I love this kind of product...useful and not a uni-tasker. The main function as a task/work light is great. It's very bright on its highest setting with the 3 dimming levels giving you an opportunity to save battery power if you don't need it at full brightness. The beam is pretty wide but I wouldn't say it's an area light, more like a focused flood light. The base has a magnetic function and can rotate and move up and down, so you have plenty of options to get the light right where you need it. The bonus is you can use the rechargeable lithium ion battery to charge other devices in a pinch. You never know when that could come in handy. It also has a 4 segment battery level display so you always know the charge level when you turn it on. It uses a USB-C charging port which is pretty common now. That is so much better than mini and micro USB which are terrible and are no longer standard. All in all, very useful, economical and love the bonus device charging feature. I recommend it if you need a device like this.