Lumie Dash light therapy lamp review

SAD lamps can help sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder boost their energy and mood over the winter months. If you experience a downturn over the winter months, even if you haven’t been diagnosed with SAD, a SAD lamp or light box could help.

That’s because our body clock is hardwired to follow the natural cycle of light and dark and most of our bodily processes – most obviously our sleep cycle, but also our gut, lungs, liver and pancreas – have a circadian rhythm that’s disturbed by fewer hours of light in winter, and less bright light overall.

A SAD lamp can help to smooth this disruption. But you won’t get the same effect from an ordinary lamp. SAD lamps mimic outside light and have a brightness of 10,000 lux.

In this review, we’re looking at the latest release from specialist brand Lumie: the Lumie Dash.

You can compare it to other Lumie models in our round-up of the best SAD lamps we’ve tested.

Design and Build

• Compact build
• Light at just 415g
• Two colour options

In previous years, light boxes were chunky, unwieldy devices – hard to find space for and far from design-led.

The Dash is the antithesis of these old models. It’s compact, around the same size and shape as a travel mirror or a table tennis paddle. The light itself is around 16cm in diameter, and it stands on a base of 8.5 x 6.5cm.

It has a very cute design. The Dash wouldn’t look out of place on a highly curated social media feed.

Its size and weight mean it’s portable, packable, and easy to find a spot for on your desk or on a table. It weighs just 415g, 50g less than a tin of beans. However, you will need to have it plugged in for use.

The Dash wouldn’t look out of place on a highly curated social media feed

The Dash comes in two colours: pistachio white and terracotta pink, the latter of which we’re testing. You can compare the colour options on the John Lewis website.

Performance and Features

• Minutely adjustable brightness
• Angle of lamp not adjustable
• Touch panel operation

The Dash is easy to set up: it’s just a matter of plugging it in. Its controls are equally simple. There are highly responsive touch panels built seamlessly into the base. Lightly tapping or holding the – and + symbols will let you switch it on, off and adjust the brightness minutely.

To use the Dash, Lumie advises that you should stand it in front of you, about an arm’s length away, so that the light can reach your eyes directly.

You should try to use it for half an hour per day. The best time to use it is in the morning, but it may also help you to recover from the post-lunch slump.

I haven’t been diagnosed with SAD, so I can’t speak to the therapeutic effects of this or any other SAD lamp. Still, I do experience a downturn over the winter months and I’ve enjoyed using the Dash.

The Dash delivers 10,000 lux and has a CRI (colour rendering index) rating of 95+, which means that it shows colours extremely accurately when compared to natural daylight. A CRI of over 90 is considered excellent.

However, it won’t be as useful as the similarly featured Lumie Task lamp (read our review) for drawing or crafting, as you can’t adjust the angle of the Dash, so you won’t be able to point it at work on your desk.

The Dash is fixed at an angle of around 65° from horizontal, so its face is pointing up towards you, which is ideal for letting its light hit your eyes wherever you stand it. But that does limit its usefulness for other jobs.

However, it can double as a light to illuminate your face during video calls.

Price and Availability

The Dash is not currently for sale in the US, although other Lumie models are. You can browse the available SAD lamps at Lumie.

In the UK, the Dash is priced at £179. It’s available from John Lewis and from Lumie.

If you, or the person you’re buying it for, has been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder and the Dash is for personal or domestic use, you can claim VAT relief on the product.

In this case, the better option is to buy direct from Lumie, where you’ll see the VAT-free option on the page. Select that, and the Dash will only cost you £149.17.

Still, even with this discount, there’s no denying that it’s a pricey product. Lumie does have less expensive models: the Vitamin L and Zest among them. You can find out more about them in our round-up of the best Lumie SAD lights.

Should you buy the Lumie Dash?

The Dash has a TikTok-worthy design, is small, light, portable and its brightness is adjustable to a precise degree. If you need a SAD lamp, it’s certainly one of the most convenient and attractive options. But it is expensive, especially for a single-use device.