I have both in my bathroom, because I didn't trust that the mirror light would be enough, and the one I chose (which has significantly gone up in price since I bought it) doesn't have an option to wire the light to a light switch without also affecting the receptacle inside. That aside, I took two pictures to show the difference. The pictures don't do it enough justice, but you should be able to see a bit of a difference. During construction, the mirror light was bright enough to serve as temporary lighting, and personally I think it's an ok brightness without the vanity light. But I just use it as supplemental lighting occasionally. Using mirror light Using vanity light More on reddit.com

For future people, I did some more research and found the one that met all my criterion: ExBrite

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I had a lighted vanity mirror/medicine cabinet, in a prior home. I thought it looked really ultra-modern and cool. But, overall, I didn't find it very practical. Obviously, the light can't be too bright, or you'd simply be blinded by trying to look at yourself in the mirror. But, without a bright enough like to shine on you, reflect off your face, and then reflect off the mirror, it doesn't really do much, and you need other lighting anyway. And, as you noted, when the light fails, you don't just pop in a new bulb, and it usually means replacing the whole thing. So, it's a trade-off--it looks great, but it's not really practical, and you'll need an additional vanity light(s) anyway. However, there is a potential alternative, and that's a lighted, pull-out, wall-mounted shaving/makeup mirror. I have one now and love it. As for lights to the sides of the vanity or above it? I always recommend above. You'll want bright light, for shaving, putting on makeup, etc. But, if that bright light is next to the mirror, at around eye level, then it can be blinding. Light above the mirror means you're not really looking directly at it. More on reddit.com

I got some professionals in to remodel this bathroom which was 25 years old and falling to bits. The mirror has led backlighting and I can adjust the brightness and colour, so I’ve got it on low and will probably leave it switched on as it adds a nice low glow to the upstairs landing so we won’t need to switch the main lights on so much after dark. Just some painting to do in this room now, I’m going for white as it’s windowless. More on reddit.com