Ryobi USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight

By John Peachey on Home And Personal Safety, Tool and Product Reviews, Weekend warrior

Ryobi USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight (FVL51K)

I have many flashlights in my home, my office, my car, my wife’s car, my son’s car, etc.  I even have a small flashlight hanging from my key ring.  If you are also a flashlight enthusiast, then the new Ryobi USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight will appeal to you, too.

Specifications:

  • Up to 600 lumens of light output
  • Over 18 hours of runtime on low
  • 3 light modes—high, low, and strobe
  • Dust and water resistance with an IP54 rating
  • Includes a belt clip
  • Includes a Ryobi USB 2Ah lithium battery and a a 19” USB-C charging cable
  • 2-year limited warranty
  • Available for $39.97 at The Home Depot

Big Features In A Compact Package

While Ryobi includes the word “compact” in the name they gave to their USB Lithium LED Flashlight, this flashlight feels “big”.  At 5.5 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter, it has a sturdy build quality and feels quite substantial in your hand.

Ryobi includes a very rugged 1.75-inch belt clip on the body of the flashlight.  The LED Flashlight is probably too heavy to clip to a shirt pocket, but it definitely will be secure inside a pants pocket or hanging from a backpack with this belt clip.  On that belt clip is also an integrated lanyard loop, which offers many users another convenient means to hang this flashlight from your body, your tool bag, your hiking backpack, or a nail in your shed.

The Ryobi Compact LED Flashlight has 2 “flattish” sides and several rubberized gripping surfaces spread out over its body.  The front of the body has 4 raised rubberized corners which certainly protects the lens if you drop the flashlight on a hard surface—they could also be used for tactical protection if needed.  The back end of the flashlight has the screw-on cap for the battery compartment—I do wish the plastic end cap was rubberized, as well, to protect it from hard falls.  Very importantly, this flashlight does also offer dust and water resistance with an IP54 rating.

Remarkable Battery Life

I really appreciate these new Lithium 2Ah batteries that Ryobi has incorporated into their tools.  Inside this flashlight, the 2Ah battery achieved at least 3 hours of power consistently when using the high-power mode.  On low power, the battery averaged just under 18 hours of life for me, an astonishing number for most rechargeable batteries.  Having that much battery longevity makes this a very desirable flashlight for power failures, camping trips, road trips, and even a long night of trick-or-treating with your kids.

This lithium battery will last for weeks when the flashlight is only needed for short periods of time.  When 18 hours might not be enough time to use it on a multi-day hiking trek, you can easily carry more batteries with you since they take up so little space and they are so easy to recharge in your home or your car using a USB-C to USB-A cable.

When the flashlight’s battery is nearing 0%, the light will flash multiple times to alert you–this is a nice engineering design by Ryobi.  Even after it shuts off automatically, you do have a couple extra minutes left in the battery if you need to use it for an emergency.  You do need to remove the battery from the flashlight in order to recharge it.  I found that recharging a battery with the included USB-C to USB-A cable took 95-100 minutes on average.

What I appreciated most about using these rechargeable lithium batteries was they will never leak battery acid like the expensive and disposable AA and AAA alkaline batteries have done in so many of my other flashlights.  That kind of peace of mind and the long battery life is absolutely worth the extra cost, in my opinion.

Operating The Flashlight

The power button for the Ryobi USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight resides on the opposite side from the belt clip.  When I pick up the flashlight, my thumb naturally lands on the power button.  Even in a totally dark room, you could locate the power button by feel alone, which is very advantageous during a blackout when you’re searching for your flashlight.

A single press of the power button turns on the flashlight in high power mode.  At high, the light output is an intensely bright 600 lumens.  The light produced by the LEDs has a center bright spot and a wider halo surrounding it.  Standing 3 feet from a wall, the flashlight produces a 10-inch bright center spot and the outside halo extends to a diameter of just over 3-feet.  Two clicks of the power button provides you with an impressive 100 lumens at the low power setting.

At both power levels, I found I could fill any space with plenty of light to completely eradicate any dark corners.  This would be a great flashlight to keep in your car for emergencies or in a bedside table drawer since you know it will always be ready when you need it.  Since it so bright and handy, I can imagine also using it daily for late night walks with your partner or your canine.

In the event of an emergency, holding down the power button while the flashlight is already on engages the strobe light, which provides a very intense light that could be useful in extreme situations.  I liked how the strobe light took more effort than a simple press of the power button to turn on since strobes can be very disorienting when activated by accident.

The LED Flashlight also received a lot of worthy praise online, with a 4.9/5.0 rating from 210 users on The Home Depot web site,

Final Thoughts

While Ryobi considers their new USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight to be compact, don’t be fooled by the name because this flashlight performs in a big way.  I look forward to making it my everyday carry flashlight.

 

Ryobi has recently released many different USB lighting solutions that use 2Ah lithium batteries.  These lights each can satisfy a unique need in your home, office, or workshop.  While the LED lighting solutions have many similarities, each one has its own niche.  I encourage you to have a look at some of these other lighting solutions here:

 

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About the author

John Peachey

Writer / Teacher / DIY Enthusiast

John Peachey is a 33-year veteran teacher with a Masters Degree in Instructional Technology. John is passionate about technology and is a big fan of Apple hardware and other techie gadgets. As a homeowner, John enjoys spending time in his workshop and in his yard getting his hands dirty completing DIY projects. For ten years, John was the general manager of a local swimming and sailing club, responsible for overseeing and maintaining the extensive facilities. In his free time, John enjoys outdoor activities, especially golf, fishing, boating, and biking. John’s love of the outdoors provides him with the time and opportunity to field test and review knives, multi-tools, flashlights, yard tools, and other handy devices. In addition, supporting teachers, students, and friends with technology for more than 30 years has provided him with the experience to advise, evaluate, and integrate technology products into a user’s daily life. Here at A Concord Carpenter, John enjoys reviewing all of these products.

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