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If you stare at a screen all day, a monitor light helps because it cuts the contrast between your bright display and the darker room around it, and the good ones also throw a second glow onto the wall behind your desk so your eyes have less work to do. I have been using BenQ’s screen bars for a while, including two ScreenBar Halo 2s on my dual Apple Studio Displays. The new ScreenBar Max is the first one BenQ makes that clamps to your desk instead of sitting on top of your monitors, and it is built to cover a dual monitor or ultrawide setup with one continuous beam.
BenQ sent me the Max for free to review and had no input on this post. I liked the Halo 2 enough that I bought a second one with my own money, so I came into this with a real point of comparison. Here is everything the Max does, what I like about it, and the couple of things I think BenQ could do better.
For a dual monitor or ultrawide desk, the Max gives you one even beam and costs over $100 less than two Halo 2s. On a single monitor it is overkill.
- One continuous wash across a dual monitor or ultrawide desk
- Clamps to the desk, so the tops of your monitors stay clean and the webcam stays clear
- Presence sensor and eight on-bar controls that respond fast
- Stepless brightness and color temperature, with a savable favorite preset
- Auto mode still lets you set color temperature (the Halo 2 locked it at 4000K)
- $289, and the optional desk base is another $39 that is not in the box
- Big, heavy, and industrial looking, not as minimal as the Halo 2
- The clamp can clash with a centered VESA arm, and the head does not slide left or right
- No wireless remote, which stings if you change color temperature through the day
- What the ScreenBar Max actually is
- The clamp, the base, and desk fit
- Brightness modes and the presence sensor
- Height and reach adjustments
- Light coverage across the desk
- All 8 controls explained
- Living without the remote
- Max vs the ScreenBar Halo 2
- Color temperature and the rear light
- The brightness setting I actually use
- Size and looks
- Who should buy which one
What the ScreenBar Max actually is
The Max is a light bar on a clamp. You attach the clamp to the back edge of your desk, set the height, and then decide how far forward or back you want the light to sit. It works with desktop surfaces up to 2.4 inches thick. Unlike the other ScreenBars, it does not run off a USB adapter. It uses DC wall power through a dedicated barrel connector on the back, and it pulls 36 watts.
Because it is not resting on your monitors, you can pull the bar forward or back and level it independently of the screens. That fixes two problems I had with monitor-top lights: it does not cover my webcam, and I can move my monitors without moving the light. It is also designed so none of the light spills onto the front of the screen as glare.
It has a front light that faces your desk and a second light on the back that washes the wall behind it, and you can run either one on its own or both together.
The clamp, the base, and desk fit
The clamp feels heavy duty and well built. It is also the part you need to think about before you order. You have to pull your desk out from the wall far enough to get around the back and clamp it on. I have a grommet slot right in the middle of my desk and the clamp still fit there, though I was nervous out of the box that I would have to mount it slightly off center.
The bigger catch is VESA arms. If you use a dual VESA arm that has to be centered on your desk, the clamp can get in the way. You may have to set the light off to one side, shift the arm over, or switch to two individual VESA clamps instead of one center-mounted arm. There is no way to slide the light head left or right to work around it, so the whole clamp has to move.
BenQ sells an optional desk base for $39 that is not in the box, which is a strange thing to leave out. The base measures about 6.6 by 9.2 inches on your desk. If your problem was arm clearance, keep in mind the base can run into VESA arms from a different angle, so it is not automatically the fix. Look at the back of your desk and how it is set up before you buy.
Brightness modes and the presence sensor
Both brightness and color temperature are stepless. Brightness runs anywhere from 1% to 100%. There is a presence detection sensor built in that turns the light on when you sit down at your desk and shuts it off a few minutes after you leave. The presence detection works really well. If you would rather it just stay on all day, you press the button on top to disable it, and it stays on until you turn it off.
Height and reach adjustments
You can set the Max at three heights: 21.6, 24.8, or 27.9 inches. Changing the height needs the included Allen wrench, so it is a one time setup, not something you tweak day to day.
The head also slides forward and backward. At its closest it sits about 6.8 inches from the back of your desk, and you can pull it out to 11 inches away from the back edge. I keep mine pushed all the way back, but the reach is there if you want the light further out in front of your monitors.
Light coverage across the desk
BenQ rates the Max to hit 500 lux across a 135 by 58 centimeter area in front of it, which is roughly the footprint of two 27 inch monitors sitting side by side. In practice I think it would put out more than enough light even on a dual 32 inch setup, and it should cover any ultrawide.
All 8 controls explained
Every control lives on the top of the panel. My desk is tall, so I do have to reach up to touch them, but they respond fast. There are eight buttons:
- Presence toggle: turns the mmWave sensor on or off, so the light comes on when you sit down and shuts off when you walk away.
- Front and back: switches between the desk facing light, the rear wall glow, or both, and lets you fine tune the front and back brightness separately.
- Brightness: stepless from 1% to 100%. With both lights on it moves them by the same percentage together.
- Auto: hands brightness over to the ambient light sensor, which tracks your room and adjusts the front and back lights on its own. You can still set color temperature yourself in auto mode. On the Halo 2, auto locked you to 4000 Kelvin. Here I run 5000 Kelvin and auto still works.
- Screen reading mode: a preset tuned for reading off a display. I do not use it much.
- Color temperature: adjustable from 2700 Kelvin to 6000 Kelvin.
- Favorite (the heart): saves your exact setup, say the front light at 40% and the back light at 20%. Press and hold it for three seconds and the other lights blink to confirm the save, then you can jump back to that preset any time.
- Power: manually turns the light off and on.
Living without the remote
I do wish the Max came with the wireless controller the Halo 2 has. At the same time, having the buttons right on the bar means I am not hunting for a remote, and there are times I wished the Halo 2 had buttons on it. Once I dialed the Max in on the first day, I really never had to touch the buttons again. The one group this matters for is people who like to change color temperature throughout the day. If that is you, losing the remote is a little annoying.
Max vs the ScreenBar Halo 2
Before the Max I ran two ScreenBar Halo 2s. They worked really well, but the two lights overlapped in the middle, so the center of my desk was a little brighter than the sides. That is where the Max stands out. It is built to cover one large space, so I get one even wash instead of two pools of light blending in the center. It also keeps the tops of both monitors clean and out of the way of my webcam.
The Halo 2 is about $200, roughly 19.7 inches wide, clamps to the top of your monitor, runs on USB-C, and comes with the wireless controller. It has the same front and rear lights. It is still a great light and it is the right pick for a lot of people. Here is how the two line up:
| ScreenBar Max | ScreenBar Halo 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $289 | $200 each |
| Mount | Clamps to the desk | Clamps to top of monitor |
| Power | DC barrel connector, 36W | USB-C |
| Controls | 8 buttons on the bar | Wireless controller |
| Auto mode color temp | Adjustable (I run 5000K) | Locked at 4000K |
| Coverage | Dual 27in / ultrawide | About 19.7 inches wide |
| Rear wall light | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Dual monitors or a wide ultrawide | Single monitor |
Color temperature and the rear light
Color temperature tops out at 6000 Kelvin, which should be fine for most rooms. If your room is set to 6500 Kelvin it might look a little off, but I run mine at 5000 Kelvin and it looks plenty natural. If you have daylight coming through a window, 5500 should look great.
I like the rear light too. I do not run it as bright as BenQ recommends. The auto sensor tends to push it brighter than I want, so my advice is to let auto set a starting point and then tweak it to what feels right for your room.
The brightness setting I actually use
Do not run this at 80% or 100% just because it goes that high. Even in my very brightly lit room, 40% brightness was more than enough. Start low and only turn it up if the room needs it.
Size and looks
The biggest drawback is the sheer size and weight, and the fact that you have to use the clamp. It is a large item and it is not as sleek or minimal as the Halo 2. It has an industrial look. My whole setup is already built around the desk being a giant battle station, so it fits right in, but depending on your taste you may not love how it looks.
Who should buy which one
It comes down to your setup:
- Single monitor: skip the Max. It is overkill and it is huge. It will work, and you can clamp it to the desk instead of sitting it on your monitor, but the Halo 2 is the better fit.
- Single ultrawide: a single Halo 2 can still get the job done, and it might be a wash. If your ultrawide is over 40 inches, I would push you toward the Max for wider, more even coverage.
- Dual monitors: get the Max over two Halo 2s. You get one continuous wash instead of two pools of light, and at $289 it is over $100 cheaper than buying two $200 Halo 2s.
Two questions decide it. Do you run dual monitors or an ultrawide? And does the back edge of your desk have room for a clamp? If the answer to either one is no, buy the Halo 2. You still get a great light, the wireless controller, and you save some money.
The verdict
After living with the ScreenBar Max, I am not going back to the dual Halo setup. The tops of both my monitors are clean, and I get one even beam spread across the whole desk instead of two overlapping pools. It looks great on my desk and it has become my main light, so the Halo 2s are getting retired.
Is it worth $289? Against a single Halo 2, no, that is a big jump. But against the setup it actually competes with, two Halo 2s on a dual monitor desk, it is over $100 cheaper and it does a better job. If you run dual monitors or a wide ultrawide and your desk has room for the clamp, the Max is an easy recommendation. If not, the Halo 2 is still a great light.
