Lepro Camping Lantern 410 lm

The Lepro camping lantern carries on a simple idea that is easy to underestimate until you actually need it. Unlike a torch or a head torch that throws a beam in a single direction, it spreads its 410 lumens across a wide area. The result is even, ambient light with no harsh cast shadows, well suited to the inside of a tent, a camping table or a hallway during a power cut.

Its defining feature, and the reason it sits in this category, is the 3600 mAh battery: it does not just power the LED, it also works as a small power bank. A USB port lets you plug in a phone and give it roughly half a charge. Output is capped at 5 W, so charging is slow, but at a campsite or during an outage, being able to wake a phone up to make a call makes a real difference.

Five brightness levels plus a flashing SOS mode give a wide spread of runtimes: about 5 hours at full 410-lumen output, and up to 24 hours on the lowest setting. That low mode does most of the work on an average trip and comfortably covers two or three evenings without a recharge.

The mounting system is worth a closer look. Two magnets sit in the base, letting you clamp the lantern onto a car body, a door or a steel table leg, freeing up both hands. Two folding metal loops round out the design so you can hang it, notably upside down from the highest point of a tent, the most effective spot since the light falls from above. The IPX4 rating protects it against splashing water, so it copes with a sudden shower under an awning or a damp night outdoors, though it is not built to be submerged.

At 8 centimetres across and 168 grams, it slips into a side pocket of a rucksack. It suits camping trips, family holidays and a household emergency kit alike, provided you accept its limits: for extended reading or precise task lighting a head torch is still the better tool, and for seriously charging several devices a proper power bank is the way to go.