As someone who considers good lighting essential for finding a productive workflow, I've found that the best monitor light bars are an excellent way to add overhead lighting to your workspace without cluttering your desk. BenQ is one of the biggest brands in the monitor light bar space, and it has a new offering: the BenQ ScreenBar Pro. I've been using it for a few weeks, and it seems like the "just right" option for most people. BenQ has the ScreenBar at the lower end of its lineup, and the ScreenBar Halo at the higher end. With the ScreenBar Pro, BenQ took some of the best features from both models and combined them into a singular light bar. It's the brightest ScreenBar model yet, it has a compact and versatile form factor, and it includes new tools like automatic on/off with motion sensing.

About this review: BenQ provided us with a ScreenBar Pro for review. The company had no input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing and availability

BenQ launched the ScreenBar Pro in May 2024 in the U.S., and you can now buy it from the company's direct website and at Amazon. This light bar retails for $140, and comes in either white or black colorways. In the ScreenBar lineup, the ScreenBar Pro sits between the standard ScreenBar and the top-end ScreenBar Halo.

Specs

What I like

The ScreenBar Pro's design is excellent, and it'll fit on more monitors

The big difference between the ScreenBar Pro and the ScreenBar Halo is the light bar's size. Since the ScreenBar Halo has a backward-facing light designed to equalize the lighting situation of the environment in front of and behind your monitor, the clamping mechanism is big and heavy. The BenQ ScreenBar Pro only has one light, and that's the one that illuminates the area in front of your monitor and on your desktop. I didn't miss the backlight on the ScreenBar Halo at all during my testing of the ScreenBar Pro. Part of the reason for this is that my desk setup is situated in a corner, so there isn't going to be a massive lighting difference between the area in front of and behind my monitor. If your desk is in the middle of a room, the ScreenBar Halo might be more valuable.

More importantly, the lack of a backward-facing light makes the ScreenBar Pro far more compact. This, in turn, will make it blend in nicer with more monitors. Compatibility was an issue with the ScreenBar Halo, but it has been almost completely solved on the ScreenBar Pro. It can fit monitors with a thickness between 0.17 inches and 2.56 inches, as well as curved panels between 1000R and 1800R. That should cover most monitors, and it fits my ultra-thin M3 iMac with ease.

For these reasons, I prefer using the ScreenBar Pro with my M3 iMac over the more premium ScreenBar Halo. Unless you really need the ScreenBar Halo's backlight or remote control dial, the ScreenBar Pro will probably be the better buy. Plus, if you have a monitor with white bezels, the white colorway for the ScreenBar Pro fits in great.

Despite the small form factor, it's incredibly bright

Of course, the main reason you'll want to buy a monitor light bar is for the added brightness. In this regard, the ScreenBar Pro is superb, and it's actually the brightest ScreenBar light bar to date. BenQ says that this light clears 1,000 Lux, which is 100 more than the ScreenBar Halo. It's not just brighter, though. The ScreenBar Pro also covers more surface area, with a maximum coverage area of up to 115 x 60 cm. It's important to note that the edges of that area will be illuminated with about 300 Lux, since only the center of the coverage area gets the full 1,000 Lux. Still, the brightness is impressive.

Aside from brightness, the capacitive touch controls also let you control things like color temperature. New to the ScreenBar Pro is a motion sensor that can automatically turn the light on and off, and this works pretty well in most cases. The automatic on/off function can be hit-or-miss at times, but overall it has saved me from needing to worry about manually turning off the ScreenBar Pro when I'm not using it.

What I don't like

I wish there was a separate controller for making adjustments

There were some sacrifices made to make the ScreenBar Pro so small and simple, and one of those is found in the way you control it. Unlike the ScreenBar Plus and ScreenBar Halo, the ScreenBar Pro doesn't have a remote control dial. Instead, it uses a strip of capacitive touch controls, like the LaptopBar. These touch controls are just fine, but I'd much rather have a separate dial. If you like to set a specific light setting and forget about it, this limitation might not be that big of a deal. That's especially true due to the inclusion of motion controls, since you won't even need to turn it off through the capacitive buttons. However, it's still something to keep in mind.

Otherwise, the only downside can be the clamping mechanism's lightweight design. This is an overall positive, but you might need to work to find the right placement on your monitor. If not, this light bar might slip or slide down over time. Luckily, there are grooves in the silicone part of the clamp to make finding a good fit easier.

Should you buy the BenQ ScreenBar Pro?

You should buy the BenQ ScreenBar Pro if:

• You want a small light bar that can blend in nicely with your monitor
• You need a lot of brightness added to your workspace
• You'd rather have inbuilt capacitive controls than a separate controller

You should NOT buy the BenQ ScreenBar Pro if:

• You'd prefer a separate controller with better support for fine-tuned adjustments
• You need a monitor light bar with a backlight to equalize the lighting environment
• You want a light bar with a heavier clamping mechanism

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro is my default recommendation for people looking for a monitor light bar. It isn't perfect, but it checks all the right boxes to make it a good fit for most people. The ScreenBar Pro has a lot of brightness, automatic on/off with motion detection, and a very compact design. It lacks a few premium features, such as a standalone controller and a second light. However, those aren't necessary for everyone, and this monitor light bar is simplistic and refined due to their absence. In fact, I prefer using the ScreenBar Pro with my M3 iMac desk setup over the ScreenBar Halo as a result, and I suspect many others will too.