Dewalt has come out with several new personal LED lighting products.
First, here’s the DWHT81425 LED penlight. It boasts a 100 lumen emitter that can be run in low or high brightness modes, IP54 dust and water resistance, a focus feature, and it’s durable enough to “survive Dewalt’s repeated 6.6 foot drop tests.”
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It’s powered by (2) AAA batteries. Runtime is 5 hours at 100 lumens, or 10 hours at 50 lumens.
Price: $22
Buy Now(via Acme Tools)
Then there is this new Dewalt 350 lumen LED flashlight, DWHT81426. It has 2 brightness modes, a focus feature, and similar water and dust resistance and impact protection as the penlight.
It’s powered by (4) AAA batteries. Runtime is 5 hours at 350 lumens, or 12 hours at 60 lumens.
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This flashlight trades the penlight’s pocket clip for a lanyard hole and wrist strap.
Price: $30
Buy Now(via Acme Tools)
This is the new Dewalt DWHT81422 rechargeable area light. It offers several mounting methods – a magnetic surface pads, a screw-down clamp, and a 1/4″-20 insert for tripods.
It can “survive Dewalt’s repeated 3.3 foot drop test” and is IP67 rated for higher dust and water resistance.
There’s a built-in Li-ion rechargeable battery, and charging is done using the included AC adapter.
There are 2 brightness settings – 1000 lumens, and 500 lumens. Runtime is 4.5 hours at high brightness, or 9 hours at low. Well, “low,” as 500 lumens is still plenty for a lot of tasks.
It looks to have a beefy but proprietary charging plug.
Price: $124
Buy Now(via Acme Tools)
Lastly, there’s a new LED headlamp, DWHT81424, with even more ostentatious Dewalt branding than the previous version. Compared to the DWHT70440, this new version has an over-the-head strap and brighter outout (200 lumens vs 104).
The top strap is anti-slip, and Dewalt says it’s for securing to a hard hat. It doesn’t look to be removable.
Runtime is 6.5 hours at 200 lumens, or 24 hours at 50 lumens. It’s IP54 rated for dust and water resistance.
Dewalt says that it has double the lumen output than the previous generation headlamp, but with the same runtime. Both are powered by (3) AAA battery packs.
So… either the new emitters are 200% more efficient, or this one is simply more focused.
That kind of claim, that you get double the brightness with no loss in runtime, makes me feel less bad about calling the strap an eyesore.
Why couldn’t have a more discrete headband, like the one on their now-made-overseas safety goggles?
It has a motion sensor, for turning the light on or off.
Price: $27.50
Buy Now(via Amazon)
First Thoughts
Dewalt’s first foray into LED flashlights was not very strong. Back in 2011, they showcased some new models, which eventually made it to market. They were decent metal-bodied flashlights.
This new lineup seems to be a revival of those efforts, with several modern-featured lights.
I’m a little underwhelmed by what I see so far. I mean, look at what Milwaukee came out with last year. This year? There are even more tools in their lineup. And they’re cohesively connected, with a RedLithium USB Li-ion battery pack.
Dewalt’s new LED worklight has its own wall-wart-style charger? C’mon! Not even a USB-compatible charger?
There’s nothing glaringly wrong with any of these flashlights, as far as I can tell from what I see “on paper.” But there’s nothing very much to drive “ooh, I want to buy that!” sentiments either.
To me, these all look like “opportunistic” purchases. If there’s a sales floor promo display at Home Depot, and one of the flashlights or headlamps is attractively priced? Sure, maybe I’ll take one home.
I generally feel the same way about Coast LED flashlights. Well, that’s not entirely accurate – I’d feel more confident with Coast, seeing as how this is their wheelhouse.
But as far as adding something to my shopping list? Eh… I don’t know about that.
I get the feeling that these are competitive efforts by Dewalt, to push back against Milwaukee’s strive for dominance, as opposed to being “problem solvers.”
But that’s okay. Not every new product needs to be a problem solver, or an improvement over what’s currently available.
If I need a penlight for very regular use, I’ll choose something else. If I need something to throw in a spare tool bag, the glove box, or a basement tool box? Sure.
Here’s an image of the Dewalt penlight’s tail cap. Ah, it does have a lanyard loop, too! And a sticker that advertises its need for 2x 1.5V AAA batteries.
You know, I’m increasingly curious about the penlight. But then I read the product description (from Dewalt.com), and I feel like it’s written for someone who has never seen a flashlight.
This 100-Lumen Pen Light features technology that can run up to 5 hours at a time. Plus, the focus feature allows you to adjust beam distance up to 3 times to help get the job done. This durable pen light survives a repeated 6.6-foot drop test and is IP54 dust and water resistant. It’s complete with a pocket clip and AAA batteries included.
This could describe ANY brand’s LED flashlight.
Why buy these Dewalt lighting products? Features? Durability? Value? Convince me!
Diamond Dave
Good analysis and I agree with your thoughts especially about the marketing of these being impulse buys because we all make those purchases if the pricing is right! Also agree with your point about Dewalt not taking Milwaukee head on with this lineup and perhaps that was their intent?
Will also add that I typically never purchase a non replaceable “rechargeable battery” tool because of years of past failures of these and then stuck with a working tool or item but bad battery. My personal experience goes beyond tools and would encompass rechargeable razors, toothbrushes, some flashlights, etc. Yes I realize lithium batteries do offer better longevity but again, having to throw away something with a lot of life left in it just because the batteries are not replaceable ticks me off.
Nathan
I slightly torn as much as I liked the idea of the milwaukee lithium usb recharge setup – I also like the idea of a standard battery system. I do agree I consider most marketing blubs about flash lights to be fairly pointless without comparative pictures showing the light output. Lumens out means very little honestly – LUX would be more useful but it’s not as showy. I mean a light with a 500 lumen hot spot – but no cast of light can be very useless.
TO that end – I’d love to see another updated light comparison. YOu mention you’d buy another pen light – which one. As is what made today, that you can easily get your hands on would you buy over this one.
That clip light – I like the idea of right up to the custom recharge system. Why that’s not on one of the common batteries I don’t understand. maybe to make it more compact – ok but then I don’t know make up a cable interface that has a slide adapter to put a battery on. IE keep that cord thing – sell with the light a nifty adapter that lets me put a 20V battery on it – or a flexvolt whatever.
Chance
I despise “focusing” flashlights. Every one that I’ve bought or tried has terrible beam quality. I have one of the old DeWalt flashlights that runs on a couple CR123 batteries, there is nothing that these new lights offer besides more lumens to make me want to replace that old light. Plus the old light has a much better and slimmer form factor and slides into a tool belt nicely.
I am interested to know more about the motion sensor on the headlamp.
pete
I also HATE focusing flashlights, even more so with magnifiers on them. Nothing says we used a cheap emitter and are trying to make up for it by putting a magnifier on it.
Reed Prince
Focusing lens = cheap emitter and/or bad reflector and/or poor optical alignment of the two components.
Chance
I ended up purchasing the headlamp when I was at Acme Tools yesterday. It’s not quite as gaudy as the picture makes it out to be, it’s not quite so intensely yellow. It’s more of a thrower than a flood, I was hoping for more of a flood actually. The throw is quite good though, I could see several hundred feet down my driveway, and it has a fair bit of spill. It’s power switch is low-high-off. It will remember the mode you were last using and turn back on at that level, which I like. The motion sensor is actually pretty sweet. There is a separate button that turns the motion sensor on, and since the light doesn’t actually turn on when the switch is activated, there is a small led at the bottom of the unit that turns on showing it’s in motion sensor mode. In the dark it very faintly illuminates the housing which is rather neat, whether intentional or not I can’t say. With the motion sensor mode turned on, wave your hand within about 8” of the front of the light and it will turn on and off. It’s actually very handy. Just make sure to close your eyes briefly when turning it on and off since the reflection off of your hand will temporarily blind you. It’s a pretty decent light, and at $20 it’s quite affordable.
Robin
Actually I love my tools to be super gaudy. That’s probably why I went dewalt in the first place. It’s really easy to lose a tool in plain sight on a messy job site, and nothing pisses you off worse than spending 30min finding some stupid piece of junk you just had 5min ago.
Farid
“Why couldn’t have a more discrete headband”
No one will see your gaudy strap in the dark (;D
David
helps find it in the tool box 🙂
Joe
I have thousands invested in DeWalt, but man don’t hey suck at lighting..that person needs to be fired
JoeM
Yeah… I’m with you on this, guy I am increasingly enjoying sharing a name with. I like their in-system flashlights, like the 8V Max and 20 Volt Max lights for example, but when they venture outside their battery systems… Man… Makes me want to pick one up and beat whoever decided DeWALT had to release one of these in the first place.
The first two AAA flashlights are almost exact copies of the ones offered by LED Lenser (the German Flashlight brand that Leatherman bought some years back.) and frankly there is far less reason for me to pick up any of the others.
Any one of these could have been a great extension to their Heated Jacket line, with its DCB091 modified USB battery source. The Headlamp? take the power source out of your DeWALT Jacket, and slip it in a back pocket or something, then run a USB cable up behind the strap, and be able to check battery status ANY TIME without taking the light off to check it. Just pull the battery source out of your pocket and look at the LEDs. Same could be said for that area light, but replace the USB cable with the 12 Volt Jack that would normally run the jacket. Voila, same thing. Always be able to check how much battery life the light has by reading the LEDs. Added bonus there is that their estimates of how long the light will run becomes totally moot! Just pop in another in-system battery! Hell, the DCB090 and DCB091 can both run off the 12 Volt Max system! Aren’t we always wanting to see more from that system?
This was a totally wasted opportunity! And, I’m a MAJOR DeWALT fan!
David Zeller
Is there a solution for when you’re not wearing the jacket, then? I seriously don’t know. I’m not familiar with that “system.”
David
JoeM
Well, sell the DCB091 modified USB power source separately, and it would work this way, whether you own a DeWALT Jacket or not. Both the DCB090 and 091 are USB power sources which are powered by either the 12V Max OR 20V Max batteries. DCB090 is just two USB ports, with the usual DeWALT 3-LED power level indicator on top. The 091 is the same device with a 12 Volt DC Jack built into the side as well as all the other features and design, which usually plugs into the Jackets to power them. But, in the summer, when you’re not wearing a jacket, the whole DCB091 comes entirely out of the jacket.
So… Between these two USB power sources, I think it would have been better to run these new flashlights off them, rather than some special plug, or AAA batteries. Internal Li-Ion or Li-Poly batteries that charge off either the 5 Volt USB ports, or the 12 Volt DC Jack. Bonus: Bring a spare battery and the runtime doubles, and you can check the power left in the battery by doing a quick unhook-rehook of the DCB090/91 to get the LED reading to see when it’s time to switch batteries.
The only reason I mention it as an “Extension of the Heated Jacket Line” is because the 091 is only sold as part of a Jacket Kit right now. It only serves one job as they are making it at this moment, and that is with the modified jack on the side to power the jackets. If you ask me, that’s a wasted marketing opportunity, and a great way to sell more jackets. It has something that you can use year-round on not-the-jacket. It would be even more awesome if they made a USB power source for the 8V Max system as well. That battery is even more compact and portable than the 12 Volt batteries. It’s lost revenue that they haven’t given their small form factor 8V Max family more love and use, and these lights TRULY demonstrate that failure.
fred
I agree with your thoughts. This is probably more about competing for rack/shelf space with Milwaukee than advancing the state of the art in flashlight technology.
BTW – your Amazon link seems to be broken
Paul
Note the COB LED chipset in the rechargeable. I know that their tripod light also uses one but I don’t know that any of their other lights have used that before. The 20V max lights all use an array of individual LEDs. If they are getting into the COB chipsets, could we see a refresh of their small 20 V lights? Possibly. Smaller, brighter work lights.
Also, I know that I am the minority here but I with that the head lamp took the 12V (or the 8V batteries). I hate having to have a supply of AAA and AA batteries on hand at all times.
JoeM
Beat me to it. I think they could have run the Headlamp or Area Light off their DCB090 or DCB091 USB battery source, and made the lights work just as well, if not better, off the 20V or 12V Max batteries.
Ryan Jacob
I have no experience with Dewalt lights but back when I was researching lighting options, I found Dewalt’s lighting options particularly underwheming at the time. Now this was before they came out with their tower light and their large area light, but even now in the smaller handheld lighting space I’ve found them to be wanting.
I have both Milwaukee and Ridgid lighting and I just feel they are superior to anything Dewalt offers, although I think Dewalt is on the right track with their tower light and area light of which I haven’t ever used. Milwaukee has some great lighting options such as the new rechargeable rover light they introduced at NPS18. I actually just purchased the M18 rover light because I broke my smaller Ridgid light so I’m anxious to give that a try when it comes in later this week!
K2
I have a few Milwaukee lights, but that is one of my favorites. Lots of flexible mounting options. Lots of light output.
Enjoy !
Adam
Might as well just relable some Coast lights if they aren’t going to do any innovation. Proprietary plug, absolutely not. I won’t even buy the Milwaukee fan b/c of it’s AC adapter (Ryobi knows whats best).
If they are going to do AA & AAA size, they might as well have gone to 18650.
Wayne R.
Remember when Channellock meant a kind of pliers? A wrench from Crescent meant a crescent wrench? In my mind, Craftsman meant wrenches, mostly. Wiss or Clauss meant scissors & similar cutters. Each specialized and made excellent stuff.
Like Jeep makes Wranglers (a friggin Jeep!), but they gotta compete with all the other mini-SUV types, too, so they make those too.
Nowadays it seems like, “Crap, we make a few tools, now we gotta make *all* the tools.”
What happened to covering one set of stuff really, really well? Are there that many engineers laying around, they just get scooped up and sic’ed on other product lines?
There’s little point for Dewalt to get in the LED game and play it the same way everyone else is…
Stuart
Large companies, especially those that have to answer to investors and stockholders, have a hard time “leaving money on the table.” If it’s a profitable market, they want in.
JoeM
I like to think about this in terms of a REALLY Greedy version of a Farmer’s Co-Op.
Twenty farmers, in a town of 1000 people, each have around 400 Acres of land that they can farm ANYTHING they want on. All that separates each farm is a dirt road that might as well be each one’s driveway, because that is the one way they get their product in and out of their property, and to the customers in town.
Enter the Farmer’s Co-Op. Each of the 20 does ONE thing extremely well, and all of them are either desperately needed by the community, or deeply enjoyed by the community. As such, they all have genuinely prosperous farms. But, as years go on, the customers complain that the cost of driving past each one’s giant farm to get to the farmer, is making the cost of getting their products ridiculously expensive and time consuming. And in doing so, some of the farms farther away start to see a drop in customers, unwilling to go that far for so little. So, all 20 farmers get together, pool their money, and buy a store front in town, where their customers live. Instead of their customers driving around for hours, going house to house for the products. They now all pack up their trucks full of their product, and drive it all to their Co-Op, where they all sell equally well again, and profit just as well as before.
In corporate terms, when someone makes ONE tool really, really well, what happens when everyone has that product, and no one is buying? It makes sense that, like the Land Lord who rented out the store front to the Farmers, someone makes some money buying out the entire company, and grouping it together with all the other companies that made that ONE really good product everyone wanted. The Corporate world is the Land Lord. They want to make money off the rent being paid, regardless of which farmer’s product, or outside this metaphor which Tool being produced, is being bought by the good folks in town.
Like the Co-Op charging “Dues” from each farmer to keep the store rent paid, the cost of one corporation having to buy or merge with another is the cost they pay to keep the lights on when no one is buying every single thing they offer. By bringing together ALL the crops to a single place, the Store doesn’t have to worry that one or two farms aren’t producing as much due to demand. The rent still gets paid, and those that invested in making it happen still get their LITERAL share of the profits, proportional to how much they’ve contributed.
DeWALT was founded on making ONE tool. A long-arm wood saw. When the general public stopped needing those, would you rather DeWALT just fold? Or are you okay with their expansion into making other tools, long enough to be brought into SBD and brought worldwide? I, for one, believe a diverse portfolio of products is a good thing. It gives you something to sell, when something you make stops being in demand.
I hope that meandering metaphor helps.
Reed Prince
I’ve always been more satisfied by the LED devices I’ve bought from companies that specialize in lighting products.
mizzourob
Instead of saying that the area light can “survive Dewalt’s repeated 3.3 foot drop test” why can’t they just say that it can survive “Dewalt’s repeated 1 meter drop test”? Using metric is not evil, and most mechanics these days can get by with only a metric set of sockets and wrenches.
Tool Of The Trade
The lumens are pretty unimpressive for the flashlights and the headlamp is pretty weak also. As for rechargeable led halogen lamps that lack the usb charging option, the price ain’t right. Dewalt makes awesome tools for the most part, but they’ve never been known for their quality lighting offerings. They need a much better solution if they’re attempting to compete with Milwaukee, ryobi, husky, etc. Other than the headlamp with motion sensor, which they should’ve made brighter, nothing else is convincing me to want to buy any of these.
Stuart
How bright do you want these to be? As they are, they’re brighter than many premium LED flashlights from just a few years ago.
There’s only so much light that can be pulled out of the AAA alkaline batteries these flashlights are designed for.
firefly
The only thing that I was remotely interested in is the area light. Then they lost me at the charging cable.
Everything else is just the same cheap led light that can be had for much led without the Dewalt name. Since I have seen the same form factor for all the other light, I am curious if the area light is just another rebranded product that I am not familiar with.
Reed Prince
The worklight’s “survive Dewalt’s repeated 3.3 foot drop test” sounds to me more like “failed Dewalt’s standard 6.6 foot drop test”.
littlehead
$125 for that LED worklight is ridiculous.
I have been using these Defiant LED worklights from HD: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-500-Lumen-Utility-LED-Light-HD-1603/301573880
They use AA’s but at ~15$ a light you can afford to stock up on a slew of rechargeables from amazon and a multi charger. 500 lumen x2 is more useful than 1 x1000 imo too.