We’ve seen a lot of innovative new cordless power tools this year. Some of the new tools are evolutionary – which is okay, and some revolutionary.
Some new tools might invoke immediate “that will really benefit my work!” sentiments, while other releases might only be added to our wishlists.
It’s always hard to sort through which deserve special recognition. Following are some of the best tools that came out this year, among those I have had sufficient hands-on testing with.
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There a few other tools that might have made it on this list, but either they’re not available yet, or I haven’t had a chance to vet them yet. My hope is to plan for an expanded end-of-the-year-update. But until then, here are the top tools I’ve been most impressed with so far.
Note: Tools considered for this post were either purchased, provided by brands as test review samples, or demoed at media events with sufficient time to form a solid opinion. The ones discussed here were all provided as no-cost review samples.
Milwaukee Cordless Stapler
I know, a cordless stapler doesn’t sound very exciting. I must have only fired around 20 staples at Milwaukee’s NPS17 media event, but it was enough to get a sense for what the stapler is about.
You grab the stapler, place some staples where you need them, put it back in your pouch, tool bag, wherever, and continue with your work.
There’s not a lot to fuss with, and when you’re done, it drops from your mind. With manual staplers, your hands will often have lingering reminder that you just drove in 10, 20, 50, or several dozen staples.
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With this one, stapling is less of a physical exercise or source or fatigue, and isn’t that what we want to see in new tools?
Ridgid Cordless Air Compressor
Ridgid’s entry as the first-ever cordless air compressor has a lot going for it. It’s compact, delivers good performance (so far), is powered by a brushless motor, and it’s reasonably affordable for those already invested in Ridgid’s 18V cordless power tool platform.
As long as you’re realistic about what it is – a cordless air compressor with 1 gallon tank – it’ll happily serve your modest needs. It’s a quick trim compressor, likely ideal for small jobs. It can be powered using 1 or 2 battery packs, which is a convenience.
A few years ago, I couldn’t imagine that we’d see a cordless air compressor, but here we are.
Ridgid has come out with some very good tools recently – an expanded lighting portfolio, a cordless router, a brushless belt sander, and there’s more to come.
Buy Now (via Home Depot)
There’s currently a promo where you buy 2 select Ridgid tools and get a free starter kit, although you’ll likely want one or two high capacity battery packs to power the compressor.
Bosch Ergonomic Reciprocating Saw w/ CORE Battery Pack
I tested Bosch’s new compact reciprocating saw, and it’s a real beast. I wish the vibration was reduced further, but it does seem to be a big improvement over some of the same saws I’ve tested lately.
I don’t use reciprocating saws on a regular basis, but I was able to recognize that this saw has gobs of power. I’m still on the fence about whether the ergonomics are all I had hoped for.
If you’re in the market for a new cordless reciprocating saw, try to find a way to get some hands-on time with this saw. It’s a beast that delivers all of Bosch’s claims.
The saw was announced and released overseas in 2016, but only recently made it to the USA, as model GSA18V-125.
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Acme Tool)
Buy Now(Kit via Acme Tool)
Makita XDT12 Brushless Impact Driver
Makita’s XDT12 was announced in 2016, and if I recall it started shipping in Q4 last year. I only recently had the opportunity to test it out, and it could very well be the best cordless impact driver I have ever seen, tested, or heard of.
It’s small, even astonishingly compact. Powerful. Its 4 speed ranges and 2 other settings have all the versatility most users will ever need. The brushless motor contributes to incredible runtime.
I haven’t had the time to pit it against my other current favorite impact driver yet – the Hitachi 18V triple hammer impact that Ben reviewed here. I honestly don’t know which would win.
But it’s fair to say that this Makita impact is at least one of the top 2 impact drivers I have ever come across. It could be the best yet.
While a little pricey, it’s less expensive than Hitachi’s and seems to be priced competitively with other brands’ most-premium impact drivers.
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Amazon)
Buy Now(Kit via Amazon)
Runner Up: Milwaukee Rover RedLithium USB LED Worklight
Milwaukee’s USB RedLithium USB Rover LED worklight is among the best personal lighting products I’ve ever used. It’s quite different than the flashlights I own, and its functionality seems to be inspired by much larger worklights.
Its magnets mount quite well on bare steel surfaces, although one of the its two magnets doesn’t do quite as well on coated steel.
I am excited about what Milwaukee’s new USB-rechargeable 3.6V/4.0V Max battery cell might power in the future, or if it’s only destined to serve their personal lighting products.
The Rover flashlight can be recharged directly, or you can pop out the battery to be charged with an optional RedLithium USB charger.
While not as disposably cheap as the small worklights sold on the counter of some hardware and supply stores (or my local UPS store), its $60 price tag isn’t outlandishly expensive either.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Buy Now(via Ohio Power Tool)
See Also(Charger via Home Depot)
Dewalt…
There were 2 new Dewalt tools that were in the running for the top 5 selections – the new FlexVolt air compressor, and the FlexVolt track saw. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to test either of them, due to shipping issues. This post was already delayed, and I couldn’t wait any longer for Dewalt to sort things out. I wasn’t able to test either tool at Dewalt’s media event.
Festool’s cordless track saw is really, really good, and I wanted to see if the Dewalt held any advantage or was at least competitive.
Ridgid’s cordless air compressor is quite impressive, and I haven’t seen any reasonable limitations due to its small tank. It’s a compact and highly portable cordless-powered nailer. I’m especially curious about Dewalt’s special regulator, and whether there’s any performance difference to justify its added size and price. I had planned to mention both on equal standing – unless something majorly wrong with the Dewalt came up during testing – with comparison tests to follow.
Top Candidates for Future Testing
Following are some the tools that I anticipate being top contenders for the Q4 update, which will be expanded to feature 10 tools.
Bosch FlexiClick Multi-Head Drill Driver
Milwaukee M18 Fuel 7-1/4″ Sliding Miter Saw
Milwaukee M18 Heat Gun
Milwaukee M12 Soldering Iron
Milwaukee M12 Fuel 2nd Gen Impact Driver (I’m also excited about the drill, but less so)
Ryobi Brushless Saws
Are there any tools you want to nominate for consideration in the expanded “Best Cordless Tools of 2017” followup?
Special Disclosures: There were no “entry fees,” “consideration fees,” or any other monetary requirements, conditions, or incentives. In fact, none of the brands whose tools were mentioned were alerted that this post was planned or in the works.
Ordinary Disclosure: Thank you to Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid, for providing the review samples. (Except for the stapler, which was tested at Milwaukee.)
Satch
Stuart, thanks for the info about the Bosch recipro saw. Hadn’t noticed it before but it looks like the real deal. And like you, I am fond of the Blue.
ca
They mentioned that the vibration could be reduced. My compact DeWalt is the same. There seems to be something about those saws where the motor isn’t inline with the recip mechanism that causes them to vibrate a lot.
Matt
Have you seen the new Hitachi 18v recip saw with digital controls? CR18dbl in Europe… This has the possibility to be a break out if ever released in US.
Stuart
That’s new to me, thanks!
Paul
I saw something, and will look for it, that this saw was just released to the US market. Both as a bare tool and a kit(I think a battery and charger). Hitachi is also selling their 3.0 Compact Lithium battery for $39.99 and it looks like that price isn’t changing.
Stuart
A new Hitachi 18V brushless reciprocating saw popped up on Amazon after you mentioned it. Is this the one?
Paul
Same model #
https://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-CR18DBL-Cordless-Brushless-Reciprocating/dp/B075P4B9Z8/
Matt
That’s it. Also, look in their new 36v multi volt battery system…. Very, very interesting
Dylan Bott
Have you (or anyone else reading the comments) tried Makita’s cordless router, track saw, or miter saw yet? All 3 of those are on my wishlist and I’m looking to buy them soon if people rate them highly.
Stuart
Working on it.
Not yet.
Not yet.
Chad
Thanks for the info on this and really diggin the stapler…. just hope Bosch follows suit with one as well as i just went full tilt on the 12v line of their tools over the 18v Hitachi stuff i have… still use it but just like the Bosch 12v gear a lot better !!
Jim Felt
The Milwaukee site, which I’ve never used before today, says the 3/8″ Fuel Rachet is available now through Home Depot. Of course, their (HD) site is kinda wankie and didn’t work correctly on this iPhone so no order to my Store for me. Maybe I’ll wait for the Big River to list it.
So who knows. I does say the bare tool is $150. So it least we know a starting point.
Bryan
Stuart- Thanks for the write up. These “year so far” / aggregated reads are ourstanding and help me rebalance my next purchase(s)!
Well done !
Dan
Well deserved for Makita, that impact driver is amazing. Even the grip rivals Dewalt’s; it’s just the right size and curvature. The balance is perfect. Very high quality and made in Japan. Very smooth trigger, low noise, tons of torque. I could go on and on.
Eric
After using a friends oil impulse impact I just couldn’t see myself buying a traditional impact again. It’s not quite as powerful and it’s about $35 more expensive but the noise reduction makes up for that and then some.
glenn
Although unfortunately not available in Australia, I think Ridgid’s 18v LPG heater is worth a mention. If it does become available here, as well as the above compressor under the AEG name, I guess I will be buying into a fourth battery platform.
Tator
I wonder if dewalt will come out with a 60v heater. They already make a few corded turbo heaters! Why not a cordless
Chris
Have you gotten ahold of dewalts new brushless grinders? They’re mean 😉 still waiting on the die grinder. Should have it by mid next week if acme ships it by their expected shipping date.
I really like the brushless angle grinder. It’s so much quieter than a corded grinder. It’s got quite a bit of power behind it as well.
Stuart
Not yet.
It seemed like it could be close competition for Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel breaking grinder.
Kyle Altendorf
Is the M12 stapler functional in hardwoods? Or do you need to go with an air stapler for that?
Stuart
Probably. I’ll have to wait until production models ship to know for sure.
I dialed the power to around 1/2, and it sunk the staples into 2x dimensional materials with no trouble.
The longest staples into the toughest wood? I would think that the M12 stapler could do everything a standard or even heavy duty T50 stapler can do.
glenn
If or when you get your hands one Stuart, I would like to know if it would fire 6mm staples flush into MDF please.
I have an old Ryobi P300 and its a bit hit and miss with MDF. If the M12 will do it, its a definite replacement.
Justin
I purchased the flexvolt track saw, unfortunately I did not buy the tracks because I already owned the corded version. I instantly regretted this as my flexvolt version cuts about 1/16th of an inch away from my other one. I have been waiting almost a month for two new tracks to use exclusively with my cordless saw. I guess it was wishful thinking that I could use the same track with both saws. I was very pleased to see they are producing new blades for it at half the price.
John Blair
How do you like the Flexvolt Track saw? I currently use a Festool Track Saw but there is no way I would pay their price for a cordless version. So I was thinking about getting the Dewalt. Everyone seems to say the plunge mechanism takes some time to get used to. What are your toughts?
Justin
Like I said in my post I owned the coarded version for a couple years now and the plunge mechanism is exactly the same. I do not remember having any trouble getting used to it. I noticed no lack of power when comparing it to my coarded saw but I have never used the festol so I couldn’t tell you on that front.
Frank D
RE: Ridgid cordless compressor
How long does it take to fill its tank?
How loud is it?
What is the run time on a basic battery?
If you fire up a nailer, how many nails can you fire? If you hook up a simple air nozzle … how long can you air sweep before it drains a battery?
I got burned with ridgid’s 24v line and LSA + free batteries for life program that had no batteries, and find the new x4 x5 18v batteries having long shelf life, and good for some light to medium drilling and driving, but lacking use time for any kind of circular saw or reciprocating work … so I’m curious on actual use time, run time, number of cuts, etc on these new 18v cordless compressors, miter saws, etc
Steve
Such a shame about Bosch. I still have their 12v drill and driver…I seem to grab them way more frequently than the milwaukee 12v equivalent. But they have been so slow to create a competetive ecosystem of tools, they are really falling behind. I guess they could benefit strategically from Red, Yellow, and Teal doing the heavy lifting….then knock it out of the park with a whole line of superior compact brushless stuff, but I just don’t see it happening. Part if the reason why I broke into the Milwaukee 12v line (black friday drill/driver set for <$100) is because I know they are going to keep innovating and adding to their offerings.
Frank D
I still have my makita 12v nmih drill and driver … they well outperform my Ridgid 18v li-ion … both with a fresh set of batteries.
Aaron
DeWalt and Milwaukee may receive the lion’s share of sales in the States, but Makita’s the best of the Big 3, in no small part to what you just shared. You hardly ever hear anything bad about the longevity of their stuff, and they’re quite clearly the most innovative cordless tool company around.
Jared Richael
Bosch isn’t falling behind they just don’t offer all of their stuff in the usa unfortunately. For some reason they must feel owning Europe and Asia means more to them. To much competition here to make it worth their while maybe, I don’t know. Wish they did do business more here. I love their tools. I own almost all of their stuff they offer here, corded and cordless. Would love to try there new core battery pack.
Jim Felt
Jared.
I’ve used the CORE batteries almost daily for months and they’ve been great. For a battery. But what else matters eh?
P. S. There’s a guy on eBay that’s an authorized Bosch reseller and his boxed factory CORE 2 batteries plus charger sell for around $150. I’ve bought several. Can’t even find them otherwise. Weird.
TJ
I just picked up the Milwaukee Rlver light. Same problem as you have experienced – the clip magnet isn’t strong enough.
I solved the problem by machining out a little bit of the inside of the black handle, and glued in a neodymium magnet that Home Depot sold.
To do this, I put a flat-bottomed Dremel bit in my Bridgeport (a regular drill press wold probably be fine if you can lock the quill) and raised the table a tiny bit at a time while moving the light grip around to make the cutout the size of the magnet. Locking the quill allowed me to make a flat-bottomed cutout and moving the table up very slowly allowed me to carefully control the depth of the cut, as there isn’t a ton of extra material.
It works significantly better now.
GREAT light other than the magnet though.
JMG
I picked up a Makita XDT12 awhile back and it immediately became my favorite impact driver. Size, weight, and power are hard to beat. So much so that I gave away one of the older ones I had because it could not compare, and was just gathering dust on the shelf. Haven’t found a single thing to not like about it. Which for me is…
Grady
Stuart, like you I don’t have a lot of use for a reciprocal saw. But it being the last gift my mother ever gave me it’s unlikely I’ll ever get rid of it. The Best thing I use it for is trimming my trees and bushes using a pruning blade. It’s my best and favorite pruning tool.
Stuart
I must say, I am really looking forward to using the Bosch saw for trimming some branches soon. I also have an M12 Hackzall from last winter’s Milwaukee rebates that I hope can handle some overgrown bushes.
glenn
I have the brushed M12 hackzall and it is definitely good for cutting back shrubbery etc, I have used it for cutting branches up to around 50-60mm. It is a little slower than the M18 but it will do the job.
Luckey Dodge
Where is a Battery Carton Stapler? We need this for small B2B companies where they do not have compressors.