This Dyson Lamp is $899, Grants No Wishes

I’m going to be upfront about this: I have not reviewed many lamps in my time. They’re normally not very technical. You put a globe in it, you turn it on, and then it’s on. The desk lamp is a simple device, undisrupted for many a decade. But the Dyson Solarcycle Morph is not just any lamp: It’s a Dyson lamp.

I have coveted this lamp since I first saw it in Singapore early last year, because it looked like the perfect light for apartment (indirect light most of the time, then a direct light when you need it). But has living with it lived up to the hype?

What is the Dyson Solarcycle Morph?

It’s a lamp.

But it’s a lamp with a few fancy features:

• When not using it as a direct lamp, the stem glows a gentle tone to provide ambient lighting
• The task light has a powerful, easily directionable glow
• It connects to an app (doesn’t everything?)
• The tone of the lamp is set to aid you with your circadian rhythm, changing depending on the position of the sun in the sky (which is why the app needs to know your location), or customisable depending on what “mode” you’re wanting to go into
• It has a motion sensor (so it turns off when no one is in the room, or if you just sit still)
• It has a USB-C charger built into the base

You can see the specs here:

Shine bright like a Dyson

Because who doesn’t want a really nice lamp? We could get all dystopian and put two and two together that people who might get to work before the sun rises and don’t leave until the sun sets might benefit from a lamp that changes the warmth of the light to match the movement of the sun. And yeah, that’s probably a factor. But I’ve also lived in multiple apartments with zero external windows, and I would have really benefitted from a lamp like this then.

It’s also just a really nice design piece. It looks beautiful on a desk, it elevates a room while also being functional.

If I were unkind, I would point out that this is made by the same son of James Dyson whose baby was the Dyson Zone and that these projects say a lot about what the pampered sons of the extremely wealthy can get away with. But I am not unkind.

There are lots of beautiful lamps at expensive prices that are expensive because of how beautifully designed they are. They just don’t raise the same eyebrows as this one does because they’re not made by companies famous for moving air.

Is the Dyson Solarcycle Morph good?

Absolutely. If I had this kind of money, I would be torn between buying this one and the floor lamp (though, if I had to choose, I think I would go for the floor lamp).

To make this really simple, the lamp has two use modes: the light shines down the body, or you pull the light off its magnet and move it over to shine directly on something.

I have been using the Dyson Solarcycle Morph as my crochet lamp for the last week, and I’ve loved being able to have the ambient light, and then flick it out when I’m ready to work on my duck baby blanket. It’s become a welcome feature in my living room, and a real focal point. I don’t remember how I did fine detail work without it.

Having the light synchronised with the sun is a nice touch. I think that’s going to be particularly helpful when my baby arrives in a couple of months because I can get up for midnight feeds and have the light on without getting out of the “sleep zone” with a light that’s too harsh. I’m not saying that every new parent should rush out and buy one, because you can just get a warm white globe and a dimmer switch to get a similar nighttime effect, but it is a nice extra feature if you already have a reason to get one.

Being able to customise the strength of the light in the app, or with the touch controls is the best part, though. I hate cold white lights, but sometimes you need them to properly focus on a task, or do accurate colour matching. Having the ability to cycle between that and the warmer white I prefer is welcome.

It’s the kind of lamp that I can imagine an architect, designer or engineer to use while drafting out the blueprint for a bridge. It’s a beautiful design piece for the modern home, but it’s also clearly designed with utility in mind.

Plus, it’s just really fun to feel it connect and disconnect with the magnet. I’m not saying that I fiddle with the “magnet goes on, magnet goes off” function a lot, but I’m also not not saying that. It’s a testament to how satisfying it is.

What’s wild is that Dyson claims the light will keep working for 60 years because of the “heat pipe technology”. I obviously have not been able to test it for 60 years, as I am not a time traveller, but it sounds nice.

What’s not great about the Dyson Solarcycle Morph?

While it’s nice to be able to rotate the light arm 360 degrees horizontally and tilt it somewhat, not being able to adjust the arm vertically has been intermittently frustrating for fine detail work. I often wish I could pull it up or down just a little. It’s not exactly a killer flaw, but for $899, I would like to be able to move it in more dimensions.

Aside from the price tag, that is literally the only thing not great with this lamp.

Verdict: Should I buy the Dyson Solarcycle Morph lamp?

This is just a really good lamp. It does exactly what it says it does. It will not change your life, but it will light parts of it really nicely, and sometimes that’s enough.

Buy the Dyson Solarcycle Morph lamp at Dyson for $899