XTAR Moon RC2 Lantern Review

The XTAR Moon RC2 Lantern has a built-in battery and is great for camping and low-light needs. Read on for more testing of the 80+ CRI light.

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Official Specs

Here’s a link to the XTAR Moon RC2 product page.

• CRI of 80+
• Moonlight: 3LM
• Low: 30LM
• Medium 60LM
• High: 120LM
• Strobe: 120LM
• 2200mAh Li-ion battery
• Compatible with any USB power (including solar)
• IPX6 Waterproof
• Safe to use while charging
• Flicker free

The above section contains the manufacturer’s descriptions and claims, not my impressions or results.

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Short Review

Fantastic little light for its designed purpose. And it fits its designed purpose well.

Long Review

What’s Included

• Xtar Moon RC2
• USB Cable
• Warranty Card
• Manual

Build Quality, Durability, and Disassembly

Build quality is fine for this kind of light – it’s not meant to be abused. It has only IPX6 waterproof rating and that seems like it’s reasonable. I expect it’d be durable in its typical use case, and I have had no problem with it. My kids have not been able to destroy it either.

It is decidedly not to be disassembled, though. I contacted XTAR about this, and they said the two halves are “ultrasonically welded” together. Cracking that egg will break the Moon. It’d be nice for sure, to slip a higher capacity cell in there, but it seems like 2200 mAh is what it’s doing to stay. No,w if you were inclined to open the light destructively, then it’d be pretty easy – I expect those ultrasonic welds would pop right open with a hammer blow or two.

Package and Manual

Cardboard package with a window to see the Moon.

Not bad – clearly designed for retail. The back has a pretty full instruction set.

Side and other side:

The manual is useful, but the light is not complicated, which makes the manual slightly superfluous.

Retention

There’s a non-removable clip built into the light. That’s the only real retention method – the light will also stand

or rest

in various ways.

I found the clip to be nice, but maybe a little big for what it actually does. But it’s great for shirt collars – I used it this way while reading a book, for example, and it works very well.

Power

A single, built-in 2200 mAh 18650, which is recharged by micro-USB. When the Moon is actively charging, the button lights red. When it’s fully charged (while charging), the button lights green. During normal operation, the button is lit green.

If the battery gets low (as defined by having between 45 and 15 minutes of runtime left), the button will turn red. If the battery will only support less than 15 minutes, the light will flash red. Below that, the light will turn off.

User Interface and Operation

There’s just one button on the Moon. The mode order is odd, though, and they have to be clicked through in this order every time. (even to shut the light off!). Low>Hi>Med>Moon>Off. They say the “quick way” to turn the light off is (from any mode) to double-tap (which enters strobe), then tap to turn off. I don’t like that because that makes me use a strobe, which I normally don’t want to do. Otherwise, one must just cycle through the modes to turn the light off.

LED and Beam

The emitter is a Samsung 5630 and has a high CRI index of 80+. There appear to be 5 of these in the light, and it’s not stated which tint they are.

But the light is very warm, so I’d guess it’s around the 3500k variety. If you’re wondering why this LED isn’t used in flashlights, one reason is likely the shape: it’s a rectangle (5.6mm x 3.0mm), which makes for quite an interesting beam pattern in a flashlight with a conical reflector.

The beam is, of course, completely flood. Great for reading, or tent use (as pictured by XTAR). Completely great for what it is, but it’s not going to be your EDC light.

Runtime

Four hours of 120-lumen runtime on high is claimed. My runtime bears that out. Just over 4 hours on high, with a full cell.

Here’s the graph.

This is pleasing, as my graph matches XTAR’s almost identically in every way.

Size

Hard to compare it to any regular flashlight…. But here you go anyway.

It’s just bigger than a large egg. 82.5mm X 55mm X 45mm. Not good for in-pocket carry, but on-pocket carry works. And beside a Chapstick

Conclusion

What I like

• Great tint
• Great runtime
• Clip is nice
• My kids love it
• Since it has low voltage protection, I can let them play with it all they want!

What I don’t like

• user interface needs work.
• Would like it to be a little smaller
• Clip is a little big, and springs love to break
• 2200mAh cell (could be 9h runtime on a big mAh cell!)

Final Thoughts

I see this light going for $15 in some places – I think that’s a great price for this light, and I’d recommend it for that. For its designed purpose, it’s fantastic. I will absolutely use this light when I’m going camping, and I have already used it when reading a book to my kids. I used to laugh at the line in the picture on XTAR’s site, “Best gift for strengthening relationships,” but the way my kids actually love the light, I have to say that’s hard to disagree with!

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Notes

• This light was provided by XTAR for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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