Lantern flashlights · Vs review
Goal Zero Micro Charge V.S. Micro Flash (I Bought & Tested Both!)
Two Goal Zero lantern flashlights, run side by side through 7 head-to-head tests.
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Goal Zero Micro ChargeThe one I'd buy
- Power2,600 mAh
- Lantern265 lumens
- Flashlight60 lumens
- Run-time274 hrs
Goal Zero Micro FlashThe lighter one
- Power2,600 mAh
- Lantern209 lumens
- Flashlight99 lumens
- Run-time353 hrs
The short answer
Get the Micro Charge. For about $5 more you get a USB port that charges your phone, and everything else is much the same.
The Goal Zero Micro Charge took my iPhone 12 from 17% to 85% on one full battery, and it throws in a lightweight carabiner that the Goal Zero Micro Flash doesn't have. The Micro Flash answers on two things: it saves you 0.28oz, and it's usually the cheaper of the two. Unless weight or budget is what decides it, that extra $5 buys you a phone charger. They score 6.9 against 6.8, so this isn't about which one is better built. One thing to know before the numbers: Goal Zero rates these two identically on lighting, so the lumen and run-time gaps below are the difference between my two units, not between the models.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile charging (USB output) | Yes, 5V and 1A | None |
| iPhone 12, from one full battery | 68%17% to 85%, in 1 hr 35 min | — |
| In the box | The light and a lightweight carabiner | Just the light |
| Hanging it off a closed loop | Yes, with the carabiner | No, and the hook doesn't come off |
| Recharge time at 5V, 1A | 4 hrs 39 min | 3 hrs 36 min |
| Full lantern on High | 265 lumens | 209 lumens |
| Half lantern on High | 242 lumens | 142 lumens |
| Flashlight on High | 60 lumensBounced off a wall | 99 lumensBounced off a ceiling |
| Flashlight on Low, run time | 239 hrs | 308 hrs |
| Full lantern on Low, run time | 229 hrs | 288 hrs |
| Half lantern on Low, run time | 274 hrs | 353 hrs |
| Lantern shine distance on High | 4.31ft | 4.09ft |
| Flashlight beam distance on High | 25.4ft | 24.5ft |
| Weight | 3.03oz | 2.75oz0.28oz lighter |
| Packed length | 4.4inAbout 18% longer | 3.74in |
| Price | Usually about $5 more | The cheaper of the two |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing. Shared: both hold a 2,600 mAh cell · both arrive in demo mode · both run flashlight, full lantern, then half lantern off one button, with press-and-hold dimming and no memory setting · both have 4 battery indicator lights that read well above what's actually left · both are rated IPX6, and both came out of my water jets at a tested IPX5 · both take drops from hand height without a scratch · both charge and light at the same time · both are high-grade plastic, designed in the USA and made in China · both carry a 2-year warranty · and on the three High modes their run times land within half an hour of each other. Goal Zero rates both lights at the same 10 to 150 lumens with the same quoted run times, so every lighting and battery figure here is the difference between my two units, not between the models.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Get the Micro Charge if…
- You want the phone charger. It gave my iPhone 12 68% off one full battery, and 60% to 70% across repeat tests.
- You hang your light off closed loops, because the carabiner in the box does what the fixed hook can't.
- The extra $5 and 0.28oz aren't what decides it for you.
Get the Micro Flash if…
- Weight is the deciding factor: 2.75oz against 3.03, and 3.74in long against 4.4.
- Budget is the deciding factor, because it's usually about $5 cheaper.
- You don't need the charging output, which is the only thing the Micro Charge really adds.
- Just know what you give up: no USB output port, and no carabiner in the box.
Mobile Charging
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| USB output port | Yes, USB-A at the base | None |
| Output | 5V, 1A | — |
| iPhone 12, from one full battery | 68%17% to 85%, in 1 hr 35 min | — |
| Across repeat tests | 60% to 70% | — |
The Micro Charge has a second USB port at its base, so your phone cable plugs straight in and it doubles as a power bank.
I redid that test a few times from roughly the same starting charge, and it never came out under 60%. A 2,600 mAh cell should really only give my iPhone 12 a little over half, going by the other lights I've tested. The Torch 500 holds double that.
The Micro Flash has no output port at all, so it can't do any of this.
In The Box & The Hook
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| In the box | The light and a lightweight carabiner | Just the light |
| Hook | Fixed, clips to either side | Fixed, clips to either side |
| Open lantern loops | Yes | Yes |
| Closed loops | Yes, with the carabiner | No, not without your own carabiner |
Both lights turn up in demo mode, cycling through the modes on their own until you plug them into a USB port once.
After that the only difference in the box is the carabiner. The Micro Charge comes with a lightweight one, and the Micro Flash comes with nothing but the Flash.
That matters more than it sounds, because the hook is the same on both and neither one comes off. A fixed hook only goes onto open lantern loops, so a closed loop needs a carabiner. With the Micro Flash you'd have to buy your own.
Charging Input
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Charging port | Built-in USB-A | Built-in USB-A |
| Charge time at 5V, 1A | 4 hrs 39 min | 3 hrs 36 min |
Neither of these needs a cable. The plug folds out of the base on both, and both take the same 5V, 1A input.
That's about an hour of difference off the very same port, against the 3.5 hours Goal Zero quotes for both of them.
Both plugs are a little short, too. If your USB port is recessed the plug won't reach, and I had to use a separate head on both of mine.
Lighting Output
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Full lantern on High | 265 lumens | 209 lumens |
| Half lantern on High | 242 lumens | 142 lumens |
| Flashlight on High | 60 lumensBounced off a wall | 99 lumensBounced off a ceiling |
| Every Low mode | 0 lumens | 0 lumens |
Take note: Goal Zero quotes both lights at exactly the same 10 to 150 lumens, so this table is the difference between my two units, not between the models. Buy either one and you may well measure something else.
Goal Zero quotes both at 10 to 150 lumens depending on the mode, so on paper these are the same light. My two weren't, and that is the single most important thing on this page.
The Micro Charge is the brighter lantern by a long way, and the gap is widest on the half lantern.
The Micro Flash is the stronger flashlight of the two. Do bear in mind that I bounced the Flash off a ceiling and the Charge off a wall, so those two figures aren't measured quite the same way.
Every Low mode on both lights is a zero-lumen night light.
None of this is a difference between the Micro Charge and the Micro Flash as models, though. It's a difference between the two that landed on my doorstep, and the LEDs vary enough from unit to unit that yours could go the other way.
Run Times
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Flashlight on High | 7.5 hrs | 8 hrs |
| Flashlight on Low | 239 hrs | 308 hrs |
| Full lantern on High | 7.5 hrs | 7.25 hrs |
| Full lantern on Low | 229 hrs | 288 hrs |
| Half lantern on High | 14.1 hrs | 14.1 hrs |
| Half lantern on Low | 274 hrs | 353 hrs |
Take note: same caveat as the lumens. Goal Zero quotes identical run times for both, so this gap is my two units, not the two models.
I ran every mode on both lights down to flat and timed it. They hold the same 2,600 mAh cell and Goal Zero quotes them the same, so the numbers should have matched.
On the three High modes they effectively do, landing within half an hour of each other.
On the dim modes the Micro Flash ran about 30% longer on every single test.
That is the same story as the lumens, and it points the same way. Battery capacity varies from unit to unit, so a 30% gap between my two lights is not a 30% gap between the models. Don't buy the Micro Flash expecting 353 hours because I got them.
Weight & Packed Size
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 3.03oz | 2.75oz0.28oz lighter |
| Packed length | 4.4in | 3.74in |
| Width across the head | 1.5in | 1.5in |
The Micro Charge is the heavier and the longer of the two, and the extra length is where the USB output port sits.
The heads are identical, so all of that difference is in the barrel.
Both of them still sit comfortably along my palm, so this is a difference you'd feel in a pack rather than in your hand.
Waterproofing & Drop Testing
| Measured | Micro Charge | Micro Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Official IP rating | IPX6 | IPX6 |
| Heavy rain | 30 min, no issues | 25 min, no issues |
| Water jets | Indicator lights stuck on afterwards | Indicator lights stuck on afterwards |
| My tested IP rating | IPX5 | IPX5 |
| Drops from hand height | No damage | No damage |
Both are rated IPX6, and both came through heavy rain fine. I gave the Micro Charge 30 minutes of it and the Micro Flash 25, straight into the open plug, and every mode still worked afterwards.
The water jets are where they both fell over. Ten minutes of those and the battery indicator lights stopped turning off on both of them, and they have stayed that way since.
So I rate both at a tested IPX5 rather than the IPX6 on the box. My best guess is the exposed USB ports, where water gets in and never comes back out.
Drops are a happier story. I've dropped both from hand height plenty of times now and neither has a scratch on it.
My recommendation
I'd go with the Goal Zero Micro Charge over the Goal Zero Micro Flash. The mobile charging comes in handy in a pinch, and it comes with a lightweight carabiner that the Flash doesn't have.
Everything else is much the same, and the price increase is usually only about $5. It took my iPhone 12 from 17% to 85% on one full battery, and I got 60% to 70% out of it across repeat tests.
The only reason I'd go with the Micro Flash is if you need to save that 0.28oz, or you don't need the charging output.
And the caveat that runs through this whole page: Goal Zero rates both lights identically on lumens and run times, and my two didn't come out identical. Manufacturing differences in the LEDs and the battery are enough that even on the same model you may not get what I measured, so pick on the charging port and the carabiner rather than on my lighting numbers.
Bonus: I bought and tested 7 lantern flashlights against each other, with lux-meter readings, run-times down to flat, and rain and water-jet tests. Both of these are in there, in my Best Lantern Flashlights article.
Every figure on this page comes from my own testing of the two lights I bought.
