TLDR; The newest lantern from Olight is a great all-around outdoor and indoor lantern. While it does not get as bright as some of the competitors, the uniqueness as well as added features, make this one of the better new lights we have seen recently.
I’ve reviewed a lot of Olight products over the past few years and while their tube flashlights are top-notch, my favorite products are undoubtedly their lanterns.
Starting with the Olantern and then into the Olantern mini, and then the second cousin the Obulb, these lights seem to get the most use in my house. Likely because my kids love them, and they all each have a unique gimmick to keep me interested and thinking of new uses, I keep coming back and ordering more.
Enter the mac daddy of lanterns from the brand, the Camping Lantern. Its bronze finish and ultra-traditional silhouette make the product look and feel incredibly high-end when compared to the soft plastic of the other 360-degree lights they have released in recent history.
Design
Let’s start with the most obvious part of the light, its design aesthetic. It looks quite a bit different from other Olight lanterns with its bronze housing, glass bulb, and black metal shell and that is a good thing. This light definitely stands out in a pack of other tabletop camping lanterns. It has a single dial that controls on/off as well as the two different light modes on the light.
The Edison style bulb has a visible filament when the light is in “orange light” mode – which is more of a real warm light as opposed to the super white/blue lights of most other camping lights which is a welcome addition. The bronze shell is combined with all-black hardware, which makes for a nice rustic feel – this lantern matches up just as well with a modern campground as it does with a contemporary loft sheik.
The light also has 2 D rings on the top for hanging purposes, a small one that looks designed to be attached to a carabiner, and one larger one that can fit 4 fingers and makes for easy carry-ability.
In addition to the orange light filament, the light also has your more standard white light mode, which is powered by a circular assembly of LED lights at the top of the bronze housing. Because of the placement, none of the lights shine directly into your eyes, making for all indirect exposure. The way the white light reflects off the Edison style orange filament also looks very unique and is sure to arouse some conversation at the campsite.
Functionality
One of the best parts of this light is the simplicity – while Olight has done a great job with the operating functionality of their lights, we have gone way beyond the simple on/off switch of the past. The Classic Lantern harkens back to a simpler time with a single rotary knob that controls every aspect of the light. It clicks to life with a very satisfying tactical and audible “click” and enters straight into the orange light mode, continue turning the knob and the light will shift into the white light mode. Reverse the direction to go back into orange light and then back to that satisfying click to turn the lantern off.
The brilliant user experience here, more lights should be simple like this instead of requiring 3 tail cap presses, a side cap switch, and a bunch of other madness just to turn the light on. Headlamps are just as guilty of this, and modern flashlights are the worst offenders. Not the Classic Lantern.
Charging
The other great thing here is that in addition to the MCC charging on the bottom of the lantern, the light comes included with a USB-C cable, the primary way of charging. I must say, I appreciate this change. While the MCC charging puck for olight works well – I have had a significant amount of issues getting them to work correctly, and that’s assuming I have the right one (since they have changed voltage over the years) for the light. Great, simple design choice going with USB-C.
It takes 4 hours to charge the light from zero to full via the 18W USB-C fast charging. The light comes with a USB-C cable and it does not come included with the traditional MCC cable. Either way, I have many of these around the house and prefer the USB-C cable as that is the fastest and most reliable way to charge the light.
Reverse Charging
The light also has a new unique feature that is sure to be useful when out camping, is that the lantern itself has a built in battery that can charge your external devices via a USB 2.0 port. It can output 18W of power to your devices and is powered by 4x 18650 batteries which total 11, 800 mAh you have at your disposal.
The light is waterproof rated to IPX5, and can be left on in its lowest mode for roughly 7 days of runtime.
Summary
The vintage copper look of this light along with the super smooth user experience have made this one of the go-to lights around my house. It is a perfect in tent light when out camping or if you are going out late with friends and want to eat. For the next few weeks I am going to put this light through the most rigorous test yet – my 6 year old – and we will see how it fares. The other Olight lanterns have all run this gauntlet and come out with various levels of damage but all are still going strong.
After a few weeks of that, i will be taking this light on a trip to Yosemite Valley and we will see how it stands up to some rough and tumble camping. Either way if you were on the fence about picking this light up, or one of the other Olight lanterns, I urge you to do so – no one makes a 360-degree lamp quite like this company and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Zach Belmont has been working in the outdoor apparel industry in one form or another for over 20 years. During his career, he has worked at some of the most well-known adventure brands including Patagonia and The North Face in marketing, operations and product development. Zach currently lives in Wyoming with his wife and 2 kids.
