Ryobi USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light
Ryobi USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light (FVL55K)
Is it just me, or do other people also agree that font sizes are decreasing all around us? So many products today are shrinking their packaging dimensions, as well as their text sizes. Luckily, I now have the Ryobi USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light to help me decipher the illegible text that defies comprehension.
Specifications
- 200 lumens of light output on high
- 60 lumens of light output on low
- 3X magnification
- Up to 16 hours of runtime
- Includes a microfiber bag and a 19” USB-C cable
- Ryobi USB 2Ah lithium battery
- 2-year limited warranty
- Available for $39.97 at The Home Depot
Physical Footprint
The Ryobi USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light arrives with a 2Ah lithium battery, a 19-inch USB-A to USB-C charging cable, and a very soft microfiber bag with drawstrings to cover the magnifying lens and protect it from scratches. The handle of the Magnifying Light is just over 4.5 inches in length. The head is almost 4 inches in size and the actual lens is 3 inches in size. On the front-side of the handle is the power button and on the back-side of the head are the 4 LEDs.
In your hand, the Magnifying Light feels really good. I found the weight of the magnifying glass to be very well balanced. The handle is long enough for my entire hand to comfortably grasp it. The power button is positioned exactly where my thumb wanted to rest. A nice piece of engineering was including raised edges around the magnifying surface so that it would protect the delicate magnifying lens from scratches when it was set down on a hard surface.
At the bottom of the handle, there is also a durable lanyard hole that can be used to carry or hang up the Magnifying Light when it’s being stored.
Battery Operated Convenience
The Magnifying Light is powered by a Ryobi USB 2Ah lithium battery. In many cases, you might not even need to power on the battery when you are using the magnifying glass. However, it’s nice to have up to 200 powerful lumens available when you need it.
The lithium batteries are roughly 3 inches long by 1 inch across. Each “round” battery has one flat surface where the USB-C port resides. I liked the single flat side since the battery wouldn’t roll away when placed flat on a table. Since the batteries are so small, you can carry multiple batteries with you when you might need to power the LEDs for multiple hours.
The lithium battery compartment is at the bottom of the handle. Similar to the other Ryobi USB devices, when the plastic cover is removed, the battery will not fall out accidentally. The battery remains securely inside the handle, which I think is a nice design. You must physically pull the battery out of the compartment when you want to recharge it or swap it out. I found that recharging a battery with the included USB-C to USB-A cable took 95-100 minutes on average.
Lots Of Lumens
Ordinarily, when I used a typical magnifying glass, no extra light was available, which certainly impacted how well they worked based on the ambient light. Ryobi chose to manufacture a magnifying light with integrated LEDs and those 4 LEDs really do make a big difference.
On the back of the magnifying head are 4 LEDs, with 1 in each corner. The LEDs are well protected behind plastic covers. When the power button is activated on the front of the handle, the LEDs begin in the high-power mode. Two quick presses of the power button will activate the low-power mode. On high, the Magnifying Light achieves 200 intense lumens of light output. These 200 lumens are super bright and they will light up the entire space you are looking at. I actually found that 200 lumens were too bright in some cases as they created a strong glare when the surface I was looking at was predominantly white. In the event of a power failure, the 200 lumens could easily be used as a flashlight to navigate in the dark.
On low power, the Ryobi Magnifying Light produced 60 lumens of light output, which was more than enough extra light in almost all cases I needed it for.
Since I used the Magnifying Light sporadically and never for more than 15 minutes at a time, I am not sure exactly how long a 2Ah lithium battery will last. I used it for several weeks and have still not needed to recharge the battery. Most users will probably not use this for hours at a time, but for those that do, Ryobi advertises that you can get up to 16 hours of runtime from a single battery, presumably on low power.
3X Magnification
I don’t often need a magnifying lens, but when I do, the need is immediate and often essential. The Ryobi Magnifying Light was an impressive device that really made a difference in our daily life when we needed it. The lens offers 3X magnification, which can be a lifesaver as fonts decrease in size and our eyes age. In all of my tests, I found after adjusting my distance from the object, the clarity of the enlarged image was well-defined and there was very little distortion.
A Potential Lifesaver
We kept the Magnifying Light in a kitchen drawer because it was often indispensable. My wife enjoys sewing and she used it to help her thread needles and inspect her sewing machine when there was a problem. When she was sewing, the 200 lumens of light made her hobby much more enjoyable since she could illuminate the dark spaces in and around her sewing machine. I did a lot of exterior painting this summer and the magnifying lens was super helpful when I was trying to read the almost indecipherable text on the paint cans. My wife and I used it when she needed to remove a splinter from my hand; in this case, the light output made it so much easier to locate and extract the splinter.
The coupons delivered in our newspapers and other mailings insist on using the smallest fonts for the expiration date, which could make this a money-savings device, as well. If you are a newspaper reader, I imagine having 3X magnification and 60 lumens of light will make the text more legible. As a veteran elementary school teacher, I can definitely see a place for this Magnifying Light in a classroom when doing observations with a group of enthusiastic 10-year-old scientists.
The Ryobi Magnifying Light absolutely has a place in your day-to-day routine when you need to read small text or do precise DIY work. If you wanted to keep both hands free when doing such work, you could also invest in the Ryobi 18V Magnifying LED Clamp Light.
Final Thoughts
The Ryobi USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light is not your mom and dad’s magnifying glass. Ryobi has incorporated up to 200 lumens of light output into their 3X magnifying lens, and by doing so, they have designed a device that you will probably keep nearby as you learn to appreciate its daily utility. With the USB Lithium LED Magnifying Light, Ryobi brings the magnification and the light that you need to make everything bigger and brighter.
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:
- Ryobi USB Lithium LED Compact Area Light
- Ryobi USB Lithium Compact LED Flashlight
- Ryobi USB Lithium LED Flip Light Kit
- Ryobi USB Lithium LED Clamp Light
