Which Oscillating Multi-tool Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 10 oscillating multi-tool options head to head. Milwaukee came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Milwaukee
Price shown in test: $219 for just the tool (later referenced in the summary as 'very expensive at $220'), most expensive of all 10 brands
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Flex
Price shown in test: $200 for battery, charger, and tool
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Ryobi
Price shown in test: $99 for just the tool
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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 Milwaukee definitely seems like the best saw. It is relatively quiet, vibrates less than the other brands, cuts the fastest, and is well-designed for just one-hand use.”
Best in 1 of 7 measurements, including Vibration.
Placed top three in 3 of 7 measurements.
Placed top three in 1 of 8 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Wood (half-inch OSB) plunge cut at 5 lb force
- 1Milwaukee3.74 seconds
took the lead over the Ryobi
- 2Flex5.0 seconds
2nd behind Ryobi at that point
- 3DeWalt5.67 seconds
tied with Ridgid, a little slower than Ryobi and Ridgid
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP4.35 seconds
described as twice as fast as the Hart and three times as fast as the Warrior at that point
- 5Bosch14.8 seconds
tied with Metabo, described as struggling to keep up with less expensive brands
- 6Hart8.8 seconds
quite a bit faster than the Warrior
- 7Ridgid5.67 seconds2nd
2nd fastest at that point, just slightly slower than the Ryobi
- 8Makita9.8 seconds
struggled to keep up with less expensive brands
- 9Metabo HPT14.8 seconds
tied with Bosch for slowest at that point
- 10Warrior12.2 seconds
Wood (half-inch OSB) plunge cut at 7.5 lb force
- 1Milwaukee2.63 seconds
fastest of all 10 brands overall
- 2Flex2.83 seconds2nd
2nd fastest of all 10 brands overall
- 3DeWalt4.1 seconds3rd
fastest at that point in the video, 3rd fastest of all 10 brands overall
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP5.06 seconds4th
slightly slower than at 5 lb (the extra force slowed it down), 4th fastest of all 10 brands overall
- 5Bosch7.35 seconds
nearly twice as fast as at 5 lb, but still slower than average
- 6Hart6.38 seconds
took the lead from the Warrior at that point
- 7Ridgid8.7 seconds
slower than at 5 lb, described as too much force for the tool
- 8Makita5.42 seconds5th
nearly twice as fast as at 5 lb, 5th fastest of all 10 brands overall
- 9Metabo HPT15.3 seconds
essentially unchanged, extra force did not help
- 10Warrior6.64 seconds
twice as fast as at 5 lb
PVC (1 in) cut at 5 lb force
- 1Milwaukee1.21 seconds
fastest of all 10 brands
- 2Flex1.97 seconds3rd
3rd fastest of all 10 brands
- 3DeWalt1.82 seconds2nd
2nd fastest of all 10 brands
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP2.37 seconds4th
4th fastest of all 10 brands
- 5Bosch2.88 seconds
about average, moved into 4th position at that point
- 6Hart2.52 seconds5th
5th fastest of all 10 brands
- 7Ridgid3.28 seconds
same as the Warrior
- 8Makita3.49 seconds
slowest of all 10 brands
- 9Metabo HPT3.13 seconds
barely edges out the Warrior
- 10Warrior3.28 seconds
tied with Ridgid
4 galvanized 16-penny nails cut at 5 lb force
- 1Milwaukee4.1 seconds
fastest of all 10 brands
- 2Flex5.31 seconds2nd
2nd fastest of all 10 brands
- 3DeWalt10.04 seconds
very quick, though Ryobi held a narrow lead over it
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP9.78 seconds4th
4th fastest of all 10 brands, took the lead at that point in the video
- 5Bosch8.21 seconds3rd
3rd fastest of all 10 brands, took the lead over Ryobi at that point
- 6Hart9.94 seconds5th
5th fastest of all 10 brands
- 7Ridgid11.76 seconds
about 2 seconds slower than the Ryobi
- 8Makita18.35 seconds
quite a bit longer than several less expensive brands
- 9Metabo HPT36.2 seconds
slowest of all 10 brands by a wide margin; narrator notes this is despite an advertised 3.2 degree oscillation angle, actually cutting slower than the 2.5 degree Warrior
- 10Warrior22.62 seconds
slowest of all 10 brands
Vibration
- 1Milwaukee5 m
per second squared, lowest (best) of all 10 brands
- 2Flex33 m
per second squared, described as better than average
- 3DeWalt18 m
per second squared
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP12 m3rd
per second squared, 3rd best of all 10 brands
- 5Bosch23 m
per second squared, described as performing nearly as well as the DeWalt
- 6Hart53 m
per second squared, described as quite a bit of vibration
- 7Ridgid5.8 m2nd
per second squared, 2nd best of all 10 brands, close behind the Milwaukee
- 8Makita58 m
per second squared, about the same as the Warrior
- 9Metabo HPT55 m
per second squared
- 10Warrior63 m
per second squared, worst (highest) of all 10 brands
Noise
- 1Milwaukee79 dB2nd
2nd quietest of all 10
- 2Flex80.4 dB
tied with Bosch
- 3DeWalt80.6 dB
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP77.9 dB
quietest of all 10 brands
- 5Bosch80.4 dB
tied with Flex
- 6Hart80 dB
- 8Makita82.6 dB
slightly louder than average
- 9Metabo HPT93 dB
loudest of all 10 brands by far
- 10Warrior87 dB
loud
- 7Ridgidnot tested
Oscillation angle
- 1Milwaukee4.2 degrees
most of all brands tested
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP3.6 degrees
- 6Hart
narrator's own estimate of 3.2 degrees (not stated as a manufacturer spec in the transcript)
- 7Ridgid3.2 degrees
per the manufacturer claim; a separate figure of '80.7 degrees' also appears in the transcript immediately after this claim, which reads as a caption/decimal garble rather than a real second spec and is preserved verbatim rather than silently corrected
- 8Makita3.2 degrees
- 10Warrior2.5 degrees
lowest of all 10 brands
- 2Flexnot tested
- 3DeWaltnot tested
- 5Boschnot tested
- 9Metabo HPTnot tested
Weight
- 3DeWalt37 oz
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HP31 oz
- 6Hart27 oz
- 7Ridgid36 oz
- 10Warrior26 oz
lightest of all 10 brands
- 1Milwaukeenot tested
- 2Flexnot tested
- 5Boschnot tested
- 8Makitanot tested
- 9Metabo HPTnot tested
All measurements (2 more)+
Battery
- 2Flex24V
2.5 amp hour with a 160 W fast charger, claims 20% more power and 25% longer runtime
- 10Warrior12V
1.3 amp hour, the only 12V battery in the lineup (all other brands are 18 to 24V)
- 1Milwaukeenot tested
- 3DeWaltnot tested
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HPnot tested
- 5Boschnot tested
- 6Hartnot tested
- 7Ridgidnot tested
- 8Makitanot tested
- 9Metabo HPTnot tested
Speed range
- 8Makita6,000
to 20,000 oscillations per minute, variable
- 1Milwaukeenot tested
- 2Flexnot tested
- 3DeWaltnot tested
- 4Ryobi 18V 1+ HPnot tested
- 5Boschnot tested
- 6Hartnot tested
- 7Ridgidnot tested
- 9Metabo HPTnot tested
- 10Warriornot tested
How it was tested
- plunge cut speed through half-inch OSB wood, tested first at 5 lb of applied pulling force via a rope-and-pulley test rig, then again at 7.5 lb
- cut speed through 1-in PVC pipe at 5 lb of applied force
- cut speed through four pre-drilled, straight galvanized 16-penny nails at 5 lb of applied force
- tool weight (given for only 5 of the 10 brands in the transcript)
- tool vibration measured with a vibration meter, in meters per second squared
- noise level
“The Milwaukee definitely seems like the best saw. It is relatively quiet, vibrates less than the other brands, cuts the fastest, and is well-designed for just one-hand use.”
