Ryobi’s P720 LED worklight is a dual-power model, meaning you can run it off their 18V One+ Li-ion battery packs for cordless operation, or you can use an extension cord to eliminate any concerns about runtime.
Ryobi claims this worklight will put out 1700 lumens from its 20W LED. That’s a little more than what an off-the-shelf 100W-equivalent LED bulb will put out.
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What really sets this light apart is the variety of ways you can use it. Not only does the light pivot a full 360° in its stand, it can also be mounted on a tripod, hung on a nail, or fit onto a stud or ceiling joist.
We were curious to see how well it worked, and asked Ryobi for a test unit.
Using the Light
While I was applying polyurethane to my valances, I used the Ryobi worklight as a cross light to help see imperfections in the coat.
While I was working under my truck cleaning up a bad ground connection, I used the Ryobi worklight to illuminate my work.
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I had to finish trimming my deck boards in the dark, because it was supposed to rain for the next few days. I had my porch light on, but it wasn’t bright enough so I used the Ryobi worklight to help me see. I know the picture looks really dark, but that’s just my camera doing a bad job adjusting to the light level. The Ryobi worklight outshined my porch light.
I used the dimensional lumber clip to hang the Ryobi worklight from a joist while I was trying to figure out how badly the valve above the duct was leaking. It was really convenient to be able to stick it on a floor joist and shine the light directly at the valve.
I used the worklight to see underneath my kitchen sink while I was replacing the faucet.
At one point I stuck the worklight up on my shop ceiling and forgot about it. I found it still hanging a few days later, it never budged, even though the room above is our family room and has a lot of foot traffic.
Battery Life/Corded Operation
Given that the bulb is 20W, the theoretical max run time for the P108 Lithium+ battery should be 3.6 hours, but for some reason Ryobi lists the maximum run time as 4 hours.
To test the actual run time, I ran two tests, one using an older P105 (Lithium) battery and another using a brand new P108 battery. With the P105 battery, the worklight stayed on for about 125 minutes before shutting off, and with the P108 battery the worklight stayed on for 206 minutes. After both tests, the worklight was only slightly warm to the touch.
Using both of these run times, I extrapolated some rough minimum and maximum expected run times for all of the Ryobi batteries in the chart below.
| Image | Model | Capacity | Extrapolated Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
P100 | 1.5Ah | ~70 to 77 min |
 |
P102 | 1.3Ah | ~62 to 69 min |
 |
P105 | 2.6Ah | ~125 to 137 min |
 |
P107 | 1.5Ah | ~ 73 to 80 min |
 |
P108 | 4.0Ah | ~187 to 206 min |
3 hours and 26 minutes is shy of the stated 4 hours by quite a bit, but it’s pretty darn close to what I calculated the max runtime to be.
When I did plug in the worklight, I wasn’t able to see any qualitative difference in the intensity or the color of the light. The worklight seems to perform identically whether powered by a One+ battery of plugged in.
Light Quality
First off, this worklight is retina-searingly bright. If you accidentally look into the LED, you’re going to see spots for a while.
Second, this worklight has a wide beam angle. Ryobi doesn’t list what the beam angle is, but it’ll light up the whole wall from a few feet away. To roughly calculate the beam angle, I measured the width of the light cone with the worklight 18 ‘ away from the wall. The cone was approximately 88″ wide, which translates to about a 135° beam angle.
Third, to me the Ryobi worklight has a slight greenish or blueish tint, but I’d classify the light as closer to daylight then incandescent. I definitely wouldn’t use it to paint a masterpiece or color match paint with fabric swatches, but I found the color of the light acceptable for most tasks.
Since I don’t have a colorimeter at my disposal, I tried to compare the Ryobi worklight to several common sources of light below.
Final Thoughts
The only negative thing I can say about the worklight is that the color of the light is neither daylight or soft white. So colors might be off a bit if you are using this worklight to match stains or paints.
Even though the worklight doesn’t hit Ryobi’s stated 4 hour maximum battery life, 3+ hours on their top battery is still not bad. When I’ve used the worklight, I’ve never run the battery out of power. I usually just leave a P108 battery in the worklight all the time and charge it when I see two bars or less on the battery charge indicator. I’ll use it for half a dozen short jobs before charging the battery during some downtime.
With the several ways it can be positioned and aimed, I’ve found this worklight to be very versatile. It’s now my go-to worklight whenever I need anything more than a flashlight.
Before I tested this worklight, $69 seemed a bit pricey for a Ryobi worklight, but now that I’ve tested and used it for a bit, I have no qualms about saying the following:
If you are already in the Ryobi 18V One+ ecosystem, you’re not going to be disappointed by this light — it’s definitely worth the dough.
Price: $69
Thank you to Ryobi for providing the review sample unconditionally.
abnormalist
Honestly out of all the Ryobi stuff I own, my work light gets the most play. When I bought it I thought the corded portion would get more use than the battery, but I never realized how much it sucks to drag a cord around for a light.
Best part is when you’re working in an enclosed space, it doesnt generate the heat like a halogen to cook you right out.
Friends of mine who use various other brands of tools have since bought the Ryobi light and batteries because of just how handy this thing is.
Pete
I dont know where you live but here in las vegas +115 degree days the cordless fan is awesome. I have yet to buy the light though. I do have a bunch of their $20 lanterns though for camping & incase of power outages.
James C
I recently got my first Ryobi 18v tool (basic string trimmer – works great for my needs). I was getting interested in this light until I came to the part about the tint. I’m a bit of a tint snob and blue / green hues would just ruin the light for me. If I find one on a good sale I might consider getting it to modify with a different led.
Chad
if your concerned about the tint run down to your local stage and theatrical supply house and buy some gel material – endless color changes and temperature or diffusion!!
led runs cool enough not to burn the material – should be able to tape it to the front of sandwich it between the housing and the front glass material .
unless your into modding the unit go for it !!
Jason
I wish Milwaukee had a light like this.
Benjamen
Milwaukee will be coming out with the Rover M12 compact flood light in September. It has a spring clamp on the back of it that can grab onto pipes and studs.
Adam
and while killing time on HD’s site today, I came across this new Ryobi work light. At least I haven’t seen it, and I was looking at lights last month
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-ONE-LED-Workbench-Light-P727/207017500
dduff617
I own and have used one of these for quite a while and use it a lot. It was the obvious choice for me because I already have Ryobi batteries and chargers. Previous Ryobi lights were the old incandescent flashlights that came as freebies with multi-tool kits and a “lantern” style led light that worked rather poorly as a work light.
I find this LED flood to be hugely useful just because of the large amount of light it puts out.
The things I would change:
1. The power button sits right at the point where if i grab the little “handle” on the top of the unit (not visible in the above photo) to carry it, my knuckles end up pushing the button and turning on the light. I’ve blinded myself by accidentally and unexpectedly getting a faceful of light no less than five times.
2. It really should have a min of 3-4 selectable power levels so you can trade off battery life for light and so that when working at close range, you can tone down the light to a level that is not blinding.
Chris P
“my knuckles end up pushing the button”
Same problem, this is my temporary fix with foam and 2 sided tape
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3sPC_ZsKlj6bFNvNW8waEVMRlU
Anton
Do you see it going on sale at any point or having new features such as 3 power settings? I want one but just bought an plug in LED worklight for $25 and have a hard time justifying it.
Jason Holowicki
This is a great light for lighting up an entire work room, attic or crawlspace. I too wish it had two or three intensity levels, but other than that it is a nice light. As far as the run time from the test, it is unlikely that Ryobi used the P108 battery from Australia for their test, but in case you didn’t know, the P108 battery is 5.0ah there. The website shows the don’t offer a 4.0ah. The 5.0ah battery is offered in a single (Rb18l50) or twin pack (Rb18ll50pg). Hopefully they will start selling these 5.0ah batteries in the USA.
Chris P
I have owned the 240V version of this light for a few months now. It is sold in NZ & AUS as R18HW-0. Light is 5700K, assume P720 is the same?
http://www.ryobi.com.au/power-tools/products/details/18v-one-hybrid-worklight
I had been thinking about buying it for some time and noted that it was 20W/1700 lumens. When I actually went to buy it and picked up the box it read 25W/2100 lumens! The specs on the Ryobi website had also changed. Glad I hadn’t bought it a week earlier. If you are in the US and thinking of buying this it may be worth checking to see if an upgrade is imminent.
Agree with above comments, run time is more like 3 hours at best on a 4ah battery, the switch is easily knocked and it would benefit from a lower power/longer run-time setting. I also find unstable on uneven surfaces and can tip easily on a flat surface as well. I often attach it to a round 12 inch plastic tray (drilled a hole in the middle and run a bolt and wing nut thru the tripod hole) to make it more stable. I have spent a lot of time in my crawl space lately and I can push and drag the light easily on the tray.
Overall a fantastic light, very happy with it.
Mick
Got it! Love it!!!!
Bonson
This light is awesome – one of the few things I paid retail price for and feel it’s worth it and more. It does one thing really well – lights up where, when and what you need. It lit up my bathroom renovation while the electrical was out. All the additional features are seamlessly non-intrusive in the design (alt power source, positioning)
It IS searingly bright as stated…made that mistake once and took a few seconds to recover. If my ryobi worklight broke, I wouldn’t even look at competitor models and just re-buy this.
Joe
The color temperature of this light actually inspired me to buy Reveal bulbs. Was relocating the vanity light in our bathroom, and hung this guy over a towel rack pointed straight up. Room seemed so much crisper and cleaner than than before that I decided I wanted that effect all the time.
Also used it for nighttime yard cleanup and painting. Nice to not worry about burning your leg by backing into it while rolling a wall.
I agree with others, though, regarding button placement & lack of dimming.
Jim Premo
I love this light. I’ve had it for over a year and no problems. I wouldn’t use with any other battery than the P 108 one+ 4ah. This battery lasts a good 2 hrs.
Jun
i bought year ago and now it turn off by itself repeatedly even the battery is fully charge, can someone tell me what is the problem?
Bryan
FWIW Ryobi has updated the light to put out 2400 lumens, and a low setting of 400 lumens. Welcome changes.