What's the difference between LED lanterns?

Two very different LED lanterns at very different price points. The lantern on the left was marked as having been made by or for GE (and bought in Walmart) while the one on the left is some no-name Chinese junk picked up from a Chinese junk retailer (in this instance Big Lots).

The similarities - both run off D cells, both had the handles snap off very soon after purchase. Both produce laughably inadequate amounts of light. As can be seen - the light produced between the two barely illuminates the little corner they're sitting in.

The differences - the GE lantern cost me $40 while the Chinese junk cost me $10. The Chinese lantern has an indeterminate lumen level. The GE claims 350 lumens. The GE had a very nice handle that could be opened and passed through a loop. The Chinese version had a pop-up hook. The GE loop simply snapped under the weight of the lantern. The Chinese loop just fell off and disappeared somewhere.

Which lantern is brighter? It looks like the Chinese lantern is brighter but this is an illusion. The LEDs are dazzling and aimed directly at the eye in such a manner as to make the lighting deeply unpleasant. In terms of usability the Chinese lantern is hopeless. It produces dazzling light that's of very low quality. I can no more read by the light of the Chinese lantern than I can dance the Polka clad in a tutu.

The GE lantern produces a better quality light that's not dazzling to look at due to the diffuser and because of the lack of bars around the glass, produces a more even light that it's actually possible though not easy to read by.

The quantity of light produced by both lanterns is by no stretch of the imagination worthwhile. They're the manufacturers having a laugh at the expense of the hapless customer. Reading what somebody else said about portable lighting, their claim was that if it wasn't a gas lantern then it didn't produce light. That's pretty close to the truth. There's a Coleman gas lantern that produces 1540 lumens. My calculation using a 100W light bulb is that 1200 lumens is the minimum needed for adequate illumination.

So, where do these lanterns stand (aside from where they should stand - inside the dumpster)? A whole bunch of lanterns must surely be as good as a single decent light? No - afraid not. Lumens do not add up like eggs. Two 20 lumen lamps does not equal 40 lumens in the way two boxes of 20 eggs equals 40 eggs. Stand two lanterns side by side and the brightness does not get greater between them. This is demonstrated adequately with this photo. No point is doubly bright! The blueness of the light has been corrected by the camera.

If lumens added then the area in the center would be twice as bright as the areas on the sides and it's not. All multiple lanterns does is to distribute poor quality lighting throughout an area. It also eggs on the scammers to produce yet more garbage for the low end of the market. Let's face it, Walmart is definitely not the upper end of the market. It's not quite as downmarket as the area taken by Big Lots and the dollar stores but it's not that far above.

So, what's the answer with lanterns and how do they compare to real lighting? At the moment there just aren't that many diffused 1200 lumen lanterns around. I've seen maybe one 1,000 lumen lantern on offer for some stupendously ludicrous price. Given that an LED lantern is dead simple to make, I'm gobsmacked by the prices.

Right there is what could be an LED lantern - a bunch of cheap LEDs and a pair of batteries. People making lanterns can get components way cheaper than people normally pay retail. I think I paid $2 for that pile of 100 LEDs a year or two back. My worthless LED lantern has just 18 LEDs. How many 18s go into 100 and how much do they cost in total? My reckoning is they have (at the price I paid), about 36 cents worth of LEDs plus pressed plastic (which is dirt cheap). If that lantern cost more than 25 cents to make, I'd be amazed. Look at it - it was sold in Big Lots for $10. Big Lots will have a huge markup on it and they paid probably only $2 for it after it had been shipped all the way from China.

What we need is for stores that import garbage from China to pay a shade more - $4 say and sell the lanterns for say $12 and have something that actually produces worthwhile light. I don't want to be sitting in the gloom of the lantern, looking at an unwrapped Mars bar wondering whether it's really a Mars bar or a freshly laid turd...