Nitecore LA30 Lantern Review

The Nitecore LA30 is a “dual-fuel” lantern, supporting AA cells as well as having a built-in cell with micro-USB charging. Read on!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Nitecore LA30 Lantern product page.

Versions

There’s only one version of this light, but it comes in two body colors: Blue and Yellow. I have the yellow option.

Price

The MSRP on this lantern is $39.95, and that’s the price you’ll likely see most places, as this is a very new light.

Short Review

This is a very cool light. I like the dual-fuel feature. The output is good, too, and would be perfect for inside a tent. I wouldn’t call it lightweight, though, particularly when being used with AA cells, and so I would use this car camping, not backpacking.

Long Review

The Big Table

Nitecore LA30
Emitter:	Not named (High CRI, with red )
Price in USD at publication time:
Cell:	Internal, AAx2
Turbo Runtime
LVP?	Switch to low
Switch Type:
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	?
Claimed Lumens (lm)	250
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	(0% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	35
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	43lux @ 1.496m = 96cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	19.6 (56% of claim)^
All my Nitecore reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

Nitecore LA30
Charge cable
Spare o-ring (two types
Paperwork

Package and Manual

The LA30 ships in Nitecore’s standard yellow and black package, with a bunch of printing and specs and a photo.

A Nitecore LA30 Bi-Fuel camping lantern box on wooden planks. The packaging highlights features such as 250 lumens, USB rechargeability, dual power sources, white and red lights, and two color options.

The back of a box for a camping lantern displays product features, specifications, certifications, and a barcode, lying on a wooden surface. The text mentions battery options, LED output, and durability.

A yellow box with the text NITECORE printed in black. Below it, a white barcode sticker reads LA30 Yellow with a barcode and numbers. The box is on a wooden surface.

A yellow box labeled Nitecore LA30 BI-FUEL CAMPING LANTERN sits on a wooden surface. The box displays an image of the lantern and partial product details.

Build Quality and Disassembly

A yellow and white Nitecore portable LED light with a black power button sits on a wooden surface outdoors.

A small, dome-shaped light with a white top and yellow base sits on a weathered wooden surface. The background is blurred.

A yellow rectangular device with rounded edges and a visible metal clip is resting on a wooden surface. There is a small screw on the left side and embossed text on the back of the device.

The build of the LA30 is much like what I saw of the XTAR Moon RC2. The parts seem to be ultrasonically welded (at least that’s what the RC2 was) and do not come apart. So as a whole the unit seems very solid. The dome diffuses the light extremely well.

A small yellow device with a metal handle and a silver knob rests on a wooden surface. Part of another yellow object with prongs is visible on the left side of the image.

A yellow battery-operated device lies open on a wooden surface, showing its empty battery compartment. The device’s cover and a metal handle are visible beside it.

A close-up of the flat bottom side of a yellow plastic device with a battery compartment and four black screws, resting on wooden boards. The compartment is empty.

A yellow Swiss Army knife with an open metal nail file rests on a weathered wooden surface. The background is blurred and out of focus.

A yellow plastic battery compartment with two empty slots, placed on a weathered wooden surface outdoors.

A yellow flashlight shown lying on its side on a wooden surface, exposing the open battery compartment without any batteries inside.

As stated above, there’s not much to disassemble in this light. The bottom unscrews for placement of AA cells. There’s a little hook on the non-screw end for proper seating of the cover. It’s a nice cover – quite thick and has a screw-down closure. This thumbscrew was ever so slightly fiddly, but I never had any actual trouble with it. It also has a big gap for using coins, in case the need arises.
Note that this cover in no way has anything to do with the operation of the light. With or without AA cells installed, with the cover off, the light may be operated fully. With the cover off, the light is no longer waterproof, of course.

Size

Officially 75.2mm x 49.5mm x 53.8mm. It’s not really a small light, to be sure. The area that fits 2xAA cells really does require a lot of volume from the light; if not for that feature, the light would be around the size of the XTAR Moon.

A two-dollar bill is placed on a wooden surface with a small, oval-shaped, yellow and white object partially covering its left side.

A yellow and white computer mouse placed on top of a two-dollar bill, both laying on a weathered wooden surface.

A small yellow Nitecore lantern sits on top of a two-dollar bill, both placed on a weathered wooden surface.

Here’s the LA30 with the Convoy S2+.

Retention

Two means to hold this lantern in place. First is the magnet, which is sufficiently strong for holding the light in any orientation. The magnet is inside the AA cover (not exposed at all).

Next is the metal loop, which would be useful for hanging the light from inside a tent or places like that. It is possible to remove the loop (just take off the cover and spread the loop out a little, and it’ll come out of the base). It’s sprung, so when it reaches a certain point it’ll want to snap to the ‘closed’ position.

Power

The primary power source for the LA30 is the internal cell, claimed at 1800mAh. This cell is not removable (nor is it even possible to non-destructively view the cell in my experience). In the runtime below, the internal cell is the red line. Note from that runtime that it’s possible to reset the light to the highest output, even after it’s stepped down. Also noteworthy is that the initial stepdown from highest output to ~95% takes 10 minutes or so. Respectable.
Another option for powering the LA30 is two AA cells. This isn’t “two AA-sized cells.” It’s very traditional: AA primary or AA NiMH. Nothing else. No 14500, no lithium primary (that one’s strange but the manual says it specifically). Not sure what’s the difference in lithium primary (still 1.5V), but follow the manual and don’t use those. In the runtime below, I’m using Eneloop AA (NiMH) cells. In fact, NiMH is the recommended AA-type cell. The runtime is not nearly as long as the internal cell runtime.

Of interest in the dual-fuel discussion is that these cells in no way cooperate during operation. Ie if you have a fully charged internal cell, and fully charged AA cells, you don’t get (Internal + AA) type runtimes. With AA cells installed, the light will operate off AA cells, period. If you wish to use the internal cell, you must remove the AA cells. This also means that if you’re using rechargeable AAs, the charge port for charging the internal cell will not also charge the AA cells. I wish it would. If it would then this could be a compelling backpacking device, maybe.

Charging

Below is a graph of the chargetime of the internal cell. The cell is rated at 1.8Ah and tests much higher. Charging is also respectable at 0.5A, and the charge graph is very clean throughout.

When charging, the red emitter is lit red. When charging is complete, a green emitter turns the whole dome green. It’s quite bright, and possibly something to be aware of. There’s also no way to prevent this. But it’s not a big deal. Unfortunately, there’s no way to access the green emitter during normal operation.

User Interface and Operation

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	Power indicator^
Off	Hold (~0.6s)	Low White
On (White)	Click	Mode advance (LMH)
Off	Double Click	Red
On	Hold	Off
On (Red)	Click	Red Mode advance (LH, Beacon, SOS)
Off	Hold	Low then High (“direct access to high”)
On	Hold (>3s)	Locator beacon (very low output)

^ Power indicator:

3 blinks = battery > 50%
2 blinks = battery < 50%
1 blink = battery < 10%
In Power Indicator mode, the light indicates power with “big” red flashes, then switches over to locator beacon output (much lower red).
I honestly expect there’s something I’m missing here on the UI. It’s a touch complex, but it has some very nice features (battery indicator! etc).

Modes

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime (Internal/AA)	Mode Measured Lux
High	250	4h/3h	2000
Mid	55	9h15m/7h30m	484
Low	8	56h/48h	104
Red High	40	7h15m/6h	–
Red Low	5	48h/40h	–

LED and Beam

The emitters are not named, so far as I can tell. They’re High CRI (and I believe it, the color rendering is quite good). They’re also not accessible for better photos – they’re under the sonically welded dome.
The beam is absolutely all flood. It’s a lantern; that’s basically what you’d want. As such, the light doesn’t hit the 35m throw rating, but I’d hardly dock the light for that….

Beamshots

These beamshots always have the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

A completely black image with the text ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM in a vertical orientation along the left side. No discernible objects or features are visible.

A dark, almost black image with the text ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM vertically aligned on the left side. No other objects or details are visible.

A very dark image with minimal visible detail; only a faint circular pattern appears in the center. The text “ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM” is written vertically along the left edge.

A mostly black image with very little visible detail. The text ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM is written vertically along the left side of the image.

A nearly black image with very low visibility; the only discernible element is the vertical text “ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM” on the left side.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

A hand holding a small flashlight is shining a bright beam of light onto a white, paneled door. The words ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM are faintly visible vertically on the left side.

A flashlight with a red glowing ring projects a bright white beam onto a white paneled door in a dimly lit environment. The text ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM appears along the left side.

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options

Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. This light is a spitting image of the Fenix CL20. I don’t believe the CL20 has an internal cell, so that makes the LA30 better in my opinion. Output is higher for the LA30 as well.

Conclusion

What I like

Dual-fuel
On-board charging
Comprehensive user interface (even if it requires a little learning)
Extremely diffuse output

What I don’t like

AA and Internal cell don’t communicate in any way
Light is a bit big and hefty

Notes

This light was provided by NitecoreStore 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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