When browsing over at Amazon, I came across a new Hitachi compact brushless drill. There are 2 kits – DS18DBFL2 with 2x 1.5Ah battery packs, and DV18DBFL2 hammer drill with 2x 3.0Ah compact battery packs, and a bare tool (drill/driver), DS18DBFL2P4.
In recent months, Hitachi came out with a very good triple anvil brushless impact driver, and a compact 1/2″ impact wrench. There’s also a new super-powerful brushless hammer drill with anti-kickback safety feature, but it has not yet been announced for the USA market.
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Correction: The super-powerful brushless hammer drill IS available in the USA now.
The new Hitachi 18V brushless drill looks pretty straightforward. It delivers up to 620 in-lbs in a compact package.
- Keyless all-metal 1/2″ chuck
- 620 in-lbs max torque
- 1800 RPM Max
- 22+1 clutch settings
- LED work light
- Belt hook
- Balanced design and ergo grip
- Length: 6-29/32″
- Weight: 2.7 lbs w/o battery
- On-tool battery indicator
As with some other Hitachi drill/drivers, the new compact brushless model has an optical trigger switch, which offers more responsive variable speed actuation, as well as greater wear resistance for the trigger assembly. In other words, enhanced control and greater longevity.
Price: $200 for the kit with 1.5Ah batteries, $140 for the bare tool
Buy Now(Drill/Driver Kit with 2x 1.5Ah)
Buy Now(Hammer Drill Kit with 2x 3.0Ah)
Buy Now(Bare Tool)
First Thoughts
There’s not much to talk about here – this is just another strong-looking release by Hitachi.
It has very good power specs, a compact size, light weight, and reasonable and competitive pricing.
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We don’t yet know the pricing of the more premium kit, which pairs the drill with Hitachi’s compact 3.0Ah battery packs. I would expect it to be maybe $100 more than the 1.5Ah kit, at $300 or so.
I’ve got to say, Hitachi’s 18V product family is looking better and better these days. This is one more appealing brushless addition to the lineup.
Mike
This is why Hitachi doesn’t sell well – where is the company’s marketing coverage for this and their other tools? No press release, no advertising, no representatives at stores, nothing of the kind. Not even a badly done YouTube video with overly loud ‘knarly’ background music. You had to run across it by chance. How does Hitachi hope to get any market share without promoting their products?
The yeti
Hitachi is one of the world’s biggest companies . Power tools are probably somewhere down on their list . They build heavy ships equipment and nuclear power plants . I doubt they care much about the tools.
Stuart
I run into a lot of new tools before they’re officially announced.
Different companies have different ways of doing things.
Dale
I wonder if things will change now that Hitachi Power tools (Hitachi Koki) has been sold to US private equity firm KKR.
Thom
So does this mean Metabo and Hitachi are now American owned?
Matt
I went to check it out in Amazon and see that the Hammer Drill is there. Paired with 2 6ah batts for $399
Stuart
Thanks! The model number is a little different, but you’re right – that’s the same drill!
Matt
Specs look killer. And 6ah kitted batts?
Thom
Hitachi bought Metabo in late 2015. I think their share of the market is secure!
fred
They likely wanted Metabo to improve their presence in the European market.
Their power tool business – is part of a larger sector that includes medical electronics, test and measurement equipment, and semiconductor processing equipment. The entire sector accounted for 10% of their revenues in 2015
ktash
Perhaps it’s up to the big box stores that handle them. When I go into Home Depot, I see lots of PR for Milwaukee and their other brands. Ace is always promoting Craftsman as well as their other tools, lots of visibility. It’s like these two companies are excited about these tools. Lowe’s doesn’t do as good a job with Hitachi. I’ve gotten some of my best tool deals at Lowe’s on closeouts and sales, however, so I’m not putting them down, just an observation. I like their staff better than the local HD staff. This may just be a local variation, though I’m not sure.
Stuart
You’re not alone in that criticism of Lowes. After they announced a big partnership, I watched and watched, but failed to see a notable increase in visibility.
Home Depot’s strategy tends to be more active, Lowes tends to be more passive.