Wall sconce vs bedside lamp

A bedside table holds a phone, a glass of water, a book, reading glasses and a lamp - and the lamp is the biggest thing on it. Moving the light to the wall gives the surface back, which on a small nightstand is the difference between usable and cluttered.

What you give up is everything the lamp was doing besides lighting. A modern bedside lamp is also a charger: USB-A, USB-C and often a pass-through outlet, which is one fewer thing plugged in behind the bed. No sconce does that.

The second argument is aim. A sconce with a movable head puts light on the page and nowhere else, which matters if someone else is asleep two feet away. A table lamp with a shade spreads light in every direction at that height, including at them.

1. How big the nightstand is. Under about 16 inches across, a lamp wins the surface and loses you the space. That is the case for the sconce.
2. Whether you charge things beside the bed. If the answer is a phone and a watch, a lamp with USB-C does two jobs and a sconce does one.
3. Whether someone else is asleep. An aimable sconce is the kinder option, and so is a swing-arm lamp clamped to the headboard.
4. Whether you can mount anything. Adhesive mounts hold light fixtures well on smooth painted walls and badly on textured ones. Screws mean holes, and holes mean the lease - see what renters can change.
5. Whether you will keep up with charging. Rechargeable sconces are honest about runtime; the question is whether a fixture that needs attention every few weeks fits how you live.

NIORSUN rechargeable sconces - the sconce pick. 300 lumens per sconce, published - which almost nothing in this category does - with dimming from 20 to 100 percent and color settings from 3000K to 6500K. Sold as a pair, which is how a bed usually needs them.
Cons: the battery has to be recharged; no CRI published; and the adhesive mount is only as good as the wall surface under it.

YHCDLAMP rechargeable sconces - the longest between charges. A 10000mAh pack with up to 50 hours quoted, dimmable by remote. If the objection to rechargeable sconces is the charging, this is the one that pushes it furthest away.
Cons: no lumen figure published at all, so brightness is unknown until it arrives; the remote is another thing to lose.

Fenmzee bedside lamp - the lamp pick. USB-A, USB-C and a pass-through outlet with a three-level touch dimmer and a 3000K bulb included. It is a light, a charger and a switch you can find in the dark.
Cons: no lumen figure published; three fixed levels rather than smooth dimming; it still occupies the nightstand.

Dicoool bedside lamp - the cheapest route to USB-C. The same idea at a lower price: three-way touch control, USB-A and USB-C.
Cons: nothing published about output or color temperature; the cheapest lamps are where build quality varies most.

Sit up in bed with a book before you mount anything. Hold the sconce where you think it goes and read a page. The right height is the one where the page is lit and the source is out of your sightline - commonly around 30 to 36 inches above the mattress, but your sitting position decides it.

Aim across the bed, not along it. Light coming from the side and slightly behind lands on the page. Light from directly ahead lands on your partner.

Keep the level low and the color warm. A bedroom at 11pm wants the least light that works - the bedroom case is in bedroom lighting, and 2700K vs 3000K covers the color.

Test the adhesive on the actual wall. Smooth paint holds; textured paint, wallpaper and anything recently painted do not. Give it a day with nothing breakable underneath.