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The Lumio Ovo Tilts Toward Portable Illumination

It’s become commonplace to add a rechargeable outdoor lantern or two to shed some light across an outdoor patio or balcony when al fresco dining is on the menu. But until recently, modern lamps sans the power cord designed for inside the home have been few and far between; those available would hardly warrant attention for their design, prioritizing function over form. And that’s a shame, because the reality is there’s not always a convenient outlet to plug into where you most need a light. The Lumio Ovo is amongst one of the more design-forward options available today, a lithium polymer battery powered table lamp glowing with sculptural elegance even while off.

A Lumio Ovo table lamp with an adjustable arm illuminates a corner of a living room featuring a dark green sofa and a marble table with books.

Inspired by the playground staple – the see-saw – the seamless anodized aluminum lamp is comprised as a two-sided balancing act between a sculpted shade for directing light and a secondary small opaline sphere. The design lands visually somewhere between Michael Anastassiades’ IC Lights for Flos and Peter Stathis’ 360º pivoting Trapeze LED lamp, combining the sculptural poise of the former with the counterweighted movement of the latter – a captivating silhouette that tempts the curious to investigate whether the lamp balances confidently or precariously.

A person's hand adjusting the angle of a modern Lumio Ovo table lamp with a spherical white light.

The Ovo is designed to rotate 360º  with just a gentle nudge, delivering a warm white 3000K temperature light from its light dome and an even warmer 2700K from the light ball counterpart.

A hand adjusting a modern Lumio Ovo table lamp in a living room with a green sofa and a book titled "The Monocle Guide to Good Business.

Without a listed brightness its hard to say whether the Ovo would operate as a primary light source for work, but as a secondary ambient light it should most certainly shine. With 4 levels of brightness controllable by a touch operation, the USB-C port rechargeable desk lamp offers up to 6 hours of use at the brightest setting, sipping a meager 2 watts from its 3500mAH lithium polymer battery (the same capacity used in high powered flashlights).

Lumio Ovo table lamp with a wide conical base and a USB-C port for recharging

A modern Lumio Ovo table lamp with an elongated arm and two spherical ends, set on a wooden table against a beige wall angled upward to the left.

A minimalist Lumio Ovo table lamp with a matte gold finish sits on a wooden table, featuring a balanced design with one spherical and one circular light.

Modern Lumio Ovo table lamp with an illuminated spherical bulb and a circular domed shade, poised on a table in a room with soft lighting and tan walls with its right side angled upward.

Lumio is offering the Ovo in a matte silver (actually aluminum) and a more ritzy matte gold finish, each retailing at a pre-sale price of $375 before its planned September 2024 release. For further info, head over to hellolumio.com.

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Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.