Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review

Brackertron's SmartLantern is one of the most interesting portable batteries we've tested, the perfect mobile accessory for the person on-the-go.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Bracketron
5 minutes & 23 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 89%
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The Bottom Line

A mobile battery that doubles as a lantern? The SmartLantern from Bracketron is an impressive mobile battery, and definitely the most unique one we've seen yet. The perfect Christmas present for the geek in your life.

Introduction & Specifications

Introduction, Specifications & Availability

Bracketron is a new company we're working with, with the first product to arrive in my office being their incredible SmartLantern. First off, the company sells a variety of different accessories for a range of devices; ranging from smartphone/GPS/tablet accessories, all the way through to in-car products.

Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 07

The company sent me over their new SmartLantern, which is a mobile rechargeable battery with an internal 7800mAh battery, doubling as a flashlight or lantern. Yeah, you read that right! This thing has a damn built-in lantern, which works incredibly well.

The Bracketron SmartLantern has an internal 7800mAh battery, 2.1A port for charging up your smartphone or tablet, 64 LED Lumens, and a one-year warranty. The flashlight/lantern side of things is the big deal here, and we'll get into that shortly. Not only that, but we also have a flashlight, but when you pull the ring on the top of the SmartLantern, the LEDs find themselves in a new home; creating a lantern.

The company has an MSRP of $79.99 on the SmartLantern, but you can find it on Amazon for $60 with free shipping at the time of writing.

PRICING: You can find the Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black retails for $60.00 at Amazon.

Canada: The Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black retails for CDN$112.22 at Amazon Canada.

A Closer Look & Using the SmartLantern

A Closer Look

The box gives you a nice look at what the SmartLantern has to offer, so let's take a look at, and around the box for the battery.

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On the front, we have a quick tease of what to expect with the SmartLantern.

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On the side, Bracketron shows that you can use the SmartLantern as an actual lantern.

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On the back, we have the full details on its 7800mAh battery, and its 2.1A USB port.

Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 05

On the right side, we find out what we get in the package: a carrying case, USB to micro USB cord, and USB wall charger - oh, and the SmartLantern, of course.

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Here we have the SmartLantern and its power button, and below that the four LEDs that let you know how much charge it has left.

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Here we have the microUSB in for getting it charged up.

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On the other side, we have a full-sized USB port so that you can charge up a device from the battery.

Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 12Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 13

The SmartLantern in lantern mode, in a dimly lit office. This is so the shot to the right shows off its bright lantern mode better.

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Once more, with the SmartLantern in flashlight mode.

Using the Bracketron SmartLantern - Lighting Up My Life

I've used 40-50+ mobile batteries now, so I get that "same ol', same ol" feeling when testing them, so when a company goes out of their way to provide the world with something different, I stand up and take notice. The SmartLantern is one of the most unique mobile batteries I've tested, and it is one of the most useful ones, too.

Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 06

The SmartLantern took around 2.5-3 hours to fully charge its internal 7800mAh battery, but it lasted for close to a week on standby and nightly use of its LEDs as a lantern and flashlight. There's a four-LED power indicator on the side of the SmartLantern, and when the button above it is pressed down for two seconds or more, it will turn the LEDs on.

Once the LEDs are on, the flashlight mode of the SmartLantern is enabled. You can use the SmartLantern as a normal flashlight, but when you pull the ring on the top of the battery, it will pull up, revealing the LEDs and turning it into a bigger lantern.

The amount of light that it outputs is actually quite impressive, where I used it outside sitting on a table without a problem. It was close to pitch black outside, but the SmartLantern lit up the entire area, which allowed me to turn the outside lights off and have the SmartLantern as the only source of light. There was more than enough light emitting from the device, which is impressive given its size.

Even after 4-5 hours of use, the battery didn't even nudge, but after five nights of around 4-5 hours a night of use, it died. This provided me with around ~20 hours of LED use, which is impressive considering it only has a 7800mAh internal battery.

Not only does it perform well, but it looks great. It has a great feel to it, with the SmartLantern not being too big, or too small. The ring up the top of it allows it to be placed somewhere on a hook, so you can light up an entire area. I think one of the best uses for it, would be to keep it in the car, in case you break down and need not only a battery to charge your phone for an emergency call, but as a light if you break down at night.

What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts

For those who want to sum up the entire review in a few points, the What's Hot and What's Not part of my review will help you. Skip right to this bit if you want a quick read, or if you want to find out what I found to be the most notable parts of the SmartLantern, we're going to jump into that right now.

What's Hot

It's a Lantern!: What. There's a lantern in there?! Yep. The SmartLantern is a unique mobile battery, not only packing a 7800mAh internal battery, but a very cool LED system that allows it to be a flashlight, and a lantern.

Great Build Quality: Bracketron has built a solid, sturdy battery in the SmartLantern. For around $60 at the time of writing, you're getting a product that is built incredibly well, with a thoughtful ring at the top to use on a hook, or something similar.

What's Not

There's not much I didn't like with the SmartLantern, only things that could be improved upon if there were ever a second one released, or a more expensive model. I'd like to see the bottom of the device pull out too, revealing a second LED system for even more light to be pushed out of it. But that's just something I'd like to see, and nothing wrong with the product itself.

Final Thoughts

Bracketron, you've won me over. The SmartLantern is an impressive kit, with not only a great sized battery at 7800mAh, but it's designed really well, feels great and best of all, has a unique feature. Unique features is what will set you apart from the competition these days, and is something that more companies need to do.

Bracketron SmartLantern 7800mAh Battery Flashlight & Lantern Review 07

We don't need another battery from yet another company that wants your money, we need something that differentiates you from the competition. Bracketron has done this with the SmartLantern, something that has arrived just in time for Christmas. It is a perfect stocking filler present, heck, it's a great present for yourself.

PRICING: You can find the Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black retails for $60.00 at Amazon.

Canada: The Bracketron UGC-482-BX USB Charging Lantern - Black retails for CDN$112.22 at Amazon Canada.

TweakTown award
Performance (amount of mAh) 95%
Quality including Design and Build 95%
General Features 90%
Bundle and Packaging 80%
Value for Money 85%
Overall 89%

The Bottom Line: A mobile battery that doubles as a lantern? The SmartLantern from Bracketron is an impressive mobile battery, and definitely the most unique one we've seen yet. The perfect Christmas present for the geek in your life.

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

USUnited States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com

UKUnited Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.co.uk

AUAustralia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com.au

CACanada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.ca

DEDeutschland: Finde andere Technik- und Computerprodukte wie dieses auf Amazon.de

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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