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I’ve had some bad luck this year. I experienced not one, not two, but three extended power outages at my home! One was a natural disaster, where the power was out for 12 hours. The other 2 were power supply related and both lasted around 8 hours. No fun at all, I have to say.
Anyway, I already own a rechargeable torch/lantern with USB port but it is over 10 years old and has lost much of it’s battery capacity.
The existing lantern gave me a couple of hours of light when I needed it most, but it lost it’s charge quite quickly and this meant I had to only use when necessary. For future use I’ve decided to replace it.
After a little research, I ordered an iToncs Rechargeable Camping Lantern.
Lantern Features
This small rechargeable lantern stands at 13.5cm high, 11.5cm wide at the torch head and 8.5cm wide at the torch end. Weight is 410 grams.
Main features are:
- 7500 mAH Battery
- Torch or Lantern Mode
- Powerbank / Charge Other Devices
- Battery Level Indicator
- Adjustable Carry Strap
- Hanging Hook
- 3 Brightness Levels (for both Torch and Lantern modes)
- RGB Colorful Mode
- IPX65 Waterproof (can be splashed by water, but should not be submerged fully under water)
- Solar Charging
One standout feature of this product is how the adjustable strap can be adjusted easily to hold the light as a lantern (vertically) or as a torch (horizontally).
The orange button on the left controls Lamp/Lantern mode.
The button in the middle is not a button, but is a cover for the USB ports.
The button on the right is for the torch light.
My main intention for buying this rechargeable lantern is for emergency power outages and as a night light, however, this lantern would be suitable for other uses such as camping, off grid lighting and parties.
Lantern in Lamp Mode
There are 3 Brightness levels of the LEDs and when you first push the button, it turns on to the lowest light level (120 Lumens). Pushing the button a second time moves you to the medium light level (250 Lumens) and a third push sets the brightest lamp level at 500 Lumens.
When I first tested lamp mode, I had given the device a fresh charge. Over a couple of days, I ran the lamp in the brightest mode for a total of 13 hours before the battery died. This was very good considering they quote 10 hours run time at that setting.
The amount of light given out at the brightest level was enough to read a book with, as long as you set the lamp at a reasonable height (as pictured on my bed-head) so that it can disperse the light out further.
In this mode, light is shone 360 degrees and therefore you do lose some light due to absorption with the object behind it, in this case the wall. You could use a reflector to sit behind it and focus more light outwards if you want, but it is probably better to switch to torch mode if you want a higher intensity focused beam.
Lantern in Party Mode
When you have the lantern on brightest lamp level (after pushing the lamp button 3 times), you can then push it a 4th time to start the RGB party mode.
This initiates a constant cycling of colors starting at red and going through blues, greens, purples and pinks. Pushing the button again stops the cycling and holds the current color.
Great for setting a different mood in the room!
Pressing the lamp button on/off again starts or stops the colors cycling again.
To turn the lamp off, hold the lamp button for 1-2 seconds.
Lantern in Torch Mode
In torch mode, the light throws much further into a focused beam. The highest brightness level puts out a very decent 1,500 Lumens which is more than enough to light up a dark path or even use as a work light at night.
Simply adjust the strap to be able to hold the lantern horizontally like a torch.
Pressing the torch button each time will cycle through the 3 brightness levels and then back to off.
Lantern as a Powerbank – Charging My Phone
After giving the lantern a full charge, I used the supplied USB/USB-C cable to connect my phone (a 5 year old Samsung Galaxy S20) and test out the charging function.
I use a wireless charger for my phone which takes longer to charge than direct-cable charging, but regardless, I set my phone down to be charged when it was at 47% battery remaining.
Checking back in an hour later, the lantern battery indicator was still showing 3/4 strong level and my phone had charged to 67%.
Another hour later and my phone was 87% charged with the lantern showing signs of draining, sitting on 2/4 battery level.
Using the lantern as a powerbank to charge a device definitely drains the battery much quicker compared to just using the light functions, but this was expected.
Anyway, after another 30 minutes the phone was fully charged and the lantern was still sitting on 2/4 battery level.
Not bad at all!
I then took the lantern to my bedroom to use as a night light for another 2 hours before going to sleep. Battery was still at 2/4 when I turned it off for the night.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m quite impressed by the light output and power charging capacity of this small camping light. Being on the budget end of the scale, you can get good results for a small investment. If I were to go camping for 2+ days, I’d probably buy 2 of these, one for charging devices and one for lighting purposes. And fortunately, they do come in packs of 2 and 4 lanterns.
These are also in the right price range to give away as a “Secret Santa” or “Stocking Stuffer” Christmas gift, if you’ve run out of gift ideas.