Coleman Duo Lantern - Very practical for the camping family

Review Score

Our Score: 9.4/10

We've given the Coleman Duo Lantern - Very practical for the camping family the Thumbs Up award.

PracticalityFamily FriendlyQualityValue for Money

The good

• Multi-use: one lantern for many people.
• Very practical with removable side panels, which are also torches.
• Has a USB charging point.
• Multiple brightness settings.
• Long-running time.
• Doesn't take up a lot of space.

The not so good

• Not rechargeable itself, but it does mean you have longer running times.
• The base unit is heavy with 4xD batteries.

This was a hands-on product review. The product was supplied to us to test and conduct the review.

Price Guide

Coleman Duo Lantern - Very practical for the camping family Videos

Coleman Duo Lantern - Very practical for the camping family Photos

Our Review

We've reviewed a few great lanterns from Coleman in the past, which had detachable light panels. However, in today's world of LEDs and smaller lanterns, is there a modern replacement?

When I saw that Coleman does indeed have a modern version, I asked them if they could send a sample over for a review, and they kindly agreed :-)

Coleman Duo Lantern Review

The Coleman Duo lantern has two detachable light panels, which recharge on the base unit.

We've always found that these detachable panels are great for family camping, as one lantern can give everyone, and every bedroom, a light.

The base unit has lights of its own, so it can still be used as a lantern even with the two light panels removed. So you get three lanterns in one.

The base unit has a USB port too, so you can also use it to recharge your phone.

The base unit is not rechargeable itself. Instead, you need four D-sized batteries. However, we've always found that these batteries last a long time on the Coleman lanterns.

The Coleman Duo Light Panels

Each light panel has three lighting modes:

1. Normal, at 25 Lumens
2. Bright, at 100 Lumens
3. Torch, at 100 Lumens

Our kids have always liked taking these panels on the night time trip to the toilet block, and the torch is bonus added feature making these even more practical.

At the back of the lantern is a stand, which can also be used as a hook to hang the lantern.

The Base Unit

Even with the light panels removed, the base unit still puts out a lot of light. The unit has two brightness modes:

1. Normal at 40 lumens, with a beam distance of 6 metres
2. High at 400 lumens, with a beam distance of 13 metres

As mentioned before, the base unit also has a USB port, so you can use it to recharge other devices.

It also has a handle, so you could hang it from a lantern point in your tent. However, with four D batteries inside, it may be too heavy to hang in some tents.

How long do the batteries run?

Well, with a normal night's use, and one of the panels on low for most of the night, the panel still had power in the morning.

We haven't run the unit down until the four D batteries were flat. As I mentioned before, the batteries lasted ages in our older Coleman lanterns, and with the newer LED technology, I think they should last a while. Using it as a power bank for your phone will drain the batteries faster.

Coleman has published some running times that you should expect from this lantern.

• A light panel should last for 3 hours at full brightness or in torch mode. However, it should last 14 hours in normal mode before needing a recharge at the base unit.
• The base unit (no details on if this is with or without the panels), should last for 20 hours on full brightness, or running time of 200 hours in normal mode.

Verdict

We give this lantern the Thumbs Up award.

The Coleman Duo lantern is very practical for the family, and it is also IPX 4, so it should still function if it gets splashed with water.

Yes, it would be great if the base unit was rechargeable. However, I suspect the performance of the lantern would be degraded somewhat if it was rechargable. With the reported running times, and our past experience, I don't expect to replace the batteries often.

Details