Review – We all need a little light in our lives. For your consideration, here are two small lights from BioLite, AlpenGlow 250 and 500 rechargeable lanterns. These LED lights are designed to be placed on a flat surface or hung on their built-in hooks. They can also double as USB battery packs to provide mobile charging power. Will these light up your life or make you dance in the dark?
what is it?
The Biolite AlpenGlow lantern is a USB rechargeable lamp. They can emit cool white light or warm white light as well as a variety of colors and other special lighting patterns. The 250 and 500 models provide 250lm and 500lm output respectively.
What’s in the box?
- Biolite AlpenGlow
- Instructions
- Sign up for the flyer
- USB-A to micro-USB charging cable
Hardware specifications
AlpenGlow 250
- Dimensions: 3.7 inches high x 3 inches diameter
- Weight: 7.4 ounces
- Lumens: 250 (high); 2.5 (low)
- Running time: 5 hours (high); 200 hours (low)
- Battery capacity: 3200 mAh lithium ion
- Charging time: 2.5 hours
AlpenGlow 500
- Dimensions: 5.4 inches high x 3.8 inches diameter
- Weight: 13.4 ounces
- Lumens: 500 (high); 5 (low)
- Running time: 5 hours (high); 200 hours (low)
- Battery capacity: 6400 mAh lithium ion
- Charging time: 3 hours
250 and 500
- Lighting mode: cool white, warm white, multi-color, single color, multi-color party, color cycle, warm candle flashing, single-sided lighting, lock
- Control: button-on/off/dimming; vibration-color mode and single/double-sided mode
- Charging port: micro-USB
- Output port: 1X USB-A 5v, 2.4A
- Water resistance: IPx4-resistant to water splash in any direction
Design and features
The Biolite AlpenGlow lantern is dome-shaped, with a white plastic translucent lens and a cyan rubber strip that separates the lens. The BioLite logo is shielded under the front of the lantern, just above the LED indicator.
The LED will light up when the button is pressed and charging. They use the familiar 25% of each LED model from left to right to indicate the approximate battery level.
At the top of the lamp, we found a centered button that can control most operations. Pressing and holding the button for eight seconds will lock the light to prevent accidental activation.
When you shake the bulb, certain operations are controlled by the built-in accelerometer.
On the back, opposite to the LED are the micro USB input charging port and the USB-A output power port, which are used to charge other USB devices.
The Biolite AlpenGlow port is protected by a close-fitting rubber door, which helps the lamp reach IPX4 waterproof rating. The 250 and 500 have battery capacities of 32oo mAh and 6400 mAh, respectively, and they can provide enough power to power your mobile phone or power speakers. BioLite also offers a series of USB-powered lights called SiteLights. AlpenGlow lanterns can be used to power these lanterns.
Under the lamp, BioLite cleverly hides a hook for hanging the lamp upside down.
This is very suitable for camping scenes, you can hang them on tents or trees.
Set up
The setup includes charging the Biolite AlpenGlow lantern. Each has four charging status LEDs, which will light up in sequence every 25% of the charge. You can use the light while charging, but you can only turn on the cold or warm mode. If you use one of the other modes and insert a lantern, that mode will remain on.
which performed
The lights have multiple modes. When used for the first time, they start in cool white mode. Press the top button to change them to warm white mode.
When you are in either of these two modes, pressing and holding the button will dim or brighten the light. When you reach the lower or upper limit, the indicator light flashes briefly-it feels good to the touch.
Press the button again to switch to monochrome mode. Press and hold the button to cycle through the colors. When you release the button, the color will remain lit.
Another printing press jumped into multi-color mode. Press and hold the button to cycle through the color combinations. When you release the button, the combination will remain open.
Except for maximum brightness, the Biolite AlpenGlow lantern behaves the same in all modes except multi-color mode. The 250 displays two colors-one on each side of the divider. 500 displays them from bottom to top.
In each mode, shaking the light will invoke the supplementary mode. In cool white, shaking will turn off half of the lights. In warm white, shaking will turn on the candlelight blinking mode. In monochrome mode, shaking will turn on the color flow mode. In this mode, the light will continuously cycle through all possible colors. In the multi-color mode, shaking the light will turn on another flow mode. In this mode, the light will continuously cycle through all its color combinations. 500 offers another option. Shaking it again in the multi-color flow mode will turn on the firework mode, and the lights will display multiple colors at the same time, changing them continuously.
This is a video demonstration of all modes.
After shooting all the photos and videos for about 30 minutes for this review, I set the lights to full bright cool white and let them burn. Somewhere after about 4.5 hours, each one flickered and then dimmed. What needs to be clear is that this does not happen at the same time, but close to 4.5 hours, which can be called. This is suitable for 30 minutes of shooting, so the 5-hour lifespan of each lamp at full brightness is quite honest. The cool thing is that the light is not dead yet at that point. It will only operate at a lower intensity in any lighting mode. If you use it as the main light source for full brightness, it will enter a low-power mode even if the battery is low, so you can still see it even with lower intensity light. It will not trap you in the dark.
what do I like
- Good choice of lighting mode
- The light can also charge or power other devices, which is a bonus
- Good battery life
What will i change
- Can we all choose USB-C instead of micro-USB?
- Candlelight blinking pattern does not look realistic
Final thoughts
The Biolite AlpenGlow lantern left a deep impression on me. At 250 lumens and 500 lumens, they produce a considerable amount of light in a small package. With omni-directional dimming, they can be used as very long-lasting night lights. Adding color can provide very eye-catching packaging for various lighting needs. These are great for parties, night conversations at tables, or lighting for campsites and tents.
price: US$59.95 (US$250); US$79.95 (500)
Where to buy: BioLite – AlpenGlow 250; AlpenGlow 500
source: The sample of this product is made by Biolight.
