Smart Solar 3960KR1 San Rafael II Solar Mission Lantern Illuminated by 2 High Performance Warm White LEDs In The Top and One Amber LED in the Pillar Candle

These lanterns are the best. Today is May 2025 and were bought in May 2022 are still working great.

This is sitting on my deck on a small table. Right now (February), I get about 11 hours of light a day, and of that, this gets around 4 or 5 hours of direct sun.Yesterday, last light was 6:13, and the lantern was shining. Is it bright in that it'll provide light to read by? No, but I don't at all believe it's meant to do that; it provides ambience. It's plenty bright enough to do that nicely.I was even surprised that it was still shining at 2 am - the little solar hanging lights I have on a railing leading to the back of my house were long since finished for the night - and those get direct sun for a considerably longer period of time.I can't speak to how it'll be in weather yet - but we're supposed to get rain and snow and wind later in the week, so I'll find out.It *is* light. The coming storm features heavy winds as well, so we'll see. If it blows around/over, I'll glue some metal washers or similar to the bottom to give it more weight.

Man, I can't say enough good things about this lantern! First of all, tho, make sure you get the shorter one (check with a ruler) rather than the longer one. This shorter one is the one you want! I put mine on a shepherd's hook, one on each opposite side, in the garden near my front door, my front door is my "oasis" and relaxing area, from where I can view all of my favorite things, including these lanterns! And every time I look out my door at night or sit on my porch at dusk, the lanterns just "make" it look PERFECT! They are a "10" in my book!! When other people write negative things about this lantern, like "cheaply made" or whatever, I think you would have to be about a foot away from it to think that, and even then, I DON'T THINK THAT! They look like they could be $100 apiece, and they are so inexpensive! I've had mine out for nearly a year and they are still bright at night (well, it's a subdued brightness, just like you'd expect, not like 140 lumens, more like a 50.) They have lasted beautifully through the snowy winter, also. Love these and highly recommend. My neighbors complement them, too. (Update: 5/25/18, had these babies up for 1 1/2 years now, and love them more than ever!! Even under a grove of aspens (mottled sunlight), they still have enough light to light up well into the wee hours! I wish every solar product had such an excellent energy-collecting solar battery!!)

I have ordered this two years ago and the ones from that time still work and hang nicely, even through varies weather conditions. However, when I ordered one recently I noticed some changes. One change was to the switch that turns the unit on and off. The original switch was and a move side to side switch (rubber coated), which I did have some difficulty with due to weather or moisture getting into the switch. The new switch is like a rocker switch (still rubber coated) and this seems like it could be an improvement. The next change was to the hanging attachment at the top. The original version was that the loop attachment would screw onto the top of the lantern by an all thread coming out of the lantern, which held nicely and they still do till this day (over two years). These lanterns have been subjected to some harsh weather conditions and took the test. However, with the newer version the loop was already attached to the lantern. I hung the lantern up for two nights and to my surprise the lantern was on the ground. The reason is that the loop attachment is now attached by a wood type screw coming out of the unit and screws into the loop attachment which is a plastic type material, I believe. What happen is that the movement of the lantern swaying back and forth stripped the threads and now provides no hold for the unit to hang. This never happened with the original version. Trying to find a way to repair this problem. I would say go back to the older version way of attaching the loop attachment part. This is a great lantern of looks and light affects. I have had many compliments. Hope corrections can be made.

We put some out on the counter top of the outdoor kitchen a couple of years ago. They get a lot of sun and a lot of weather but every time I look out there at night there they are working just like they should. We purchased some more because the wind blew them off during a storm. They still worked fine but were damaged from the fall. I highly recommend them and that is very rare for me to say about anything. Keep in mind they aren't going to light up the area like a light bulb would, think candle light with a small wick. They are more decoration than anything else and that they do very well.