Review on MalloMe Battery LED Lanterns - Portable Camping And Emergency Lights - Perfect For Power Outages, Indoor And Outdoor Use by David Padilla

I'm a bit of a light buff (used to be a lurker on CandlePowerForums). I first saw these lanterns on Ebay (only place I've seen them to date) and they attracted me for several reasons. They looked sturdily built, thoughtfully designed, and I liked that they had diffuser over the LEDs. (I've noticed most small LED lanterns expose the LEDs directly to your eyes, and the light is too glaring.) Plus, I liked that they came in a multi-pack and I thought the colors looked nice. So when they came in back in stock for under $20, I bought them.Although I've only had them two days, I couldn't be more pleased. The lights are about the size I expected--when closed with the handles collapsed, it is about the size of a standard soup can. The handles, fully extended, add about four inches in length. They are a good size for anyone to easily carry with one hand, and the finish and handles are "grippy"; good for clumsy types like me. The extended top adds another four inches or so. The top lifts easily and smoothly, yet there's just enough resistance to make me think it would be difficult to open accidentally and drain the battery.The light is bright! In fact, it's brighter than I expected. I have a 30-day UST lantern that claims 300 lumens at full brightness, but this lantern's 146 lumens seems more than half as bright as that. The light is what I would call a "daylight" and not a "soft white" or warm color, but the white is at least as emphasized as the blue, so it's not unduly harsh. You can dim the lantern by simply not fully extending the top, although don't expect extremely granular control over light output. Still, it's a nice feature that allows for some adjustment. Also, be aware that the LEDs seem to put out full power regardless of how extended the top is, so you're probably not saving battery by keeping it partially closed.Speaking of battery: another reason I wanted these lanterns is the fact that they are powered from 3 AA's. I love the runtime of D-lanterns, but those batteries are expensive. AA's are ubiquitous, and I had enough rechargeables in my collection to throw in each of the four lanterns I received. As an aside, I applaud the choice of AA's instead of AAA's, which have a quarter of the runtime at the same price! I haven't run down a set of AA's in these lanterns yet, but I'm going on a week-long trip to a rural cabin next month and I expect they will run all night without a hitch. The batteries are easy to remove and replace (much easier than the infamous 3D lanterns that require you to line up a tiny, slippery notch inside the cover). Even if they get run down, it's no biggie to recharge them or just buy another set of alkalines. And since I got four of them, there's a lantern for each of us.So yeah, these lanterns seem like a great value, and I'm surprised at how nice the build quality and how thoughtful the design is for the price. I'll make one final note: the colors actually look pretty much in real life like they do in the picture--which can be a rare thing on Ebay. I'll upload a customer image so you can see what I mean (and another image or two with the lantern on, like you need some pictures of that on here, right?)As another reviewer said--just get them! And the seller, MalloMe, is great. The founder himself sent me an email asking if I was satisfied, which reminded me to write this review.