A handful of questions came in today, asking about which of Amazon’s miter saws deals are the “best.” Here are the models I’d buy, depending on budget and needs.
If these don’t fit your needs or wants, there are a couple of other miter saws on sale this week.
Entry-Priced 10″ Miter Saw
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Hitach’s 10″ single bevel compound miter saw has only been out for a year and change, but it seems to be well regarded. It’s about as basic a 10″ miter saw can get, but I’d trust Hitachi over homeowner brands, even at the same pricing. The previous version was also popular.
If I wanted the least expensive miter saw I could find, this one would fit the bill, and I’d be less hesitant as I’d be with other entry-priced brands.
Price: $79
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Entry-Priced 12″ Miter Saw
The Dewalt DW715 is a holiday season regular. It was slightly less expensive last year, but even at $199, this is one of the best 12″ miter saw bargains. It’s about as low-frills as a 12″ compound miter saw can go.
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Dewalt makes very good miter saws, and so if $200 was my max budget, this is likely the one I’d buy.
Price: $199
Buy Now(via Amazon)
12″ Dual Bevel Miter Saw with LED Shadow Cutline (a Nice Feature)
The Dewalt DW716XPS is a dual-bevel 12″ compound miter saw, and it features Dewalt’s LED shadow “cross cut positioning system” that I really like. The light casts a shadow of your blade on the workpiece, and so you always see where the cut line is going to be, and how thick it is.
Even if you don’t think you need dual bevel capabilities, the XPS lighting system makes it worth the upgrade over the DW715.
Price: $249
Buy Now(via Amazon)
This saw was on sale last year as part of a couple of different bundles last year, but $249 was the absolute lowest price that it reached. I’ve been watching this model over the past year, and it has been priced at around $300+ (it was $350 for most of the year until recently).
Do you want something similar but with the option to use it under battery power? The FlexVolt DHS716AB is $300 via Home Depot.
12″ Sliding Miter Saw (Greater Cutting Capacity)
If you need larger cutting capacity, the Dewalt DWS779 is a very popular model. It lacks the LED shadow cut line guidance of the DWS780, and there might be other differences, but its reviews are regularly quite positive.
Price: $349
Buy Now(via Amazon)
12″ Sliding Miter Saw (Greater Cutting Capacity, Alternative Option)
Although not on sale at Amazon, the Hitachi C12RSH2 is a well-regarded 12″ dual bevel sliding miter saw. It features a laser, and it’s lower priced than the Dewalt (not at Amazon, but at Acme Tools).
Price: $299-349
Buy Now(via Acme Tools)
Compare(via Amazon)
Reader Picks
Bosch 12″ dual bevel Axial Glide miter saw: $549 at Acme
Chris
I picked up the DHS790T2 for $520 a couple days back. Super stoked on that. I’ll sell the 6ah batteries + charger, pick up some 12ah ones, boom!
My first miter saw.
Stuart
Nice!
That’s a great saw at a good price.
Trevor
Just a reccomendation, you should consider opting for the 9ah packs instead. A little more cost effective for ah/$ and also have higher max current outputs than the slightly higher capacity cells used in the 12ah packs.
Chris
They went on sale for $179 each. Couldn’t turn that down since the 9 ah are $149 each best price I could ever find.
I do have a pair though of the 9ah that I snagged back in July for $249. Have never seen that price since
Big Richard
Trevor, where did you find the info on the 9.0ah vs 12.0ah current outputs? My understanding was that the 12.0 utilizes 21700 cells, versus the 9.0’s 20700, which have a higher current rating. But you are saying it is the opposite?
Adam
Quite a bit more expensive, but the Bosch GCM12SD is on sale for $549 at Acme ($100 off the normal $649 price), with free shipping.
There seem to have been issues with accuracy early on, but mine seems to be dead-on accurate to the best of my ability to measure.
Stuart
Thanks, added it to the post.
It was left out because most of the questions have been about $100-$400 saws, and I figured that most people looking at $400+ models would have made their decisions already.
Mark Lee Shelton
I have this saw in my shop. I can’t tell you how nice it is. Best I’ve used.
fred
We had a batch of the GCM12SD’s and I have one in my garage. We had issues with some early ones – that I think were due to damage in shipping. We could not get the fences to set up coplanar. But the replacements seemed to workout well for us. I’ve seen comments from others that they can’t get it to track dead on square at 90 degrees – get burn marks on one side or the other of a cut – which would indicate some sort of slop in the glide mechanism. I’ve not found that on mine – nor do I recall any complaints from the crews about this. But QA/QC a factories in China and elsewhere may not be what it should be.
My big gripe about the GCM12SD is its weight – not a saw you want to lug up flights of stairs.
Re cordless saws for a DIY’er – I’m not sure I get it. It brings extra expense that I think is better invested in a quality blade. It also comes with less power and reduced capability compared to a corded 12 inch saw. For a trim carpenter I get it – as it adds portability and convenience.
Todd
I’m inclined to agree with you on battery saws to a degree. There are certain situations where a battery saw would be a viable or better option. If you have very limited shop space and have to move your miter saw frequently then not having to deal with a cord or receptacles would be much more convenient. Also, if you are in a shop with limited outlets or old wiring that may not support the huge startup currents of a 12″ saw. If you have a dedicated miter saw station, a cordless saw then becomes more of a burden than its corded counterpart. In the next decade or so I think, plug in tools will be the minority as battery technology progresses and ultimately surpasses what is possible with single phase AC.
Skye
Just my 2cents: I rrally dislike all bosch mitersaws including the newer glide saws. The main reason is that with really very little uae the mechanism when plunging the blade down that moves the blade guard back gets super stiff. It’s awful to use u end up pushing down so hard that you’re leveraging against the pivot it flexes the saw and is just a pain in the neck to use. I’m sure many will remain unconvinced but I’ll say i have had this experience with 4 different bosch sliders(and gliders)
If you’re behind a chopsaw for a lot of the day i mist say that ease of bringing the head down is super high on the list of priorities.
Robert
eBay currently has 25% off Rockwell tools that is automatically applied in the cart. Picking up a jawhorse sheetmaster for $104.
Mike S
Thanks for the tip! Rockwell is selling all of their items on eBay for a sale price (lower than normal) and adding a 25% discount with free shipping right now. They are even including new but repackaged b/c of damaged boxes for about $10 lower price. Ths has to at least match the all time lowest price for these products.
Toby
Thanks for the info jumping on that deal now.
Logan
Chang Type Industrial manufactures the Dewalt miter saw line
Jordan
I ended up opting for the Bosch from Acme. A little butthurt about it though because had I gotten it from Lowe’s on Thursday, the 15% back would’ve been more than the difference in price between the two.. still happy with my purchase though.
Todd
A bit off topic, but not entirely. Seems like a good place to get some insight.
I have quite a few miter saws, two of which get the most use being a 2 year old Milwaukee 10″ battery saw and a DWS780 that’s getting a bit long in the tooth. The Dewalt has some broken parts, no fault of the saw just hard job site use. I am wondering if anyone here has gone from the Dewalt to another brands 12″ slide saw and find it to be an improvement or not, and what features got you to that conclusion. Also. if anyone has gone from another brands 12″ saw to the Dewalt and feel it’s an improvement or if there are things you miss. Considering replacing it soon and donating the Dewalt to a charity construction organization or something similar.
I like the front slide function of the Makita and Hitachi 12″ saws, but Makitas 12″ has some terrible reviews of its durability along with the out of true rails like their new 10″ saw suffered from early on. I don’t know much about the Hitachi, but the reviews on it are predominantly positive. Also considering Makitas dual slide saw, Milwaukees 12″ (but damn is it expensive), Bosch Glide, Delta Cruzer or another Dewalt. If I were going with another Dewalt it would likely be the 790 Flexvolt saw. Also wondering, those of you who have the Flexvolt saw with the AC adapter, how is the performance of the saw on AC?
Stuart
I didn’t have a chance to test it myself, but I’ve heard that the FlexVolt saw operates a little better on cordless power than corded, due to being able to pull more amps from two FlexVolt batteries than a wall outlet without tripping a breaker.
Todd
Yeah, I’ve read that somewhere as well. The newer batteries are able to burst discharge 40-50amps, some even more, whereas you’re stuck with 20amps, give or take, from a 110v outlet.
I’m sure if I bought the Flexvolt saw it would be on battery 99% of time time. Really wish I had a chance to use one in person. It could probably serve to replace the Milwaukee saw and the 780, but I’ve become quite fond of how lightweight the Milwaukee saw is especially when there are stairs involved.
NewtonsApple
DW716xps is down to $199.99 at CPO’s ebay store.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DEWALT-12-in-120V-Double-Bevel-Compound-Miter-Saw-w-XPS-Light-DW716XPS-New/282271784469?epid=27019363933&hash=item41b8b59e15:g:Oa0AAOSwtcRb4PF6
I just pulled my DHS716AT2 (FlexVolt version of the same saw) out of the box last weekend and it is currently 1 day out of the return window. I paid $429 for it, which is a decent deal with the regular corded version at $299. I am having a little purchase regret at the moment as I don’t have a ton of need for cordless operation.
Matt
Price is showing $229 now for me, I was gonna pull the trigger at $199!
Nathan
229 is still pretty good