Tool Review 3-fer: Ridgid Power Tools Miter Saw, Light Cannon, 5 ah Battery

In this review I take a gander at Ridgid power tools’ cordless miter saw, Light Cannon work light and “Hyper” lithium ion battery. Spoiler alert: They’re  awesome.

Find out more or buy the Ridgid Power Tools Hyper battery here. We partnered with The Home Depot to produce this blog and are grateful to be part of Big Orange’s ProSpective program. The views and opinions are 100% MyFixitUpLife. Now back to your regularly scheduled tool fix.

I used this battery mainly on my Ridgid cordless miter saw, installing two shiplap feature walls. On both walls, which easily had in excess of 100 cuts each, the battery provided ample power, run time and capacity to the saw. I don’t think I even needed to change the battery during each project. It was such a good power source, I kind of forgot about it.

The Ridgid cordless miter saw I tested the battery on is a thing of beauty. Small to be sure with a 7-1/4-inch blade it plays heavier than it is. The price is great. The features are outstanding, like dual bevel and a nice fence. The battery exchange is easy and it comes with two of them for $400 bucks. That is seriously tough to beat.

The unit feels it plowing through a 2×6, but that’s not really what it’s made for. It can cut it, but this is more of a trim and small job specialist, ideal for both pro and DIY projects. In fact, I used it for the trim project in this video. It’s a sweet tool, but back to the battery that runs it.

The “Hyper” (it’s not literally hyper, it just sits there making invisible chemical magic like all batteries do) delivers long time run time. When you’re talking about batteries the phrase “amp-hours” refers to the gallons of gas a battery can hold. Hyper has five, which is up there. More on this below.

Ridgid says this puppy is compatible with all Ridgid power tools 18-volt products and dual-chemistry chargers. This is awesome if you have older tools or when batteries die out (as all eventually do) but the tools that they run are still whammer-jammer good.

If you work in the cold, this operates down to -4 Farenheit. That’s tough. I might not operate in that temp. Nice to know it’ll spin a blade or turn an impact driver.

I also ran the Hyper on a tool I never thought I’d use as much as I do: The Ridgid power tools (not making it up) Light Cannon. The Hyper ran this flashlight—and this is difficult for batteries—for a long time. I used it as one of my work lights in a basement remodel. And it’s backed by The Home Depot warranty muscle. Impressive? Um, yeah.

The Light Cannon also rocked during a power outage. It was awesome for setting up the portable generator in the dark and general room and path lighting. I really got to like the pistol grip design during our many hours without light.

By the way, if you’re renovating a basement, pay careful attention to light when you’re at paint stage. Basement light can be deceptively dim and hide stuff you want to know is there.

For example, there’s more dust in the air in basements. It can get on your work and you might not notice it until you’re painting it in. A good work light like the Light Cannon it a great way to look for all kinds of things. Also—it comes with a transformer so you can keep it in your vehicle as an emergency light. Or take it camping. Or use it working in a dark space (its wide base and and bright, pivoting head is near perfect for this). Or use it to light a dim utility room. Or use it working under a sink. Basically, it un-darks dark places really, really well.

Result: Awesome