BioLite AlpenGlow 500 Lantern

The best table lantern for car camping, because its light is pleasant to sit beside. The warm white mode, with an optional candle flicker, takes the hard edge off the evening, and the cool white uses broad-spectrum LEDs that show food and gear in their true colors. It also has a red mode, which few lanterns include. Full power, 500 lumens, lasts about five hours in testing, in line with BioLite's figure, and low stretches to around 200. The 6,400 mAh battery can recharge a phone roughly once. The drawbacks: at 13.8 ounces it is too heavy for backpacking, it still charges by micro-USB rather than USB-C, and the shake-to-change control does not always register.