Halogen lamps deliver a crisp, white light, not only is the quantity of the light greater than a standard incandescent of comparable wattage, but the quality of the light creates a higher contrast for reading and other tasks. Standard incandescent lamps and halogen lamps both use tungsten filaments.

However, the filament in the standard lamp evaporates over time, causing it to weaken and eventually break. The gasses inside halogen laps allow the evaporated tungsten to find its way back to the filament and redeposit, ensuring a long life of 2,000 hours or more.