Cozy Campsite Magic (With a Twinkle Mode): LUNO Camping String Lights Review

There’s usually not much space left over once I’ve got my work bag packed. Backcountry trail work requires a heavy load of kit, so it isn’t often that I can splurge on camp luxuries like ambiance lighting. This past July was different, and with a boat ride in and out of our spot, I brought along the LUNO Camping String Lights for a little splash of enjoyment after the sun set.

At 20 feet long and about the size of a deck of cards, these string lights lit up our camp every night, making our home away from home cozy. The brand intended them more for car camping, but after a summer of testing, I think these string lights work just about anywhere.

In short: The LUNO Camping String Lights are a pretty versatile light source for how simple they are, and at $45, they won’t break the bank if you need a second string to double your output. The string isn’t immune to tangles, but overall, these make a solid addition to any camper’s illumination plan.

Looking for a new set of string lights for your camp? Check out GearJunkie’s Best Camping String Lights Buyer’s Guide for more of our favorites.

LUNO Camping String Lights: Review

To state the obvious: this review won’t cover much ground, as camping string lights are pretty simple. That’s a good thing. Compared to bulkier, brighter camp lighting, adding new functions can start to feel overwhelming. Not so here!

Simply: the LUNO lights are a 20-foot-long string of soft-white LEDs with a thin, clear rubberized coating for durability. These lead back to the control widget, which allows you to adjust brightness and lighting modes. The strand is supported by a handful of small suction cups along the line and is powered by a USB-C cable (plus an included power bank).

This all rides along in a translucent carry bag (that doubles as a lantern, of course) and makes for one solid camp light.

Testing From Car Camping to the Backcountry

To test the Camping String Lights, I chucked them into my camp box this summer and took them out whenever I could find the space — which was often. Between backcountry work and play, I logged about 12 overnights with the set, and I’ve pretty much got the hang of them now.

The first challenge I put them to was camping in the back of my truck (where the car-camping–heavy brand intended them). The 20-foot strand easily reached around the inside of my canopy and gave a warm glow while I got ready for bed every night. It’s pretty tight quarters in there, so it was nice to have a low-light setting to use.

The next weekend, I took the string lights further out of their comfort zone and brought them along on a backcountry work trip. Eight days in the field is a long time, and it wasn’t surprising that the LUNO lights ran out of juice by the second night. Still, since the battery pack uses a modern USB-C to recharge, it was simple to get the lights topped off for another night of light.

On this trip, I mostly strung the lights up between the trees in our camp, which worked well enough. The different light modes were certainly a hit, and most nights my crew and I cycled between full brightness (one of three levels) for early-evening camp tasks like making dinner, and the twinkle mode for winding down.

Mounting Options

These lights are designed to be used while car camping, so the little suction cups all along the string work perfectly for sticking the lights to your car windows. During testing, I did find that a clean window is essential, so be sure to wipe off any trail dust before you try to stick!

I did wish that the string had a few mitten hooks along the strand as well, for situations where the suction cups won’t work. To tweak these lights for times like those, I added some Nite Ize S-Biners ($15), which work great for clipping the lights around to different surfaces.

The final mounting option for the LUNO lights is as a lantern. To do this, simply wind up the strand, tuck it away in the translucent carry sack, and turn them on! The bag has a strong magnet and a hang loop for mounting it, and when the lights are in twinkle mode, it’s very cozy.

Integrated Battery Bank

I’ve also used the BioLite Luci Solar String Lights while camping, and that option is all about the Detachable Power Hub — the 4,000 mAh battery and solar panel make it a great campsite power source. The LUNO lights have the same idea, just miniaturized!

The little battery pack included with these lights is only 550 mAh (so no phone recharging), but as a power source for the lights, it runs for a surprisingly long time. During my backcountry work trip, I ran the lights for two nights in a row (or about the rated 8 hours).

Now the hangup is that the lights are only supposed to be operated with the battery pack (per LUNO). I’m not sure what might happen if you plugged these into any other USB-C battery pack, but the little batteries are easy to lose. Be sure to keep them close and safe inside the carry case.

What Could Be Better?

As mentioned previously, the need to run the string lights off the supplied battery bank is a little limiting, and I wish that there were a few hooks on the strand instead of only suction cups for mounting. Both of these issues aren’t deal-breakers, however, and can be worked around at camp.

And finally, no, LUNO hasn’t solved the tangle issue that comes with any string light. They’re just gonna be tangled sometimes. However, the rubberized coating on the strand does a good job of keeping the strands from forming knots, so there’s an upside here.

LUNO Car Camping String Lights: Conclusion

For $45, the LUNO Car Camping String Lights are a bargain (compared to the $100 you’ll pay for something like the BioLite Luci String Lights). They add a cozy vibe to any campsite, car or not, and have a great battery life that will get most anyone through a weekend outdoors.

The battery pack is smart (and USB-C–capable), but the requirement to use it only for the string lights does limit them a bit, in my opinion. The storage sack is a safe place to keep it, though.

While these string lights were intended for car camping vibes, they’ve now earned a permanent spot in my camping boxes for any kind of trip. For how small (and fun) they are, they make it into my bags on almost every weekend.