The Streamlight Seige lantern. They come in a AA model and a D cell model. They are, in my opinion, the best thing going right now in battery powered lanterns. And they are tough. I've left them outside in the rain, for multiple days/nights. My neighbor's kid puts them on strobe and floats them in the swimming pool while they are playing. Water is not a problem. Neither is dropping them as I have done on several occasions. I love the multiple options of hanging them, with or without the diffuser. And I LOVE the battery level indicator built into the on/off switch. There is no excuse for letting the batteries go completely dead other than laziness.
https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-...86504846&sr=8-1&keywords=streamlight+siege+aa
https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-...4749&sr=8-1&keywords=streamlight+siege+d+cell
I guess which is the best lanterns all depend on your uses. From a prepping perspective, there is no reason not to have options. Options and redundancies are a good thing.
My family has multiple Seige lanterns, AA and D cell, UCO Candle lanterns, Coleman propane lanterns, Dietz oil lanterns, hurricane lamps, Luminaid Packlites, and Coleman kero/white fuel lanterns.
UCO Candle Lanterns:
https://www.amazon.com/UCO-Original...1486505476&sr=8-3&keywords=uco+candle+lantern
I prefer the Luminaid when it comes to solar:
https://www.amazon.com/LuminAID-Pac...86504949&sr=8-2&keywords=luminaid+solar+light
We used to be heavier on Dietz oil lamps than anything else. They of course burn lamp oil, but you could also use kerosene or diesel if you needed to. You had to trim the wick accordingly but I have done it several times.
Then, when regular run of the mill Duracell and Energizer batteries got to where they had a 10 year shelf life, we increased the amount of battery powered lanterns. Batteries store better than everything else like oil and kerosene. Even lamp oil eventually degrades the plastic containers it comes in and starts leaking. So now we keep several gallons of lamp oil on hand, several hundred batteries (that we are able to rotate out fairly consistently thanks to the kids and those dang Wii controllers, and our game cameras as well), about 75 gallons of kerosene, plenty of candles (which we can reproduce with bees wax), and there is always propane on hand.
I have tried multiple and various crank/solar combos. So far I haven't found anything other than Chinese garbage that breaks pretty quick.
Options are a good thing. If you're just going camping, get whatever you like. If it's long term concerns, get a few different kinds. It is not an expensive pursuit.