Look Out Milwaukee Here Comes Bosch

[M6erfan]

Bosch is pretty hit and miss.

The CS10 circular saw is a total lemon. Plastic blade depth and bevel adjustments that break off easily and a weak base plate design that flexes if the blade is set to anything less than full depth. I actually had two of them because the first one was so bad I thought it had to be a fluke.

I bought into their 18v line back when they made the jump to Lithium batteries. Coming from 18v Dewalt nicad it was night and day difference. This was back when no one had a huge cordless selection and buying cordless tools basically meant a drill and impact driver.

Then I wanted a cordless reciprocating saw. So naturally I bought Bosch. Even then it was an old design and carried the “Litheon” badge although Bosch had moved away from that branding years prior. Meaning Bosch hadn’t updated the saw.

At this point I was about 3 years into my Bosch relationship and using them every day as a remodeling contractor. All the major manufacturers had made the switch to Lithium batteries. Milwaukee was gaining steam and Dewalt was steadily releasing tools and updating tools.

The Bosch purchase that really made me start questioning the brand was a 1/2” impact wrench. I was building alot of decks and running a lot of lag bolts and was really tired of twisting them in with a socket and ratchet. That tool was a total disappointment despite the claimed torque rating it struggled with 3/8”x5” lag bolts in pine with pilot holes.

Then the trigger went out on my drill and a few days later my impact driver just quit working. I actually replaced them with more Bosch and while the drill was an updated version the impact was not. This raised a bit of suspicion as all the competition had released 2-3 or more drills in the same time frame.

Somewhere along this time I got to wanting a cordless circular saw and after my previous experience with the CS 10 I just could bring myself to buy a cordless Bosch. So I bought a Dewalt.

Also about this same time frame I bought Bosch’s version of a cordless work light. It was about as bright as a 2D incandescent mag lite. It ate batteries and it used incandescent bulbs! This in a time where everything was going or already gone LED. And you guessed it. Tool still carried the Litheon badge. Another obsolete tool that Bosch was ignoring and failing to update.

The final straw happened when I was in Lowes and finally opened my eyes and realized hey Dewalt has a huge display of cordless and a lot of tools that would make my life easier. Bosch has like 2 drills, and 3 outdated saws.

I’ve been buying Dewalt since. Finally branched out into some 12v Milwaukee as well.

The bottom line is Bosch isn’t interested in innovating their tool line. They recentely introduced a cordless drywall screw gun. Atleast 10 years behind Dewalt. They finally updated the Litheon badged reciprocating saw after offering it for 10 years or more. They still don’t have a circular saw to compete with Dewalts flex volt.

Bosch is such a large company offering everything from appliances to car parts. Tools seem to be only a small portion of their business and as such they don’t hold much market share. I don’t hate Bosch but I’ll likely never buy another cordless Bosch tool

I too am disappointed in the Bosch 1/2 impact wrench, from an oomph perspective. Although it did twist the head off a lag bolt once, it struggles with removing wheel lugs.

I will say their OMT and higher end jig saws are great. I've also been pretty happy with my older brushed 12v 1/4" impact and drill/driver.

 

[matthew]

i think the 1/2” square / 1/4” hex impact is a kinda good idea for some work (like decks) but not really either a driver or full impact.

I suspect the high torque 1/2” impact would make a lot more people happier than that or than the medium torque dedicated 1/2” square models.

 

[ForrestT]

Bosch for corded for me. Anything else is dewalt. I like the Milwaukee stuff but it’s pricey. Can find Dewalt on eBay reasonably.

 

[matthew]

I think Dewalt was the leader of the last round of platformopoly, through the whole 7.2-9.6-12-14.4-18V progression. I think a combination of trying to sell more product in consumer markets, and the fact of LiOn resetting the whole platform was where they slipped.

Milwaukee obviously has done well with 18V Li platformopoly. They’ve sold drills at a price to get consumer buyin and had volume to be profitable and made bucks on selling expensive specialty tools.

I think Bosch is pretty good, and wouldn’t hesitate to buy the current offering that meets my needs.

The next round of platformopoly will be interesting. Circ saws and grinders make more sense with higher voltage, but manufacturers (and customers) are reluctant to go away from their platforms. The next battery generation could wipe the slate clean. I’d wish it would have an interoperable battery - if even just Bosch and Makita participated it could turn things upside down.

Right now the platform I’d pick to buy into would be M12. It’s mature and has aftermarket batteries, but has a functional reason it will continue. I suspect the 18V platforms may be replaced more quickly.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

@matthew. When I bought into Bosch in the Nicad years, I wrested with the Dewalt option with if I remember correctly a 30volt battery. But since most of my corded tools were Bosch with a smattering of Craftsman. I went with Bosch and to tell you the truth I’m still using my Nicad with 4 of the original 6 batteries. Replaced one charger and swapped out a drill motor. My original set up was pretty well everything they had at the time and 4 identical drills when I was doing side work with a couple of helpers. Management with the batteries was key not so much anymore.

 

[mike93lx]

I'm another corded Bosch fan (recip saw, bulldog sds, jigsaw) but have never even considered their cordless stuff.