This page contains affiliate links, and that means that I may earn a commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. You can find my full disclosure policy here.

See the 18 tests

1. In the box
2. How to use
3. Power sources
4. Light modes
5. Lumen output
6. Shine radius
7. Light quality
8. Run time
9. Battery indicator lights
10. Charge time
11. Charging output
12. Hook
13. Adjustable legs
14. Lock mode
15. Portability
16. IPX rating
17. Drop testing
18. Warranty
19. Pros, cons, recommendations
20. Bonus: Must Read!

In the Box

I bought this Apollo about 4 years ago. Here’s what came in the box:

• Lantern
• Charging cable
• Instructions

How to Use

There’s only one button on the Apollo.

• Short press On / off
• Long press Brightnessblinks once at the brightest setting, again at the dimmest

It also has a memory setting, so it turns back on at whatever brightness you left it.

Power Sources

The Apollo runs on 2 battery sources with a 2,600 mAh internal Lithium-Ion cell, and 3 AA batteries. Twist and pop the top open to reach the AA compartment.

• Default source Internal batterythe AAs only kick in once it’s flat
• Switch the default Tiny button on top of the AA compartment

Light Modes

Three modes, all off the one button:

• Dim
• Bright, and anywhere in between
• Strobe: three quick presses of the power button

Lumen Output

Black Diamond claims 250 lumens max and 10 minimum. My lux meter measured otherwise:

• Brightest 362 lumensmarketed 250 lumens
• Dimmest 23 lumensmarketed 10 lumens

That’s 45% more light than advertised.

Shine Radius

On the brightest setting the shine radius came in at 7.3 feet (enough for a small room or tent).

Note Black Diamond claims a 14-meter shine radius. That’s very far off what I measured.

Light Quality

The Apollo throws a cooler light rather than a warm yellow one, but it never looked glaring to me because the frosted plastic diffuser globe is matte rather than glossy, and diffuses really well.

Run Time

Here are my tested run times, on both battery sources:

Setting	Fresh AA batteries	Internal battery	Total
Dimmest	121 hours	68 hours	189 hours
Brightest	14 hours	6 hours	20 hours

Battery Indicator Lights

The indicator lights stayed accurate right through my run-time tests, but they’re hard to read. It’s tough to tell how many are lit at a glance.

Charge Time

The Apollo charges over the supplied USB-A to micro-USB cable.

• Claimed charge time 8 hrs
• My charge time 5 hrsmine is 3+ years old, so the internal battery has likely depleted

Charging Output

Mine stopped working after 3-4 years. While it worked, the USB output gave a phone roughly 40 to 60% charge.

Hook

The top hook is two three-quarter hooks that overlap into one full loop, so the lantern can’t slip off a tent’s lantern loop. It hangs on a small tree branch too. I’ve hung mine in every tent I’ve ever used.

Adjustable Legs

Three adjustable legs at the bottom let it stand up on uneven terrain.

Lock Mode

Lock mode stops the button getting knocked on inside a bag and draining the lantern.

• Lock Long-press the power button ~3 secondsthe light comes on, goes off, then the indicators flash
• Unlock Long-press again for 3 seconds

Portability

• Weight, lantern only 10.23 oz
• Weight, with 3 AA batteries 13 oz
• Packed size 3.25 x 3.25 x 4.5 in

IPX Rating

The Apollo is rated IPX-4 (splashproof, but not submersible).

I’ve tested it in plenty of light rain and some heavy rain, and it’s always held up. After one heavy test, water had seeped into both ports. The seals aren’t fully watertight.

Drop Testing

I’ve dropped this more times than I can count from hand height. It’s held up every time.

Warranty

The Apollo has a 3-year warranty, which isn’t long. Mine is past that, which is why I can’t get the dead charge-out function fixed.

Pros, Cons, Recommendations

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Black Diamond Apollo?

Feature rich

It doesn’t have the most features, but the ones it has are genuinely useful. The overlapping top hook and the adjustable legs are both uncommon on camping lanterns.

Note For an even more feature-rich lantern, check out my review on the Ledlenser ML6.

Two battery sources

An internal Lithium-Ion cell and 3 AA batteries is rare, and it makes the Apollo a strong emergency light: unlimited runtime as long as you have AAs on hand.

Great lumen output

362 lumens is 100 more than advertised: bright enough to fill a 6-person tent, and dim enough at 23 lumens to work as a night light on the ground. It won’t light a whole campsite, though.

Impressive run time

20 hours at full brightness across both batteries is far more than most rechargeable lanterns I own.

Intuitive, easy to use

Everything runs off the one button, so there’s nothing to learn.

Not a lot of light modes

Here’s what the Apollo doesn’t have:

• No different colors
• No SOS
• No red light
• No warm light

To be fair, the light quality is good and never looks too glaring.

Phone charging not as reliable

My charge-out function died after 3-plus years, possibly because I barely used it.

Bonus: Must Read!

Every figure above is from my own testing. Measured by hand, bought with my own money.