BioLite Luci Original Review (Bought & Tested!)

This is my BioLite Luci Original review.

Take note: I bought this lantern back when it was known as the “Mpowerd Luci Pro”. In 2024, BioLite acquired Mpowerd, and has rebranded the lantern to “BioLite Luci Original”.

Now, I put it through many different tests, all of which you’ll find below in this post.

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Quick Summary

Overall, I felt that though the BioLite Luci Original was really high quality, durable, USB powered, and even solar powered, the light was a little too glaring for my needs.

I prefer other more frosted and warmer versions of this lantern, like the BioLite Luci Charge 360 (read my review here) instead.

RELATED: Best Rechargeable LED Lanterns

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Check out the Luci Original:

1. In the Box

Here’s what the BioLite Luci Original looks like directly from Amazon (this was before it was acquired by BioLite):

Here’s everything I got in the box after buying the Luci Original:

• Luci lantern

• Charging cable

2. Inflation and Deflation

To inflate the lantern, pull out the valve at the bottom, pull the cap off, pinch the valve (it will say to “squeeze here”), and blow into the lantern. It takes only one breath to do so.

After inflating, cover the valve with the cap, then push the valve into the lantern so that it’s flushed with the surface and won’t stick out.

To deflate the lantern, just do the opposite.

3. Buttons

There are 2 buttons – 1 is the power button, and the other is the battery level indicator.

These are flushed with the surface of the lantern though, making them difficult to find in the dark.

4. Brightness Settings

What light modes or brightness settings does this Luci Original have? Just these:

• Low

• Medium

• High

• Flashing

Cycling through the modes is very simple, just by using the power button. This doesn’t have any memory setting though.

Pro-Tip: If you’re in any of the modes, and you don’t want to have to cycle through them all, just press and hold the power button for 2 seconds to turn it off directly. A nice small feature to have.

5. Lumen Output

I used a lux meter to test exactly how many lumens this Luci Original is giving out, and here are my results:

Brightness Mode	Official Specs	My Testing
Low	Unclear	0 lumens
Medium	Unclear	17 lumens
High	150 lumens	34 lumens
Flashing	Unclear	34 lumens

*Take note that this is from the side of the Luci, and not directly facing the lights.

6. Shine Distance

I also used my lux meter to test the exact distance that this lantern can throw its light, and here are my results – 2.2 feet, or 0.67 meters.

That’s enough to light up only a 2-person tent, and nothing more.

7. Run Times

Now, if you’re wondering how long each of the modes can last for, here’s a little testing that I did:

Light Mode	Official Specs	My Testing
Low	50 hours	51 hours
High	5 hours	5.25 hours

Take note that my test results were after having the Luci Original for about 4 years, and using it lightly through the years. So, that’s pretty impressive that it remained its original battery capacity.

8. USB Charging

There are 2 ways to charge this lantern, and the faster way is via USB – it takes me about 2.75 to 3 hours for a full single charge every time.

The plug on the Luci should come with 2 ports, one with a USB-A output, and one with a USB-C input. (But mine is the older model with just 1 USB-A port.)

9. Solar Charging

Alternatively, since the Luci is also a solar lantern, and you also have it completely solar charged, though this will take about 5-7 full days in the sun (12 hours of sunlight each time).

After just 1 day of solar charging, I typically get only about 15-20% charge. Depending on your usage, this may or may not be enough light for you.

10. Mobile Charging

The USB port can also charge your mobile phone or other devices, and here are my results when I charged my iPhone 12 on a single charge of the Luci Original:

• iPhone 12 Charge: 17% to 66%

• Total Charge: 49%

• Charge Timing: 1 hour 20 minutes

The battery capacity of the Luci Original is only about 2,000 mAh, while my iPhone 12 was 2,815 mAh, hence why there’s no full charge.

11. Battery Level Indicator

There are also battery level indicators at the top of the lantern. All you gotta do is press on the battery button, and the lights will show up for 4 seconds:

Here was what I noticed from the battery level indicators when I was running my low brightness run time test:

• 4 lights: 100%

• 3 lights: 74.5%

• 2 lights: 57%

• 1 light: 27.5%

• 0 lights: 0%

12. Straps

The Luci Original has 2 straps. The first one is at the top of the lantern, over the solar panel, and that’s also adjustable so that you can hang it up at the top of the tent.

There’s also another strap at the bottom, which isn’t adjustable.

13. IP Rating

The IP rating of this Luci Original comes in at IP67.

This means that the Luci can be submerged in water up to 1 meter, for up to 30 minutes, so I tested exactly that, by tying it to a pole in a swimming pool.

It was difficult to submerge it to 1 meter because it was very buoyant even without inflating.

30 minutes later, when I pulled it out, it still works great, and the plug to the USB ports really sealed the water off nicely, with not a single drop of water inside. It’s very good, waterproof lantern.

14. Drop Testing

I was able to drop my Luci Original down a small slope, and because of all the air inside this solar lantern, it was completely fine.

15. Portability

The weight of the Luci Original is 6.1 ounces or 172 grams.

After deflating, the lantern comes in at 5.1 x 5.1 x 1.25 inches, which is about 13 x 13 x 3.3 centimeters.

16. Pros, Cons, Recommendations

Pro 1: Easy inflation and deflation

For pros, I think one of the biggest ones is that it’s very easy to inflate, with less than one breath, so you don’t have to be blue in the face.

Deflation was equally easy, just press all the air out, while tucking all the plastic in at the same time.

Pro 2: Lightweight and compact

Of course, this little light is super compact and very portable, which is the biggest reason why I think you might be considering this.

Pro 3: USB and solar charging

I also love the 2 different ways of charging up this lantern, via USB and also by solar charging.

I think that the completely solar charging is fantastic in a pinch if you’re in the backcountry, cos you’re gonna have at least a few hours of sunlight everyday that you can use to charge this up.

Pro 4: Shocking durable

This lantern is also shockingly durable for how little and tiny it is. I could even stand up on it without it popping, because it can take 150 pounds of pressure.

Pro 5: Build is high quality

I think the overall build of this lantern is good too, it’s pretty high quality, I’ve had this for 4 years now, so even after 4 years of shelf life, the battery life doesn’t seem to have been depleted too much.

Con 1: Sharp objects can puncture it

The only thing I worry about is sharp pressure that can pop the lantern, and it wouldn’t be able to inflate anymore.

Con 2: Breath droplets inside lantern

One small con is that I don’t quite like using my breath to inflate this lantern, because you can clearly see the water droplets from your breath forming inside this solar lantern.

After a while, I noticed that it will start looking a bit dirty inside:

Con 3: Light diffusion isn’t great

Remember when I showed you the actual number of lumens given out by the Luci using a lux meter? You probably wondered why it was so low. That’s because the light quality isn’t the best.

The Luci doesn’t have a frosted globe like many of my other lanterns (you can see the BioLite AlpenGlow 500 review here):

And without that frosted globe, which acts as a light diffuser, the light isn’t diffused outwards enough, giving you very low lumen counts the further away you get from the light.

Con 4: Light is very harsh

Because of the lack of a diffuser as well, the lights get extremely glaring when you’re staring straight into the 10 LED lights at the top of the lantern here. It’s really bad, up close.

In fact, if you use the lux meter to test the number of lumens again, directly facing the LED lights, here are the results:

Light Mode	Lumens (Side)	Lumens (Front)
Low	0	382
Medium	17	1,540
High	34	2,500

On high, that’s 2,500 lumens on the brightest setting facing you directly with no soft diffusion at all.

Con 5: 1-year warranty

The warranty length comes in at only 1 year, which is really quite short.

Recommendation

Definitely not my favorite solar lantern to use in a tent or when I go camping because of the light diffusion and light quality (Cons #3 and #4). It may be fine for nighttime walks though, when the light isn’t directly facing you.

In fact, for a much better model of this Luci Original, do check out my review on the BioLite Luci Charge 360 instead (warm lights+ frosted globe).

17. Bonus – MUST Read!

I do use other rechargeable LED tent lights, which you can check out if you’re interested.

If you’re looking for the Luci Solar String Lights, I’ve got them too and I’ll link a review here next time when it’s done (TBA).

Otherwise, check out the Luci Original: