Browon Best Camping Lantern - Solar Rechargeable LED Light Premium Grade Sturdy Materials | Portable, Bright, Collapsible, Lightweight | Perfect for Hiking Camping Backpacking Hunting Emergency

THIS IS ACTUALLY A 4 STAR REVIEW, but I wanted to get your attention, so I only gave it three star.... my apologies about this, and sorry to the manufacturer for the low rating, but I hope this long, in-depth review makes up for that. I am here to give you honest input about this lantern that I bought with my own moolah... period. If you still care to, please read on for the facts. And again, sorry for my odd tactic.HERE'S EVERYTHING IN A NUTSHELL...It's a super simple to use lantern that doesn't come with any instructions. Three AA alkaline replaceable (or rechargeable) batteries are required to be installed into the base which work in tandem with the hard-wired 600 mAh solar-charging Ni-MH battery pack which is located under the solar panel. All these batteries are claimed necessary for an extended run time past the advertised 5 hours at full charge. The AAs can be rechargeable too if desired, but, as far as I can tell, cannot be charged in or by the lantern itself. (FYI... rechargeable AA's do not run as long as alkaline batteries, but are eco-friendlier). There is no car charger, but if your car has an inverter with a standard 2 prong wall outlet, it should charge the lantern using its supplied a/c cord (see pic). The lantern's USB will NOT charge the lantern as it is an output for accessories only.To turn the lantern on, simply pull up on the top to the desired height. The height controls how much light comes out. There is no on or off button, no high/low modes, no blinking SOS, no status indicator (other than the little red LED to show it's charging status), and no Battery Low indicator or any display for that matter.There are two ports on this lantern; an a/c charging port (in only) that works with the supplied a/c cord and a USB accessory port (out only). There is a solar charging panel on the top that begins charging the internal Ni-MH AAA battery pack the instant you put the lantern in sunlight. Like charging the lantern via a/c, solar charging will activate the small red charging status LED too (I don't believe the red LED ever turns green when fully charged, which may cause an over-charge to this lantern at some point). It does come with an unbelievably short and cheap a/c charging cord (see pic) for charging from the wall. It does NOT come with a USB cord or car charger of any kind. The lantern is capable of powering certain small devices via the USB port, but charging the lantern with its USB port will not work. It is strictly an accessory port.The lantern does not get warm or hot when on or when charging (unless you seriously overcharge it- if so, stop charging immediately). When charging it via solar, definitely do not leave it in a hot car unless you want to melt it for a good laugh (avoid greenhouse affect). There is no listed lumens output for this lantern, but I would guess it's under 180 lumens which is fine for general camping and going to the little girls/boys room late at night. It lights your way and the immediate surrounding area with a reasonably bright warm glow. The more you pull the top up, the more light you let out. There is no indication that it's waterproof- no rubber seals anywhere, but the box says it is water resistant. The lantern has an estimated 5 hour runtime from the internal rechargeable batteries. Its total runtime is affected by outdoor temperature and is extended by the three AA backup batteries you install. There is no way to know which batteries are specifically powering the lantern. Simply turn the solar panel counter-clockwise a little to gain access to the internal rechargeable Ni-MH batteries (a shrink-wrapped pack of three AAA 600mAh batteries hard wired into the lantern) which are under strapped in under solar panel.The lantern's USB charge port will charge my older flip phones, bluetooth earbud and even powers a USB fan, (see pic), however, the lantern's light will not come on when powering anything through the USB port. The lantern has is no storage on board to hold the cables you'll want to keep with it. Along with the regular wall charging cord, I also twist tie a short USB to USB mini cord that also has a USB mini to USB micro hard plastic adaptor attached to it so I have virtually all USB plugs covered with the least amount of cords. The lantern is entirely made of plastic except for the two metal hangers. It weighs around a quarter of a pound. Height closed is 4-7/8inch, height open is 7-1/4inch, diameter is 3-1/2inch, handle length is 2-3/4inch.CAUTIONS AND OTHER THINGS TO KNOW... The way this lantern is designed, it is best to MAKE SURE the AA bottom battery cover is screwed down fairly tight. This is not only to hold in and protect the AA batteries from moisture and dirt, it's because the internal side of the AA battery holder houses a spring-loaded on/off pressure switch that engages when you lift the top up or push it down (you can hear a faint click when lifting the top up and down). The battery holder is held in with 4 small phillips-head screws. The problem is what they screw into... 4 unbelievably flimsy plastic screw mounts. The design seems to get away with this because the strong battery cover screws down tight which helps strengthen the bottom and keeps the pressure switch from forcing the battery holder to rip out.TIP: If for some reason the pop-up action on your lantern gets jammed, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FORCE IT! You'll need to remove the three AA batteries from the base and CAREFULLY unscrew the battery holder's phillips-head screws (taking note of the holder's exact orientation- mark it with tape, a marker or a scribe as it has to go back in the same orientation). Slowly remove the battery holder and look for any wires that appear to be getting in the way of the up/down movement of the pressure switch arm. Carefully move suspect wires out of the way and put the battery holder back in exactly the same orientation it was removed. DO NOT CUT OR BREAK THE WIRE CONNECTIONS unless you are prepared to re-solder them. Often, just the act of removing and replacing the battery holder is enough to fix any jam.SUMMARY... IMHO, this lantern is super simple to use, but due to it's simplistic nature, the unit is prone to eating it's own internal battery. I totally believe that it's great to not worry about how something works, especially a fun camp lantern, but if it's designed poorly and built cheap with no functioning safeguards, you can bet there is a reason it doesn't cost a lot. In this case, due to a lack of internal electronic protections, the lantern is prone to becoming overcharged. Even so, the lantern will probably still last a year or 2 before the battery pack needs to be replaced. Being aware of charge times could lengthen its overall reliability, but you bought it because it was simple to use. There in lies the rub!THIS HAS BEEN A 100% GLUTEN-FREE REVIEW UNTAINTED BY MANUFACTURERS OR SELLERS. I hope it has helped.UPDATE 5/31/20- Lantern still work okay, but haven't used it much. I installed a on-off switch so I can switch between the internal rechargeable batteries and the 4 replaceable AA in the bottom of the unit. It's neat to see the strength between the two battery systems.12/31/21- Still not using it much, but it still works fine.

This light is soooo bright. It will light up the entire campsite. We forgot to put the batteries in it for backup on our second trip, since we took them out for storage. It worked every day without fail just on solar power alone. The USB port is useless to charge back up your phone before hitting civilization, but that is what your car is for. I didn't try to charge smaller USB items, but it seems to be more of a gimmicky feature. The solar light turns on when you open the unit only about 1/2". That is enough light to sit out and eat a midnight snack. If you open it all the way, make sure that you don't look directly at it. It could light up multiple campsites. The battery backup availability was the main reason I got this one, but I don't think it was necessary for this lantern.

This is a fairly compact outdoor light. It is kind of dim compared to most portable lights, not sure of comparison to other solar lights. It works easily just pull up on handles the amount of light you want but full up only gives a rather dim effect, maybe if camping and it is pitch dark it might seem bright. It comes with an AC power charge cord which was unexpected as the description did not mention it could also be charged by AC it just stated it was solar. The charge cord was really loose in a socket, any tension and it fell out. I might recommend this to a friend but with caveats.

I did not get this product for free. I actually bought it. So far, it seems to work as expected. Solar charging works great. The battery back up it a nice touch.The reason for the 4star rating, the power cable that comes with the unit is worthless. Great idea, but the plug is so sloppy in any wall outlet, you cannot charge the unit unless you physically hold the plug in place. Get rid of the plug or use a standard size plug that will actually plug into an outlet and the unit would be a 5star rating.

5 stars if the plug wasn't bootleg. It's super skinny and you have to play with it to stay in the plug and charge. Not the best of feelings as you can hear the "electric buzz/crack/zap as you try to get it to stay plugged in. Smh. I have other plugs that should work.Good price for nice bright light. This is all initial review and time may tell otherwise. Had it for 6 days and haven't had to rely on it. Ijs

Awesome little light! I use it to light the room at night when I am watching movies, to check on my animals at the barn - that little handle allows you to hang it anywhere and the light casts widely. It just keeps running and running. I am off grid and plug it in when the genie is running on cloudy days and put it on the deck to charge in the sunlight. Seems sturdy - love the push-down feature to shut it off and control the amount of light. I haven't even put batteries in it for backup - haven't needed to, and it runs for hours each night.Great value for the money.

Living in a rural area we always keep emergency supplies on hand. These are a must have. After this order arrived we discovered these are even much brighter than others that we have. Our daughter and her family live next door and recently we had a power outage for over three hours in the late evening so of course they were over to borrow our solar lights so the grandchildren could shower and get ready for bed. I don't know how well the solar recharge will hold up but otherwise we won't be without these lights.

This latern is awesome. It expands and contracts to make it easily stowable while also offering the best amount of light. The solar power keeps you from having to conatantly replace batteries. There a space for batteries to be inserted in case the charge runs out, but I haven't had it run out on me yet. You are also able to charge your electronics with it as well, being that there is a usb port built in. I haven't tried that out just yet, so I can't speak to how well it charges electronics while also maintaining quality light. Overall I'm very happy with this purchase and you will be too.