In late 2013, we discussed some of the new Makita cordless tools that would be coming out in 2014. New details about the new Makita XPH06 18V LXT brushless hammer drill have just become available, so we figured now would be a good time to take a closer look at it.
Recommended 18V Brushless Hammer Drills: Bosch EC | Hitachi | Dewalt | Dewalt Premium | Milwaukee FUEL
Compared to competing cordless brushless hammer drills, the XPH06 is not the lightest, most compact, most powerful, fastest, or most featured. However, it might offer enough to possibly keep dedicated Makita 18V LXT users from jumping to other brands’ 18V-class Li-ion compact and premium hammer drills.
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XPH06 Specifications
- 1/2″ ratcheting plastic-sleeved chuck
- 0-400/0-1550 RPM
- 0-6,000/0-23,000 BPM
- 16 clutch settings
- 530 in-lbs max torque
- LED worklight with 10-second “afterglow”
- 7-7/8″ length
- Weighs 3.9 lbs with battery
Purchase options: bare tool (XPH06Z, $120), 2-battery kit with carrying case and charger (XPH06, $290), drill/driver and impact driver combo kit (XT248, $329).
The kits come with (2) Makita’s 18V LXT 3.0Ah Li-ion battery packs, and not the 4.0Ah BL1840 battery pack expected in late 2014, or 5.0Ah BL1850 battery packs that were recently announced internationally.
(Prices are as of 2/28/14 and are subject to change.)
Buy Now: Bare Tool, 2-Battery Kit, 2-Tool Combo kit (via Amazon)
First Impression
The new XPH06 looks a LOT like the Makita 18V LXPH05 brushless hammer drill that came out a few years ago, but there are quite a few differences. The new model is slightly larger (7-7/8″ vs 7-5/8″), slightly heavier (3.9 lbs vs 3.8 lbs), slightly faster (1550 RPM vs. 1500 RPM), and appreciably more powerful (530 vs 400 in-lbs).
Additionally, the XPH06 sports a built-in battery fuel gauge.
Hopefully Makita has made one more change to the design and added in some better thermal protection. If you recall, the LXPH05 brushless hammer drill’s motor smoked up and damaged itself when pushed beyond its limits.
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At the time Makita insisted that there was nothing wrong with the LXPH05 design and that it would only heat up and start smoking excessively when using improperly or abused.
Since then, we have heard a few more isolated reports from tradesmen and professional users whose Makita 18V drills started smoking up during use, but there weren’t any widespread complaints. Other brands’ tools can heat up to where they start smoking as well, but typically shut down before major damage is caused to motor windings.
Overall, the new 18V XPH06 looks to offer a reasonable compromise between power and size. It’s still a compact hammer drill, and is a lot more powerful than the LXPH05 it is presumably intended to replace.
Who Should Buy This Tool?
Makita 18V users who are looking for a compact brushless hammer drill. The XPH06 looks to be an upgrade over the LXPH05.
Who Should Not Buy This Tool?
Anyone not tethered to Makita’s 18V platform who are looking for the fastest, most compact, or most powerful brushless hammer drill, as the XPH06 does not best competing models in any of these areas. Makita also has yet to release 4.0Ah batteries in the USA, and doesn’t plan to for at least another 6 months, which means runtime probably won’t be as good as with competing models either.
Javier
WHY?
How many brushless drills and impacts do they have already and yet no heavy duty brushless drills. I would like to say something positive here but it seems they want to have the biggest collection of compact brushless drills and impacts. Makita needs to focus on making all sorts of other brushless tools. If it has a motor it can be made brushless.
Also having a battery gauge is nothing to brag about either, that became standard years ago
Jerry
I was thinking, if anything needed the higher AH battery, it would be a hammerdrill. Drilling holes in concrete is about the highest draw you will put on a drill, short of mixing drywall mud. I was doing a project this summer, where I had four XRP 18v NiCads, and two chargers, running a DW hammerdrill, and still had to take breaks because I was running out of battery.
Robert
If drilling many holes in concrete a true rotary hammer is hands down the way to go. I personally don’t drill any holes in concrete with a cordless hammer drill when the rotary hammers do such a better job.
The brushless craze sure seems to get people going. Them marketing of that brushless technology has really done a good job. When most normal brushed tools do very well with run-time and power, already. I support tool companies moving technology forward, but I don’t feel we all need to jump on board right out of the gate.
Jerry
True enough, but when you do that only occasionally, you use what tools you have. My point was that it wasn’t available with the high cap batteries, but a hammerdrill is more likely to need them.
I agree with you, to an extent that the brushless craze is a good way for marketing departments to sell more tools. Yes, they get longer runtimes than comparab
E brushed tools, they say 20% but then they package it in a kit with 30-50% smaller batteries, and it still costs more.
I DO think that Milwaukee is on the right track with some items in its FUEL line. I like their heavy duty impact in particular. They truly utilize the advantages of brushless technology to produce a truly high torque impact wrench, in a package of reasonable size.
Chris
The brushless marketing people are laughing these days, It’s almost as if we never survived before brushless tools. My best drill is a brushed hammer drill and bet not many brushless ones could out do it in power, just runtime but cost me very little compared to a brushless.
John
Great marketing
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LwJ87tcAO14
cody Robertson
This model has been out in the UK for a few months
Aellynh
I am still tethered to the Makita LXT tools until eventually all of my batteries are beyond worth maintaining, probably still 1-2 years out. After that, I want to move to the Metabo line with the newly developed 5.2 amp hour batteries that are starting to become available in the US. Already picked up a Metabo BS18LT drill and a couple free batteries as part of a promotion and I can say in my limited time using them, they are simply fantastic.
As for this drill… its been available since late last year, regardless of the marketing speak that Makita advertises. There is a kit that has it, plus most online retailers and some in-store Makita outlets carry them. I bought one on Ebay for 80 bucks as a bare tool.
Coming from someone that was an early adopter of the LXHP05 from Makita, I can definitely say this is a step in the right direction. Not really a game changer, but its a pretty good light/medium duty drill/driver with bonus hammer mode. I’ll reflect the comments of some of the above posters, I can’t see using a drill like this for any serious masonry when a rotary hammer drill is going to be infinitely faster and more efficient.
I will say this drill is pretty mid-pack when it comes to everything. Medium weight, torque, speed, features. A little disappointing it doesn’t have a metal chuck, but its still ratcheting and has a nice tight click to it when you tighten it down all the way. I read a handful of comments from other buyers that mentioned the chuck has noticeable wobble, but I haven’t seen anything negative thus far, using common drill bits up to 1/2 inch.
I also bought the Metabo BS18LT at the same time and used it recently for a project building a bookcase from scratch. It is pretty remarkable how similar the two drills are in terms of functionality and features. Very close in weight and power, although the Metabo hands down has the longer run time with the enormous 5.2ah batteries.
Stian Ruud-Larsen
As said above, this one has been available in Europe for some time. This is the brushless update of the mid range hammerdrill (BHP 456 in Europe). However, later this year a brushless update will also be available for the top range hammerdrill (BHP 458 in Europe). Seems powerful enough….
http://www.makita.biz/product/category/cordless/ddf481_dhp481/index.html#1