BPL Rechargeable Lantern L650 Review
This is another great Emergency Rechargeable lantern available in the Indian market from BPL Techno Vision Pvt. Ltd. It retails for around Rupees 1350/- in the market. It comes with a new design and a host of new features compared to the
previous versions of emergency lanterns from BPL. The design features the looks of a standard emergency compact lantern which is sturdy, compact and decent looking. Comes only in a single color viz Maroon colored. I liked the color because its not very bright and fancy, more over the reddish tinge gives you the benefit of finding it easily among other things.
The fluorescent tubes used are manufactured by Hitachi and were pure white and bright enough. They have incorporated a new kind of soft touch press switch rather than the sliding DPDT switch. The switch is conveniently placed on the top of the lantern for easy accessibility. One thing that i really didnt like and in fact which rather bugged me was the working of the switch. When you first press the switch, it switches on the single tube. The second press switches it off. And when you press the switch again it switches to the double tube light mode. The fourth press on the switch, switches off the device again. This toggling sequence has to be followed every time. So this rather irritated me as suppose u want to switch on the double tube from the off state you have to first switch on in single tube mode and then only you can switch on the double tube. Though this is not a very big issue but i however liked the previous DPDT sliding switch design as in that i could directly go to any mode without passing through others. So i felt they could have designed it in a better way.
This new lantern boasts of being eco friendly by providing an option of charging through an optional solar panel from BPL that can be purchased separately. It supports the Solar Panel SP 1000, which is rated to have 5 Watts output at 12 Volts D.C. for full recharge, is sturdy in construction and comes with a two years warranty. This way you can not only save your electricity bills but also save the nature in your own way at an individual level.
It comes with a 12 Volt D.C. adapter for charging which the company mentions as detachable charging cable for better portability. The previous old versions came with the charging circuit inside itself and the cable used to be hardwired.
Though theres still a compartment beneath it as it used to be in previous version for storing the power cable, its useless in this model as the external charger doesnt fit inside the compartment. So this detachable charger is in fact a hassle and may be lost. Also, it has a wide voltage range from 100V to 260V A.C.
The company rated battery back up is as long as up to 10 hours on single tube. Backup for double tube usage has not been mentioned. On inquiry my retailer said it gives up to 7 hours on double tube at a full charge. Though i have not been able to verify the backup on either double or single tube use as i have never been in that situation. I have used it merrily on double tubes for 4 hours continuously without any issues. So, it seems this lantern has a good enough backup and can be trust able companion at hours of emergency.
Also, it comes with a two years warranty on the equipment except the tubes and the adapter to make you free from worries.
Over all its a decent emergency light available in the market crafted purposefully to suit the Indian conditions.
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