Best wind-up and emergency torches for power cuts (2026)

A genuinely well-made, rugged torch that recharges over USB-C and runs for hours on its large 21700 cell. It is more torch than most households strictly need, but it is the sort you buy once and rely on for years.

Worth knowing: Noticeably pricier than a basic emergency torch, and the tactical strobe and top brightness are overkill for simple power-cut use

Who shouldn't buy it: You just want a cheap light in a kitchen drawer for the occasional blackout, or you specifically want something that also runs on standard AA batteries or winds up when there is no power to recharge from. A £15-25 torch or head-torch will cover that.

A genuinely well-made 900-lumen torch with an IP68 waterproof body, a focusable beam and a 7-year warranty, so it earns its place as the household emergency torch. You pay a premium over budget brands, but the build quality and long low-mode runtime justify it for something you want to rely on in a power cut.

Worth knowing: Noticeably pricier than capable budget torches that also hit 900+ lumens

Who shouldn't buy it: You just want a cheap spare for the grab bag or the most lumens per pound - a £15-25 torch will cover a basic blackout, and this is overkill if it will mostly sit unused.

A well-made lantern from a torch specialist, with a warm 750-lumen top setting that lights a whole room without the harsh blue cast of cheaper LEDs. Its power-bank output will give a phone a top-up in a long cut. There is no hand crank or solar panel, so charge it when a storm is forecast and keep it topped up.

Worth knowing: No hand crank or solar input: once it's flat it needs mains, a car socket or a power bank

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a light you can recharge by hand with the grid down. A crank or solar lantern, or a torch that takes spare AA batteries, suits a long outage better.

Fenix rates the CL28R at 2,000 lm. Its lab figures are 9 hours on High (a figure that includes time stepped down for heat, so it is not 9 hours at full output), 10 hours at 1,000 lm and 360 hours at 10 lm. Two built-in 5,000 mAh cells (10,000 mAh in total) charge over USB-C in about four hours and can power a phone or tablet from the USB-A or USB-C port, one at a time. Brightness and colour temperature each have their own dial, and there is a red mode. The IP66 aluminium body, magnetic swivel handle and tripod socket make it easy to place. It is the brightest lantern on this page, but at 376 g with a sealed battery it is a heavier, less flexible light than the small models.

Worth knowing: The batteries are built in and cannot be replaced, per Fenix's FAQ

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a small bedside light or a lantern that takes spare cells; 2,000 lm is more than most households need.

BioLite lists 500 lm on high for about 5 hours and up to 200 hours on low at 5 lm, from a 6,400 mAh (23.6 Wh) battery that also works as a USB-A power bank. Its ChromaReal LEDs give dimmable cool and warm white, a candle-flicker mode and colour modes, there is a lock mode, and BioLite lists an hour of reserve power at the end. At 380 g and IPX4 it is a table-top or hanging light rather than something to throw in a pocket. It charges over micro USB in about three hours. It has twice the battery of the AlpenGlow 250 on this page, so it is the better pick if you also want to charge phones.

Worth knowing: Only about 5 hours on high per charge, per BioLite

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a lantern that runs on spare cells, or you need many hours of bright light at the top setting.

BioLite says the AlpenGlow 250 gives 250 lumens on high and 5 hours at that level, up to 200 hours on low, with warm and cool white, a candle-flicker mode and a lock mode. Its 3200 mAh battery can charge devices through a USB-A port. At 210 g it is small. BioLite also positions it as a safer alternative to candles in an outage.

Worth knowing: Only 5 hours on high per charge, per BioLite

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a lantern that lights a large room for many hours or that takes disposable cells.

Black Diamond lists 450 lumens, a 2000 mAh lithium-ion battery with USB-C charging in and a USB-A port for charging small electronics out, and an IPX4 rating. It weighs 272 g. The maker gives 2 hours on high and 120 hours on low, so it is best run dimmed for a long cut, with the top setting kept for short jobs. Charging a phone will cut into the light time.

Worth knowing: Only about 2 hours on the highest setting, per Black Diamond

Who shouldn't buy it: You need hours of bright light on high or a lantern that takes spare cells.

The ML4 is Ledlenser's ultra-compact lantern: 71 g, IP66, with four levels from 5 lm up to a short 300 lm boost. Ledlenser's runtimes are 2.5 hours at 150 lm, 8 hours at 50 lm and 45 hours at 5 lm. It charges through a magnetic USB cable in about two and a half hours, and Ledlenser's Dual Power design lets AA batteries back up the rechargeable 750 mAh cell, which is the useful part in a long cut. There is no USB power-out, so it will not top up a phone. Think of it as a task light for a bedside or a table rather than a room light.

Worth knowing: 150 lm lasts about 2.5 hours, and the 300 lm boost has no published runtime

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a lantern that lights a whole room for hours or tops up a phone; the BioLite AlpenGlow 500 or Fenix CL28R fit better.

Lepro lists up to 1300 lumens in combined mode, with cool white at 800 and warm white at 200 lumens, powered by a built-in 3600 mAh pack of two 18650 cells. B&Q gives about 5 hours on high and 20 hours on low. The maker says it works as a power bank for a phone. A sensible pick if you want one lantern that charges over USB.

Worth knowing: About 5 hours on high per charge, per B&Q

Who shouldn't buy it: You want a lantern that also runs on spare AA or D cells.

The LR40 is a modest light with a big battery: Nitecore rates it at 100 lm at most, from a built-in 4,000 mAh cell. Nitecore's manual gives about 8 hours at 100 lm, which uses the warm and white LEDs together, and up to 65 hours at 10 lm; each source can also run on its own, and there is a red SOS mode. A USB-A port (5 V, 1 A) can top up a phone from the same battery that runs the light, and it recharges over USB-C in about four hours. At 222 g with a top handle it is easy to carry, but Nitecore UK says it is not waterproof and the manual warns against dropping it. It suits a table or a small room rather than a large space.

Worth knowing: 100 lm is the ceiling, and only with both LEDs on, so it will not fill a large room

Who shouldn't buy it: You need a bright lantern for a big room or one that can sit out in the rain; the Fenix CL28R is far brighter.

A sensible all-rounder for a power cut: one unit is a handheld torch, a lantern for the table and a red warning light, charged from a USB cable day to day, with a crank for when the power is off. Duronic rates a full charge at up to 5.5 hours as a torch and 2.25 as a lantern. It isn't bright, at 32 lumens on the listing, and the crank is a top-up rather than a charger: the listing's own figure is about 15 minutes of torch light per minute of winding.

Worth knowing: Dim as a room light: the listing gives 32 lumens

Who shouldn't buy it: Don't buy it if you want one bright light for a whole room — a rechargeable lantern such as the Ledlenser ML6 is far brighter, though it has no crank.

A dependable, low-cost crank-and-solar set that earns its place in a blackout drawer as a backup FM/AM radio, torch and reading lamp. Just don't expect the crank or the small 2,000mAh bank to do serious phone-charging, and note the NOAA weather band and absence of DAB are of little practical use in the UK.

Worth knowing: The crank is a trickle rather than a real charger (about a minute of winding buys only a few minutes of radio), and the 2,000mAh bank only part-charges a modern phone.

Who shouldn't buy it: You mainly listen to DAB-only stations or expect it to keep a modern smartphone alive; treat it as a backup FM/AM radio and torch, not a power source, and pair it with a proper power bank if charging matters.

One of the longest crank-to-light figures here, on the maker's numbers: a minute of winding for up to an hour on full beam or 80 minutes on the single LED, with a solar panel to top it up in daylight and a case rated waterproof to 5 m. POWERplus gives no lumen figure, and three small LEDs mean this is a find-the-fuse-box light, not a room light. As the torch that is always ready in the glovebox or the shed, it is a sound choice.

Worth knowing: No lumen figure from the maker; three small LEDs are dim beside a battery torch

Who shouldn't buy it: Don't buy it if you want to charge it from a cable between power cuts. The Duronic Hurricane and the Sealey AK3305 both take a USB charge as well as the crank.

A plain three-LED wind-up with one thing the cheapest torches lack: a charging port, so it can sit on a micro-USB cable between power cuts and only needs the crank when the power is off. Sealey rates a minute of cranking at up to 30 minutes of light, and gives operating times of 30 minutes on one LED or 15 on all three from a small 40mAh battery, so it is a top-up-as-you-go light rather than one you charge once. No lumen figure from Sealey; expect enough to find the fuse box, not to light a room.

Worth knowing: Tiny 40mAh battery: it holds a quarter of an hour on full and has to be wound often

Who shouldn't buy it: Don't buy it if you need a torch for wet weather or the boat. Sealey gives it no water rating; the POWERplus Barracuda and igadgitz Xtra are rated waterproof.

A few pounds buys a torch that needs no batteries and no socket: fold out the handle, wind for a minute and Silverline says you have about 30 minutes of light at 15 lumens, with a one-LED mode to stretch it. That is enough to find the fuse box, the stairs or the dog, and nothing more. It has no charging port and no solar panel, so winding is the only way to charge it, which is the point of it and also its limit.

Worth knowing: 15 lumens is a path-and-fuse-box light, well short of the 100 to 300 that lights a room

Who shouldn't buy it: Don't buy it if you want the torch you will actually use in a long power cut. Keep this as the backup and spend on a rechargeable or AA torch for the main light.