With the increasing prevalence of streaming and online video meetings, a lot of folks these days are looking for easy-to-use high-quality lighting solutions to improve their at-home webcam setups without breaking the bank.

One of the best affordable and space-saving light solutions I have found is the Lume Cube broadcast kit, which comes with everything you need to instantly improve your video lighting!

After testing Lume Cube’s Broadcast kit in a variety of situations and I have to say that I am very impressed with this kit so far. Whether you are looking for a mobile lighting solution for on-location video shoots, or you are looking for a consistent streamer light, the Lume Cube broadcast lighting kit has you covered.

The Lume Cube broadcast lighting kit comes with three components: Lume Cube's mini panel light, a collapsible stand, and a suction cup monitor mount. The panel mini comes equipped with a removable silicone diffuser that can be slipped on and off of the light with ease. 

Considering this entire thing is only $100, the utility that Lume Cube Broadcast Kit provides to streamers and remote workers alike more than justifies its price.

The Lume Cube Panel Mini

The Lume Cube Panel Mini light is about the same size and thickness as a standard iPhone. It can be mounted horizontally or vertically on the stand. The controls for this light are relatively simple. There is a small power button on the left side of the light, underneath that is a brightness adjuster and a USB-C power plug. The kit comes with a complimentary 6-ft USB-C charging cable.

In addition to being able to adjust the brightness of the light, you are also able to adjust the color temperature of the Panel Mini. Simply tap the blue power button once and then use the brightness adjuster to adjust your color temperature between 3200k on the low end and 5600k on the high end. You can switch back to adjusting the brightness by tapping the blue button again.

On the back of the light, there is a small LCD control screen that tells you the battery life, brightness setting, and color temperature. This is a very helpful screen, though without the ability to replace the batteries, if you are running low the only option you have is to plug a charging cable in if you want to continue to use the light.

In my experience, this light lasted about four hours on a full charge at around 15% percentage of brightness, but that battery length drops all the way down to just over an hour when you blast it at 100%. So the battery life is decent for its size, but still pretty limited. You can also charge the panel while using it via the USB-C charging cable.

When I was in film school over a decade ago there were companies just starting to get into creating small, affordable LED lights for video production. Those lights were huge, featured harsh light, and were poorly featured by today’s standards. Companies like Lume Cube have taken the concept of the small, affordable LED light to a whole new level, and budget video creators around the world can benefit from their innovation.

The Lume Cube Mobile Stand

While the Panel Mini exceeded my expectations, the stand it comes with did not.

The included stand is about nine inches tall when the legs are folded up. When the three legs flip outward on the bottom, they bring the height of the stand to 12" at the lowest. The stand can be further extended to go up to 30" high. The adjustability is excellent, especially since I wear glasses, I want to make sure the light is at an angle that won’t reflect in my glasses in a distracting way. This stand was more than adjustable enough to accomplish that goal.

While it is nice that the stand is compact, portable, and versatile, I will say that it leaves something to be desired in terms of stability. The legs that flip outward are held in place by a small spinning ring once extended. The ring successfully prevents the legs from flipping back up, but it doesn't lock the legs in place as well as I would hope. There is still some wobble left in the legs after being locked in, and I am always a little worried it will fall over if my desk gets jostled in any way.

Luckily the stand doesn't need to support a large payload, so it doesn’t end up being a big deal, but there is some room for improvement on the stand design. 

Lume Cube Monitor Mount for the Panel Mini

As an added bonus, this kit also comes with a suction-based monitor stand for your Panel Mini. I personally don’t mount a light on my monitor since I find that light to be too directional and in my eyes.

But for those who are looking to mount this light on their monitor or to the back of a laptop, the included monitor mount does work very well based on my testing. You can suction the stand to most flat surfaces and it holds the weight of the light without any issues.

Verdict

8/10

The Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit packs a lot of punch for the price. Coming in at only $100 for each light+stand combo, this is a highly affordable, not to mention compact, option for your on-stream or on-the-go lighting needs. The products included in this kit aren't perfect, but overall Lume Cube did a great job with creating a highly versatile lighting kit for a reasonable price.

Pros 

• The small and compact light panel design is useful in a variety of contexts 
• Very reasonable price
• Fully featured brightness and color temperature controls
• The stand offers highly customizable height options while remaining small, collapsible 
• USB-C charging is a nice addition as well

Cons

• Stand base design could be sturdier
• Relatively short battery life when used on full brightness
• No replaceable batteries make it hard to commit to using a light like this on a professional set