As you probably already read, I attended a recent Dewalt media event where I witnessed the truth in their built in the USA marketing campaign, caught a peek at the latest and upcoming 20V Max cordless tools, and checked out the newest mechanics tools and hand tool offerings.
There’s more coverage still in the works (there are only so many hours in a day), but I wanted to address a question that I know a lot of you have been wondering about.
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When will Dewalt come out with more brushless tools?
Before I share the answer I received, let’s consider the types of tools Dewalt has built with brushless motors. There are 4 drills, 2 impact drivers, 3 cordless nailers, an impact wrench with different anvil options, a screwgun, a rotary hammer, an oscillating multi-tool, some lawn & garden tools, and I believe their new band saw is also brushless.
The new deep cutting band saw has the iconic brushless tool grip styling, not to mention the word brushless on the handle. Maybe it was a prototype, as I don’t remember explicit mention of it being brushless, or maybe not.
So we’re basically talking about drills, drivers, and other fastening tools, plus a couple of others.
The official word from Dewalt, or at least the product manager I spoke to, is that they’re focusing on the types of tools where readers will see the most benefits. So why not a brushless circular saw, or a brushless reciprocating saw? Because there wouldn’t be enough measurable benefits for end users. Yet?
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The product manager also mentioned how a lot of Dewalt’s premium brushed motor tools are now shipping with 5.0Ah battery packs, something the competition is not yet doing.
Okay, so I rationalized it like this: Dewalt is probably not seeing as much power benefits as they would like for the premium it would cost, and the runtime benefits might not be as high as if a user upgraded to a 5.0Ah battery instead. Or something like that.
Not enough product managers and engineer were at the even to be able to gather more information. Who knows what the “real” reason is why Dewalt isn’t matching Milwaukee’s brushless offerings tool-for-tool. Maybe their sales numbers show that they don’t have to – that’s a very realistic possibility.
Long story short, Dewalt will come out with new brushless tools when they’re ready too. I’m sure they have a bunch of brushless tools designs on the roadmap, but it doesn’t look like there are many tools slated for near-future release.
But, you know what? I’ve noticed a trend. Except for their brushless drills and impact drivers, many of Dewalt’s brushless innovations aren’t just upgrades of brushed motor tools, they’re completely new designs. To be honest, I think I would rather see that trend – new brushless tools that expand Dewalt’s tool selection, rather than brushless versions of existing tools.
Long story short… When will Dewalt come out with more brushless tools? I guess the best answer would be to say “when they’re ready to,” which is as far from a real answer one can get.
I had hoped to bring you better news, that major brushless releases were imminent, but there’s nothing else coming out that I hadn’t already discussed in my Dewalt cordless tools preview post.
If you could convince Dewalt to accelerate development of a new brushless tool or two, what would it be? I’d want to see brushless 12V Max-class drills and drivers, and a 12V Max brushless circular saw similar to Milwaukee’s M12 Fuel 6-1/2″ saw.
pete
Heres a question.
Why is the m12 FUEL only like what $40 extra? over the standard brushed m12 drill?
BUT the m18 is like almost double the price of the brushed/brushless equivalent.
Personally while brushless would be cool i have an extremely hard time justifying the price for a standard drill+impact driver. For the same money i could buy two of the brushed sets have have an entire other set of tool. Sure bushless shines in grinders and saws but for drills? I won’t own one!
Stuart
Keep in mind you also get much bigger batteries and bigger motors. You can’t apply M12 cost differentials to M18 products.
Nathan
brushless motor and control design and optimization is rather complicated. so what works is the 12 volt, might not work in the 18. also as you up current demands, based on torque needs – those control circuits get costly quick.
hence why the 12 volt brushless up charge can be much cheaper than the 18 or more. Also those 12 volt brushless motors might well be common hobbyist brushless motors being cheaper to source. very few hobbyist motors are designed around a 18V drive.
John
Just curious why there seems to be so much love/coverage for Dewalt and Milwaukee tools here. As far as I’m concerned, Makita is just as good or better, yet all I hear about is Dewalt and Milwaukee.
I’m not asking to be rude or anything. There has to be a good reason. I’m just genuinely curious.
Not trying to say either that Makita isn’t covered here, I’ve seen lots of updates on their stuff.
Stuart
I’ve simply got much more to say about Dewalt and Milwaukee tools than Makita. I also have far, FAR more experience with theirs toolsb because test samples are typically more easily available. And both brand have medias events this month, so there’s even more to say.
I had a Makita post for this week that I was excited about, but they asked me to hold off until more official details are available for the tool I asked about.
Want to hear about more Makita tools? Me too.
John
Thanks and please don’t take my post as an attack on you personally. After re-reading my post, I can see how someone might take it that way.
To be honest, after thinking about it, it’s more in the comments that people talk more about Dewalt and Milwaukee.
If you don’t mind, have you heard any rumors about Makita coming out with battery powered nail guns?
Thanks
Nathan
it’s been mentioned but not all applications benefit from a brushless motor. with some exception, most brushless motors trade torque for RPM. which is also a trade off in Voltage for Current. so it’s feasible that in tools where a higher gearbox ratio is tolerated moving to brushless makes the most sense.
I can see how a circular saw or a jig saw doesn’t have the space for a strong enough gearbox – as opposed to wanting more instant torque from the motor drive.
that’s not to say it’s impossible by any means. In other words even on multimillion dollar aircraft DC electric motors that move and run things – where weight and power draw are at a premium – not all of them are brushless either.
Chris
But everyone wants to have the brushless tools no matter the cost even though there may be no benefit to actually having a brushless version. Some brushless tools provide and increase in power and runtime but not all do and IMO not worth the high price
Jerry
From a cost/benefit point of view, I wonder if some tools are better off brushed, with a 5 AH battery vs. brushless with a 4AH battery (for roughly the same cost). Most buyers are not so much ‘best at any cost’ types of buyers, so much as ‘best value for my needs’ types of buyers, at least that’s what it seems to me.
JoeM
Umm… I think if there was just one “Brushless” version of a tool I’d like… Y’know what? I wouldn’t. I can’t narrow it down to one. 20 Volt Max/XR Circular Saws in more sizes (With a more efficient motor, I don’t think a 5″ metal cutting, and 6.5″ General cutting are all we’d be limited to. Maybe a 7.25″, or 7.5″ might work on the new motor? ), a Brushless Reciprocating Saw in the standard format, and perhaps a Brushless Reciprocating Saw with a pivoting handle like the 12 Volt Reciprocating Saw. Now THOSE I’d look forward to. I MIGHT get a kick out of a Brushless Jigsaw, but the 331 is already such a great saw that I don’t know where the benefit might be.
But, I do agree with Stuart. I would love to see the 12 Volt system get some Brushless love. I don’t use that system myself, but I think the screwdrivers, impact drivers, drills, and even that one little reciprocating saw I mentioned earlier could benefit from a Brushless version, so that their relative low power can last even longer.
Thanks again, Stuart! Nice to know SOMEONE is asking DeWalt about this!
Patrick
I would love to see more love given to the 12 volt line but DeWalt seems to have backed away from it. Gave my 12 volt drill/driver and impact to the girlfriend and she loves it. Would happily re-invest in 12 volt if DeWalt expanded it.
As for the circular saw, I love my DCS391 but the runtime even with a 4 Ah isn’t great. I would love to see brushless there and bring it closer to the Milwaukee.
Robert m
My brushless wishlist.
-12 volt or 20volt staple gun (I have seen corded ones, but never cordless does this exist?). I would use this tool EVERYDAY in fact, I would probably buy two, one for each hand (no but seriously, this tool would change my life).
-Some sort or cordless dremel
-Cordless compressor
-LOVE the cordless fan idea.
-18ga nail gun
JoeM
Just thought of something. With the whole Brushless thing… Couldn’t we get a Daido-compatible Circular Saw? Something that could use a spacer to hold a set of cutters, and still be able to hold a standard Circular blade?
Stuart
I don’t even want to think about the personal injury risks of equipping a circular saw with a dado blade! A circular saw by itself presents great risks. Greatly increase the tool-workpiece contact area such as with a dado stack, and you’re just asking for trouble.
I cannot say it’s never going to happen, but it’s probably never going to happen.
JoeM
I’m probably thinking of the wrong thing… The way I learned it, it was called a “Groove Cutter”… And what I’m thinking of here is along the lines of a fully enclosed Circular Saw, with a powerful motor (hence Brushless), and a wider-than-normal kerf on the blade, potentially a spacer to load up to two blades into the saw. I doubt very much it would replace an ACTUAL Dado cutter, but for thin slots, like a plywood or glass insert into a piece… It’d do the job.
Hell, I’ve seen requests on the DeWalt Facebook Page for something FAR more dangerous than a Dado cutter. A Chainsaw Attachment for a Cordless Circular Saw. I’m sure it serves a purpose, but I don’t have the formal training in this kind of thing to judge.
Petey
Or just use a router?
Aaron
I am a dewalt fan and have most of the 20v tools. If dewalt comes out with a portable fan I would buy it in a heartbeat. I do hvac and spend a lot of time in attics. Milwaukee and ryobi have them
Toolpig
I feel DeWalt is falling behind in the cordless game like Makita a few years ago. I have tools in the 20vmax line. The M18 line, the 18v LXT line, the Bosch 18v lithium ion line as well as Festool 18v/36v. While Milwaukee and Makita are coming out with OUTSTANDING brushless tools, Dewalt is sleeping. Bosch is surpassing Dewalt as well with new brushless offerings. I have never seen a brushless tool that didn’t totally smoke it’s brushed counterpart in speed,power and run time. All cordless tools benefit from a brushless Motor. Everyone is shipping the 5.0 amp hour batteries now so DeWalt has no advantage anywhere to entice someone to buy in to their line other than price. The Dewalt recip saw and circular saws are battery hogs. I’m very glad the main cordless tools are offered in brushless versions. (Drills and impact drivers ) the oscillating tool benefits from the brushless motor but the overall design is not very good. The band saw seems spot on as do the nailers and rotary hammers. Come on DeWalt wake up. Stop making consumer grade mediocrity. Step it up and dominate!
Kevin
At least right now, Milwaukee IS shipping 5 AH batteries on their top end combos. I am at the point of replacing some old PC gear and am considering the DeWALT brushless hammerdrill / impact kit, and from what I saw at HD, it only had a 4Ah battery, while the comparable Milwaukee kit has a 5. In terms of total tools available, Milwaukee is well above DeWALT. And from what I’ve seen so far in demos the cordless FUEL Sawzall does a pretty darn amazing job, so I do actually think DeWALT customers would get something out of that.
philip
Flexvolt and new Batts and chargers. New 18 v saws brushless on the way. They got runtime and power and flex ability unleashed and all locked up… even 2 hd Milwaukee batteries increases will not compete against 2 flex volt even at 6amp hour… charge time. Not to mention the 9 .Hope you bought dewalt.
Kurt
Personally i am trying to hold out for a brushless circular saw and cutoff grinder. Really though one thing that kills me about this line is the battery charger. It’s a flimsy piece of junk, no features at all. I really wish they would put the same attention and build quality into the charger that they do for the rest of the tools, its kind of an afterthought now. I really dont like how the battery slots in all wiggly, not nearly as solid feeling as when you put the battery on a tool. I get that it works but its a very lousy design, seems like low hanging fruit to do something awesome where few tool companies are. Also EVERY tool in the line relies on the charger… And its of the lowest build quality of them all, just doesnt make sense to me.
Stuart
In terms of features, Dewalt does make a dual battery charger with USB charging ports (https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/dewalt-20v-12v-usb-dual-charger/%3C/a%3E%29.%3C/p%3E
What would you like to see in a new charger design? I would hope for a rapid charger, but I don’t think that Dewalt’s battery packs would/could support active cooling.
I think a T-Stak or ToughSystem charging station could be handy.
Kurt
Well treat the charger like a regular tool, build it robust. For instance… Rubberize the body to beef it up so it doesnt slide everywhere, make the battery slot identical to the power tools so they slot in snugly-as it is now the batteries dont fit well and i have had them come loose and sit there when i thought they were charging…its awkward. The batteries fit so well in the tools i would expect the same here. I would also have convenient holes laid out to be able to run a few screws to fasten or unfasten the charger from a wall or surface. A heavier guage cord with an aux power outlet, including a bracket to wind the cord up. Better led or audible notifications when a battery is charged. Etc… Essentially make something out of it, it would be more expensive but it would absolutely set dewalt apart… At least if it was an upgrade option. The standard charger looks/feels like it came from k-mart
JD
Would like to see a 20V Max Lantern.
Chris
I have trouble believing there is little benefit converting most if not all tools to brushless. I’ve been running brushless motors for 20 years in RC planes and cars before the RC industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Run time is incredible with brushless compared to brushed motors, last longer, less heat and more power. While a number of tools may not need more power the extra run time is always a benefit as is running cool. Circular saws would have a major benefit going brushless.
I have a ton of their 18 volt tools and was not thrilled when they switched formats for the same nominal voltage. Now that they have the brushless lines out, that was enough reason, for me anyway, for starting switch over to the 20v line.
MCW
I have noticed a nice improvement in the brushless impact driver. Ridgid 18V. As a contractor I like the best model of tools.
Funny, though, I have owned a 10v Mikita drill/impact gun setoff many years now. The impact drill is in my portable tool bag is is the most used item in my extensive arsenal. Still running, even one of the original batteries still is working. Amazing! Not brushless. Runs a long time on a charge still. Cordless tools sure have come a long way in the last decade, in verity, length of charge life and in durability. All good.
I’m now starting to collect Dewalt 60 V versions. These are definitely the next best thing in cordless saws, grinders and even portable compressors.