Olantern Camping Light Review

Camping is one of the best outdoor experiences and for me camping in the winter tops the lot… there’s nothing quite like the feeling of a crisp winter morning to ease your worries and to become truly one with nature!

A lot of people who have never camped before or only do the occasional summer camp, think that the idea of winter camping is absolutely crazy and I’ve had plenty of people tell me that…

However I beg to disagree – as long as you have the right equipment, camping in the winter rates with the best outdoor activities you can experience.

But the key is to have the right equipment, if you don't – then it will quickly become a miserable time that you will never want to experience again.

In the winter it tends to get dark early – so if you want to be able to still function during those dark hours, then you are going to need a good light to enable you to see what you

I'm going to be looking at the Olight Olantern camping light to see if it really is a useful addition to your camping equipment to brighten up those long winter nights…

Overview

The Olantern comes with two interchangeable light sources – a high performance neutral white LED and an ambient flickering flame.

It's powered by four 3.7V 18500 1900mAh rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (built-in), which can give around 1500 charging cycles.

The weight is only 347g, which is quite light for a lantern and it’s also compact with a height of just under 14cm and a diameter of just under 7cm.

As with the majority of Olight lights – charging occurs using Olight's signature magnetic charging cable which attaches to the magnetic area at the base of the lantern.

Specification

Light Sources

• High performance neutral white LED

• Ambient flickering flame.

Dimensions

• Height: 5.37 in/136.3mm

• Base Diameter: 2.60 in/66mm

• Weight (including battery): 12.24 oz/347g

Body Material

• Polycarbonate, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, Thermoplastic Elastomer, Aluminum Alloy

Power Source

• Four 3.7V 18500 1900mAh rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (built-in).

Water Resistant Rating

• IPX4 (protection from splashing water)

Drop Rating

• 1m

Warranty

• Olight’s 2 Year warranty

Package In The Box

• Olantern (Battery Built-in)

• Neutral white LED

• Flaming LED Module

• MCC3 Magnetic Charging Cable

• Microfibre Cleaning Cloth

• User Manual

My Impressions

Light Quality

The Olight Olantern - Portable Camping Lantern has an impressive LED white light that produces a uniform 360º light distribution.

Mode 1 (360 lumens) is very bright and will really light up your campsite at night.

Mode 2 (120 lumens) is sufficient for most campsite settings and gives enough light to be able to see, but not too bright so as to take away from the night-time camping feeling.

Mode 3 (30 lumens) is useful for use in a smaller, closed setting – such as inside a small tent.

The neutral white LED can be interchanged for an ambient flickering flame to give a more relaxed, party like feel, share your good times with family or friends.

Charging

Charging the Olantern is very straightforward and takes place via Olight’s signature magnetic charging cable that is used on the majority of Olight's lights.

This method of charging is very unique and simple, yet extremely practical – the magnet at the base of the lantern easily attracts the charging base and can be done with one hand.

There is a standard USB on the other end that can be used with any USB plug or portable battery.

The magnetic pad on the cable has a charging light next to it that lights up red when charging and green once fully charged and it takes 7 hours to fully charge the batteries from flat.

Power Button & Modes

The power button is located on the side of the torch and has a motion-sensitive battery indicator that fades on and off, this allows the lantern to be located in the dark.

A short press of the power button switches the lantern on and off.

To cycle through the three modes, switch the lantern on and then hold down the power button.

When switched on the Olantern will return to the mode it was on when it was last switched off.

The battery indicator also shows the battery level as indicated below:

The lantern can also be locked by pressing and holding the power button, while it is off, for a few seconds – pressing and holding it again unlocks it. When the lantern is locked, the power button battery level indicator will light up red when pressed.

Body

The base is made of a texturised rubber that really grips to any surface and prevents slipping.

The rest of the main body is made of a tough plastic material that gives the impression of being very resistant to knocks and falls.

Hanging Hook

The hanging hook is a useful addition for carrying or if you want to hang the lantern from a tree branch or hook.

It’s wrapped in silicone to stop it slipping and I found it to stay in place, even on a horizontal protrusion.

Conculsion

I was really impressed with the Olantern – it’s very well-made and has the feel and look of an extremely premium product.

Olight always seem to think of the small details to make their products that extra bit useful and the Olantern is no exception…

From the motion sensitive battery indicator to enable you to locate the lantern in the dark to the rubber base that grips to any surface.

It’s these small attention to details that really makes the Olantern stand out from the crowd and leads me to say that it would definitely be a useful addition to anyone’s camping equipment.

I will certainly be taking mine and hang it on my camping trip, especially my favourite winter ones.

The Olight Olantern is available from Olight UK. 

I hope you've found this review useful.