Best Solar Camping Lantern for Your Next Camping Trip [2021 Reviewed]
Choosing the right lantern from the variety of options on the market may be a tiring and hectic job. Camping is all fun until you find yourself in the middle of a dark night, wishing you had thought of a solution beforehand.
Solar lanterns are much safer than most flame-lit lanterns, and their technology keeps improving as they evolve. This makes them more reliable to use both for outdoor and indoor activities.
This review walks you through some of the best solar camping lanterns, their features, their advantages, and their downsides, if any.
Comparison Chart
Best Solar Camping Lantern Reviews
MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 Lantern
This is a lightweight and durable lantern, and there are no additional batteries needed for this product to work. You only need to expose it to sunlight for 7 hours, and it accumulates enough charge to serve you for more than 24 hours. It also has an efficient solar panel and mobile charging capabilities.
Budget-wise, this lantern is quite affordable. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to go camping with an emergency backup to light your tent or charge your phone if the battery dies.
Review
The MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 offers the versatility of use, making it one of the best lanterns to use when camping. It includes LEDs that are white in color, so they provide diffusing light with a lovely ambiance. This solar lantern produces 150 lumens that offer ample illumination.
Furthermore, fast charging is an additional feature. It has the ability to accumulate a charge with ease, and this provides ambient light for longer hours during the night. The included handle makes it easier to carry and reposition if need be. You can also hook the lantern somewhere advantageous whenever you are using it.
The product offers a dual-use feature, as one can use this lantern to also recharge their phones. When fully charged, it can boost your cell to a maximum of 34% within 1 1/2 hours before it drains completely. It may not be much, but it is twice as much as what other charging lanterns offer.
Its material is of high quality and is durable. This lantern is bright enough to light up a cooking area or even offer enough light for a study table while hanging in the tent. This makes it extremely versatile in how it's used.
This lamp also has a 3-battery indicator that you can use to tell the amount of charge remaining. Finally, adjustable straps make it easier to hook or hang.
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LuminAID PackLite Spectra Solar Lantern
If you are looking for a lantern that will last relatively long once fully charged, then this one may be the right product for you. It measures 4.7 inches high and 4.75 inches wide. Its lighting spreads over a wide area of 125 sq. ft. This comes from its 75 lumens. The lantern also features lightweight construction. Hence, it is easy to use when hiking or fishing.
Review
The LuminAID PackLite Lantern has some of the best well-known features that make it stand out among the best lanterns of the year.
This device has 7 different color modes, including a white LED mode and a multi-color fade rainbow mode. These modes are perfect to use for indoor lighting, though they can also shine just as brightly in outdoor environments.
This lantern is more versatile and can be used in different applications, including hiking, camping, picnics, pool party, studying, and much more. Its long battery life can serve you for up to 12 hours once the lantern is fully charged. It is exclusively solar-powered, so you do not need any additional batteries.
Additionally, This device supports a two-way charging system - solar and USB. This makes it more reliable since, even on cloudy days, you can choose to charge your lantern through the USB and still have light when the night falls.
Most solar lanterns are said to be a little heavy. This feature was taken into consideration, and its lightweight design makes it easy to carry and store. Its carrying handle, in turn, makes it possible to hook when hiking.
The lantern's outer material is made of a rugged TPU that is heavy-duty and ensures that the product endures all harsh environments. It is airtight for 100% dustproof and waterproof capabilities.
The lamp has a battery size of 1000mAh. This is enough to accumulate a good charge whenever you recharge during the day. It also includes a battery charge indicator that shows you the amount of power in the battery and its draining capacity.
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Kizen Solar Powered LED Camping Lantern
This solar lantern features a portable design that allows the user to expand and compress the lamp when charging it during the day. It is highly durable and delivers just as expected. This makes it highly rated, and it is one of the best lanterns we’ve selected for you. It is waterproof and features a collapsible design.
Review
Considering the unique features exhibited by this solar lantern, this is an item that you don’t want to miss out on.
It is built with a space-saving design. If you are looking for a lantern that will save you space and can be handled with ease, this is it. Kizen exhibits a foldable design that gives it a smaller size and shape, which makes it easy to carry and store.
There are also numerous lighting options. This camping lantern includes three lighting modes - high, SOS, and low modes. This makes it suitable to use in cases of emergency or whenever there is a power outage. The three modes, plus a good battery life, will give you the desired results.
This item has a portable power bank, which means that you can use this lantern to recharge your phone. When camping, this will serve as an excellent power backup for your mobile phone, as well as a backup to light up your tent.
The lantern comes with built-in fail-safes to enhance safety. This prevents overcharging or over-discharging, which minimizes the chances of the circuits experiencing overheating, which could damage them.
This lantern also comes with a lifetime warranty, and this ensures that you feel protected and safe when using the Kizen Camping Lantern.
It is splash-proof rated, and this makes sure that your product is safe and secure in all weather conditions. The handle can be used to hang this unit, as well as extend it, and the solar panel should face upwards when charging.
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SUAOKI Led Camping Lantern
Your camping gear is not complete if you lack this lantern in your accessories. One of the best things about it is its affordability. The SUAOKI LED Camping Lantern is a popular solar lantern that comes with almost everything you need, from multiple charging systems to different brightness modes. Take a look at the features below that come with the purchase of this product.
Review
As mentioned, this lantern has a dual charging system. The SUAOKI LED lantern can either be charged directly from the sun or through a built-in micro USB port. This makes it ideal for fishing, traveling, camping, or even indoor activities.
Like the previous item, this lantern also has three lighting modes. It features high, low, and SOS lighting modes for use in any preferable situations. When using the low mode, you can access light for up to 10 hours, and you can expect 5 hours of light when using high mode.
The foldable, durable design ensures that it takes up minimal space in your backpack when going camping. It can be adjusted to any given area to fulfill your needs, and it has a handle that can be used to hang the lantern in an advantageous spot.
This lantern supports dual usage, as you can use it for lighting as well as a power bank charger. This is mainly for gadgets with a built-in USB port. Having this option keeps you less worried that your phone may die while you are enjoying the serenity of nature.
The lantern is versatile and can be used in lots of activities, such as hiking, camping, and as a lighting source for reading.
Security and safety are always important features to consider when choosing a solar-powered lantern. This product has a built-in smart protection chip that protects the lamp from short-circuiting, over-discharging, or overcharging.
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Goal Zero Crush Light Solar Powered Lantern
Are you looking for a lightweight solar lantern that is reliable and bound to serve you for a long time? If so, you need to try the Goal Zero Crush Light to experience its impressive features and distinct advantages.
Have you ever thought of experiencing a yellow-orange blended color right around your campfire? This lantern's bright LED lights do this for you. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about darkness or a drained phone battery while you enjoy your holiday camping.
Review
The Goal Zero features four lighting modes, which include high, medium, soft, and low. There is also a candle flicker mode. It also exhibits 60 lumens of light on high mode and can operate for up to 35 hours when running on low mode. The candle flicker mode works by dimming or flickering the light randomly, mimicking a candle.
This lantern offers a dual charging system. It can either be charged by direct sunlight or with a USB. The USB can be used in cases where one cannot access the sunlight but they need to recharge their battery to use when darkness falls.
Additionally, this lantern can collapse, making it easy to store when not in use. The handle is right on top of the lantern to ensure secure handling when in use.
The weatherproof feature of this lantern protects your lantern from weather changes and helps make it waterproof and dustproof.
It also offers a fast recharge and long running time. Runtime is known to vary based on the light mode you are using. As mentioned earlier, it can take up to 35 hours under low light mode.
There are also built-in safety features, which means that your gadget will never heat up, overcharge, or even undercharge.
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FINAL VERDICT
At this point, we can conclude that these lanterns are the best options for lighting whenever you go out camping. They all exhibit excellent features that differentiate them from the variety of other choices on the market. Solar-powered camping lanterns are a good alternative for both indoor and outdoor activities.
Different people will make different choices based on their preferences. For instance, hikers are likely to go for the Goal Zero Crush Light solar lantern. This is because of its lightweight nature and how easy it is to fold. It also has the longest runtime (35 hours) when compared to other discussed lanterns when in low mode.
There are other features that boost the Goal Zero Crush even higher. The fact that it has an added candle flicker capability, supports dual charging, and can act as a power bank makes it all you need out there. This makes it one of the most high-functioning lanterns you can have.
Price plays a vital role in the products we purchase, as well. For instance, if the cost is your primary determinant, then you might consider the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0. This product is affordable, and it exhibits all the necessary features you might need.
Choices are not easy to make, but from the information given in this quick guide, you are in a better position to make the right selection and go for nothing but the best product. Happy camping!
