The best cordless table lamps

A cordless lamp exists for the places a cord cannot go: the middle of a dining table, a bookshelf with no outlet behind it, a patio, a bathroom counter. In those places it is the only practical answer, and it looks far better than a cord trailing across a table.

What it cannot do is light a room. A battery small enough to fit in a table lamp delivers a few hundred lumens at most, and the published figures below make that plain. Buy one for atmosphere and for a pool of light on a surface; do not buy one as a room's main light. The broader trade-offs are in plug-in vs battery vs rechargeable.

Zafferano Pina - the pick. Up to 206 lumens, three selectable color temperatures from a candle-like 2200K to 3000K, 13+ hours per charge, touch dimming and an IP54 rating. It publishes nearly everything, which is how you know it gives genuinely useful table light and can go out to a patio.
Cons: it charges on its own contact base, so the base travels with it; CRI is only above 80.

Brightech Celia - for the longest run between charges. Up to 30 hours per charge with USB-C charging and touch dimming, in a mushroom shape that suits a shelf or nightstand.
Cons: no lumens, color temperature or charge time published, and the 30 hours is not tied to a brightness setting - so it cannot be compared on output.

Fatboy Edison the Petit - for a glow, not a light. 58 lumens at 2700K for 8 hours on high or 24 on low, charged by USB-C in about three hours. The honest output figure tells you exactly what it is: a warm accent for a shelf or a table, not a lamp to read by.
Cons: 58 lumens; IP21 is a low water rating, so keep it out of the rain.

Charge on a routine. A lamp that is charged when you remember is a lamp that is flat when guests arrive. Pick a spot near an outlet where it lives by day and charges.

Expect less at full brightness. Long run times are quoted at low settings - the Fatboy is 24 hours on low but 8 on high. Plan around the setting you will actually use.

Check the rating before it goes outside. IP54 on the Pina suits a patio table; IP21 on the Fatboy does not suit rain. The ratings are decoded in wet vs damp rated.

Want the same idea on a wall? Rechargeable sconces do it at eye level with no wiring - see best rechargeable wall sconces.