Choosing the Best Battery Powered Tools: A Guide

I saw a funny meme the other day on social media that said “when boys become men they are sorted into one of these four houses like in Harry Potter” . There were then 4 power tools represented; DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Makita. Now I don’t know how true that is, because some of these people must have gotten in the accelerated class to jump to Festool, and there are of course a few others like Rigid and Bosch, but there is some truth that most woodworkers, DIY guys, and handymen have one of those four big tool brands for their battery operated power tools. Because most guys end up with one of those major brands and stick to that brand for obvious reasons, the batteries, there is a lot of debate on the internet about which tool brand is best.

There is some subjectiveness of course, because for the most part all of these tools will work out of the box, but once you put them in the field and give them a stress test, some just can’t hang with the top level tools. So today I’m going to take you through some of the tools that I’ve used, from several of these brands. I’ve owned tools produced by; DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, and Ryobi. These are the ones that I’ll be talking about and explain how I ended up with a shop full of black and yellow.

The first brand we’ll talk about it Ryobi. Ryobi often gets a nasty look when mentioned around seasoned pros, mainly because it’s the discount brand. Ryobi is produced by a company out of Hong Kong called Techtronic Industries. They are sold exclusively at Home Depot and are one of the most versatile tool brands with tools from screw guns, to weed eaters. Ryobi can run everything off of their One+ batteries which makes moving from tool to tools seamless and headache free. The place where Ryobi struggles is performance, while super flexible, when it comes to power Ryobi is typically lacking and leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve run through multiple palm routers just trying to add an ⅛” roundover on a piece of maple. The batteries also don’t last very long, I’ve had several die and refuse to charge and when they are using all of their juice to provide some needed power, it drains it insanely fast. I’ve mentioned before on this channel Ryobi is a great starter set, if you’re just getting started and you’ve got to stick to a budget, it’s fantastic. You can acquire several useful tools for a very reasonable price. Still eventually you’ll need to upgrade.

The next brand we’ll jump into is Bosch. This is a brand that I’ve just dabbled in, I own a plug in palm router and a random orbital sander. Both of these tools are plug in, because I don’t want to invest in their battery system. I won’t be able to comment on their battery life and durability, but I can speak for their tools. The tools I do own have been great. I’ve used that palm router for about 5 years now, and pushed that thing pretty hard, and it’s always answered the bell. If I had one complaint about the palm router is that when you use it a lot, the entire tool gets very hot. Now it’s expected that when a tool runs a lot it will get warm, but I’m talking this thing gets nearly too hot to handle, which with a palm router that’s not good. I have to put on gloves to be able to hold that router and keep it on plane. The orbital sander is a recent purchase and has been a pleasant surprise in the smoothness and the ease to which it operates. I’ve used a DeWalt sander for years and it finally kicked the bucket and while I was thinking up upgrading to a next level sander, none of those where close by and I needed the sander the next day for a job, so while I was looking at just going with the DeWalt again I noticed the Bosch, $25 cheaper, same rpm’s and a feature called vibration control. That has been the game changer, I noticed it right away that it was both more comfortable in the hand and I felt much less of the vibration from the sander it self. It made the sanding process much more enjoyable that before. If I had a complaint the top speed doesn’t feel the same as the DeWalt and I’m not sure if it truly is hitting the same rpm’s, but nevertheless it got the job done and with much less hassle. Overall I would say Bosch has shown me signs of great potential, but I haven’t tested the batteries, so call it TBD.

Next we’re headed to Milwaukee, or should I say back to Hong Kong? That’s right, while the Bosch tools are made in Germany, Milwaukee this iconic midwestern city for which these tools are named…. Is just a name. The Milwaukee tool brand is produced by the same company that makes Ryobi, Techtronic Industries. Milwaukee to be fair is much more dependable and tougher than Ryobi, but they also have their pros and cons. I have several Milwaukee tools in both their battery platforms, their M12 and M18 batteries. I would say their M18 platforms from what little I’ve dabbled are pretty good, nothing spectacular, but they’ve never failed to do their job for me. Charging time on the battery is pretty fast and I’ve had them last for several hours of on and off use. Their M12 platform seems to have a lot more range in the types of tools they offer, but obviously with the smaller battery comes much less power. If I had a complaint for the M12 in particular is that there is no battery life indicator on the batteries, which I personally am a big fan of. It is the same as the time and testing it out or when you’re low on battery, but you thought you had more juice you then are running back and forth to change and charge your batteries, just tell me how much juice I’ve got! I would give Milwaukee a good grade on their entire platform and performance of their tools, one of the knocks I’ve got with them is that they are not available everywhere.

This leads us into DeWalt. This is obviously my tool brand of choice and I obviously think it’s a top tier brand or I wouldn’t have a shop full of black and yellow tools. I think that for performance, versatility and dependability it’s hard to beat DeWalt. They, like many other brands, have taken a page out of Ryobi’s book and begun making more and more tools and household items that will run off their battery. Lawn equipment being a main focus. Dewalt’s batteries I believe are some of the longest lasting batteries on the market. The tools are tough, I’ve put most of my tools through the ringer and they are all still firing as intended. One of the other big reasons I chose DeWalt is that it’s one of the only brands that every major retailer carries. This is big if you ever find yourself needing a tool and there is only a Lowe’s or only a Home Depot nearby, with DeWalt you’ll find it at either Ace Hardware or Tractor Supply. This makes buying new or replacing old tools without having to jump into another battery platform incredibly efficient. The pure accessibility of the tools is a major thumbs up in their direction. If I had a complaint it would be about their pin nailer. I’ve got their 23 gauge pin nailer and have run into trouble with it not wanting to fire once I’m ½ way through the sleeve of nails. If you’ve got any info on this please let me know in the comments below, because everything else has been great. The 18 gauge nailer has been perfect, but the pin nailer has been testing my patience. Overall I guess I would be considered a DeWalt guy and will continue to buy them until I become wildly successful as a Youtube woodworker and can finally afford Festool. Until then Black and Yellow!!!

Thanks for indulging me in this tool comparison. If you liked this please subscribe to the newsletter and you’ll be the first one updated on a new post. You’ll also be informed of specials available on the website. Thank you for reading!

Micah Robinson

Crafted In Florida