Which Battery-powered Sanders Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 12 battery-powered sanders options head to head. Bosch came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Bosch
Price shown in test: $129
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Bauer
Price shown in test: $35
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“The Bosch came out on top with an average finish at 2.4.”
Best in 2 of 7 measurements, including Air quality and Tool vibration.
Best in 1 of 7 measurements, including Tool vibration.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Weight
- 1Bauer1,044 g
- 2Ryobi1,086 g
- 3Craftsman950 g
(lightest of the brands covered to that point)
- 4Black & Decker890 g
(lightest of the brands covered to that point)
- 5Ridgid1,320 g
the heaviest of the brands covered to that point
- 6Kobalt1,144 g
- 7MechanicAnts1,120 g
- 8Makita1,044 g
(tied with Bauer)
- 9Milwaukee1,114 g
- 10WORX1,172 g
- 11Bosch1,090 g
- 12DeWalt876 g
the lightest of all 12 brands
Noise
- 1Bauer85.6 dB
- 2Ryobi84 dB
- 3Craftsman82.7 dB
(quietest of the brands covered to that point)
- 4Black & Decker85.6 dB
(tied with Bauer)
- 5Ridgid91.4 dB
the loudest of the brands covered to that point
- 6Kobalt79.9 dB
the quietest of the brands covered to that point (brushless motor)
- 7MechanicAnts80.5 dB
- 8Makita80 dB
- 9Milwaukee88.6 dB
fairly loud
- 10WORX77.9 dB
the quietest of all 12 brands
- 11Bosch79.1 dB
relatively quiet
- 12DeWalt83.9 dB
Material removed, 5 lb pressure
- 1Bauer8 g
- 2Ryobi12 g
50% more than the Bauer
- 3Craftsman14 g
tied for the most of any brand at this weight (with Kobalt and MechanicAnts)
- 4Black & Decker8 g
tied with the Bauer
- 5Ridgid8 g
- 6Kobalt14 g
tied for the most of any brand at this weight (with Craftsman and MechanicAnts)
- 7MechanicAnts14 g
tied for the most of any brand at this weight (with Craftsman and Kobalt)
- 8Makita10 g
- 9Milwaukee12 g
- 10WORX6 g
the lowest of any brand
- 11Bosch10 g
- 12DeWalt12 g
Material removed, 7.5 lb pressure
- 1Bauer14 g
- 2Ryobi18 g
- 3Craftsman
only 10 g; required two hands to control and darted back and forth, which hurt its performance relative to the 5 lb test
- 4Black & Decker20 g
the best result of any brand at 7.5 lb up to that point
- 5Ridgid16 g
- 6Kobalt18 g
- 7MechanicAnts16 g
- 8Makita10 g
- 9Milwaukee18 g
- 10WORX14 g
- 11Bosch16 g
- 12DeWalt18 g
'really benefited from the extra weight'
Dust collection
- 1Bauer
collected approximately 100% of the wood dust it generated (one of 5 brands to do so), though a small amount escaped from a couple of areas of the sander
- 2Ryobi
collected approximately 100% of the wood dust it generated (one of 5 brands to do so)
- 3Craftsman
dust bag came up 4 g short of the 14 g of wood actually removed (some dust escaped)
- 4Black & Decker
dust bag left 2 g of dust outside the bag out of 8 g removed
- 5Ridgid
dust bag left 4 g of dust outside the bag out of 8 g removed
- 6Kobalt
only left 2 g of dust outside the bag out of 14 g removed, a strong ratio
- 7MechanicAnts
only caught 2 g of dust out of 14 g removed, leaving 12 g outside the bag, the worst dust-collection ratio of any brand
- 8Makita
dust bag left 2 g of dust outside the bag out of 10 g removed
- 9Milwaukee
collected approximately 100% of the wood dust it generated (one of 5 brands to do so)
- 10WORX
dust bag left 2 g of dust outside the bag out of 6 g removed
- 11Bosch
collected nearly all of the dust it generated (one of 5 brands to do so); the air particle count actually DROPPED from a baseline of 2,100 small/280 large to 1,600 small/160 large after 4 minutes of use, described as doing 'a far better job than all the other brands at collecting wood dust'
- 12DeWalt
collected approximately 100% of the wood dust it generated (one of 5 brands to do so)
Air quality (small/large particles, 4 min)
- 1Bauer6,6005th
small / 1,700 large; 5th best small-particle result overall
- 2Ryobi5,6003rd
small / 1,500 large; 3rd best small-particle result overall
- 3Craftsman8,200
small / 1,050 large, the most dust of any brand up to that point in testing
- 4Black & Decker9,700
small / 1,250 large, the most dust of any brand up to that point in testing, surpassing the Craftsman
- 5Ridgid6,4004th
small / 850 large; 4th best small-particle result overall
- 6Kobalt6,900
small / 1,050 large
- 7MechanicAnts7,400
small / 1,800 large
- 8Makita8,100
small / 1,950 large
- 9Milwaukee8,150
small / 1,100 large
- 10WORX14,000
small / 4,750 large, by far the worst air-quality result of any brand in the video
- 11Bosch1,600
small / 160 large, the best (lowest) of all 12 brands by a wide margin
- 12DeWalt5,1002nd
small / 750 large, the 2nd best small-particle result of all 12 brands, described as 'a distant second' behind the Bosch
Sandpaper grip strength
- 1Bauer2,468 g
(about 5 lb)
- 2Ryobi1,818 g
- 3Craftsman3,516 g
the best of all 12 brands in this test
- 4Black & Decker2,964 g5th
5th best of all 12 brands
- 5Ridgid3,226 g3rd
3rd best of all 12 brands
- 6Kobalt3,200 g4th
4th best of all 12 brands
- 7MechanicAnts1,916 g
gave up early, one of the weaker grip results
- 8Makita2,594 g
- 9Milwaukee2,732 g
a little better than the Makita
- 10WORX1,712 g
below average
- 11Bosch3,284 g2nd
2nd best of all 12 brands
- 12DeWalt1,830 g
gave up a little early, one of the weaker grip results
Tool vibration
- 1Bauer16 mm/s
squared, one of the three best results in the video
- 2Ryobi29 mm/s
squared, called out as one of the better-performing brands in this category
- 3Craftsman60 mm/s
squared
- 4Black & Decker160 mm/s
squared, by far the worst of any brand tested ('off the charts')
- 5Ridgid116 mm/s
squared, one of the worst results in the video
- 6Kobalt30 mm/s
squared, called out as one of the better-performing brands in this category
- 7MechanicAnts38 mm/s
squared (tied with Milwaukee)
- 8Makita19 mm/s2nd
squared, one of the three best results in the video (2nd place)
- 9Milwaukee38 mm/s
squared (tied with MechanicAnts)
- 10WORX46 mm/s
squared, about average
- 11Bosch17 mm/s
squared, one of the three best results in the video
- 12DeWalt93 mm/s
squared, one of the worse results in the video
All measurements (2 more)+
Material removed, 10 lb pressure
- 4Black & Decker18 g
- 6Kobalt22 g
the best result of any brand at any weight in the entire video
- 7MechanicAnts18 g
- 9Milwaukee18 g
- 12DeWalt20 g2nd
2nd best result of any brand at any weight
- 1Bauernot tested
- 2Ryobinot tested
- 3Craftsmannot tested
- 5Ridgidnot tested
- 8Makitanot tested
- 10WORXnot tested
- 11Boschnot tested
Best material removal overall (across 5/7.5/10 lb)
- 4Black & Decker20 g2nd
tied for 2nd best overall (with DeWalt)
- 6Kobalt22 g
the best of all 12 brands
- 12DeWalt20 g2nd
tied for 2nd best overall (with Black & Decker)
- 1Bauernot tested
- 2Ryobinot tested
- 3Craftsmannot tested
- 5Ridgidnot tested
- 7MechanicAntsnot tested
- 8Makitanot tested
- 9Milwaukeenot tested
- 10WORXnot tested
- 11Boschnot tested
How it was tested
- material removal rate on oak (Janka hardness 1,300) with 60-grit sandpaper at 5 lb, 7.5 lb, and 10 lb of downward pressure (grams of wood removed in 5 minutes)
- dust collection efficiency (grams captured in the dust bag versus grams of wood actually removed)
- air quality / airborne particle count (small and large wood particles per 0.1 cubic foot, measured 4 minutes into the 5 lb test)
- sandpaper hook-and-loop grip strength (grams of pull force to detach sandpaper after a 10 lb static load)
- tool handle vibration (mm/s squared)
- noise level (dB) and subjective ease of control / gyroscopic wobble
“The Bosch came out on top with an average finish at 2.4.”
