Being able to clearly see what you’re working on is critical in sewing… truth be told, I think we can agree it’s critical to just about everything! Studies have shown good light is essential to overall well-being. If you or someone you know suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or clinical light deprivation, you understand the difference lighting can make in how our body and mind function.

We were recently introduced to fellow Oregon company, Stella Lighting, and we’ve spent the past few weeks working with their newest product: the Stella GO, a portable, battery powered wireless LED task lamp. It sits on its own proprietary charging pad to absorb up-to an 11 hour charge. Simply lift up the lightweight lamp itself and carry it to any space, anywhere you need better lighting for sewing and crafting, fine art, games and puzzles, reading, and more. No need to find an extension cord or try to scoot everything closer to a single electrical outlet; move the light – not yourself!

Plus, if you’re fed-up hearing about “supply chain issues,” rest assured Stella is ahead of the curve. They have inventory ready to ship – usually the same day you order. The Stella GO retails for $349, other models range from $189 to $439.

Design

Of course, the portability is one of our favorite things about the Stella GO, but what about the overall quality, right? There are a lot of lighting options from which to choose, so we were a bit skeptical we’d find anything different here. Color us pleasantly surprised to be wrong. One of the first things we noticed was the design itself. All the Stella Lighting products have a beautifully sleek shape. It’s a clean, minimalist style, which is important in a product that has an important job to perform but really needs to be unobtrusive within the working environment. Stella has been awarded the Business Innovation Award by NAMTA (interNational Arts Materials Trade Association) for innovative product design.

Quality

If it’s not going to hold up to consistent use, why bother? We were impressed with the quality of construction. All their products are designed exclusively by Stella, based on direct research and feedback from people using the lights everyday. Plus, every light is individually checked to ensure proper functionality before it leaves their Oregon warehouse! Since we had zero issues with our lamps, we didn’t have any reason to reach out to the Stella customer service team, but they have two excellent guarantees: 1) 24-hour customer service contact, and 2) 100% customer satisfaction or send it back within 30 days for a full refund. All the Stella products come standard with a two-year warranty.

Control and Flexibility

A big part of getting the best lighting for your endeavors and environment is control. If you can’t adjust the intensity or color of the light or the buttons are hard to access or even press… then the lamp just isn’t as functional as it needs to be. The Stella GO, along with all the Stella lamps, has a segmented steel flexible arm so you can position the light exactly where you need it. All the lamps also feature Tri-Spectrum LED Technology, which means you control the color spectrum and intensity. Change from a warm, natural or cool light with 10-level dimming, minimal heat, and low wattage consumption. As someone with longer nails and not necessarily tip-top grip strength, I found the tactile buttons to be super easy to manipulate! The buttons are also backlit, so they’re easy to spot in a darkened room.

It’s hard to appreciate the flexibility in still photographs, so we encourage you to take a minute to see the Stella GO in action in the video below.

Qi Charging

This falls into the “didn’t know about this – glad to learn about it” category. So many devices in our lives are constantly in need of charging, but did you know all charging is not created equal… and some types can even damage your devices?! Qi charging assures a safe, reliable, wireless charging experience for the Stella GO and/or your compatible cell phone and other devices. There is an actual Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) that operates a certification program based on the global wireless charging standard, Qi (pronounced “chee”). The WPC tests specific products for safety, interoperability, and usability. If this all sounds highly technical, no worries, it really boils down to being confident you can safely charge. The 200+ members include, besides Stella Lighting, many top tier companies, like Apple, Lenevo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony.

Wasn’t there anything wrong?!

The only negative we had was a bit of confusion about the three prong changing cable we pulled out of the box. How to use the USB charging port in the base and the changing cord wasn’t discussed in the included instructional booklet, so we did need to jump onto the Stella website to understand how the charging pad needs to be plugged into a standard outlet when you want to charge any other devices, either by placing a compatible phone flat onto the pad or using one of the three prong charger options (USB, USB type C, Lighting cable) to charge any other devices. As described above, Qi Charging compatibility is important.

Also great in a storm

Our thanks to Stella Lighting for “illuminating” us about the importance of great lighting in general, and their lamps in particular. Although we were concentrating on how useful the lamps are for those of us in sewing and craft, we also thought a fully-charged Stella GO would be a great light to have on hand in a power outage. It’s easy to carry from room to room, holds a charge for up to 11 hours, and it can light up a surprisingly large area.