Lantern flashlights · Review

UCO Leschi LED Lantern Review (Bought & Tested!)

I bought this lantern flashlight with my own money and put it through 14 hands-on tests.

  • Power 1x AA
  • Lantern 125 lumens
  • Flashlight 517 lumens
  • Run-time 11 hrs
The author testing the UCO Leschi LED Lantern.
My UCO Leschi, after a year of camping with it.

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Test scorecard · scored against lantern flashlights

5.8out of 10
Portability10
Flashlight7.3
Features6.7
Durability6.2
Ease of Use4.7
Run-Times3.5
Lantern3.3

I tested 7 lantern flashlights, and the UCO Leschi LED Lantern came out as my best budget pick. It’s very inexpensive, the flashlight punches well above its size, and you get as much value as what you paid for.

What won me over
  • Very inexpensive
  • Tiny and light
  • Strong beam for its size
What let me down
  • Weak as a lantern
  • Very few features
  • Brightness drops fast
Video review thumbnail for the UCO Leschi LED Lantern

If you prefer watching to reading, check out my video here instead.

See the 14 tests
  1. In the box
  2. Power source
  3. Light modes
  4. Run times
  5. Lumen output (lantern)
  6. Lumen output (flashlight)
  7. Shine distance (lantern)
  8. Beam distance (flashlight)
  9. Hook & strap
  10. IP rating
  11. Drop testing
  12. Materials
  13. Warranty
  14. Portability
  15. Pros, cons & recommendations
  16. Bonus – MUST read!

In the Box

I bought the Leschi from Amazon. Here’s what I got:

  • The lantern flashlight
  • A user guide

Power Source

  • Battery: 1 x AAnot included

The compartment is at the bottom. Unscrew it, drop the battery in, and screw it back on.

The author putting an AA battery into the battery compartment of the UCO Leschi.
A single AA makes spares cheap and easy to carry.

Light Modes

One button does everything. A firm press turns it on and off, and a light press cycles the modes.

  • Modes: Strobe → Low → High

The memory setting is a strange one. Turn it off on Low and it comes back on High. Turn it off on High and it comes back on Strobe. It always jumps one mode ahead, which isn’t very useful.

The UCO Leschi in lantern mode.
Pull the bottom apart and this housing diffuses the light into a lantern.
The reflector cone inside the UCO Leschi.
Press it back in and this cone funnels everything into a single forward beam.

Run Times

I timed each mode on Eneloop batteries that are already a few years old. I stopped the clock once the light started dimming and flickering, so the second column is how much longer it kept going in that state.

ModeRun timeThen dim & flickering
High4 hrs+2.5 hrs
Low11 hrs+2 hrs
Strobe3 hrs+2.5 hrs

Lumen Output (Lantern)

I set the Leschi to its lantern setting and read each mode with a lux meter at a fixed distance.

  • High: 125 lumens
  • Low: 33 lumens
The author measuring the lumen output of the UCO Leschi with a lux meter.
I froze the reading in position for every mode.

Lumen Output (Flashlight)

UCO publishes no flashlight figure, so I used a ceiling bounce test instead.

  • High: 517 lumens21 lux – ceiling bounce test
  • Low: 49 lumens2 lux – ceiling bounce test

Note: A ceiling bounce gives only a rough estimate, not a lab measurement. Mine was taken under a 9.2ft ceiling, over 265.12 sq ft of floor area.

Shine Distance (Lantern)

I set the lantern on a pole, then backed away with the lux meter until it read zero, and measured back to the lantern.

  • High: 2.58ft
  • Low: 1.94ft
The shine distance of the UCO Leschi.
This is on High brightness.

Beam Distance (Flashlight)

Same method on a trail, with the flashlight on the ground.

  • High: 48.2ft
  • Low: 24.1ft

UCO markets 279ft on high. My meter cuts off at a zero-lumen reading and theirs measures out to full-moon lighting, so the two numbers aren’t describing the same thing.

The flashlight beam of the UCO Leschi.
For something this small, that’s further than I expected.

Hook & Strap

  • Strap: shock-cord
  • Fits around: up to 1.5in diameter
The hook and strap of the UCO Leschi.
There’s a hook on the body too, so the strap loops back on itself and mounts to almost anything.

IP Rating

  • Tested: IPX5moderate rain

I left it out in 25 minutes of moderate to heavy rain, then ran every mode again.

The UCO Leschi in heavy rain.
Twenty-five minutes of this and it never flickered.

Everything still worked and the battery compartment stayed dry. Only the lantern housing got damp.

The UCO Leschi after the rain test.
It took a while to dry out properly afterwards.

Drop Testing

It takes drops from hand height and holds up fine.

Materials

  • Body & lighting housing: high-grade plastic
  • Battery housing: aluminum

Warranty

  • Warranty: 1 year

Portability

  • Weight (with battery): 2.57oz
  • Weight (no battery): 1.62oz
  • Packed size: 3.9 x 1.25in
  • Extended length: 5.15in
The author measuring the packed size of the UCO Leschi.
Roughly the length of my palm, and I forget it’s in my pocket.

Pros, Cons & Recommendations

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the UCO Leschi LED Lantern?

Pro #1 – Inexpensive

It’s a very inexpensive lantern flashlight, about as cheap as a 2-in-1 gets.

Pro #2 – Portable

At 2.57oz it’s small, light, and it hangs off almost anything.

Pro #3 – Good beam distance

48.2ft on high is genuinely impressive for a flashlight this size, and it was more than enough to camp with.

Con #1 – Low shine distance

As a lantern it lights up a 1 to 2-person tent at most, and High is barely better than Low.

Con #2 – Not feature-rich

At this price a lot is missing. There’s:

  • No proper memory setting
  • No battery indicator lights
  • No mobile charging
  • No magnetic base

Con #3 – Inconsistent run-times

The run-times were inconsistent. Sometimes they came in under what I measured here, sometimes over, which made this testing difficult to pin down.

Con #4 – Inconsistent high brightness

Those lumen figures are on completely fresh batteries. About an hour in, brightness drops by 30% or more, down to roughly 75 lumens, and it keeps falling from there. Even at full charge, High flickers occasionally.

Overall recommendation

If you want a lantern and flashlight combo that’s very inexpensive, the UCO Leschi LED Lantern is one of the very few out there, and it’s a great pick for casual camping. Just don’t expect too much of it.

Bonus – MUST Read!

To find out how the Leschi compares to more expensive lantern flashlights, check out my 7 Best Lantern Flashlights article (TBA).

I measured every number on this page myself.

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