I checked out all three lines (Earthquake, Hercules, Bauer) yesterday in the store for the first time. The Bauer are certainly the low end, but still not bad for the money. They appear to be tons better than anything they've offered prior. The Hercules seem to be a step up in quality, really nice and also competitively priced. However, the Earthquake 1/2" 20V impact seems to feel like a the real heavyweight. But it's priced so close to the Milwaukee version, I can't see them selling lots of them. all three levels are pretty impressive... at least just by first impression and handling them for a few minutes in the store.
All of that being said, I have tons of Milwaukee M12 and M18 versions (grinders, circular saws, drills, impacts, hacksaws, 90* drills, screwdrivers, etc), and I can't see me changing to the HF brands. I'd maybe consider them if I had nothing and didn't plan to go to Milwaukee or DeWalt.