narmattaru
Enlightened
I consider that there is not a lot of good camping lanterns. At the bottom of price range there is 3-4$ cheap clones of Suboos (ok for their price, to be frank), then come some original models in different form-factor, and then comes Fenix with it`s CL.
Last summer I got 25R. That product really impressed me with good build quality and a lot of light compressed in small size of lantern.
I was lucky to get 30R from local Fenix dealer. I suppose you are interested in review of 30R, so I decided to translate mine Russian text into English.
Here is product page at Fenix website
SPECIFICATION
*in max mode beam reaches 35m diameter;
*1\2\3 18650 poweered;
*powerbank feature;
*micro-USB charging port;
*IPX-7 waterproof;
*tripod mount;
PACKAGE
30 is packed into good-looking box.
30R comes along with
*micro-usb cable.
*3 protected 2600mah 18650 batteries (ARB-L18-2600)
*warranty card
*manual
*spare o-ring
SIZE
And yes, that lantern is a way larger than 25r
136mm height x 93mm diameter, 412 \551g weight (without\with batteries)
But this is relative, 30R is obviously less than gas lamps
So I suppose that makes 30R camping light rather than touristic. There is no use of dragging such a barrel on your backpack, when usually people struggle for each gramm of weight of equipment. 25R for considerably smaller size will provide with decent light instead.
And as camping light, when you carry all the stuff in car, there is no such a problem.
I`m glad that Fenix fixed minor disadvantage of 25R – for it`s cylindrical shape there was a dark spot right under the lantern`s bottom. Now upper part of 30R is slightly wider then bottom and some light comes downward, which is useful for hanging lantern.
.
30R almost completely made of plastic, with light diffusor as a biggest part of.
Battery compartmentcap is located on the top of lantern, and has wide threads
Though I didn`t see lubrication there (which I quickly added), cap moves on threads smooth, without any troubles.
And here we see that manufacturer (as we Russian says "brought us a pork") made a totally unfriendly act. Fenix decided that 30R don`t have to support flat-top batteries. For me, personally, that is really uncool.
All my 18650 are all flat-top. I understand reason of this, Fenix wants to earn extra bucks with selling it`s batteries. C`mon , you can earn more money by selling more CL30R itself, just by decreasing price of no-batteries-included version.
But honest offer would be to make 2 variants : with or without batteries included, for those who already have ones. In last case 30r will cost less, but it makes product more available. So, I believe, that`ll have only effect positive effect in form of more lantern sold.
What have I done? I took some small magntet, attached them to my Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mah.
And of course, another conlusion of this "button-top only" is the fact that lantern have springs only in cap. There are no springs in bottom.
By the cap there are 4 green light indicators:
1 is for battery level about 35%.
2 are for 36-60%.
3 are fore 61-85%.
all 4 show that battery level is more than 85%.
All the indicators turn off automatically after 8 seconds. If battery level reaches point of "ready to turn off" they all atart to blink.
30R equipped with neutral white LEDs hidden behind thick plastic diffusor.
Last one is tightly connected with top and bottom parts without any tiny slit. Impressively solid construction. Of course there is no chance to disassemble it.
Input\output USB slots are hidden at the bottom.
Max charging current that i`ve noticed was about 1.15-1.17А
In powerbank mode, CL30R gave about 3400-3500 mah with 1A current (with cable included in package) and all it`s 3 batteries were discharged to 3.3v. After this 30R worked in Low (50lum) for about extra 2.5-3 hours.
On the opposite side from USB-sockets, there is only one bottom which runs 30R.
And there is also tripod mount.
Lantern stays firmly vertically. It`ll take a good punch to flipp it on its side
So, in this part everything is cool, except "button-top only"
UI.
Incredibly simple.
ON\OFF – press button for about 1 sec
For switching brightnesses just press button.
When light is on, just press button twice and enter flash-mode.
When being charged, 30R works only in mid mode (also even without batteries, so you can connect it to powerbank)
There is mode memory
To check battery level quickly press button
HOW IT WORKS
In high\turbo lantern produces enough light to highlight big room or tent.
My luxmeter has shown these numbers from 1m distance 0/2/12/63/116 lux.
With lanter powered with Fenix 2600mah, I was so surpised to see that stepdown from turbo to high took place not after 5-10 minutes, but after about 1.5h! (see video). For that period you`ll get a lot of comfortable neutral white light. That is really cool.
And I must admit that even 200 lumen of high mode in Fenix 24R was ok for me, for 4x3 meters room. And here is 650 with stepdonw to 350.
Next stepdown is afer 6 hours (still bright, I think it is 100 lum mode) and then after 7 hours (I assume that there was 50 lum mode). I woke up and found lantern still working. After 3-4 hours I decided to turn it off. Voltage on batteries was about 3.3.
There is NO PWM shimmering in any mode.
OVERALL
This barrel of light is good even with some dislikes.
+bright
+lots of modes
+outlook and well-biuld
+powerbank feature.
+good runtime when powered with 3 batteries.
+ no PWM shimmering
-price
-doesn`t support flat-top аккумов (there is simple decision)
-no moonlight mode in orange of 0.3-2 lum, so there is no chance to use 30r as a nightlight
-no red light mode.
-not available without batteries.
What i`d add.
1) red light. Cheap improvement that is really useful.
2) i would like to see lug (I hope this is a proper word for that stuff at the top of light) for hanging, doubled in bottom. that may have sense when user want to hang lantern between 2 ropes, horizontally. Also cheap improvement.
3) and in this case half of light will just waste, going upward. So may be there will be useful to have an opportunity to switch off 1\2 of lantern. So only one will shine downward, and other one will be turned off. I hope you understand what I mean.
4) I`m also seriously sure that adding moonlight mode + red mode a necessary addition. They`ll be su useful as nightlight. Cheap, cheap improvement as well.
5) Adding one more contact plate pait in the middle will have a result in form of – lantern will also support 26650. And if Fenix make lantern about 1.5 cm wider, it may take even 3x26650. That`ll increase runtime sooo much.
7) Hey, Fenix, please, add small hook like this to package. It`s s not that easy to attach lanter to anything that hasn`t free end. Like this drier for example.
8) May be stepless light regulation?
i`ll be glad to answer your question and read your opinion and suggestion. Feedback from targer audience is likely to be heard by manufacturer.
Last summer I got 25R. That product really impressed me with good build quality and a lot of light compressed in small size of lantern.
I was lucky to get 30R from local Fenix dealer. I suppose you are interested in review of 30R, so I decided to translate mine Russian text into English.
Here is product page at Fenix website
SPECIFICATION
*in max mode beam reaches 35m diameter;
*1\2\3 18650 poweered;
*powerbank feature;
*micro-USB charging port;
*IPX-7 waterproof;
*tripod mount;
PACKAGE
30 is packed into good-looking box.
30R comes along with
*micro-usb cable.
*3 protected 2600mah 18650 batteries (ARB-L18-2600)
*warranty card
*manual
*spare o-ring
SIZE
And yes, that lantern is a way larger than 25r
136mm height x 93mm diameter, 412 \551g weight (without\with batteries)
But this is relative, 30R is obviously less than gas lamps
So I suppose that makes 30R camping light rather than touristic. There is no use of dragging such a barrel on your backpack, when usually people struggle for each gramm of weight of equipment. 25R for considerably smaller size will provide with decent light instead.
And as camping light, when you carry all the stuff in car, there is no such a problem.
I`m glad that Fenix fixed minor disadvantage of 25R – for it`s cylindrical shape there was a dark spot right under the lantern`s bottom. Now upper part of 30R is slightly wider then bottom and some light comes downward, which is useful for hanging lantern.
.
30R almost completely made of plastic, with light diffusor as a biggest part of.
Battery compartmentcap is located on the top of lantern, and has wide threads
Though I didn`t see lubrication there (which I quickly added), cap moves on threads smooth, without any troubles.
And here we see that manufacturer (as we Russian says "brought us a pork") made a totally unfriendly act. Fenix decided that 30R don`t have to support flat-top batteries. For me, personally, that is really uncool.
All my 18650 are all flat-top. I understand reason of this, Fenix wants to earn extra bucks with selling it`s batteries. C`mon , you can earn more money by selling more CL30R itself, just by decreasing price of no-batteries-included version.
But honest offer would be to make 2 variants : with or without batteries included, for those who already have ones. In last case 30r will cost less, but it makes product more available. So, I believe, that`ll have only effect positive effect in form of more lantern sold.
What have I done? I took some small magntet, attached them to my Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mah.
And of course, another conlusion of this "button-top only" is the fact that lantern have springs only in cap. There are no springs in bottom.
By the cap there are 4 green light indicators:
1 is for battery level about 35%.
2 are for 36-60%.
3 are fore 61-85%.
all 4 show that battery level is more than 85%.
All the indicators turn off automatically after 8 seconds. If battery level reaches point of "ready to turn off" they all atart to blink.
30R equipped with neutral white LEDs hidden behind thick plastic diffusor.
Last one is tightly connected with top and bottom parts without any tiny slit. Impressively solid construction. Of course there is no chance to disassemble it.
Input\output USB slots are hidden at the bottom.
Max charging current that i`ve noticed was about 1.15-1.17А
In powerbank mode, CL30R gave about 3400-3500 mah with 1A current (with cable included in package) and all it`s 3 batteries were discharged to 3.3v. After this 30R worked in Low (50lum) for about extra 2.5-3 hours.
On the opposite side from USB-sockets, there is only one bottom which runs 30R.
And there is also tripod mount.
Lantern stays firmly vertically. It`ll take a good punch to flipp it on its side
So, in this part everything is cool, except "button-top only"
UI.
Incredibly simple.
ON\OFF – press button for about 1 sec
For switching brightnesses just press button.
When light is on, just press button twice and enter flash-mode.
When being charged, 30R works only in mid mode (also even without batteries, so you can connect it to powerbank)
There is mode memory
To check battery level quickly press button
HOW IT WORKS
In high\turbo lantern produces enough light to highlight big room or tent.
My luxmeter has shown these numbers from 1m distance 0/2/12/63/116 lux.
With lanter powered with Fenix 2600mah, I was so surpised to see that stepdown from turbo to high took place not after 5-10 minutes, but after about 1.5h! (see video). For that period you`ll get a lot of comfortable neutral white light. That is really cool.
And I must admit that even 200 lumen of high mode in Fenix 24R was ok for me, for 4x3 meters room. And here is 650 with stepdonw to 350.
Next stepdown is afer 6 hours (still bright, I think it is 100 lum mode) and then after 7 hours (I assume that there was 50 lum mode). I woke up and found lantern still working. After 3-4 hours I decided to turn it off. Voltage on batteries was about 3.3.
There is NO PWM shimmering in any mode.
OVERALL
This barrel of light is good even with some dislikes.
+bright
+lots of modes
+outlook and well-biuld
+powerbank feature.
+good runtime when powered with 3 batteries.
+ no PWM shimmering
-price
-doesn`t support flat-top аккумов (there is simple decision)
-no moonlight mode in orange of 0.3-2 lum, so there is no chance to use 30r as a nightlight
-no red light mode.
-not available without batteries.
What i`d add.
1) red light. Cheap improvement that is really useful.
2) i would like to see lug (I hope this is a proper word for that stuff at the top of light) for hanging, doubled in bottom. that may have sense when user want to hang lantern between 2 ropes, horizontally. Also cheap improvement.
3) and in this case half of light will just waste, going upward. So may be there will be useful to have an opportunity to switch off 1\2 of lantern. So only one will shine downward, and other one will be turned off. I hope you understand what I mean.
4) I`m also seriously sure that adding moonlight mode + red mode a necessary addition. They`ll be su useful as nightlight. Cheap, cheap improvement as well.
5) Adding one more contact plate pait in the middle will have a result in form of – lantern will also support 26650. And if Fenix make lantern about 1.5 cm wider, it may take even 3x26650. That`ll increase runtime sooo much.
7) Hey, Fenix, please, add small hook like this to package. It`s s not that easy to attach lanter to anything that hasn`t free end. Like this drier for example.
8) May be stepless light regulation?
i`ll be glad to answer your question and read your opinion and suggestion. Feedback from targer audience is likely to be heard by manufacturer.
Last edited:
Pleasantly lights up a room though!
