New Tool Drops: Ryobi 1800W Power Station and Ridgid 18V Right Angle Impact Wrench

Introduction

Two fresh releases caught attention this week, and they cover very different needs. One is a gasless battery power station aimed at outage backup, camping and job site power. The other is a compact 18V right angle impact wrench built for tight spaces. Here is what each one offers, and where the trade-offs sit.

Ryobi 1800 Watt Portable Battery Power Station

This is a gasless generator alternative built around an internal battery, so there are no external battery packs to manage. You charge it up, then it discharges as you use it. The big safety angle: it produces zero emissions, so it is safe to run indoors during a power outage, unlike a gas generator which should never be used inside the house.

On paper it delivers 3,000 starting watts and 1,800 running watts from a 1,094 watt-hour lithium battery. That is enough to run a full-size refrigerator for up to 10 hours or a 55-inch TV for up to 8 hours. For tailgating, camping, fishing or riding out an outage with essential appliances, that puts it in genuinely useful territory, and it is safe for sensitive electronics like TVs, phones and tablets thanks to pure sine wave technology.

Connectivity and monitoring are well covered. Bluetooth lets you check remaining charge, battery status and run time remotely, and an LCD screen shows the same information on the unit itself. There is an external LED light with four modes, and pass-through charging means you can charge the station while it is still powering other devices, which is handy when the grid flickers back on briefly.

Port selection includes three 120V AC outlets, four USB outlets and two USB-C ports. You can also connect two units together with a parallel kit (sold separately) for twice the power output, though stacking appears limited to two. The package includes the power station, a 270-watt AC charger, a protective cover and the operator’s manual, backed by a three-year limited warranty. Operation is essentially silent apart from a small cooling fan.

What It Can Power and For How Long

The headline use case is outage backup for essentials. A full-size fridge running for up to 10 hours covers the biggest worry in most blackouts, and keeping a freezer or TV going stretches the capacity further. One honest limitation: this is not sized to wire into your house via a transfer switch or run an entire home setup, and a small RV may be the upper end of what it can realistically support.

Ridgid 18V Subcompact Brushless 3/8” Right Angle Impact Wrench

Ridgid’s new 18V subcompact brushless 3/8-inch right angle impact wrench is a tool-only release priced at $199. It is a four-mode design with 250 ft-lbs of breakaway torque, three speeds, and an auto tightening mode that stops fastening automatically to prevent over-tightening.

The subcompact, lightweight form factor is the whole point here. A right angle head gets into tighter areas a standard impact wrench cannot reach, which is exactly what mechanics and techs working in confined spaces need. An onboard LED light improves visibility in low-light work, and the tool is compatible with Ridgid’s protective boots and 100% compatible with all Ridgid 18V batteries.

Who the Ridgid Impact Wrench Makes Sense For

If you are already invested in Ridgid’s 18V battery platform, this fills a niche the lineup has been missing, and the limited lifetime service agreement (available if registered within 90 days of purchase) softens the $199 tool-only price considerably. If you are not in the platform, the entry cost of batteries and a charger is worth factoring in before committing.

Conclusion

The Ryobi power station is the stronger fit for anyone focused on outage preparedness, with safe indoor operation, solid capacity for a fridge or TV, and Bluetooth monitoring. Its most requested missing feature is solar charging input, which competitors offer and which many buyers will notice. The Ridgid right angle impact wrench is a targeted release: compact, torque-heavy and platform-friendly, but priced for committed Ridgid users rather than newcomers.