It was the depths of the Melbourne’s COVID response when I got my first monitor light bar. It was a game changer for my workspace. Low profile, better light, takes up no desk real estate. When I rejig my teenager’s room with a better study area, I reached out to Quntis for an opportunity to review their RGB Pro+ Monitor Light Bar with Remote.
With both his parents being glasses wearers, I wanted to put some focus on eye care.
First Impressions
I have previously reviewed the Quntis ScreenLinear previously and it is still on my screen now.
The RGB Pro+ came in a far bigger than I expected box. The light-grey aluminium alloy light bar was nestled diagonally across the packaging, along with a circular remote control puck.
There is some assembly required, you need to clip the mounting bracket and counter weight onto the light bar.
Like the ScreenLinear, the counterweight sticks out the back of the mounting bracket and can swivel to get the balance just right. There is a sticky patch that can be used to give it more grip on the back of the monitor.
Power to the lightbar is provided through a USB-C port.
The remote is powered by three AAA batteries, and it is paired to the lightbar out of the box.
In Use
The RGB Pro+ is 51 cm long, which pairs well with the 24″ Dell monitor that I have paired it with.
As the same suggests, there is a RGB function built into this lightbar. The primary light curtain, the one in front of the monitor, is adjustable from 3000 to 6500K colour temperature. This gives you from warm to cool white lighting depending on your mood and need.
Around the other side though, is the RGB part of the monitor light bar. Quntis has cleverly incorporated RGB back lighting without adding bulk to the unit.
By all accounts, the teenager really took to having the RGB Pro+. He is using it when he is working on his computer, or just want a pool of light to sit by and do other things. He does have a desk lamp for when he is doing his homework but the RGB Pro+ is sufficient for most other tasks without the glare or the eye strain involved.
The remote control allows him to control the lighting without having to touch and potentially dislodge the RGB Pro+ from it’s position on top of the monitor.
You can adjust the brightness in one of two ways. Tap on the plus or minus button and it will change the steps in one third arcs. Or press and hold either the plus or minus button to do it in stepless increments.
Tap on the thermometer symbol and you can adjust the temperature of the light between 3000K (warmest), 4000K, 5000K and 6500K (coolest). Or you can long press for stepless adjustment.
For the backlighting, the RGB Pro+ supports up to fifteen lighting modes, from monochrome to dual-colour gradient to multicolour gradient. You can really set it up to suit your ambience, whether it is for gaming, or just mood. It is however, only effective when you have it closer to a surface to bounce the light off.
RGB, every teenager’s dreams. Maybe except for mine it seems. He is not a huge fan of the RGB fad in general so it is not a surprise. But on occasions I have seen him turn it on for ambience.
One feature I particularly like with the RGB Pro+ is that the included USC-B cable has a 90 degrees angled plug on the light bar end. It just avoids potentially damaging the connector by having it somewhat out of the way.
There are some limitations to point out, which I am doing here separately from the gripes.
Everytime you turn on the RGB Pro+, the backlight is come on with it. If you don’t want the backlight then you have to turn it off each time.
Also alternatively you cannot have just the backlight on without the front light. The best you can do is set it to the dimmest setting.
Gripes
Ah the time has come for complains. There are a couple of them.
Firstly the remote is not particularly sensitive. Sometimes it just does not register a touch and you have to go back and do it again.
The cover over the battery compartment of the remote is keyed. There is a particular position you have to put the cover on before turning to lock it. It is not obvious until you put it flat on the table … only to find that it is not sitting flat.
Conclusions
I have found monitor light bars to be an indispensable part of my workstation setup. The business end of the Quntis RGB Pro+ Monitor Light Bar with Remote is definitely a winner for the teenager. This was something he was not sure he wanted, but has found to be immensely useful.
While I personally have no need for RGB backlighting for myself, it seems to have won the teenager over after a few weeks.
The remote can be a little more responsive, but then again, you are not generally needing to constantly change settings so we can overlook this somewhat.
It is currently available for A$74.69 from Amazon, or you can buy them in packs of two or three with a nice discount directly from their website. Noting that the pricing there is USD.
I highly recommend adding one of these to your monitor setup, Quntis has a number offerings to suit and they are all very reasonably price. It certainly is quite a lot cheaper than my very first (non-Quntis) light bar.
DRN would like to thank Quntis for providing the review unit.
