Best portable shop lights in 2020 – Roadshow

Harbor Freight

The shop light I found myself reaching for most often is actually one of the cheapest here, this $40 folding unit from Braun (Harbor Freight’s house brand). While its length makes it difficult to throw in a toolbox, the strong magnet on the base means you can just pop it onto anything metal — like, say, the side of your toolbox. The LED light bar throws off plenty of light output for bigger jobs, while the LEDs on the tip meant I could easily inspect down in the fuel tank of my tractor. I got 2 hours on a charge with the LED work light bar on full blast, so it’s maybe not the best for longer jobs, but a great, affordable rechargeable work light choice for most tasks.

Harbor Freight

If you’re looking to spend a little more on a portable garage light, the $50 Braun 3-In-1 Quick Connect Light Kit comes with replaceable attachments, giving you a more powerful flashlight and a snake light as well. It’s a great portable work light kit, but that means you’ll need to also keep the case and all accessories around. I much prefer the cheaper, integrated lighting option.

Harbor Freight

Another win for Harbor Freight here, with the Ultra Bright LED Portable Worklight. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you’ve ever visited a Harbor Freight that you walked out with one of these portable LED work light units for free. And, if you’re a frequent shopper, you probably have a half-dozen scattered around your house and garage. Even at the full price of $4 it’s hard to ignore the value here. Whether you want focused or broad LED light this will deliver, my only complaint being the AAA batteries inside are too difficult to replace and the whole thing has a tendency to fly into pieces when dropped on a concrete floor, as mine have been. Repeatedly.

Black Diamond

When I asked for portable light suggestions, a number of you indicated you prefer to use headlamps when working on your cars, and I definitely can see why. My choice is the $50 Black Diamond Storm, because it throws out a lot of light for such a small thing, and its multicolor light bulb capability means it has dozens of uses. I used mine to get across Italy in the 2019 Mille Miglia. Headlamps are particularly good when you’re working in tight spaces like wheel wells, and when you’re moving around a lot. Complex brake job? Get you one of these.

GoPro

What’s a lifestyle portable shop light? A light that’ll keep up with your ‘Gram-worthy deeds, naturally, and where else would you turn but GoPro? The $70 Zeus Mini isn’t necessarily designed for shop use, but its strong clamp and magnetic base meant it easily went from the brim of my baseball cap to sticking on the side of my tractor’s fender when I was pulling off a troublesome air filter. I later put it on blink mode and clipped it on the front of my bicycle and even used it as a fill light for a late-night Zoom meeting. 90 minutes of battery life on max means again short pursuits only, but this gets bonus points for charging over USB-C.

Dewalt

If you need extreme brightness, look no further than the usually $99 Dewalt 12V/20V Max Compact Task Light (on sale for $87 at time of writing). This bright light comes with a warning about being careful not to look directly into it, and it’s not kidding. Three brightnesses are on offer and the maximum is truly sunlike, but despite that the 20V rechargeable battery powers it for 4.5 hours. Mind you, the cost of the garage work light doesn’t include the battery, and the batteries require a proprietary charger, but if you’re already in the Dewalt ecosystem that won’t be a problem. It’s big and heavy, but the chunky handle makes it easy to carry and threaded receivers mean it’s even tripod-mountable if you’re so inclined.

Ryobi

Another great superbright LED lighting option is the $60 Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Hybrid LED Color Range Work Light. It’s a little lighter in weight than the Dewalt and its integrated stand/handle is easier to position as well, but the killer factor here is that you can change the LED bulb color temperature. This is key if you’re doing any paint work — or working late and trying to avoid excessive blue light.

Eastwood

If your needs are complex and many, check out the comprehensive ecosystem of lighting systems that Eastwood offers. At its core is a little light with a repetitive name: the $37 Modular Light Module. It’s shaped like a little steering wheel, but more importantly the integrated swivel base features both a strong magnet and a threaded receiver to potentially use with a telescoping tripod stand. A battery life indicator on the back is a nice touch, but relying on a proprietary charger instead of USB cable is a bit of a bummer. Still, 2.5 hours of battery life at maximum brightness doesn’t disappoint, and it is plenty bright. The little light throws out a lot of lumens (1,000 to be exact) but, if that’s not enough, there’s a 3,000-lumen model for $90. From there, you can add everything from custom tripod stands to under-hood work light clamps, making this the ultimate lighting system setup for your ultimate garage.

Ryobi

I have fluorescent lights mounted right on my workbench, but even with that on I was struggling to see inside my tractor’s carburetor when I was rebuilding it a few weeks back. Enter the $55 Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Cordless LED Workbench Light. This LED shop light changes shape like a Transformer, unfolding and concealing a series of hidden hooks and recesses for mounting. But, for me, it was best used sitting on my bench, unfolded so that it shone LED light from the side and from above, obliterating any shadows in my carb. And, unlike a lot of the other lights here, the output from this was soft enough that it didn’t hurt my eyes up close. Three hours of battery life is more than solid, too, but again we’re looking at proprietary batteries and charger for this portable work light, and they aren’t included in that $55 price.