In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven’t used but I’ve been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff…wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I’ve been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
What does bottom of the barrel mean in context though?
I have Ryobi and they’ve all been great, but I’m not a builder, I’m a homeowner who has occasional projects and small fixit/replace jobs around the house.
My brother was gifted a Ryobi set decades ago by my parents, it’s what my dad used, but has since replaced it with DeWalt. However, he has a wood shop in his garage, has added a deck, built multiple retaining walls, a shed and all sorts of stuff in the ~15 years they’ve owned their house.
I feel like how and how often you use the tools plays a big role. I usually get a new tool from Harbor Freight, unless I know it’s something I’ll use a lot. Then if I end up using it enough for it to break/fail I go buy the nicer version.
Same… I simply don’t use the tools enough to justify buying the expensive model. If a certain tool fails, maybe I’ll buy the higher quality model, but so far nothing has failed and they do the job. Don’t care too much about having the right brand.
Haven’t used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
Curious if the brand new ones will last then. I’ve had a few friends say that the new ones break more easily than their old ones but that is also anecdotal.
Depends on which line of Makita you buy into I think. I have a right angle drill and the “good” angle grinder from them (not that xlock bullshit) and both get moderate use. Both are 5-ish years old and still work great.
I’ve got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I’m just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don’t expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
Ryobi is great if you’re like me and just need the occasional tool to do a small project around the house and then gets put away for a few months. I’ve got a Ryobi portable vacuum at work that does great, gets used daily.
In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven’t used but I’ve been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff…wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I’ve been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
What does bottom of the barrel mean in context though?
I have Ryobi and they’ve all been great, but I’m not a builder, I’m a homeowner who has occasional projects and small fixit/replace jobs around the house.
My brother was gifted a Ryobi set decades ago by my parents, it’s what my dad used, but has since replaced it with DeWalt. However, he has a wood shop in his garage, has added a deck, built multiple retaining walls, a shed and all sorts of stuff in the ~15 years they’ve owned their house.
I feel like how and how often you use the tools plays a big role. I usually get a new tool from Harbor Freight, unless I know it’s something I’ll use a lot. Then if I end up using it enough for it to break/fail I go buy the nicer version.
Same… I simply don’t use the tools enough to justify buying the expensive model. If a certain tool fails, maybe I’ll buy the higher quality model, but so far nothing has failed and they do the job. Don’t care too much about having the right brand.
Haven’t used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
Curious if the brand new ones will last then. I’ve had a few friends say that the new ones break more easily than their old ones but that is also anecdotal.
Could also depend on how they’re are used and treated. Some of my friends theirs don’t last long at all with how they use them.
If it works for you and how you use it, then it’s the right tool.
Depends on which line of Makita you buy into I think. I have a right angle drill and the “good” angle grinder from them (not that xlock bullshit) and both get moderate use. Both are 5-ish years old and still work great.
I’ve got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I’m just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don’t expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
I have the flexvolt yard tools and they’ve gone strong for 5 years. Their blower is the strongest out there but only last about 15-20 minutes.
Ryobi is great if you’re like me and just need the occasional tool to do a small project around the house and then gets put away for a few months. I’ve got a Ryobi portable vacuum at work that does great, gets used daily.
I’ve used dewalt professionally for many years and the tools are top notch