SE fl804-3cob-2

I love the fact that you can pop these up like a lot of those new mini-lanterns and still, use them as flashlights as well. They are larger than most of those mini-lanterns, and a little less durable, mostly due to size. A minor flaw is when you first press the button to turn on if it's collapsed, the internal lantern light goes on. If it's in the daytime and you don't notice, the batteries may run down before you discover it. You need to use the switch twice to turn on the flashlight part, and once more to turn it off. If using the lantern extend the lamp by pulling it up, and push the on switch once. It give a nice all round lighting for reading or changing a tire at night. The description on the product page has an error i didn't deduct for, it says it comes with AAA batteries, it does not, it comes with AA batteries, and they are carbon based, not alkaline. That may seem bad, but with LED efficiency, you can get a lot of life out of the old style battery cheapies you buy at the dollar store.The lanterns come with an attached rubber handle that has enough play in it to open the lantern part, but when collapsed, you can get your hand in and direct it as a flashlight. Both the flashlight with a single LED, and the lantern array of LED's are very bright, so you won't be kept in the dark "so to speak". Batteries can be changed easily, the top of the lantern twists off and the the batteries can be replaced in seconds without worrying about getting a screwdriver or a knife to pry open. I like them a lot, very good price for the pair. Recommended.

- Made in China- Shell is thin, cheap plastic, very flimsy- Spotlight is a single LED, not very bright- Lantern function is pretty useful and easy to use, too. Is a strip of LEDs- Carry handle is a nice soft rubbery feeling thing.- Shell has an extra pair of holes if you want to change the handle from side carry to top carry- Takes 3 AA batteries (came with)- Lens is real glass1 arrived with the spotlight ring broken and the plastic reflector hanging out. I super glued it together. It does screw down now, but it's really flimsy plastic. That one also has a big crack in the lantern housing.The other one works, but has something rattling around inside.Battery compartment is easy to get into, but only because it's not very secure. It has a bar thru the middle you grip and twist and it's just a half turn to get it off. It's popped open several times now.Overall unimpressive, even if nothing was broken. These are huge for just being 270 lumens, totally unnecessary. I have several pairs of different types that are less than half the size, but brighter.I was going to do 2 stars because at least one of them worked, but given the rattle inside, I bet it's not going to continue to for very long, and I'm pretty unhappy with these in general, so 1 star.Don't forget to use the Smile.Amazon.com address - It's an Amazon program where many things you buy every day will generate a small donation from Amazon to the charity of your choice. Info here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas

The clear plastic lens arrive damaged. Yes, the lens is plastic, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if it was more resilient to breakage than glass; it's not.The rest of the body is plastic, and the body is painted a cheesy silver.Another problem. When you first press the switch, it first turns on the lantern. Get this: you have to turn it OFF and then back ON to get the flashlight to turn on. And if you want to turn on the lantern again, you have to press the switch to turn OFF the flashlight and press the switch again to turn on the lantern.This process involves an unnecessary amount of work simply to turn on either the flashlight or lantern. Why not click to turn on the flashlight, click again for the lantern, and click again to turn off. And if after a predetermined amount of time has passed on the first click, make the second click turn OFF the unit. This is how one of my lanterns work -- and this mode of operation is MUCH simpler.These flashlights do have some virtues. The flashlight and lantern are both very bright. The flashlight has a very bright center with a very usable spill. The lantern is bright enough to illuminate a tents or small room to provide very usable light.But due to their poor construction and the hassle to operate them. I'd pass. Pity.

Here are my impressions of the SE FL804-3COB-2 Camping Lantern.THE GOOD: -- PULL OUT LAMP IS BRIGHT: The pull out light is bright. Stated to be 270 lumens and Id have to agree..its bright. Great for hanging over a camp stove on a dark evening. -- TOUGH PLASTIC BODY: The body is entirely plastic. I would suspect it would hold up fine with reasonable handling and the occasional drop. -- HANDLE RELOCATES: You can strap the handle vertically as for a flashlight or on the end to hang over a cooking table.THE BAD: -- NO USB CHARGE: The SE FL804-3COB-2 lantern operates from 3 AA batteries. The lantern cannot be charged internally or in other words it cannot be charged by a USB power adapter. Of course one can use rechargeable AAs. But the convenience of being on a camping trip and the luxury of charging the lamp without having to replace the batteries is lost. -- CLOSING LANTERN WONT TURN OFF: When the pull out lamp is closed it will not turn off from the closing action. It can only be turned off using the on/off button. Its likely that if you left it on and it was closed you would not notice the light and the battery would run down. -- FLASHLIGHT IS OK: The flashlight end is just a single 3 w LED and fine to use in a pinch if its close by. Not much brighter than a keyring flashlight.CONCLUSION:I really wish the lantern would have been designed to be chargeable by USB port. I think this is a significant flaw in the design.

There are a lot of knock-off products like this on the market. Relative to others, here's what I like and don't like about this model. Starting with dislikes:- Much larger diameter than most other comparable products, and for no particular reason I can figure out.- Doesn't feel particularly sturdy. Good for an emergency kit, along with other gear, but I wouldn't want to depend on this as my only lantern on a backwoods expedition.- As other reviewers pointed out, needs better protection for the journey. On one of my two eval units, the bottom battery compartment had popped loose, and in the other one I could hear bits of broken plastic rattling around. This reinforced to me that these lamps are more suited to the emergency kit, and probably can't take the abuse of the trails.Now, on to what I do like, and I obviously like enough for a high rating overall:+ Bright light, with a good reflector on the flashlight end -- enough to through a focused beam farther than I expected. In lantern mode, one unit lights up a very large room enough to get around safely during a power outage.+ Strap configuration is very clever and surprisingly useful. Strap can pivot to fit along the side or end, the former when you're carrying it as a flashlight and the latter for hanging. Why isn't every dual-purpose light designed like this?+ Easy to use.+ Comes with batteries, so ready to use, or to stow in the emergency kit (pull batteries if you'll be storing for a long time).+ At a price of about nine bucks when bought in a pair, this flashlight/lantern offers very good value, especially considering that batteries are included. A total of 18 bucks gets you two versatile lanterns for the hurricane/blizzard kit.Bottom line: 5 stars for design/versatility; 3 stars for durability; 5 stars for value; gonna average this all out to 4 stars.