Milwaukee Radius Lights, To OneKey or Not to OneKey

The Milwaukee M18 Radius compact LED site lights are aimed directly at the Halogen light market. The Milwaukee lights are not dangerous as they pose no fire or burn issues or explosion risk as they don't get hot. The Milwaukee lights come in two different styles the original(2145-20) and the OneKey(2146-20), the OneKey allows the user to control the light through the OneKey app and also provides tool tracking of the light. The lights look alike with the exception of the OneKey logo and a sensor on the side of the light, they both produce the same amount of light and have the same basic functions. 

 They are practically identical on the outside with the exception of the OneKey logo and sensor on the 2146-20.

The lights also have the ability to run on AC power without a battery, and up to 10 lights can be linked together as both styles have an inlet and outlet. However the lights cannot charge a battery and you cannot turn one light off and have the rest turn off. We are getting about 3 hours of run time from 5.0ah M18 Battery.

OneKey logo and inlet

Outlet

Inlet and Outlet under their respective covers

The light can be place on the ground or a work surface. Plus it can be hung upside down via an integrated hook on the bottom. The hook can go around a stud or a pipe. The light also includes a security cable to lock it down to prevent theft.

Light upside down with hook up.

The lights use the Trueview high deffinition LED's, they produce up to 4400 Lumens and have three power levels and three different brightness settings.  It can be used as a area light(360 deg), a overhead light(360deg), or as task light(180deg).  We took our non OneKey camping and lit up the entire campground and since Milwaukee has made these water and dust resistant as well as shock proof, you can use these on and off the job site.

This is our trailer from about 100 yards away, using one light on high 180deg, notice the trees

From about 50 yards away, notice the trees

From about 25ft away

The OneKey app allows you to control the light with your phone, you can turn it on and off, from up to 50ft away, this is ideal when the light is overhead. You can also adjust the brightness and set up schedules for the light to turn on and off. Tool tracking is another bonus of OneKey, if you report a OneKey tool stolen through the app, you can lock the tool so it can't be used and ping it's location.

At the time of writing this the Radius light 2145-20 tool only retails for $299.00 at Home Depot and the 2146-20 OneKey tool only retails for $349.00.

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Old vs. New Milwaukee M18 Rocket Tower Lights

We are comparing the two Milwaukee M18 Rocket lights.  While they might look similar, they are completely different. They both feature 4ft -7ft height adjustment and an impressive 5 second set-up time.  The older style (2130-20) has a single light assembly producing a maximum 2000 lumens of multi-directional light. The new (2135-20) has three different light pods that produce a maximum 3000 lumens of multi-directional light. They both have three brightness settings and have a very similar body and pole set up. The multiple light pods of the 2135-20 allows the user to use it as a up light, down light, and multiple sideways task positions. Whereas the 2130-30 is only an up light or multiple direction task light.

2135-20 Light head with multiple light pods

2130-20 Light head with single light head

The adjustable light pods on the 2135-20 

 The light heads also produce different amounts of heat, which we expected since they produce a different amount of light. When we tested the lights, they had been running on the max brightness setting for 2 hours.  We were using the Milwaukee M12 Thermal Imager (2260-21) for this test.

2130-20 showing 66.9 degree F, after 2 hours running on the high setting

2135-20 showing 88.5 degree F. after 2 hours of running on the high setting.

Run times also vary between the two.  We were constantly getting about 2 hours on high with the M18 5.0 battery with the 2135-20 and about 3 hours with the 2130-30. We got just under 4 hours with the 9.0ah High Demand battery with the 2135-20. At the time of writing this, we haven't tested the 2130-20 with the 9.0ah battery.

The big differences: 1.  The base of the new 2135-20 contains a charger that allows you to plug in an extension cord and charge M18 batteries. You can however run the light on AC power alone making run time a non issue . 

2135-20 inlet on the base

2.  The control panel. The 2130-20 has a single button that you press multiple times to select power level and push and hold to turn off. The 2135-20 has multiple buttons and lights.  The lights indicate what power level you are on, and what your power source is (battery or when the AC power is plugged in). The big button in the middle turns the light on or off, the two side buttons select the power level either up (+) or down (-).

2130-20 single button control

2135-20 Multi button control with indicator lights 

In the end, they are both powerful and bright as well as safer than the old halogen work lights, as they aren't fire/burn or explosions hazards. Both lights are shock proof and water and dust proof. Plus they both feature Milwaukee's High Definition TrueView LED's. At the time of writing this, the 2130-20 was only available as a tool (vs a kit) and is retailing for $249.00 at the Home Depot, whereas the 2135-20 is retailing for $399.00 as a tool and $549.00 with a 9.0ah battery, Rapid Charger and carrying bag.

It is up to you whether or not you already have batteries, or if you want or need the additional features of the 2135-20.  We prefer the 2135-20 due to the flexibility of the light pods and built in charger.

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