May 23, 2025

LuminAID

A friend brought one of these on a camping trip and I was hooked.

Theese are cubes that light up, but also fold down flat. You blow them up like a balloon. They have a rechargeable lithium battery inside, and the white plastic acts as a diffusor making the light quite pleasant in camp.

The product is great, but the website is weird and disorganized. You can buy some of their products on Amazon, sometimes at a better prices than the website -- but it is tricky to correlate the products on Amazon with the website (which is presumably the most up to date information -- or is it?)

They all can be charged either by a USB cord or via the solar cell array mounted on top. An LED indicates that charge current if flowing.

As near as I can tell there are 3 versions in increasing size, brightness, weight, and price.

LuminAID Nova -- 75 lumens, 3 ounces, $30 on Amazon.

LuminAID Max -- 200 lumens, 2000 mAh, 9 ounces, $50 on Amazon.

LuminAID Titan -- 300 lumens, 4000 mAh, 11 ounces, $70 at their site.

The little 3 ounce Nova would seem perfect for backpack trips.

Their website shows the PacLite "Max" which may be identical to the "Max" I got from Amazon, but they rate it at 150 lumens. The packaging on the unit I got from Amazon boldly proclaims 200 lumens, so it isn't an Amazon error. Who knows what is going on.

Run times

The lights have different levels, as well as a doggone blinking mode. The Titan can be switched from red to white and the red level is adjustable.

Nova -- 

75 lumens -- 3-5 hours (turbo)
50 lumens -- 6-8 hours
25 lumens -- 12-14 hours
12 lumens -- 18-24 hours
flashing

Max -- 

200 lumens -- 3-5 hours (turbo)
100 lumens -- 6-8 hours
50 lumens -- 12-16 hours
15 lumens -- 44-50 hours
flashing

Titan -- 

300 lumens -- 3-5 hours (turbo)
150 lumens -- 8-10 hours
75 lumens -- 14-16 hours
10 lumens -- 72-100 hours
flashing

Charging

You can check charge level using the red button. It will show a 1,2,3,4 sequence and then show the charge level briefly.

The Titan says it will charge via USB in 2-4 hours, and via solar in 16-20 hours. They caution against leaving it on your car dash, as it is likely to get too hot and be damaged. Charge times for the Max are the same.

The little Nova charges in 1-2 hours from USB and 10-12 hours from solar.

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Light Info / tom@mmto.org