Light yourself the way you want. (Eduardo Gorghetto via Unsplash/)
LED ring lights were once considered a very specialized piece of lighting equipment for photographers, but these days a ring light is a must have for vloggers, makeup artists, TikTok stars, and video calls. An LED ring light delivers flattering shadow-free lighting, striking circular catchlights in the eyes, and is an excellent tool when shooting video or portraits. LED ring lights come in a variety of sizes. A large multipurpose ring light is incredibly versatile, and many of these come with an accessory to clip your phone into the center. A mini clip-on ring light is best suited for grabbing well-lit footage on the go, creating content for Instagram or TikTok, or clipping onto your laptop before a video call. A ring light is a great way to easily enhance the quality of light in a room and make you look your best. Here’s how to find the best LED ring light for you.
Best multipurpose professional LED ring light for camera or phone: Neewer Advanced 18-inch LED Ring Light
Best LED ring light for makeup videos: GLANDU 8″ RGB Ring Light
Best clip-on LED ring light for video calls: Cyezcor Video Conference Lighting Kit
Best portable LED ring light for vlogging: QIAYA Portable Clip Selfie Light with 36 LED for Smart Phone
Best LED ring light with remote: Neewer 18-inch LED Ring Light with Stand and 2.4G Wireless Remote
Best LED ring light with tripod: Inkeltech Selfie Ring Light Dimmable LED Light Ring with Tripod
Best budget LED ring light: MountDog LED Ring Light 14 inch Dimmable Selfie Ring
Features to consider when shopping for the best LED ring light
The best LED ring lights come in a variety of sizes and price ranges. Large 18-inch LED ring lights are great for shooting portraits, photographing products, or capturing tiny details for macro photography. Many of these LED ring lights have a place to mount a camera or your smartphone inside the center of the ring light to create a nice shadow-free even light on your subject. If you are planning to use an LED ring light for video conferencing, a smaller diameter ring light with a small tripod stand or a clip for your laptop will likely do the trick. LED ring lights with smaller diameters typically cost less money too. If you are looking to create makeup videos, selfies, or content for TikTok, a small portable LED ring light will serve you well.
If you want an LED ring light that you can use with a camera or a smartphone, consider a large multipurpose light
Most large diameter LED ring lights can be configured to work with a camera or a smartphone, making them more versatile than a smaller clip-on ring light. Look for an LED ring light with at least an 18-inch diameter, a cold shoe ball head, and a smartphone clamp when considering a multipurpose LED ring light. These LED ring lights typically come with a light stand, a carrying case, and a power adapter.
A large multipurpose ring light is best for using at home or in the studio. The higher-end large diameter LED ring lights often come with a remote control to trigger your smartphone’s shutter, change the color temperature of the light, and control its brightness. Look for LED ring lights that feature color temperatures between 3200 to 5600K. This style of light is an excellent choice for shooting portraits or video, doing live streams, getting attractive selfies, lighting makeup videos, and more.
Best multipurpose professional LED ring light: Neewer Advanced 18-inch LED Ring Light
An 18-inch dimmable LED ring light with LCD screen and remote control. (Amazon/)
The Neewer Advanced 18-inch LED Ring Light is a step above the rest. This professional light works with cameras or phones, has an adjustable color temperature between 3200 to 5600K, and is dimmable between 10 percent to 100 percent, Quality and temperature of light can be controlled manually with a large LCD screen, or via remote control. It features 272 energy-saving DMS LED beads for attractive, even lighting. This light comes with a light stand, power adapter, carrying case, smartphone attachment, and two remote controls.
Create your best makeup videos with a dimmable ring light
An LED ring light with a slightly smaller diameter is great for capturing flattering light for makeup videos. Look for something that allows you to dim the brightness of the light and change the color temperature. An LED ring light with a small tabletop light stand, a mirror, a smartphone clip, and a Bluetooth-controlled remote are all good features to look for when shopping for an LED ring light for doing makeup.
Best LED ring light for makeup videos: GLANDU 8″ RGB Ring Light
This 8-inch dimmable LED ring light is small enough to sit on your tabletop while you blend your makeup looks. (Amazon/)
The smaller diameter on this LED ring light and its magnetic mirror make it great for makeup videos. It has three dimmable color temperatures (bright white, natural white, and warm white) and 14 creative RGB lights as well. It also features a magnetic mirror for makeup application and a smartphone mount to capture your every look. This LED ring light for makeup has an adjustable stand that can be used as a floor stand or on a tabletop. It’s USB powered, making it easy to travel with and it comes with a Bluetooth remote so your hands can stay focused on applying your makeup.
Here’s the best clip-on LED ring light for video chatting
Many of us spend a lot of time on video chat, whether that’s for work or talking to far-flung friends and relatives. A clip-on LED ring light can go a long way in improving the quality of your video chats. The cameras in our laptops often struggle in back-lit situations or in low light, so clipping an LED ring light onto your laptop is a great way to illuminate your face for a professional appearance during those calls.
Best clip-on LED ring light for video calls: Cyezcor Video Conference Lighting Kit
This mini ring light clips onto the top of your laptop to provide even light during video calls. (Amazon/)
This clip-on ring light is great for those long hours spent in video chats. It clips onto the top of your laptop and provides flattering even light in three color temperatures (white light, warm light, and natural light). It has five levels of brightness adjustment, 48 LED lamp beads, and 10 watts of brightness. It’s USB powered, which makes it very portable, and has a 4.25-inch diameter.
Consider a battery-powered clip-on LED ring light for better TikToks and Youtube videos
If you are using your smartphone to create content for Youtube or TikTok, a small clip-on LED ring light is a great way to introduce better lighting to your shots. Look for something that won’t scratch your screen, runs off batteries, and is compact. Unlike some of the larger table-top LED ring lights, a clip-on ring light for your smartphone is extremely portable—meaning that you can create well-lit content with the camera that is always in your pocket.
Best portable LED ring light for TikTok or YouTube: QIAYA Portable Clip Selfie Light with 36 LED for Smart Phone
This clip-on LED ring light runs on two AAA batteries and features three brightness modes. (Amazon/)
Searching for an LED ring light for TikTok or YouTube? This portable battery-powered LED ring light has 36 bulbs to deliver flattering light for video capture. It clips to the top of your phone and can be set to low, normal, or high brightness. The sponge-gel clip ensures that this LED ring light won’t scratch your phone as you film videos for TikTok or Youtube, host live streams, or capture beautiful, evenly lit selfies.
An LED ring light with a remote gives you hands-free control
When you’re vlogging, making Tiktoks, or conducting a self-styled photoshoot, you’re not going to want to pause to adjust your phone or change your pose for every picture. Self-timer mode is great, but it doesn’t let you change the lighting around you. That’s why a remote control LED ring light is so handy—change the lighting, up the brightness, or warm up the temperature with just the click of a button.
Best LED ring light with remote: Neewer 18-inch LED Ring Light with Stand and 2.4G Wireless Remote
An LED ring light with a dedicated remote means you can change settings fast while you are shooting. (Amazon/)
Although most LED ring lights come with a Bluetooth remote to control a smartphone, it’s less common to find ones whose lighting settings can be controlled via remote. The Neewer 18-inch LED ring light gives you the power to adjust the brightness and color temperature of your LED ring light from afar—a feature that can be particularly helpful if your ring light is mounted at a high angle during your shoot. This model has 512 LED beads, features USB charging, a cold shoe ball head adapter for your camera, smartphone adapter, power adapter, and a carrying bag. It also has bi-color temperature variables from 3200K to 5500K without adding an orange filter. Brightness can be dimmed from 0% to 100% and is designed with heat dissipation. The 2.4G wireless remote control makes it easy to adjust brightness and temperature settings from anywhere in the room.
Use your LED ring light with a tripod for the best stabilized shots
Attaching your LED ring light to a tripod is the best way to get beautiful stabilized photos or videos. Although most large LED ring lights come with light stands, the setup can sometimes feel unbalanced without sandbags. Purchasing an LED ring light that comes with a dedicated tripod makes it easier to mount your camera or smartphone inside the LED ring light without worry that the setup will fall over. Having your LED ring light and camera mounted to a tripod is an easy way to get your best stabilized shots whether you are shooting photos or videos.
Best LED ring light with tripod: Inkeltech Selfie Ring Light Dimmable LED Light Ring with Tripod
This 10-inch LED ring light comes with a ball head tripod for stabilized shots. (Amazon.com/)
This 10-inch, dimmable ring light can be adjusted to 2700K, 4600K, and 6500K for cool light, natural light, or warm light and has 120 LED beads for flattering lighting for selfies, live streams, makeup videos, and more. The ball head tripod has an adjustable base, collapsible legs, and a height range between 16 inches to 54 inches. The LED ring light has a rotatable, universal phone holder for smartphones and a wireless selfie controller. The ring light itself has a unique design that folds in half for easy travel and compact storage.
Best LED ring lights on a budget: What you can get for under $60
The bigger diameter and the more features on your LED ring light typically means the price will go up. Mini ring lights meant for selfies and video chatting will be on the low end, but if you are looking for a multi-purpose LED ring light with a large diameter and something that is dimmable, you should expect to pay around $60. An LED ring light in this price range may lack a nice LCD screen, some Bluetooth functionality, or the ability to change the light to creative RGB colors, but it can still work great for shooting portraits, video chatting, makeup videos, capturing great selfies, and more. Going with a 14-inch selfie ring light as opposed to a larger 18-inch variety can help keep cost down on your LED ring light.
Best budget full-sized LED ring light: MountDog LED Ring Light 14 inch Dimmable Selfie Ring
This 14-inch dimmable LED ring light is great full-sized light for a tight budget. (Amazon/)
This dimmable 14-inch LED ring light is a great choice if you are looking for a full-sized model, but are also on a budget. The dimming range is between 1 to 100%, it has a color temperature from 3200K to 5600K. and a smartphone mount to place your phone directly in the center of the light. It comes with a 15- to 60-inch adjustable stand with a wide base for added stability. The LED ring light can be controlled through a Bluetooth remote.
FAQ: people also ask about ring lights
What size ring light is best?
Choosing what size LED ring light is best for you depends on what you plan to use it for. A large diameter LED ring light of 18 inches will be more multipurpose than a small clip-on ring light. Smaller diameter LED ring lights tend to be less expensive, but will emit less powerful light. A clip-on ring light is best for video chatting, selfies or making TikToks. An LED ring light between 8 to 14 inches is an excellent tool for makeup videos, vlogging, or creating YouTube content.
How far away should a ring light be?
How far away you place your ring light all depends on what you are trying to illuminate. As with any light source, the closer the ring light is to the subject the brighter and more even the light will be. Generally speaking the light should be one and a half times the diameter of light from your subject. If you are using a large 18-inch ring light and want the light to be crisp and bright, try and keep it approximately 1.5 to 2 feet from your subject. If you are using a smaller ring light, get closer. If the ring light is too far away, you are going to lose the circular catch lights that a ring light gives the eyes.
Do ring lights make you look better?
An LED ring light provides an even, shadow-free light source on your face and appealing circular catch lights in the eye. This quality of light is incredibly flattering, easy to control, and will make you look your best on camera. LED ring lights that are dimmable and allow you to control the color temperature offer more control in putting your best, brightest face forward.
A final word on shopping for the best LED ring lights
An LED ring light is a powerful, easy-to-use tool for photographers and videographers. A larger diameter ring light will be more expensive than the mini ones, but a far more versatile tool. Most large ring lights include an accessory for your smartphone, some Bluetooth capabilities, and are dimmable or allow you to control color. A larger diameter ring light is also a great tool for shooting portraits in the studio. If you are looking for a ring light for video chatting or creating content primarily for TikTok, a smaller clip-on LED ring light will likely do the trick. Regardless of the size, the best LED ring lights will provide even, shadow-free light to make sure that you look your best in front of the camera.
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