Milwaukee M18 LED Stick Light 2352-20 Review
Milwaukee recently introduced a few new LED lights. Given my background in photography I know light and the characteristics of it. Every tradesperson gets into situations where they need some cordless light in tight spaces, places without power, or packing up at the end of the short days of late fall. Enter the M18 LED Stick light 2352-20 being one of Milwaukee’s latest offerings in the lighting category we were excited to try this out.
The somewhat hard to open plastic blister pack opened up to reveal a really well thought out light. Why do I say “really well thought out”? Well here’s a list of things I look for in a work light:
- convenient hooks and/or magnets for hanging the light
- A pivoting head with a wide range of angle
- A wide base to rest the light
- A “clean”, diffuse, but bright light.
Milwaukee has hit a home run covering all four bases of my work-light wish-list.
The sturdy metal hooks on the M18 LED stick light are perfectly sized to hang off of 1/2-inch pipe. The hooks rotate and the hook on the handle even slides to allow changing the center of balance.
The head of the light pivots up and down 45 degrees. Allowing you to point the light up or down slightly when it is sitting on the base so even if you have no hang point you can still get light where you need it.
The slide pack battery acts as a base and keeps the center of gravity low, and the light very stable.
The M18 LED Stick Light features “Trueview” High Definition Lighting which according to Milwaukee is supposed to “deliver true representation of colors, optimized color temperature, and even beam patterns.” They hit the mark on all counts. The beam is very even and has soft edges so you get some spill onto the surrounding area, the color temperature is “warmer” or more yellow orange than most LEDs which is closer to what most interior lighting is.
All these things help make this one of the easiest to aim and most versatile cordless lights on the market.
In use
At 300 lumens this is a very bright light, but the light is “soft” there are no harsh edges, and it is diffuse, no blindingly bright spots, just an even field of light which is great for task lighting or even for giving just enough light to work in a small room. My current projects are mostly outdoors but I found that for spotting joists between decking in partial shade this light was bright enough to get the job done. And later in the day during clean up this light was awesome for lighting up the area so I didn’t miss any tools or trash. The hooks give a variety of hanging options and angles. You can even hang the light so it’s facing straight down.
Room for Improvement
The on-off button is pretty stiff. And in cold temperatures gets very difficult to press. I’m hoping it will break-in a bit and become less stiff but this is my one solitary complaint about this light and definitely does not sour my overall excellent opinion of this tool.
Overall
This is a fantastic light. Bright, easy to point where you need it, easy to hang in a variety of positions, stable on the base, and perhaps most importantly the light it produces is very even and very bright. The M18 LED Stick Light runs a bit more bank than a lot of your usual cordless work lights. But Milwaukee made a great light, with good build quality, and I think that this it is well worth the investment.
