In this review, we’re going to go in-depth with the Luminette 3 and see how they stack up to the competition!

  • Learn More

The aim of light therapy products is to align your circadian rhythm and alleviate the symptoms of insomnia, depression, and seasonal affective disorder.

What Are the Luminette Glasses?

The original Luminette device came out in 2006 and was one of the first portable light therapy devices on the market.

Since then the design and function have been improved upon several times, culminating in the device we have today.

graphic showing evolution of the luminette light therapy glasses

The new and improved Luminette 3 uses an adjustable bright white light to wake you up!

Check out our review video below if that’s more your speed!

What’s in the Box?

What does the Luminette come with?

luminette package contents

Inside you’ll find:

  • The Luminette 3 glasses
  • Storage case
  • Silicone ear wing tips
  • Micro-USB charging cable and brick
  • Instruction manual and warranty card

I’m not crazy about the charging being done via Micro-USB… but oh well, maybe in the next version, we’ll get USB-C.

The battery life is good for about 5 sessions and it will take around 2 hours to charge it up.

Session times vary from 20 to 60 minutes depending on the brightness level you select.

Specifications

  • Weight: 52.5g
  • Warranty: 2 years
  • LED Color: 8000K white light
  • Session time: 20-60 mins
  • Battery life: 5 sessions
  • Charge time: 2 hours
  • Guarantee: 30 days

When you turn the Luminette on, its battery life indicator will show you how much life it has left.

The Luminette comes with a compact carrying case, which is a very nice feature when it comes to using this for travel and jet lag.

Here it is compared with the AYO’s case, pretty similar!

luminette versus ayo case top view
luminette case versus ayo case side view

But anyway, here’s the Luminette!

The Luminette is just a bit larger and heavier than the AYO glasses we reviewed:

ayo versus luminette top view
ayo versus luminette side view

The size difference isn’t all that much though.

It comes equipped with a special hologram that reflects its light in an interesting way…

The light coming from the Luminette separates out into a rainbow of light that hits the eyes, as well as a white light that hits your cheeks just under your eyes.

close up of luminette hologram and nose piece

The idea here is to fit the Luminette so that the blue band from the hologram is hitting the lower part of your eye.

What’s it Like Using the Luminette?

I used the Luminette for a few weeks, and here’s how I felt about them.

Comfort and Weight

For starters, It’s pretty comfortable! Although I will say it’s not as comfortable as the AYO glasses.

The Luminette weighs in at around 53g, while the AYO weighs around 32g.

the luminette glasses on a scale

The Luminette has a bit more of its weight up front, while the AYO does a better job of distributing its weight more evenly. So when it comes to comfort, the AYO wins here.

I found the nose piece fairly comfortable on the Luminette, and while the temple arms felt a little tight on my head personally (but I have a large head) it wasn’t so bad it caused a headache or anything.

Now the Luminette also comes with optional silicone ear wings that can help to keep them on during more strenuous activity or from slipping further down your nose as you move around in the morning:

luminette silicone wing tips
They just slip right over the temple pieces. Buy Luminette 3

I actually liked having these on once you get them fitted right.

The Light

When it comes to using the Luminette you can choose between one of three brightness levels:

  1. 500 lux for 60 minutes
  2. 1000 lux for 30 minutes
  3. 1500 lux for 20 minutes

The glasses will blink three times and automatically shut off after it’s done with your session so there’s no need to keep track of how long you’ve been using them.

The Luminette can get quite bright, much brighter than the other light therapy glasses out there!

While this makes it one of the most effective devices of its kind, it might be a con to people who are photosensitive.

However, the engineers designed the Luminette with an interesting hologram that bounces much of the bright white light off of your cheeks rather than directly into your eyes.

luminette light shining on eyes and cheeks

So even if you have photosensitivity issues this may still be a comfortable experience despite its relatively bright nature.

I will note that since the Luminette is so bright, it can be very difficult to see in dimly lit environments, so you’ll need some lights on while using this or you’ll be basically blind!

Using the Luminette With Glasses

So what’s it like using the Luminette with glasses?

Not bad at all!

You simply put the Luminette on where you usually would, so that the blue light band is hitting the lower part of your eyes, then place your glasses over them.

Your glasses will stick out a little further than they usually do, but it’s not so bad it’s an annoyance.

Glasses don’t really have any negative impact on the effectiveness of the Luminette so go crazy here you blurry-eyed wonder.

person wearing the luminette light therapy glasses with prescription glasses

Testing the Luminette

Like all of the other light products we reviewed, the Luminette was put through our testing gauntlet to see how it really stacked up against the other light therapy products.

We used our trusty test mannequin, Henry:

mannequin testing the luminette glasses

Henry gives us the ability to accurately measure the light output from the Luminette and compare it to various other light therapy glasses.

How Effective is the Luminette?

The Luminette uses 8 total LEDs, 4 for each eye, that emit an 8000K blue-enriched white light:

shot of luminette LEDs

Measuring the light coming directly from the LEDs was easy, however, measuring the light hitting the eye is a bit more difficult due to the nature of the hologram the Luminette uses.

Unlike the other glasses we’ve tested, the spectrum hitting your eye depends on where the Luminette is placed on your nose.

Luminette recommends that the glasses be placed so that the blue band is hitting the lower portion of your eye.

So we adjusted the glasses to mimic this suggestion, and we found that at this point, the accuracy of the 500-1000-1500 lux specs was the most spot on, so we did our testing here.

luminette light shining onto spectrometer

Here’s the spectrum of light coming from the Luminette:

spectral power distribution graph of the luminette 3 light therapy glasses
Spectral power distribution graph of the Luminette 3

Here are the measurements we got from our readings for you nerds:

Our Measurements

  • Brightness: 500-1500 lux
  • Total Power: 163-461 µW/cm2
  • Circadian Light: 762-2307 CLA
  • Circadian Stimulus (30 min): 0.489-0.621
  • Melanopic EDI: 597-1689

Even at their dimmest, the Luminette glasses exceed the circadian stimulus minimum of 0.3 and the melanopic EDI standard of 250, so I have no problem recommending these.

How do they stack up against our other favorite, the AYO? This is where things can get interesting…

bar graph comparing lux from ayo and luminette glasses
bar graph comparing circadian light from ayo and luminette glasses

As you can see, the narrowband blue light that the AYO glasses use results in a much dimmer, but fairly effective pair of light therapy glasses.

The Luminette is definitely more effective if you intend to use it at the high setting while the medium setting is just a bit stronger than the AYO.

This comes at a price, however, as the Luminette is anywhere from 5-15x brighter than the AYO, which some people may find uncomfortable.

For those curious here’s a graph comparing the strength of the AYO versus the 3 brightness settings on the Luminette.

spectral power distribution graph comparing ayo and luminette glasses

As you can see, despite the AYO’s low brightness, it is still peaking at a similar strength to the Luminette on High. However, the Luminette contains far more energy overall, making it clearly the more effective light therapy choice when used at its brightest setting.

Electromagnetic Fields

Once upon a time, the older Luminette models came with an app. Unfortunately, the app is only available on Android and has since been abandoned, last updated on Feb 16, 2016.

This means it’s incompatible with the current version of Android, in other words, completely unusable.

The worst part?

The Luminette 3 still emits Bluetooth radiation, the entire time it’s on.

luminette setting off emf meter
Measuring was done using the GQ EMF 390

Personally, I’m not crazy about nn-EMF around my head, I try to avoid it. This may not bother you, or you may think a little Bluetooth in the morning is worth it since the Luminette is so useful and effective.

I just want to make sure you’re making an informed choice since Lucimed doesn’t really advertise anywhere that this device is emitting wireless radiation.

Studies on the Luminette

For those of you interested in this kind of thing, the Luminette devices have been put through some clinical trials.

They link to 5 studies on their website and mention that they have several more in progress.

Let’s go over a few of them.

In this first study published in 2018, 17 participants were recruited to compare the melatonin suppression effects of the Luminette when used at night.

Participants were randomly assigned to either the normal Luminette group at 1500 lux for two hours preceding bedtime, or a control group using a Luminette emitting red light at 150 lux.

The study authors found that the Luminette device significantly suppressed melatonin, as one might expect.

There was also an increase in reaction time and alertness.

luminette melatonin suppression graph

This study clearly shows the ability of the Luminettes light to affect circadian biology.

Another single-blinded study showed a marked improvement in delayed sleep phase disorder in teens using the Luminette after one week. With a significant change in the time they went to bed and the total sleep time.

Conclusion

The Luminette is currently the most powerful portable light therapy device on the market!

They work excellently with glasses and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

The reflective hologram does a great job of keeping the glare to a minimum while maximizing the circadian-stimulating effectiveness of the light.

If you’re looking for the most convenient and effective light therapy, look no further!

With a 30-day money-back guarantee what’s to lose?!

If the EMF respect of the Luminette bothers you, I recommend checking out the AYO instead, which we’ve reviewed here.

Luminette 3 Light Therapy Glasses

luminette light therapy glasses product photo

Pros

  • Most effective light therapy glasses on the market!
  • Customizable brightness levels
  • Works very well with glasses

Cons

  • The app doesn’t work and the device emits Bluetooth radiation nonstop during use
  • Might be too bright for some

Use coupon code OPTIMIZE10 for 10% off!

  • Learn more

Now check out our guide on 20 Ways to Align Your Circadian Rhythm for more tips on how to get better sleep!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *