Jeremiah wrote in with a tip that Milwaukee has come out with a new M12 LED flashlight. I followed his link, and sure enough, there was a new Milwaukee flashlight.
The new Milwaukee M12 flashlight, model 2355-20, looks almost like an hourglass, with its emitter module, which houses a large reflector and lens, its M12 battery compartment, and narrow handle grip.
I’m finding it a little hard to imagine how this would feel in-hand. It’s shown without a battery pack, and according to the product description it’s 9″ long and 2.5″ wide (presumably at its widest).
The housing is made from 6000 series aluminum, with a Type II anodized finish. The LED flashlight can deliver 800 lumens of light. Is this a flashlight, or a light cannon? Luckily, there are multiple light output settings: low, high, and strobe.
Sliding the flashlight’s head allows you to switch from flood illumination, to spotlight mode.
The new M12 LED high performance flashlight establishes a new benchmark for 12 V flashlights, bringing new levels of versatility, performance and durability to the industry.
Runtime with an M12 XC 4.0Ah battery:
- High mode (800 lumens): 5 hours
- Low mode (325 lumens): 7 hours
- Strobe mode (800 lumens): 7 hours
Price: $99 (bare flashlight, no battery)
ETA: May 2016
Buy Now(via Acme Tools)
First Thoughts
On one hand, wow, just WOW. On the other hand, is the Milwaukee 2355-20 too much flashlight?
Then again, I doubted the benefits of Dewalt’s LED spotlight, and then was surprised by its usefulness. Truth be told, it’s become my most-used LED flashlight or worklight these days. Part of the reason is because I hadn’t unpacked my others yet, but it is an incredibly versatile lighting tool, despite my initial doubts.
And so perhaps I shouldn’t consider the lumen rating of Milwaukee’s new LED flashlight, and should instead trust that Milwaukee’s engineers know what they’re doing.
I initially thought that the new M12 flashlight was designed to be paired with a compact M12 battery pack, but the runtime ratings are for Milwaukee’s extended capacity packs. You know the kind, with the larger bottoms.
A 2D or 3D Maglite has a barrel diameter of 1-9/16″, and head diameter of 2.25″. If this new Milwaukee M12 LED flashlight is indeed 2.5″ wide, than that narrow area will likely be the main grip.
The rear section is also knurled, suggesting that maybe the flashlight is designed such that your thumb and forefinger cradle the narrow grip section, with the rear section in the palm of your hand.
I think that this will be a “try before you buy” type of flashlight or worklight.
I imagine that, with all things, some will love the design, others will hate it. But here’s what I’m thinking… There are plenty of flashlight and worklight choices out there, Li-ion-based and otherwise. When designing this new flashlight, how many competitors’ offerings did Milwaukee analyze? How many prototypes did they make?
I have a couple of uncertainties about this flashlight’s strange geometry, but I’ll try to remain open-minded. Let me repeat the claims taken from the product listing:
The new M12 LED high performance flashlight establishes a new benchmark for 12 V flashlights, bringing new levels of versatility, performance and durability to the industry.
I definitely want to give it a chance.
Handle geometry aside, the sliding head focusing system, M12 Li-ion battery form factor, anodized aluminum construction, and illumination power, are all desirably features.
But about that $99 price…
Thank you to Jeremiah for the heads-up!