In our opinion, the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 is the best hand crank lantern currently available.
Whether you’re a survivalist, prepper, camping enthusiast, or someone who is simply looking for an emergency lamp that is 100% ready to go. The Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 is what you need.
The Lighthouse 600 is an upgrade to the excellent Lighthouse 400. Increased battery size has resulted in a brighter lantern, increasing brightness from 400 lumens to 600 lumens.
The Lighthouse 600 can be recharged using several different methods. Most importantly though, by a hand crank and solar power. Particularly when used in conjunction with the Goal Zero Nomad solar panel. With these charging methods, you will always be able to charge your lamp and have light whenever you need it.
Just How Bright is the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600?
The Lighthouse 600 is an extremely bright lantern. It produces up to 600 lumens of light when used on full power and in the 360° dualite mode. All this from just two 3 watt LED’s.
The Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 utilizes dualite directional lighting. This ensures 360 degrees of unobscured bright and powerful LED light when both sides are switched on. And 180 degrees of lighting when only one side is selected. Perfect for when the lantern is placed up against a wall.
Using the lantern in 180° mode will also conserve power and greatly extend the lantern’s running time.
Unlike a lot of other lanterns, the light that is emitted from the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600, although bright, is made easier for your eyes to cope with by the frosted effect applied to the LED cover. This frosting softens the light nicely but without losing any of its brightness.
Battery Life
According to the manufacturer’s website, the Lighthouse 600 has a run time of anywhere between 12 hours and 48 hours.
12 hours when 360° mode and full brightness has been selected. 48 hours when set to the dimmest setting and in 180° mode.
The lantern is powered by an internal 5,200 mAh lithium battery with a 1.5A USB output when fully charged.
…and Charging
Although the lantern can be recharged using different sources there are still only two physical ways the lantern can receive a charge. The first is through the USB connection and the other is by using the hand crank generator.
In other words, you will need to ensure your USB lead is always safe and sound. If you don’t you’ll only be able to use the hand crank to charge the lantern. Hand crank charging is fine but certainly not as easy as connecting to an external power source using the USB!
When fully charged the lantern works well as a USB power hub. It is powerful enough to charge most small electronic devices such as your cellphone and tablet. Particularly useful when traveling off-grid. Although it should always be remembered that doing so will discharge the battery quite quickly.
Note that if you’re considering buying this lantern the manufacturer strongly advises fully charging the lithium battery at least every six months. Preferably every three. This will ensure the battery continues to perform at its optimum capacity. It’s good practice to do this with all items that use internal rechargeable batteries!
As mentioned at the start of this review, the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Lantern is also solar-ready. It has the capability of recharging with the use of a Goal Zero Nomad solar panel or similar, via the USB socket.
When the built-in hand crank is used for one minute it produces 10 minutes of light on the lowest setting.
Dimensions
The lamp is surprisingly small, especially when you consider how much light it puts out. With its legs folded up, the lamp is only, 4.5 x 5 x 6.5 inches in dimension and weighs in at only 1.1 pounds. Which is conveniently light. Particularly important for individuals trying to keep the weight of their backpacks down to a minimum.
The collapsible legs of the lamp give the user the freedom to hang it, stand it, or store it away when not in use. It also comes equipped with a handle, convenient for carrying. Be warned though, you will need pretty small fingers to use the carrying handle!
Features not covered
The lamp is supplied with a USB lead which fits perfectly into a recess around the pinched waist of the lamp.
The legs have a rubber coating to prevent them from slipping on smooth surfaces. They also reassuringly snap firmly into the open and closed positions.
Although not a feature as such, the Lighthouse 600 is a very durable little lamp. It feels well made, especially when you handle it for the first time. Even after field testing, we have heard nothing but positive reviews about the construction and strength of this little lantern. A huge recommendation.
One safety point that hasn’t been mentioned is that the lamp also has a flashing red light mode. This mode is activated by a red triangular button on the front of the lamp, perfect for attracting attention.
Specs
- Dimensions: Height: (legs folded up) 6.5”(16.51 cm); (legs in use) 9.5″ (24 cm), Width: 5” (12.7 cm), Weight: 1.1 lb (498 grams)
- Brightness: up to 600LM
- Run-time when fully charged: from 12 hours with both sides lit on high to 48 hours with one side lit on low!
User Feedback on the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 – Positive
In general, the vast majority of people who bought the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Lantern have been VERY satisfied. With both the effectiveness and reliability of this lantern. This is backed up by the extremely high percentage of five-star reviews on Amazon. Especially when compared to many of the other hand crank lanterns.
Users state that the lantern is extremely bright compared to other hand crank lanterns they have had in the past and the good manufacturing and unique design receive a lot of positive comments too.
The only downside, as far as we can see, and one that very few users mentioned anyway, is the actual cost of the product when compared to other hand crank lanterns.
It could be perceived that because there are so few negative comments based on the price, many other purchasers have thought the extra cost is more than worth paying when you consider the vast improvement in the performance that the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Lantern offers compared to other hand crank lanterns.
Price
The Lighthouse 600 could be deemed by some to be a little bit overpriced. It is true that there are cheaper lamps available that offer the same versatility of hand crank and solar charging, but do they offer the same level of brightness or quality of construction? They don’t! And the extra you will pay for the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 lantern is completely justified, in our opinion.
As with all Goal Zero products the Lighthouse 600 comes with a one-year warranty.
Summing up:
The Lighthouse 600 is the perfect light source for any outdoor adventure, survival situation, or domestic emergency.
It is lightweight, rechargeable, equipped to recharge electronic USB compatible devices, and has folding legs that can adjust to make the light source higher or lower with a built-in handle for convenient carrying.
The Lighthouse 600 might be more expensive than other hand crank lanterns but in our opinion, you can’t put a price on reliability when your health and safety are at stake!
Our View on the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600:
This is the best hand crank lantern that we have reviewed. It is easily the best all-around performer and easily the hands-down winner of this specific category!
If you want the best hand crank emergency lamp and you can afford to pay a little extra, then you have no choice. You have to get the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600!
