Best Solar Lanterns For Camping & Home
Camping is a popular activity among family and friends regardless of age or number. This is because it’s a fun and adventurous way to bond and catch up on each other’s lives away from the bustling city.
But camping requires you to live outside the comforts of your home and spend days in the wild outdoors. While it sounds exciting, it also presents a challenge, especially if you are not prepared with the complete and correct camping gear.
One item you should never forget to bring is a solar lantern. It’s very important because most camping grounds do not have adequate lighting and some do not have electricity at all. A solar lantern helps you move around easily, especially at night. It helps you find your way in case you get lost in the woods and makes the whole Plus, it completes the whole camping experience when all you have lighting your tent houses is a solar lantern.
Finding a reliable solar lantern, however, is no small task considering the wide array of options available at your disposal. If you don’t have the slightest idea on how to choose a solar lantern that best fit your needs and preferences, better educate yourself first prior to your trip. Here we walk you through 15 of the best solar lanterns for camping.
Best solar lanterns Reviews
Solar Powered Camping Lantern - Best Reviews
TomCare Solar Lights Upgraded
Searching for the good quality solar lights sometimes gets a little overwhelming with the array of good options to choose from. But the TomCare Solar Lights are not just good. They’re great.
The solar light boasts of a sophisticated design that instantly adds a touch of character to a place—be it your garden, patio, backyard, driveway, a resort, or even a usually dark and boring campsite.
It casts an image of beautiful dancing flames that enhance the mood and comes with an extendable ground stake, allowing you to easily adjust the height according to your preference. All 96 pieces of LEDs also ensure that ample lighting is provided.
Key Features
Completely runs on solar power; no need for batteries or wiring
Features warm flickering lights that look like real candle flames
Provides ambient lighting ideal for patio, deck, or garden
Automatically turns on at dusk and off at dawn
Powered by a monocrystalline solar panel
The package comes complete with solar torch lights, extend pipe, spike, connector, and manual
Specifications
- Weight: 259g
- LED: 96 pcs
- Duration: 12 hours on 8 hours of charging
- Material: metal torchlight, ABS plastic spike
- Waterproof: Yes
Additional Information
Elegant design
The TomCare Solar Lights are specially designed to give a refined appearance to any area it’s placed in. The lights emitted by the LEDs cast a gorgeous image of flickering flames so you won’t have to make a fire to recreate the look. It provides ambient lighting that instantly enhances the mood without safety risks.
Completely solar-powered
This product will never require you to constantly purchase and replace batteries because it runs completely on solar power. The light collects solar energy all day and it automatically turns on at dusk. You can leave it anywhere there’s ample source of sunlight so it can charge during the day without problems.
Long working time
This solar light comes with a built-in rechargeable 2200 mAh lithium-ion battery and lights up to 12 hours when fully charged. It only takes 8 hours for the lamp to fully charge the battery, meaning there is more than enough time to do so during the day. Its 12-hour run time also gives you plenty of light sources to last the whole night through.
Weather resistance
Made with durable ABS plastic and metal, you can be sure that the lights can withstand all kinds of weather all year. Once you put them in place, the solar lights will do all the work for you, no reason to bring them inside on stormy or winter days. No risks of overheating and exploding during hot summer months too!
Easy of installation
Since there are no wirings required to install these solar landscape lights, all you have to do is plant the stake properly into a stable ground depending on how tall you want the lights to be and you’re good to go.
- Long working hours
- Waterproof
- Functional and decorative at the same time
- Easy to install
- May not shine as bright if not fully charged
Conclusion
These TomCare solar lights are unique in the way they emit a warm yellow light that looks like the flicker of a candle. They may not be as bright as outdoor solar lights, but their strength is acting as instant mood makers wherever they are installed. The lights are very low maintenance and require little to no management.
LuminAID Solar Inflatable Lanterns
The LuminAID solar inflatable lantern, as the name suggests, is a solar-powered gear that you can inflate to create a lightweight and waterproof lantern. It is ergonomically designed to be used as an affordable and renewable light source in the wake of natural disasters. This light is ideal for use if you don’t have (or don’t want to pack) plenty of batteries to last your entire camping weekend. And aside from being lightweight, this solar lantern recharges quickly and can withstand rough handling.
Key Features
- Comes with multiple brightness settings
- Perfect for both indoor and outdoor use
- Great for traveling — lightweight, inflatable, collapsible, and waterproof
- Has a long battery life
- Recharges in two ways — solar power or by a USB input
Specifications
- Weight: 5 ounces
- Brightness: 75 Lumen
- Duration: 24 hours on 10 hours charging
- Modes: low, medium, high, flash
- Waterproof: Yes, IP67
Additional Information
Practicality
What makes the LuminAID one of the best solar lanterns is its practicality and affordability. You have two options to recharge the device — either recharge it using solar power for a total of 10 hours or use the USB port with the cord that comes with the product for 1 to 2 hours. On a full recharge, it can emit light for approximately 24 hours.
Multiple mode setting
It also comes with 9 color modes (7 distinct colors, white LED mode, and multi-color rainbow fade mode), which makes it an ideal lighting fixture whether indoors or outdoors. This allows you to use the solar lantern during camping or to instantly set the mood when you’re having a party at home.
Inflatable and collapsible
This product is inflatable, meaning it is also easily collapsible when not in use. It’s convenient when you’re using the lantern for a trip because you can simply stow it away in your bag. When it’s lit, it’s also easy to carry or hang in your bag using the chain or carabiner.
Safe to use
Most importantly, this solar lantern never heats up and is completely safe to be used around kids, inside tents, and within sleeping bags. It’s made from heavy-duty thermoplastic polyurethane allowing it to withstand tough environments.
- Simple and practical design
- Waterproof and lightweight
- Capable of illuminating an entire room
- Can be used as an emergency light
- Affordable
- Utilitarian and eco-friendly
- Air escapes easily and requires to be inflated every so often
- Might be prone to breakage due to the light framework
Conclusion
The LuminAID solar lantern is more than just a camping device. This equipment also serves a great purpose during disaster relief efforts as evidenced by the product’s successful launch after the 2011 Haiti earthquake.
If you’re the type to rely on electricity so much because you’re not comfortable staying in dark places, this solar lantern is an instant solution to your problem. You’ll never have second thoughts about camping or being away from electricity again.
Moreover, it reduces the safety risks of having to build a fire because this solar cube does the job for you. It’s compact and lightweight enough to fit into your emergency supplies kit. There’s nothing like carrying a renewable light source around for whenever you need it outdoors.
MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0
Another well-loved solar lamp is the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 lantern. This device is the perfect companion while you’re out doing your favorite activities with family and friends. It is completely solar-powered, so there’s no need for disposable batteries that only weighs heavy in your bag and costs you a lot of dollars in the long run.
It comes with 10 extremely light LEDs that can instantly illuminate a small area for up to as long as 24 hours. It has four different modes of brightness to accommodate your needs, it’s lightweight, waterproof, and submersible. It’s everything you would need in an outdoor solar lamp.
Key Features
- Solar-powered with no additional batteries needed
- Inflatable, collapsible, lightweight, waterproof, and submersible
- Comes with an adjustable base strap for convenient hanging
- Perfect for rugged outdoor activities
Specifications
- Weight: 4.4 ounces
- Brightness: 75 Lumen
- Duration: 24 hours from 7 hours charging
- Modes: low, bright, super bright, 1-second flashing
- Waterproof: Yes, IP67
Additional Information
Brightness
The light emitted by the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 may not be the brightest among other solar lanterns on the market, but it’s more than enough to provide adequate lighting. Its maximum capacity is at 75 lumens which may not seem a lot, but you wouldn’t feel it lacking in any way. When placed in a low setting, this lantern is perfect for reading at night while the brightest mode is enough to help you cook a meal at the campsite with ease.
Durability
For an inflatable solar lamp, this product is highly durable from the seams to the straps, whether inflated or deflated. You can be confident that the lamp will still perform well despite being battered, especially if you move around too much.
Weight
Weighing just 4.4 ounces, the Luci Outdoor 2.0 is arguably the most lightweight among the best outdoor solar lights on this list. When inflated, it stands five inches tall with a diameter of four ¼ inches and when deflated, you can compress this light down to just one-inch thick.
Value
This solar lantern is a steal for its price with a one-year warranty and a complete set of features that makes it ideal for any kind of adventure.
Ease of Use
If you need to recharge the lamp, all you need to do is place it under the sun for 7 hours and you can get enough power to last you for an entire 24 hours. Inflating can be tricky because of the valve, but there shouldn’t be a problem once you get the hang of it. Deflation, on the other hand, only takes about 10 seconds of your time. And once it has enough power, just press the power button and voila—instant light.
- Solar-powered
- Inflatable
- Waterproof and submersible
- Inexpensive
- The power button can be difficult to locate in the dark
- Can be challenging to balance when hung
Conclusion
The MPOWER Luci Outdoor 2.0 is a reliable solar lamp that gets the job done. It’s travel-friendly features make the product an ideal camping gear and only needs solar energy to provide light. There’s certainly some room for improvement but if you’re not looking for something too sophisticated, this could be a great option for you.
