Makita issued a press release announcing the launch of a new 18V 10-tool cordless power tool combo kit, XT1001SM, aimed at woodworking applications.
Makita USA’s product manager said this about the new combo kit in the official announcement:
The new 18-Volt LXT 10-Piece Woodworking Combo Kit meets the needs of pro users that are focusing on the woodworking space.
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Here’s what you get:
- Hammer drill (brushless, (XPH12Z)
- Impact driver (brushless, XDT13Z)
- 6-1/2″ circular saw (XSS02Z)
- Reciprocating saw (XRJ04Z)
- Jig saw (XVJ03Z)
- Oscillating multi-tool (XMT03Z)
- ROS Sander (XOB01Z)
- Router (brushless, XTR01Z)
- 3-1/4″ planer (XPK01Z)
- Bluetooth radio and charger (XRM10)
- 2x 4Ah batteries
- Rolling tool bag
The new 10pc combo kit is priced at $1,199 at authorized dealers.
Discussion
For contrast, Makita’s 18V 8pc cordless power tool combo kit, XT801X1, recently retailed for $399 over the holiday shopping season.
I feel that the pricing of the new 10pc combo kit is a bit high, or at least it has the potential to be flexible, but it seems fair for what you get.
Many of the tools in the 10pc kit are commonly found across Makita’s money-saving cordless combo kits, such as the brushless drill and impact driver, and brushed saws.
The 10pc kit comes with a router and planer, which aren’t inexpensive add-ons, and you get 4Ah batteries. 5Ah batteries would have been better, 3Ah would have been worse.
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There’s no flashlight in the 10-tool kit. Every tool is a woodworking-focused tool, except for the jobsite radio/charger.
Here’s the charger you get with the 10pc kit.
Looking at the image and combing through the product details and specs, this is the charger you get.
While perhaps not ideal as an everyday charger, I like this idea, and how Makita gives you a jobsite radio and charger instead of a basic charger.
Makita has fast chargers, and typically bundles their cordless power tool combo kits with a slower “standard” charger.
You don’t get anything for free when you buy a cordless combo kit. Personally, it always stings me just a little when I buy a kit, combo kit, or promo bundle offer, and it comes with a charger I’ll never need or use.
A rapid charger would have been welcome, but I think this is an appealing alternative.
Tool users that buy into a system are likely to buy more tools or kits in the future. If this is your first Makita purchase, there will be plenty of opportunities to get a faster charger in the future.
If one buys more batteries and maybe a dual port charger in the future, such an add-on charger might render a basic combo charger practically useless whereas a radio will still have purpose.
A new 10-tool combo kit at regular (as opposed to promotional) pricing isn’t newsworthy. But the jobsite radio/charger in lieu of a standard charger makes things so much more interesting.
Most of the tools included in this kit launched at least 5-6 years ago, but Makita USA putting a new spin on things seems like a good thing. They could potentially do the same for drywall and metalworking tools.
Let’s hope they can put together a similar kit for their line of higher performing XGT brushless power tools.
Chris
Radio/charger combo seems cool
Stuart
Nearly every brand has one now. What’s interesting here is that it’s the only charger you get in this combo kit.
Mike McFalls
I think excluding the charger is unique way to get a little more value in these kits for the price point. I also think it’s a good idea that it’s one less thing to keep track of, but it would be an expensive replacement for it to functionality if you lost it, or it was defective for any reason.
The one thing that I would be disappointed with in this kit is the fact that you’re only getting two batteries. Sure they could be larger size and that would be great but in the end I’d rather have more batteries. And I really dislike the inclusion of flashlights in these kits. Most of these lights aren’t that usable to begin with and with only two batteries, what’s the likelihood that I choose the one of the two batteries?
Gerritt Van De Klashorst
It’s not really weird they aren’t providing a dedicated charger considering most users that would buy this new kit are potentially going to already have a makita 18volt charger from already having one or more makita tools they currently use. It’s a nice package for users to upgrade/replace tools you’ve been using and get everything for a slight discount over buying all items separately. It’s doesn’t work for everyone but it definitely fills a missing space in makitas line up and some will be extremely happy with its release
Stuart
It is definitely highly unusual. That’s not a bad thing.
Michael F
Absolutely insane that Makita is still bundling 4.0Ah batteries in 2024.
ITCD
What’re they supposed to give you, 8.0s or 12.0s? Wait… yes. Please give us these. Like in general, available at all. PLEASE.
I will say the radio combo charger is an interesting way to mix things up and I’m sure to some will be seen as providing more value (and thus more worthy of being called a piece in the kit) than a regular charger, since it does more than just reverse the chemical reaction inside the cells.
I’ve gotten some rapid chargers as part of kits, if I remember right it was those 2 batteries and a rapid charger for $189 with bonus tool holiday deals. The holiday 36V saw kit also came with a dual rapid charger, at least when I got it.
And they released a new impact wrench now too! But they aren’t trying to match Red or Yellow on the claimed specs it seems.
Rog
I’m curious too; what battery size *should* they include?
Michael F
Isn’t this obvious? The 5.0Ah batteries that they used to include in all of their kits. For those with a short memory span, all Makita kits were coming with 5.0Ah batteries until they both increased pricing (multiple times) and swapped the 5.0s for 4.0s (which is a bit like shrinkflation) to keep kit prices from rising again. I’m all in with Makita and my kits always came with 5.0s.
Somehow, the other big players (heck even MetaboHPT) can include 5.0 sized batteries with their kits at far lower pricing than Makita.
Stuart
I thought Makita USA subbing 4Ah batteries in lieu of 5Ah in premium kits was a big deal.
But then they raised prices 3 times and fired a whole lot of people last spring. Bundling kits and combo kits with a lower capacity battery size doesn’t seem as big of a deal now.
Given the mix of tools you get, 4Ah isn’t as ideal as 5Ah, but better than 3Ah. I think it’s fine.
With 10 tools, you’ll want more batteries and a charger anyway. Get 5Ah batteries the next time there’s a promo and use the 4Ah on the less power-hungry tools.
Much of the inclusions could be nitpicked. For example, should they have included a 7-1/4″ saw instead of 6-1/2″? The brushless oscillating tool instead of this one? And so forth.
Koko The Talking Ape
“Every tool is a woodworking-focused tool, except for the jobsite radio/charger.”
Do people use recip saws in woodworking? Serious question.
kent_skinner
Carpentry, sure.
IMO, this isn’t a “woodworking” kit. It’s an around the house DIY kit, or a construction (but not framing) related kit.
CMF
I agree, even the hand planer is more carpentry than woodworking.
Liang
The answer is yes. I was recently given an old teak desk that was still in good condition but it was nailed down pretty good and I wanted to re-purpose the wood for another project and the quickest way of prizing apart the desk was using the recip saw, saved me ton of time!
Stuart
Demo work, and sometimes breaking down stock to very rough dimensions.
John
I’ve use them. I don’t have a bandsaw, but I sometimes have a need to resaw a board. I do it on my table saw flipping it back and forth against a high fence jig as I raise the blade each time. The technique leaves a bit in the middle holding the resawed halves together… I used a reciprocating saw to separate the two pieces. You could also use a handsaw to separate them.
kent_skinner
2 4ah batteries, for a professional? LOL
I get it, you’ll buy more and some will be larger. You’ll buy a PackOut to haul all that around in as well.
Eliot Truelove
Interestingly the 4ahs from Makita have more grunt than the 5ah, they discharge more energy and thus drain quicker. I reserved my fours for my circ saws and miter saw, I noticed the difference. 6ahs are perfect for lights and other long draw tools.
Stuart
That’s unusual.
The 2Ah and 2.5Ah 18650 Li-ion cells often used in 18V 4Ah and 5Ah battery packs tend to have fairly close specs. Going from 2.5Ah to 3.0Ah cells results in a huge drop in power output capabilities.
While possible, I have never heard of any brand’s 18V 4Ah batteries delivering more power or greater performance than their 5Ah batteries.
Eliot Truelove
It’s worth noting that indepently without the 2 batteries and bag the 10 tools purchased separately are nearly $700 more than the bundle. That’s not insignificant.
I’m tempted to get it for the 12v/18v charger radio (if I ever get a 12v Makita laser), the brushed planer, and another router to put in a portable router table.
If they came out with a true professional kit with all the latest brushless versions for much cheaper than the individually priced goods, like this, anyone that would want to completely switch brands could do so easily.
Stuart
You’re implying that the kit is valued at upwards of $2000, which is not a fair valuation.
A la carte is the most cost-inefficient way to buy tools, and I very strongly avoid the types of “$XYZ value!” claims that are often associated with cordless combo kit pricing.
I think $1200 seems like a relatively fair retail value for what you get, and there could be the potential for lower “special buy” pricing.
I only conducted a rough pricing estimate, and it showed that users will save some money if you want everything in this kit as-is, but the realistic savings estimate is nowhere close to $700.
The hammer drill sells for $149 and the impact driver also for $149. But if you shop smart, the 2-tool and 2-battery combo regularly sells for $179. In prior years, they had individual 1-battery kits for $99. So for $179 to $198, you could get both tools, 1 or 2 chargers, and 2 batteries, rather than $298 for just the two bare tools.
Is anyone really paying full tool-only retail pricing for lowest-tier brushless drill and impact and brushed motor saws?
The way I value a kit like this, I treat it like you’re getting the planer, router, and jobsite radio/charger at their full add-on values, and then everything else for the balance.
Is it a good value if you want everything in the kit? Yes, I think so. But I think it’s very unfair to suggest that anyone is saving over $700 on this combo.
Eliot Truelove
On Toolnut I made a cart:
Charger Radio, $379
Router, $199
Brushed Circ Saw, $149
Brushed Recip Saw, $149
Brushed Planer, $214
XPH12 Drill, $149
XDT13 Impact, $149
Orbital Sander, $139
Multitool, $159
Jigsaw, $199.
Total: $1885.
This is not including the batteries or large bag.
Yes, you could get some of these on discount on certain dates or in combos otherwise, but not everybody trolls the internet daily for sales or wants to always buy combo kits.
If I bought all 28 of my cordless Makita tools as part of combo kits I would be swimming in chargers and batteries by now and have quite the secondhand battery and charger market cornered.
I already have 20 batteries and probably 4 dual rapid chargers, 5 rapid chargers, and 2 standard chargers from doing so, my car charger that goes into the cigarette lighter the only one I actually bought individually.
This isn’t unique to me as a Makita guy, plenty of DeWalt and Milwaukee guys are swimming in chargers and batteries, particularly the slow M12 chargers. I know, because I was given an extra M12/M18 charger with an M18 battery and M12 battery for my 18 and 23 gauge nailers by someone swimming in extras.
Mostly tool combo kits would be an awesome way to rapidly make a switch, and then when certain 36v tool kits with 2 extra batteries comes along on sale, you get 4 more batteries if you need them. batteries.
Stuart
Everything I said still stands.
By your math, the tool-only drill ($149) + tool-only impact ($149) + 2x batteries ($139 x 2) + a charger ($123) would be valued at $699. However, the XT269M combo kit is $289 at full price, and often much lower.
Would that drill and impact driver combo kit be a good value at $399? $499? $599? “$699 worth of tools for $599” would be a technically accurate claim but a terrible price.
1x Makita 5Ah battery sells for $157 and a 2-pack is $269. Are you going to try to convince me that 2 batteries add $314 in value to a combo kit?
Makita has a rebate offer now, where you can get the drill, impact driver, 2x batteries, charger, AND free reciprocating saw (by mail) for $289. How can you insist that the drill, impact, and recip saw with no batteries are valued at $447?
The drill, impact, recip, and 2x batteries are $725 if purchased separately. Is anyone going to spend $725 to buy all that separately instead of $289 just because they don’t have the use for another charger? $725 wouldn’t be a truthful valuation when the same products plus a charger can be purchased for $289 at this time.
The best way to judge the value of a combo kit, bundle, or promo, is to estimate the next-lowest price for everything it comes with, if not exactly then as close as possible.
CMF
I agree, you can’t do a-la -carte when some items can be had for decent bundle prices. “Valued at $1900” sounds exactly like what the Mfr would put in their add to make it an attractive purchase.
Chip
Of your tools were lost or stolen without insurance, need a set of tools at a second home,or a newbie…this is a good deal.
Flashlights are old fashioned to me,lighting is a different thing altogether.
If you only need 2 batteries ,that charger would be fine.
If you need more batteries and chargers,the X2 4 battery kits that can be hacked is a better option.
If I’m making money with these tools,I want 10 batteries and 4charging bays.
Obviously everyone has different needs.
MM
I have mixed feelings on the flashlights. On the one hand, I hate how they are frequently used to pad out the tool count in sets like this. And if you shop around for them they are often quite expensive for what you get. On the other hand, I find they are handy. I have a couple Dewalts I use for general purpose around-the-house use: they’re practical, they run for ages even on my older packs that I don’t use for work anymore. If there is a some kind of emergency then I have stacks of batteries ready to go. There’s no doubt that other flashlights outperform them in terms of size and power but it’s hard to beat the convenience.
MichaelT
For the money, I’d like to see the plunge saw in this kit. I know that means a need for more batteries and would ruin the margin, but that would feel more in line marketing target. Maybe even give up the reciprocating saw to cover the difference.
Peter
Most of the tools should have been brushless.
JR Ramos
I’ll echo the woodworking vs. carpentry comment. They should call this a carpentry kit. Might also make sense to stay below that consumer perception threshold of $1000 by omitting a couple tools like the recip and the oscillating tool (handy as each of those are…not real common for “woodworkers” to use those). I’d rather have a heat gun included for woodworking than either of those two tools, believe it or not…or toss in a plunge base for the router.
Hopefully they have more up their sleeve than simply marketing with new forms of bundled kits…
Ray
Planer, Jig saw, Oscillating tool, Router with plunge, sander. = Woodworking kit.
Nearly everyone has driver/impact or those kits are somewhat available I have heard.
I have completely lost my desire for Makita except for rear handle 36v circular saw, the 36v chainsaw, and cordless track saw. All superb.
eddie sky
Looks like some influencer is friends with a Makita marketing rep because this looks… like some youtuber influence.
CMF
Kits by all the brands with 10 or more tools have always baffled me. Who buys it; a first time buyer who has none of these? That’s a pretty deep dive for a first time buyer.
Then anyone who has a few Makita (or other brand) tools, pointless because in the few tools they have, there has to be 2-4 in these type of kits they already have.
These large kits have always existed, I am curious how well they sell because in my opinion, there should be very few takers.
Now if they made a 10 tool bundle that starts with a drill/impact bundle (price), which every brand has, from economy to their top lines. Then recip and circ saws can often be found in bundles with various other tools. Then add a-la-carte all the oddball tools which you almost always have to buy as bare tools. If from this total you are saving 20% or more, then it would make sense.
JR Ramos
Been a long time since I was selling tools and it was just DeWalt and Makita with the large kits back then, but they sold pretty well. Generally to shops who outfitted their workers, either as a direct kit for new hires or as stock for tool rooms. The savings was enough for them to justify the purchase over individual tools even if one or two wouldn’t be used/used as often to require frequent replacement. Joe homeowner? Yeah, pretty much new purchasers or as nice gifts. It took awhile for the large kits to start moving because of sticker shock (at that time) but once word got around we ordered and sold quite a lot, consistently. That said, a lot of places just bought individual tool models in quantity as needed, too, even when we could only offer a pittance of a discount for the larger quantities.
Kuro
I’m in an industry where you can occasionally find yourself being hired to run more than one crew at a time in separate locations. And you may not use anything but the drill and driver, but you need to have the whole list of tools. You bring on more guys but you still need to get a second kit. Might as well stay on brand. Bundles like this are paid for in a week in that case.
CMF
Just an FYI, when Milwaukee came out with this radio eons ago, their stance was adding a charger hurt reception and made terrible sound.
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/2790-20
Stuart
Jobsite radio/chargers have been around for a while.
I’ve just never seen one included as the sole charger in a combo kit. It makes this kit a little more interesting.
Kuro
If they changed it to a rapid charger and dropped the price 100 dollars, that would have likely swayed me if I was in the market. There should be more of a range of kits so I can start at a $400 kit and nickel and dime my way up by thinking “oh for 150 more I get another battery, a light, and another tool” until I’m at 1200.
Chris
Put the 36 volt circular saw and it would be a killer package that saw was the most impressive battery powered saw I’ve come across
Red
Seldom do I place my opinion on offers like this . As such,,Makita , I view as competitive in most tool categories. As a supplier to the retail world , one would expect a $1200.00 bundle to also include an attraction to draw carpenters as well as the average homeowner , lets say , multiple high end batteries, 4 pack chargers, blades ,driver heads,etc …I have yet to see Makita offer a to z battery hand tool sets to include a half inch impact driver that works excellent for shop lug nuts and especially heavy wood working bolts and screws . I can go on , but , let’s see if they get it …