Milwaukee has come out with a new compact M18 lighting product, appropriately named the Radius Compact Site Light, model 2145-20, and it can provide a full 360° of light coverage. Or, you could use the controls to turn it into a directional task lighting. This means you only use the side of the light you need, extending runtime.
Milwaukee is also releasing a One-Key version of the Radius M18 Compact Site Light in October, but we’ll wait a little closer to the launch date to talk about all the extra features of that version. Milwaukee might still make changes to the One-Key Radius Site Light, but you can probably imagine what kind of features and controls an app-connected worklight will offer, such as wireless activation.
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The M18 Radius Site Light has three brightness levels:
- 4400 Lumens on high (2 hours of runtime)
- 2100 Lumens on Medium (4 hours of runtime)
- 1000 Lumens on Low (8 hours of runtime)
They don’t say with what battery they are getting that kind of run time, but every Radius light at Milwaukee’s product event was paired with an M18 XC high capacity pack, probably 4.0 or 5.0 Ah each.
The Radius light can be powered by an M18 battery pack, OR by plugging it into the wall using a standard 3-prong extension cord. As you can see in the images, there’s plenty of room to fit a 9.0Ah battery in the battery bay.
The Radius also has a built-in outlet, so you can daisychain a number of lights together from a single AC plug.
It’s not the best picture, taken through the fog in a dark room, but here’s a look at the LED module for the Radius light. We were told it can output 6700 lumens, but with the Radius’ high impact Polycarbonate diffusion lens, you get more uniform lighting at the cost of some brightness. With the diffusion lens, peak brightness is at around 4400 lumens.
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At the Symposium, it was mentioned that a clear lens might be available at some point, to take advantage of the full illumination output of the LED module, but the light coverage wouldn’t be as uniform.
This 10.7 lbs light can be hung upside down via a folding metal hook, or horizontally from its “integrated hanging features,” which are mounting holes on the bottom of the housing. The light is dust and water resistant to IP54 standards.
The LED array has a limited lifetime warranty and the whole light features a 5-year warranty.
Price: $299
ETA: July 2016
Buy Now(Coming Soon via Home Depot)
First Thoughts
The Radius seems like a really useful multipurpose site light, and the amount of light it puts out was impressive. They were using a single Radius to light up a dark and foggy room in the demos.
I think this light really will shine when the One-Key version comes out. The remote control and programability that One-Key brings to this light are some of the most practical uses I’ve seen from One-Key so far.
Stuart’s Take: I also had a chance to demo the Milwaukee M18 Radius Compact Site Light recently, and found myself impressed with 2 things. First, the light was diffuse enough so as to avoid, either mostly or entirely, the multi-shadow effect that sometimes plagues lighting products that have many multiple LED elements. Second, the light is a lot more compact than I thought it would be from its images.
One really nice touch are the spring-loaded outlet covers, which have seals to help maintain the light’s water resistance rating.
I would like to see Milwaukee come out with a wobble base attachment, but the unit’s robustness would likely make it too top-heavy. Darn the attention given to ensuring excellent build quality.
Cody says
A feature that Milwaukee should have also put on this light is a tripod pod mount on the base of the tool for people who don’t want the light on the ground and the ceiling is already closed in with material it would be nice to be able to put it on a tri pod stand.
Stuart says
In tHenry, yes, that would be nice. Or maybe a wobble base.
In reality, this is a heavy worklight. Unless you use a very pricey tripod with wide stance, it would topple easily.
It’s a lot heavier and more compact than it looks in photos.
Tom says
$300 for a led lantern seems pretty pricy.
Adam Frye says
When you want to light up half a football field (in the middle of nowhere) this is your go to bad boy.
Just think of the SOS signal this could be for a boat if it had the capability. Hmmm, One key?
John says
Hah that sounds like a great app. Type in words / sentences and One-Key translates the message into Morris code flashes from the Radius Light!
Eric says
It’s really not that bad of a price. A quality corn cob style lamp that puts out 6700 lumens could easily cost $150-$200 retail. And that’s without the body surrounding it, the extra electronics, a lot of heat sink material (probably why it’s so heavy) and of course your going to pay something for the name on the side of it.
Neil says
I’m a “Dewalt guy” but a good tool is a good tool. Hopefully Dewalt is paying attention, 360 light would be “key”…pun intended. I really like and the DCL050 very useful but the DEWALT 20V/18V/AC LED AREA WORK LIGHT (DCL060 AND DCL061) didn”t really apeal to me. This light looks great, going to have to convince the Milwaukee guy on our crew to get one!
Jason says
I’m a Milwaukee guy, but Dewalt is paying attention that their lighting options were not as well though out as Milwaukee. The only thing is the Dewalt light is more like a wobble light in size its not small compared to the Milwaukee but it does have bluetooth features also. http://www.cpopowertools.com/dewalt-dcl070t1-20v-max-cordless-lithium-ion-bluetooth-led-large-area-light-kit/dewndcl070t1,default,pd.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=726&zmap=dewndcl070t1&gclid=CO2B_7Chyc0CFQQQaQodrLIGRQ
Matt J says
It looks like a great light… But, it’s pretty expensive for a light… And this is probably the worst time of year to try to push lighting..
Steven says
Has some cool features. I suppose im getting tired of hauling in alot of single purpose tools, maybe Im the only guy here that feels this way.
Try this Milwaukee: a multibay battery charger radio, light.
Make this happen, than my wallet will spread her legs open.
Barri says
You could buy a true wobble light that puts out 10x more the lumens for about the same money. This thing is extremely over priced.
Adam says
40,000 lumens for under $300, and cordless? I don’t see that happening any time soon.
There’s definitely some extra cost associated with it being Milwaukee-branded, but in my experience their engineering is excellent, and that’s worth the price to me.
Barri says
I have a bunch of cordless lights that are already more than bright enough for cordless lights but they cost 1/4th the price of the Milwaukee unit. My comparison was that you could get better light for the same money that puts out way more light. That Milwaukee light should be no more than $150. In the end it is a Milwaukee tool and not Festool.
firefly says
Care to give us a few example? I am sure there are more than a few of us that are interested to know as well.