Review of the Wanderer Hyperion Lantern
A lantern from Australian retailer BCF, with a claimed 1000 lumen output
Make note, that I am affiliated with this company, so interpret what I write as you’d like
RRP $99 AUD / Purchase price much lower
Overview of Product Exterior
A mainly plastic lantern, with the handle and aesthetic frame made of metal, internally the diffuser and clear globe are both plastic.
While my lantern came in red, other colour options includes, blue and beige, I definitely wish it came in more muted colours.
It runs on 4 D batteries, or AA with sleeves, it gives runtimes on the box, but I haven’t been able to test them out yet, as I haven’t found suitable rechargeable D batteries. The heft is good with AA not too heavy and weight is centered just above the base.
It operates with a long press on/off, with short presses cycling through the 4 modes (NW/CW/WW/Candle light), in the first three modes the button can be rotated to increase and decrease brightness, candle light stays the same no matter what.
Next to the button is a LED to indicate battery remaining, Green (high), Red (Med), Flashing Red (Low), it turns of in about 5 seconds
The top comes off easily with a twist, although it says doesn’t have a IP water rating, it has a tick next to rain, I haven’t had an issue walking around in the rain with it.
As you can see below it runs on 24 rectangular LEDs, 12 cool and 12 warm, which when combined give in theory the 1000 lumen Natural white output, according to the box they are Nichia, but I don’t know which variant.
The LEDs in the center are a bit deformed when taking the picture, but you can see 6R80s on the around them on the custom board, attached are 3 thin wires and massive rectangular solder blocks surrounding the board
!http://i.imgur.com/t4K0lPY.jpg !
While the design is pretty much all plastic and garishly coloured, making it look cheap, it doesn’t feel that way, the build is solid and along with the heft, it actually allows the product to be somewhat premium, almost justifying the price
The globe and diffuser do a great job, with very even spread on the light, at all brightness levels, upper lantern wall are plastic but remain very clear even after moderate use.
One gripe I have is the top needs to be slightly larger in diameter, as too much light is heading upwards, this could be solved with more overhang and a darker material.
The rest of the review is pending, I’m having trouble taking closeups, as there is PWM, a solution is incoming, all the pictures of the lantern in action will be here soon
Early review, with almost no competition in the really powerful lantern market, it is a decent competitor to the Coleman prodcuts
