Best Godox Video Lights for Streaming and Vlogging: ML40Bi, ML40R, FL15Bi, LC500R and the EazyFlow Softboxes

Updated · Researched and written by Elan Harpaz · How we pick

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Short answer

For most people the best godox video light is the Godox ML40Bi, $99 when we checked it on 2026-09-14. A key light for a desk or a bag: bi-colour, battery and USB-C, app control.

Best on a budget:
Godox FL15Bi ($99 on 2026-09-14). Lighting a face on a night walk, held or clipped to a strap.
Best on a budget:
Godox EazyFlow Rect 40 Softbox ($49 on 2026-09-14). Softening a Bowens-mount COB at desk distance.
Best for most people:
Godox ML40Bi ($99 on 2026-09-14). A key light for a desk or a bag: bi-colour, battery and USB-C, app control.
Best for most people:
Godox LC500R ($154 on 2026-09-14). A background or a hand-held reveal on camera.
Best for most people:
Godox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox ($59 on 2026-09-14). Round catchlights and a wider wrap from a single light.
Best if you want the most:
Godox ML40R ($119 on 2026-09-14). The same key light with full RGB for the day it points at the wall.

Researched, not tested: we have not handled these products. Verdicts come from published specs, owner reviews read at volume, and our own weekly price record. No paid placements, and commissions never change our rankings.

Godox is the value brand of studio lighting, and its small lights are the ones a streamer or a phone filmmaker actually buys: a pocket COB in bi-colour or RGB, a flashlight-shaped light for night shooting, an RGB tube for backgrounds, and quick-fold softboxes for the bigger studio heads.

The ML40Bi is the one to buy first. It is a 40 W class COB the size of a deck of cards with a built-in battery, USB-C power and app control, bright enough to be the key light a metre from a face. The ML40R is the same body with full colour. The LC500R tube paints a background. The FL15Bi is for a night walk. The EazyFlow softboxes fit a Bowens mount, which the ML40 does not have without an adapter.

  • A key light is the upgrade that makes a webcam look like a camera
  • Bi-colour covers faces, RGB adds a coloured wall
  • Battery plus USB-C on the ML40 and LC500R, so the same light works on a desk and in a bag
  • Softboxes need a Bowens mount, which is on the studio COBs, not the pocket ones
Editor's Choice

Godox ML40Bi Bi-Color LED Video Light, Portable Fill Light, App Control

Best for: A key light for a desk or a bag: bi-colour, battery and USB-C, app control.

A 40 W class bi-colour COB the size of a deck of cards, with a built-in battery, USB-C power, app control and a diffuser dome, for about $89.

$99.00 observed

Check price on Amazon

Our take

Every Godox item on this page is in the Amazon Creator Connections program, which pays this site a higher commission on them for a fixed period. That did not choose the order. The ML40 models are new listings with a handful of ratings; we rank them on the ML series track record and on what the light does, and we say so.

How to choose godox video lights

Decide what the light points at, then how it is powered, then the mount.

  • Key or background: a key light points at a face and needs to be bright and soft: a COB with a diffuser. A background light points at a wall and needs colour and spread: a tube or an RGB panel. One light cannot do both at once.
  • Bi-colour or RGB: bi-colour (warm to cool white) is all a face needs. RGB adds every colour for a wall or an effect. Pay for RGB only if the light will sometimes point away from you.
  • Power: a built-in battery means the light works in a bag; USB-C power means it never runs down on a desk. The ML40 and LC500R have both. The FL15Bi is battery only.
  • Mount: Godox's studio COBs and most Aputure lights use a Bowens ring, which every EazyFlow softbox fits. The ML40 uses Godox's small ML mount and needs a separate Bowens adapter for a softbox.
  • Diffusion: a bare COB is hard light. The ML40 ships with a small dome; a softbox at desk distance is softer and more flattering. Budget for one if the light is a key.

None of these is a ring light. A ring light is a flat, even wash for makeup and close-ups; a COB with a softbox shapes a face.

At a glance

Best Godox Video Lights for Streaming and Vlogging: ML40Bi, ML40R, FL15Bi, LC500R and the EazyFlow Softboxes compared

Godox FL15Bi Bi-Color LED Video Flash Light, GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Rect 40 × 40cm Square Softbox, Godox ML40Bi Bi-Color LED Video Light, Godox LC500R Mini Handheld RGB Tube Light, GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Octa 60 23.6" Octagonal Softbox, Godox ML40R RGB LED Video Light compared on tier, price, our rating, and who each one is for.
PickTierPrice, and when observedOur ratingBest for
Godox FL15Bi Bi-Color LED Video Flash LightBudget Pick$99.00 on 2026-09-147.4 / 10Lighting a face on a night walk, held or clipped to a strap.
GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Rect 40 × 40cm Square SoftboxBudget Pick$49.00 on 2026-09-147.6 / 10Softening a Bowens-mount COB at desk distance.
Godox ML40Bi Bi-Color LED Video LightBest Value$99.00 on 2026-09-148.1 / 10A key light for a desk or a bag: bi-colour, battery and USB-C, app control.
Godox LC500R Mini Handheld RGB Tube LightBest Value$154.00 on 2026-09-148.0 / 10A background or a hand-held reveal on camera.
GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Octa 60 23.6" Octagonal SoftboxBest Value$59.00 on 2026-09-147.7 / 10Round catchlights and a wider wrap from a single light.
Godox ML40R RGB LED Video LightPremium Pick$119.00 on 2026-09-148.1 / 10The same key light with full RGB for the day it points at the wall.

The full breakdown

Budget Pick★ 7.4 / 10

Godox FL15Bi Bi-Color LED Video Flash Light, Photography Flashlight

Best for: Lighting a face on a night walk, held or clipped to a strap.

The Godox FL15Bi is shaped like a torch and used like one: a bi-colour beam you hold or clip to a bag strap to light a face at night. It is the only light here with no USB-C desk mode, so it belongs in a bag rather than on a desk.

The beam is narrow, which is what you want at arm's length outdoors and not what you want on a desk. It is a new listing. Owners rate it 4.3 across its first 5 reviews.

What we like

  • + Handheld, battery, bi-colour
  • + Narrow beam for a face at arm's length

Watch outs

  • - No USB-C desk mode
  • - New listing with few reviews
Budget Pick★ 7.6 / 10

GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Rect 40 × 40cm Square Softbox

Best for: Softening a Bowens-mount COB at desk distance.

The Godox EazyFlow Rect 40 is a square softbox that pops open in seconds and mounts on a Bowens ring. At a desk distance it turns a hard COB into a soft, flattering key, which is the single biggest improvement a light can get.

It fits Godox's studio COBs and most Aputure and Amaran heads. It does not fit the ML40 without Godox's Bowens adapter. Owners rate it 4.3 across its first 14 reviews.

What we like

  • + Quick-fold, Bowens mount
  • + About $49

Watch outs

  • - Needs an adapter for the ML40
  • - Few reviews
Best ValueEditor's Choice★ 8.1 / 10

Godox ML40Bi Bi-Color LED Video Light, Portable Fill Light, App Control

Best for: A key light for a desk or a bag: bi-colour, battery and USB-C, app control.

The Godox ML40Bi is the light to buy if a stream or a vlog needs one light. It is a compact COB with a built-in battery for a bag and a USB-C port for a desk, so the same light does both jobs. Colour temperature runs 2800 to 6500 K, which covers a face in any room, and the Godox app sets brightness and colour from a phone.

A metre from a face with the diffuser dome on, it reads as a proper key on a webcam and lifts a phone camera out of grain. Bare, it is hard light; budget for a small softbox or use the dome.

It is a new listing with a handful of ratings; the ML series before it has years of them. The mount is Godox's small ML ring, not Bowens, so a softbox needs the adapter. Owners rate it 5.0 across its first 6 reviews.

What we like

  • + Battery and USB-C, so desk and bag
  • + Bi-colour with app control
  • + Bright enough as a key at a metre

Watch outs

  • - New listing with few reviews
  • - ML mount needs an adapter for Bowens softboxes
Best Value★ 8.0 / 10

Godox LC500R Mini Handheld RGB Tube Light, 2500K-8500K RGB Stick Light with Barndoor&Soft Diffuseur, 20W 360°Full Color CRI 96+ 15 FX Effects LED Lighting Wand with APP Control

Best for: A background or a hand-held reveal on camera.

The Godox LC500R is an RGB tube light with a handle, which makes it two things: a background light that lives behind a desk and paints the wall, and a light you hold up on camera for a reveal or a portrait. The barn doors and the diffuser in the box shape the spread.

It runs from its battery or from USB-C, so it works on a desk and in a bag. It is not a key light: a tube spreads light too evenly to shape a face.

Owners rate it 4.6 across about 150 reviews, the most in this group.

What we like

  • + RGB tube with barn doors and diffuser
  • + Battery or USB-C
  • + 150 ratings at 4.6

Watch outs

  • - Not a key light
  • - About $154
Best Value★ 7.7 / 10

GODOX Softbox EazyFlow Octa 60 23.6" Octagonal Softbox

Best for: Round catchlights and a wider wrap from a single light.

The Godox EazyFlow Octa 60 is the octagonal version: 60 cm across, a grid in the box to control spill, and the same quick-fold frame. The octagon gives round catchlights in the eyes and a wider wrap than the Rect 40, so it is the better single-light softbox for a desk.

Same mount note: Bowens, so studio COBs and Aputure yes, ML40 only with the adapter. Owners rate it 5.0 across its first 3 reviews.

What we like

  • + 60 cm octagon with a grid
  • + Quick-fold, Bowens

Watch outs

  • - Three reviews so far
  • - Needs an adapter for the ML40
Premium Pick★ 8.1 / 10

Godox ML40R RGB LED Video Light, Portable Full-Color Fill Light

Best for: The same key light with full RGB for the day it points at the wall.

The Godox ML40R is the ML40Bi with full colour. Same body, same battery, same USB-C, same app; the difference is an RGB mode with saturation control and a set of effects, so it can be a key light on Monday and a coloured background light on Tuesday.

As a key it performs the same as the Bi. As a background light it is small, so it colours a patch of wall rather than a whole room; for a wall, the LC500R tube spreads further. Buy the R only if the light will change jobs.

Owners rate it 5.0 across its first 4 reviews, which is to say it is new.

What we like

  • + Full RGB on the ML40 body
  • + Battery, USB-C and app control
  • + One light for key and colour

Watch outs

  • - Only $20 cheaper to skip the RGB
  • - Small spread as a background light

Compare these head to head

Godox EazyFlow Rect 40 Softbox vs Godox FL15BiGodox FL15Bi vs Godox ML40BiGodox FL15Bi vs Godox LC500RGodox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox vs Godox FL15BiGodox FL15Bi vs Godox ML40RGodox EazyFlow Rect 40 Softbox vs Godox ML40BiGodox EazyFlow Rect 40 Softbox vs Godox LC500RGodox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox vs Godox EazyFlow Rect 40 SoftboxGodox EazyFlow Rect 40 Softbox vs Godox ML40RGodox LC500R vs Godox ML40BiGodox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox vs Godox ML40BiGodox ML40Bi vs Godox ML40RGodox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox vs Godox LC500RGodox LC500R vs Godox ML40RGodox EazyFlow Octa 60 Softbox vs Godox ML40R

Frequently asked questions about godox video lights

Which Godox light is best for streaming?▾

The ML40Bi as a key light: bi-colour, a built-in battery and USB-C, app control, about $89. Add the LC500R tube if you want colour on the wall behind you.

Do Godox EazyFlow softboxes fit the ML40?▾

Not directly. EazyFlow uses a Bowens mount, which is on Godox's studio COBs and most Aputure lights. The ML40 uses Godox's small ML mount and needs the separate Bowens adapter.

Godox ML40Bi vs ML40R: what is the difference?▾

The R adds full RGB and effects to the same body, battery and app, for about $20 more. Buy it only if the light will sometimes point at the wall instead of your face.

Is the Godox LC500R good as a key light?▾

No. It is an RGB tube for a background or a hand-held reveal. A tube spreads light too evenly to shape a face; pair it with an ML40 as the key.

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