The Best Camping Lanterns
Verified by
Hadleigh V. Lead Product Analyst
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GearJunkie, CNN Underscored, Switchback Travel and Outdoor Life each crown the BioLite AlpenGlow 500 their best camping lantern, and GearJunkie gives no other lantern more than its 8.9 out of 10. It is the only lantern on all eight guides' lists. Treeline Review and Field & Stream hand it their rechargeable awards, and CleverHiker pairs a 4.7 out of 5 with its Most Feature-Rich award. At CNN, Alex Rennie tested 19 lanterns over several months and wrote that it "topped our tests as the best lantern for most people."
The light itself makes the case. A frosted globe spreads 500 lumens into a soft glow, and every mode dims down to 5 lumens. CleverHiker found "the widest range of color options and brightness levels among the lanterns we tested": warm white, cool white, solid colors, a candle flicker and a mode that lights only one side. CNN timed 11 hours on the brightest setting, one of the longest runs in its test. The 6,400 mAh battery doubles as a power bank with a USB-A port, the first pro on GearJunkie's list.
Liz Thomas at Treeline Review found it "the least finicky and most reliable of the rechargeable battery lanterns we tested." Other rechargeables in her test stopped taking a charge after six months. Hers was still going after several years of heavy use. BioLite sells it for $79.95.
What It Won't Do
High-mode runtime depends on who is holding the stopwatch. OutdoorGearLab measured 5.1 hours on high, while the Lepro D-cell lantern ran 10.5 hours in the same test, and CNN got 11 hours from the AlpenGlow. The controls draw the most complaints. One button handles power, modes, color and brightness, and a shake triggers the party modes. CNN's tester needed the manual and about 30 minutes of practice, and GearJunkie found the shake gesture "a little hit-and-miss." It still charges over micro-USB. At 13.4 ounces, CleverHiker found it too heavy to carry for miles on a trail.
Treeline Review named the Coast EAL22 its best camping lantern of 2026 after six months of road trips from the Redwoods to Big Sur and a month living off-grid in the Eastern Sierra. "The value on this lantern is so good, we did a doubletake," Liz Thomas writes. Coast sells it for $43.99, about $36 under the AlpenGlow 500.
Runtime is the big win. Laura Lancaster at Outdoor Life ran it for 60 hours on its highest setting and saw no sign of it slowing down. CNN Underscored got nearly seven straight days from three D cells. CNN kept it in the guide after years as its budget pick, citing its "rugged construction, user-friendly controls and exceptional battery life." Coast rates it at 1,250 lumens against the AlpenGlow's 500, and Treeline says it outshone its former brightest-lantern winner.
The extras are practical ones. Warm and cool white handle cooking and reading, while red and flashing red protect night vision or mark a roadside stop, and a green indicator shows the battery level. Its IP54 sealing survived Treeline's test in coastal drizzle. The warranty runs 5 years, where BioLite offers one.
What It Won't Do
It's heavy. CNN weighed it at 42 ounces with D batteries installed and found it considerably heavier and bulkier than most lanterns in its test. Batteries aren't included: Outdoor Life needed a trip to the store and puts a set of three D cells at about $10. It has no USB port for a phone, and CNN calls it light on features. Treeline's one fault from testing is the detachable handle, which can pop off and is annoying to reset.
Who Should Buy Which
BioLite AlpenGlow 500
A 500-lumen rechargeable lantern with warm, cool and color modes and a 6,400 mAh battery that can top up your phone
- Car campers who cook and read by lantern light
- Families who want color and candle modes when a fire ban rules out a campfire
- Anyone who wants a lantern that can recharge a phone
- Van dwellers and backyard hosts
- Campers who would rather recharge than buy batteries
Coast EAL22
A 1,250-lumen lantern on three D cells with warm, cool and red light, covered by Coast for 5 years
- Car campers who want the most light for the money
- Households building a power-outage kit
- Campers who keep spare D cells in the car
- Anyone who uses red light to protect night vision
- Buyers who would trade color modes for 5 years of coverage