Ryobi launched their line of USB Lithium cordless power tools in accessories in January 2022, and has expanded the line a couple of times since then.
Ryobi USB Lithium tools are powered by a 4V max rechargeable Li-ion battery that features built-in USB-C charging. A 3-port charging station is also available.
The tools are compact and relatively affordable. Perhaps more important than that, they are convenient.
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Ryobi recently added two more tools to the lineup – a high-CRI LED worklight, and a “desktop vacuum.”
With these two additions, that brings the total number of tools and solutions to 18 products, by my count, not including the different batteries or charging station.
I find it especially interesting that there’s not much competition in this space, and no signs of any competing brand throwing much resistance into Ryobi’s path.
The lineup launched with just 4 tools and 1 size of battery.
Just a few months ago, there were 9 tools, 2 batteries, and the 3-port charger.
Now, they’re at 18 tools, 3 batteries, and the charger.
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What kinds of USB Lithium tools do you want to see Ryobi come out with next?
Here’s the list of everything that has been launched or announced to date:
Ryobi USB Lithium Tools
Power Cutter (FVC51K)
Screwdriver (FVD50K)
Clamp Fan (FVF51K)
Power Scrubber (FVG51K)
Power Carver (FVH51K)
Glue Pen (FVH56K)
Soldering Pen (FVH61K)
Foam Cutter (FVH64K)
Desktop Vacuum (FVH67K)
High Pressure Inflator (FVIF51K)
Rotary Tool (FVM51K)
Compact LED Flashlight (FVL51K)
LED Flip Light (FVL52K)
LED Pivoting Laser Flashlight (FVL54K)
LED Magnifying Light (FVL55K)
LED Inspection Light (FVL56K)
1/4 Ratchet (FVRC50K)
3/8″ Ratchet (FVRC51K)
Ryobi USB Lithium Batteries and Chargers
2Ah Rechargeable Battery (FVB01)
2Ah Rechargeable Battery with Mobile Device Charging Capability (FVB02)
3Ah Lithium Rechargeable Battery with Mobile Device Charging Capability (FVB03)
3-Port Charger (FVCH01)
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Steve
How about an engraver, label maker, temp gun, stud finder, clock – really, anything that uses regular batteries could probably benefit…
Brian
Although the newer batteries have the ability to charge USB devices, I don’t think the full potential has been tapped here. A cap that covers the contacts could make these a true small form factor power brick. A travel case with multiple slots that clearly identified itself as a phone charger could make this a truly viable power brick with replaceable cells.
Jason
Bring back the headphones like Tek4
Jonathan Ryan Alligood
The hp64l tek4 right angle installation driver rebirth. I agree a label maker. Precision screw driver.
Joe H
Milwaukee just launched their Bluetooth buds, that same idea could work here with the 4v battery working in the charging case. I think the battery would be pretty large for the over-the-ear style phones, but maybe
Chaz
They need to work on production and distribution with these. A lot of these are OOS. Neat products though.
Jonathan Ryan Alligood
Agree, availability is hit or miss. I know they have a deal with home depot. But another of these seem to be hobby, or arts and crafts tools they should try to get this line in hobby lobby or joannes. Maybe a diffrent color scheme or something.
Stuart
Ryobi tools and accessories are exclusive to Home Depot and can all but be considered as a house brand.
Jonathan R Alligood
I am aware they are exclusive to HD. I was saying that since these are a more Nitch product line . and truthfully since HD isn’t giving it any Sales space. not even a endcap or floor display. it might be a point of for TTI (ryobi) to use for moving this line out to where it could be visible. I remember a post u did about the Ryobi take over of the Dremel gondola. -that never materialized in my local HD. But if that were to happen for this line. than yeah. that would be awesome for Ryobi. and since they appear to be going all in for this space. Then yeah, long game. I also noticed that Milwaukee has a lot of patents all of a sudden for the Red Lithium USB line (8- 9 patent for different tools.) you can make competition in a product space with yourself, I guess. though i wonder if Milwaukee update to USB3 if they are planning a relaunch of the line. Because micro-usb is long in the tooth. we’ll see.
Bonnie
TTI would have to re-brand these as something else in order to do that. Home Depot is the one that owns/licenses the Ryobi name.
Stuart
They don’t have any other power tool brands, and the cost would be enormous. Hart? That’s their brand for Walmart, and straying beyond the retailer wouldn’t go over very well. Hoover? They’re focused on vacuums and floor care.
Stuart
Home Depot is Ryobi’s sole client, and I don’t see this changing any time soon.
It’s not the same as how Klein was a Home Depot exclusive among home center retailers. Ryobi is tethered to Home Depot, and cannot simply move away.
I expect to see a floor display for the winter holiday season, and then anyone who buys into the system can buy additional tools or accessories online.
aaron+s
Only the inflator and driver in stock at my store.
Also I only own 2 of the line and already have too many batteries. Would gladly pay less for bare tool versions on a lot of these
Tim+E.
Agreed, particularly since the tools come with non-charging 2Ah batteries rather than the newer 2Ah and 3Ah that charge your phone as well… I guess it forces people to pay if they want power-bank capability with their batteries, but especially up to 20 tools that’s a lot of extra batteries as you say.
NoahG
I want a tiny impact driver.
Frank Campbell
me too
Robert
Could it be there isn’t much competition in this level of tools because it’s a very price sensitive audience, so the profit margin isn’t noticing to the likes of Dewalt, Milwaukee, even Dremel?
Jared
I had a thought in the same vein; it’s probably a tough market. Even though smaller, less expensive tools make sense, there is likely a ceiling where consumers start comparing the tools to Ryobi 18v offerings.
That might not be fair – e.g. some tools might make more sense in a compact 4v format. Nevertheless, as the price creeps up, the “full sized” tools might seem like better value.
MM
I sometimes see one a compact power tool that would interest me but I nearly always would rather have either a 12v or 18v class version instead. I already have those batteries, the smaller sizes area already very compact. I don’t want to get into yet another battery system if I can get the same kind of tool–and likely more powerful–on one of my existing platforms.
I also think they’re not that tempting to buy into from the opposite perspective either. Let’s image a newbie getting into crafts or small scale DIY. They have zero power tools but they want to buy some basic ones. There are some tempting tools on this platform….but where’s the drill? a basic sander? an OMT? Glue gun? From that perspective I’d much rather start out with, say, Ryobi 18v, which already has plenty of craft and hobby oriented tools as well as the fundamentals like a drill/driver.
Stuart
It’s hard to say.
Dremel has had 7V tools and 4V tools.
I think the biggest challenge with tools like these is in gaining visibility, which is typically tied to shelf or promotional display space.
Koko The Talking Ape
Just in case people are wondering, the high-CRI light is the inspection light, FVL56K, not the flip light. That wasn’t clear to me from the post, so I looked at the Ryobi website. 🙂
Incidentally, the Ryobi website lists the inspection light’s price as $0.00, and says it’s “coming soon” (as of 8/14/23.) I guess it’s not quite out there yet. HD doesn’t even list it on its website.
As for other possible tools in this line, I would like a high-CRI headlamp. As far as I know, Milwaukee is the only one making any claims about the quality of the light, and AFAIK all they claim is “high color accuracy.”
But I don’t know why ALL lights aren’t high-CRI, or at least offered in high-CRI versions. My understanding is that compared to regular LEDs, high-CRI LEDs cost a bit more and draw slightly more power, and that’s all. I could be wrong though.
Stuart
My assumption is the same, that high CRI costs more and sacrifices a bit of brightness at the same power level.
If there are two worklights on the shelf, one that’s advertised as delivering 600 lumens, and another next to it as delivering high CRI at 520 lumens of illumination, which will sell better at the same price?
Koko The Talking Ape
Me personally? I’d get the high CRI light, because poor color rendition slowly drives me insane. Maybe I’m unusual, but I do know that electricians or telecom or IT people have to identify wires by color sometimes, so CRI might be important to them too.
Still, it surprises me that nobody (except Milwaukee) pays any attention AT ALL to the quality of light. You’d think other manufs could offer a higher CRI option for people who want it, maybe for a small premium. Milwaukee’s lights are far from the cheapest, and I’d guess they sell okay. I buy them exclusively.
Wayne R.
Yes, wires & fibers are color-coded, and when an “unaccommodated” colorblind person gets in the mix, it can be hard to undo the results. Back in the day, colors marked on fiber could be so poor that it could be hard to get right even in daylight.
There’s still a place for halogen floods in that work.
David Z
If they offer two versions, they would both need to sell at high enough volume to warrant the extra cost of separate packaging, production runs, and stocking/inventory, as well as justify taking the shelf space from other products.
If offering one version, it needs to be competitive with the majority of other comperable products. By this, I mean competitive to people driven by specifications and price. Ryobi may have decided that higher lumens was a more competitive spec than high CRI, and given their pricing strategy, can’t make the profits up with higher prices to the degree Milwaukee can.
Koko The Talking Ape
I think that’s true, and maybe Ryobi isn’t the manuf to do it. But maybe Klein or DeWalt or Bosch are. Or maybe they could just offer higher-quality light as their baseline, the way Milwaukee does.
Stuart
The new handheld worklight is high CRI.
For this product, the decision was made to offer it with high CRI emitters.
It doesn’t make economical sense for Ryobi to offer two concurrent versions of the same worklight.
Koko The Talking Ape
@Stuart,
Yes, the “inspection” light is the high CRI one (because ‘worklight” could mean any of the offered lights.)
It doesn’t make economical sense for Ryobi to offer two versions of the light? I’m curious how you would know that. It would cost Ryobi more, of course, but why couldn’t they make up the cost with higher prices? Maybe that’s not a smart business move, but I wonder why not?
Stuart
@Koko,
Consider how right now how most of these products don’t have any shelf space at Home Depot. I expect to see many or most of them in a display for the holiday season.
There’s not going to be enough shelf real estate for two identical products with the only difference being CRI or color temperature. A minor difference that most consumers don’t understand or care about could cause confusion, which puts a speed bump or even road block in the purchase decision path.
Ryobi has to sell their customer an idea before it goes into production, and have a retail plan. Home Depot – the customer – is going to want just one model to sell to their customers.
A huge amount of care goes into promotional displays. You won’t find, for example, 3Ah and compact 3Ah battery 2-pack promos right next to each other. Brands and home centers will go all-in with one.
For a “buy a starter kit, get a free tool” promo, you won’t find both a circular saw and circular saw with brake next to it as options.
For a promotional display with impact wrenches, the store won’t have both hog ring and pin detent versions.
When there are hammer promos, there’s usually one size with one style of claw.
You want the consumer purchasing decision to be “yes” or “no,” and not have the shopper standing there trying to understand what differences can be discerned from the packaging.
The difference between red and blue flashlight housings are instantly understood. Different styles of flashlights and worklights are also easily interpreted. CRI or color temperature are not.
Handy Mann
I would get the 520 lumen high CRI
PW
A high CRI flashlight and/or headlamp would stand out and pique my interest. I hate how almost everyone seems to have given up on caring about CRI except in niche applications.
I get it, it’s cheaper and easier to market big lumen numbers. But at this point, lights are generally bright enough that it’s mostly wank. It’s been years since I wished a modern led light was brighter, but I definitely have thought “ew, what’s that morgue grade hue about?
In flashlights, it sometimes make them actually seem dimmer if I’m trying to look at something along the red spectrum where lots of emitters have low output.
JR Ramos
Largely it’s just tradition/slow adoption, coupled with the competition for high specs on paper. High CRI emitters are slightly more expensive, too, depending, but when you’re buying in volume like this the cost difference is incredibly minimal (pennies, penny, or a fraction thereof).
Making the light change from natural blue to some form of white or yellow means adding a phosphor mix over the top of it. Working the magic to get pretty nice and/or accurate light color/tint/renditioning isn’t so easy and a lot of manufacturers still cannot do that, although it’s an area that has seen a lot of activity just in the last 2-3 years. Nichia always led the way but they are pricey and generally can’t handle the current that many others can (even in their cool/white/standard CRI versions). Same with Samsung although a bit lower light quality in this regard. Philips/Osram finally got on board and it seems like more manufacturers are using them now although imho their emitters aren’t the best choice, comparatively speaking. Cree is just kind of floundering after their buyout and move overseas and many moved away from them although they still make great emitters.
Assuming you spend the $ on the magic phosphors and achieve a mix that gives good results, then yes, you’re left with a bit lower lux output compared to less-coated emitters. To gain that back you have to feed more current, which creates more heat, so designs then need to accommodate that, and of course that will generally affect battery run time as well. They don’t use more current, they’re still the same Vf and package designs, just just lose a little “efficiency” by covering up and bouncing the photons around more on the emitter surface with the extra/different phosphors.
The little package chips like what Milwaukee and many home lighting devices use are not the most robust so they are lower max current…just use more of them. But we’re seeing more and more “eye health” high CRI on the market, which is great. The more out there, the more people may start to appreciate the better quality of light they see and use, and at that point the sluggish manufacturers will get on board and play catch up even if the bean counters have to make their adjustments somewhere.
The technology in emitters (in general) and in High CRI applications is really impressive, not such a simple thing like filament bulbs and gas purging, etc.
That said, the CRI quality is one thing, but you still have the color temperature AND the duv tint to contend with. I got a new light recently with an Osram high CRI emitter and y’know what it’s not that nice to use compared to many others I own. The CRI does measure in the high-ish range around 91-92, the color temp is on the neutral side which I usually prefer, but the duv tint is positive enough along with tint shift (angle spread) that it looks a bit on the greenish side and…just not that nice. Often that doesn’t matter, though, just preference. When using this seemingly lower quality High CRI emitter and comparing with some really good ones, up close on colors (including wire harnesses) it’s still very usable and a far cry better than standard 70-ish CRI cold white emitters, and easier on the eyes as well. But that initial perception is yuck, and that’s what customers will comment on or base purchasing decisions on…so manufacturers need to do it right or face a loss. A lot of “extra” money tied up in these decisions and few will commit to doing it right and taking the risk.
Stuart
Thank you for sharing these thorough insights!
Koko The Talking Ape
Could you explain what “duv tint” is? Thanks!
JR Ramos
Google for “black body locus” and that might be the best way to learn about it (probably less wordy than me, too…haha). The delta-uv is a graph point on a chart that shows a color temp (kelvin) on the horizontal and a relative tint compared to “white” (and based on old halogen) on the vertical – both can be either positive or negative values. The BBL is shown as a line and the duv on the vertical falls above or below that line…the higher above, the more the color leans toward green and the lower below the more it will lean toward a pinkish tint. This is all separate from the color temp and CRI aspects…also affected by optics/reflectors and however else we capture and manipulate the photons emitted from the light source. Color temp does often affect the duv somewhat but it’s not an absolute…just that everything is related and complex. So you can have a “white” 6000K color temp that will still look greenish rather than white (or more commonly, some purple but that’s from something else). There are some new emitters in that cold white 6000K range that are high CRI and actually have a good neutral tint near the BBL…that’s pretty impressive really. Most everything on the market for YEARS has been low-ish CRI and cold white tints with poor duv tints and/or poor reflector pairing, so the beams actually look pretty crappy, but thankfully that is starting to change. Milwaukee’s “true view” are so-so…not bad but not stellar (more evident at lower current levels, which is true for nearly any type of emitter and circuit design).
TonyT
I’d like a screw driver with adjustable mechanical clutch and variable speed.
Doresoom
Agreed! Their current one is pure garbage. I bought it for $25 and regret it.
Nathan
I’m intrigued by the 1/4drive ratchet. If small enough it might be useful
fm2176
I just hope this platform lasts awhile. I haven’t invested in any (yet), but it seems all-too common for lower voltage platforms to stagnate, if not go away altogether. DeWalt 8v Max has done the former, while Ryobi Tek4 is an example of the latter. I bought the Tek4 inspection scope when it was one of the last Tek4 tools stocked and found it handy. I actually use it more than the 9v Milwaukee and M12 versions.
Albert
I like the foam cutter. I don’t want yet another battery, but at least it doesn’t need yet another charger.
Lee Hopkins
Not a fan I have the rotary tool battery last maybe 10 min tried 4 different battery same issue
Ryan
I have yet to see anything but the batteries in any of the HDs around me. They’re either not stocking it at all or there is a huge inventory problem.
Mark S.
I suspect that the battery is woefully underpowered as this has been my experience with that tool. Maybe the 3ah batteries will be better, perhaps even a 4ah battery could be in the works.
Stuart
For Li-ion battery cells built with similar technologies, 2Ah cells can deliver more power than 3Ah cells.
I highly doubt they’d be able to move to 4Ah.
Steve
I wanted Dewalt to do this with their 8V stuff, but they just don’t innovate the way Ryobi does. What someone needs to make is a cross line 360 laser level for a line like this.
Frank D
Now how about actually having these in store?
My HD has had none, zip, nada …