Let it be known: Little ones (and others who may be afraid of the dark) aren’t the only people who enjoy using the best night lights out there. Anyone who needs to find their way around the house in the middle of the night—thirsty people, pet owners, parents, the jet-lagged, insomniacs, to name a few—would be delighted to find a dark hallway navigable with the soft glow of a night light. Plus, a shining piece of home decor can make falling asleep a dreamier experience all around. Illumination also looks nice in daylight hours, which is often the harder piece of the night-light puzzle to figure out.
We’ve rounded up some night lights with fun (and functional!) features—like color changes and dimmer switches. Some of them would fit in just as well as decor pieces in your hallway or living room, and many of them would make the best gifts. LED lamps even work to provide ambient light in environmentally-friendly ways thanks to their low-energy bulbs.
Our Top Picks
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L LOHAS LED Night Light Plug-In (Set of 2)
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Hatch Restore 3 Sunrise Alarm Clock
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In this Article
Best Red Night Light
Loftie Glow with the Flow Night Lights (Set of 3)
These orb-like plug-in night lights are particularly low-profile while still delivering a soft glow. The dusk to dawn sensor ensures these are always alight when you’re stumbling through the dark, and it makes them an energy efficient choice for your dim hallways. We’re partial to these, as they employ the same tech as our favorite Loftie sunrise alarm clocks. Added bonus: The red night light is designed to stimulate the production of melatonin—a hormone that can help you fall asleep—with red wavelengths.
A Practical Night Light
L LOHAS LED Night Light Plug-In (Set of 2)
Less cute than some other options, maybe, but more pragmatic. This night light spares no accoutrements—it boasts adjustable brightness with a dimmer switch, it’s a compact plug-in with an LED bulb, and it has an automatic light sensor. It also disperses a soft white light unlike some of the harsher LED options on the market.
Best All-In-One Night Light
Hatch Restore 3 Sunrise Alarm Clock
This sunrise alarm clock works double-duty as a night light (as does the Loftie), and a white noise machine, making it an all-in-one bedside companion. You can adjust its brightness levels with touch controls, as well as adapt it to red light for deeper sleep.
Best Design-Forward Night Light
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Akari 1N Light Sculpture by Isamu Noguchi
While not a night light per se, it’s one of the best table lamps out there. Any time we can sneak Noguchi into a roundup, we do. This model is dimmable, so you can adjust the warm white light to suit your preference. We’d recommend making this your obligatory leave-this-on-all-night lamp in the living room. Maybe on top of a curated stack of art books?
Most Playful Night Light
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Dusen Dusen Everybody Night Light
This is a night light for kids and adults alike, embodying the charming, playful characteristics of all Dusen Dusen products. This LED night light also has a light sensor, so it will automatically turn on in dim environments. With red-and-blue and yellow-and-purple variations, we’re thinking one for the kid’s room, one for the bathroom (and another for our bedroom).
Best Motion Sensor Night Light
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Briteman Freyr Sensor Night Light
These motion sensor night lights come in four friendly colors and pack a punch—a built-in human infrared sensor and photosensitive sensor register activity and automatically turn off after 15 seconds. These battery-powered LED night lights last for an anticipated 50,000 hours, though their battery can’t be replaced, so you have to invest in a new one…every 50,000 hours (that’s 2,083 days, by the way).
Other AD-Approved Night Lights
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Pottery Barn Lit Coastal Objects
There’s a plethora of shell night lights out there, but few look so contained as this from Pottery Barn. These shells look a bit like under-sea beacons of light, though actually they’re battery-charged and made of polyresin. The small lights can sit atop a nightstand, an end table, or a bookshelf for a late-night sense of direction.
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Yogasleep Duet Sound Machine & Night Light
This night light spares no features. Key qualities are the multicolor LED lights and sound machine functions (30 non-looping sounds, by the way). It’s also BPA-free and rechargeable, and you can set it to 45-minute, 90-minute or 8-hour increments to appease your little one (see: you) throughout the night.
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MoMA Snoopy Portable First Light
Snoopy has been the comeback kid of the 2020s, though we suppose some might say he never left. He was never a night light, anyway. Now, thankfully, he is—in silicone LED night light form. He’s also wireless and portable, so he can don any bedside table sans outlet and smile gently over a sleeping angel—whether that’s your little one or you.
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Pottery Barn Kids Ceramic Moon Nightlight
Dare we say this is the most precious on the list, and while it doesn’t have any of the bells and whistles night lights can have these days (white noise machines, motion sensors, remote controls), it performs exactly the task of a good night light—look cute and illuminate.
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Rejuvenation Edison Mini Table Lamp (Set of 3)
We’re sneaking another table lamp on here because it achieves exactly the anticipated need of a night light, which is a micro light source you don’t have to plug in and out, or turn on and off. These can also be used outdoors, in case you’re looking for something somewhat versatile. This model has three brightness settings, a rechargeable battery, and its silicone exterior makes it water-resistant.