast a different shade of colour in their videos or products shoots.
You could even use the Near Orbit as an aesthetic piece to complement the colours of your gaming rig. If your rig is RGB themed, them the ‘Rainbow Swirl’ preset will definitely be a welcome addition.
A small pity is of the Near Orbit is that it does not support full white light. Females who put makeup in front of a light usually prefer a white light as it reflects the true tone of their skin. The lack of a pure white light may be a miss for consumers looking to buy a multi-functional vanity light.
Conclusion
The Near Orbit is a versatile table lamp with a unique design which gives you the option of 7 colours as well as many lighting presets to tinker with. Its minimalistic design and aluminum build allows you to fit the lamp seamlessly into any design of a room.