These Philips Hue lamps solved our apartment dining dilemma

As an apartment dweller, I'm constantly looking for creative ways to solve one of the most annoying problems associated with apartment rentals: ugly flush-mounted ceiling lights.

You know what I mean. They're usually domed, they're cheap, and when we moved into our current apartment, they were outfitted with fluorescent lights that gave our dining room all the charm of a hospital operating room.

What are we Really We needed pendant lights that would hang from the ceiling, perfect for giving our dining table a well-lit yet warm ambience – anything that would give our apartment a glow.

But as any renter knows, installing pendants in our apartment turned out to be a bummer, so we came up with other ideas. Floor lamps on the sides of the dining table? Perhaps, but it won't help us much with dish lighting. An arc lamp? We tried it and it was a big failure: the only one small enough for our cramped space kept plopping down on the table while we ate.

We also tried some of them small rechargeable table lamps you see in restaurants, but they turned out to be a waste of money. Even the ones that looked good enough had barely any battery life, took forever to recharge, and one of the lights we bought literally fell apart after a couple of months. Ugh.

I also circled this Philips Hue portable lamp– in particular, Hue Go. It was the right size for our dining room table, had the right look, and most importantly, was elegant. I already had a bunch of Philips Hue lights in my apartment, so the Go fit in perfectly.

The only thing Hue Go lacked was an affordable price. With a list price of $175.99, the Go isn't as expensive as some other Hue bulbs, but I was still not happy with the price.

Ben Patterson / Foundry

Finally, I went ahead and bought a couple of Hue Go lights – and yes, I paid full price (Amazon didn't have any discounts at the time). It was a big strain on our budget, but I decided it made more sense than throwing away money on additional cheap lamps.

The Hue Go bulbs I bought can be connected either directly to your phone via Bluetooth or to your home network via the Philips Hue Bridge. I already had a Hue Bridge, so I was able to quickly connect the Go bulbs and add them to my existing smart lighting routines, which is perfect for having the bulbs glow with cool daylight colors during the day and warmer hues at night.

Each lamp comes with a hockey puck-shaped charger with a cord that plugs into a wall outlet. You can put the Go lamp on a charger to keep it lit day and night, or it can be battery powered when you take it on the go (pun intended, I guess).

Ben Patterson / Foundry

What is the battery life of Hue Go? It depends on how bright it shines. If you set the brightness to maximum, the Go will run for about an hour or two. Dim the lights and Goh can potentially run for the rest of the day.

So here's the plan with the new Go lamps: During the day, they were placed on the sides of the room, resting on the chargers. At dinner we placed them on the dining room table, battery operated, and they were perfect for what I hoped would be a more elegant lighting effect on our dinners.

Ben Patterson / Foundry

We tried it, and bam—the dining room instantly lit up. Our dining experience felt much cozier, the dining room's lighting scheme matched the ambience created by my other planned Hue lights, and best of all, the Hue Go bulbs worked reliably, barely missing a beat during a year of heavy use. Go lamps have Once or twice during the meal we ran out of juice, but this was a surprisingly rare occurrence considering how long our dinners usually take.

I truly believe the Hue Go portable lamp is worth the money at its list price of $175.99, but if you check Amazon you'll see that the black version is currently on sale for just $105.27.40 percent discount. Do yourself a favor and get two of these.

Buy the Philips Hue Go Portable Table Lamp on Amazon.

This article is part A Detailed Review of TechHive's Best Smart Flashlights.