
Which Telescopic Magnet Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 14 telescopic magnet options head to head. MacTools came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.

MacTools
Price shown in test: $34
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MAG-MATE
Price shown in test: $24
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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 Mac Tools came out on top with an average finish at fourth place”
Placed top three in 1 of 1 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Shielding bleed-through
- 1MacTools
the Mac Tools performed very well at just under 24 g, which is good enough to move into the third position
- 4Proto28.18 g
- 5Matco29.8 g
- 6Enbar
the Nbar really struggled at almost 259 g or about 190 g more than the Pittsburgh
- 7KapOD
the CaprOdi performed the best yet at just about 59 g
- 8Pittsburgh
the Pittsburgh shielding just isn't doing a very good job at 68.43 g
- 9GearWrench
the GearWrench has just over 7 lb of magnetic pull and it performed the best yet on this test at 1.29 g. Very impressive
- 10E-Z Red
the EZ Red maxed out the scale at over 500 g, the most yet
- 11Blue Point
the very narrow profile of the Blue Point really hurt it on this test at just under 44 g
- 12Craftsman
Craftsman finished in second at 14.88
- 13Klein Tools
the Klein Tools struggled even more than the Nbar at just over 309 g
- 14NoCry
the NoCry shielding could use some improvement at almost 110 g
- 2MAG-MATEnot tested
- 3Ullmannot tested
Magnetic pull
- 2MAG-MATE
the Mag-Mate only claims 5 lb of holding capacity, but it almost made it to 17 lb
- 3Ullman
the Olman is rated for 16 lb of lift and it did better than advertised at 19.19 lb
- 4Proto
the Proto has a 16 lb lift rating and it performed about the same as the Olman at 18.34
- 5Matco
the Matco claims 16 lb of lift and exceeded expectations at just over 21 lb
- 6Enbar
the Nbar is rated for 20 lb and it performed better than the Pittsburgh at 29.47 lb
- 7KapOD
the CaprOdi is rated for 30 lb of pull, but it only made it to 25.23 lb
- 8Pittsburgh
the Pittsburgh performed better than advertised at 21.29 lb
- 9GearWrench
the GearWrench only claims 5 lb of lift, but it held on until 7.17 lb
- 11Blue Point
the Blue Point advertises 8 lb of lift and it did better than advertised at just over 9 lb
- 12Craftsman
the Craftsman only claims 6 lb of lift, but it did more than twice as well as advertised at 13.82
- 13Klein Tools
the Klein Tools only claims 2 lb of lift and it more than quadrupled the claim at just over 9 lb
- 14NoCry
the NoCry claims 25 lb of pull force, but it ran out of steam at 19.33 lb
- 1MacToolsnot tested
- 10E-Z Rednot tested
Side lift shaft strength
- 1MacTools
the Mac Tools performed very well at 2.64 lb, which is good enough to move into second place behind the EZ Red
- 2MAG-MATE
the Mag-Mate moves into the lead over the Nbar at 2.35 lb
- 4Proto
the Proto also performed very well at 2.3 lb
- 6Enbar
Nbar 2.33 lb
- 8Pittsburgh
the Pittsburgh's telescopic shaft was pushed to the limit and the magnet let go at 1.86 lb
- 10E-Z Red
the EZ Red came out on top at 3.48 lb
- 13Klein Tools
the Klein Tools performed about the same as the Olman at 2.07 lb
- 14NoCry
the NoCry performed almost as well as the Pittsburgh at 1.71 lb
- 3Ullmannot tested
- 5Matconot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 9GearWrenchnot tested
- 11Blue Pointnot tested
- 12Craftsmannot tested
Shaft sag with 100g
- 2MAG-MATE1 in2nd
with 100 g is good enough to move into second place behind the Olman
- 3Ullman
under an inch to take the lead from the Nbar
- 5Matco
an inch and a quarter, which is good enough to move into third place behind the Mag-Mate
- 1MacToolsnot tested
- 4Protonot tested
- 6Enbarnot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 8Pittsburghnot tested
- 9GearWrenchnot tested
- 10E-Z Rednot tested
- 11Blue Pointnot tested
- 12Craftsmannot tested
- 13Klein Toolsnot tested
- 14NoCrynot tested
Shaft sag no weight
- 3Ullman
the Olman is by far the best yet at about a quarter of an inch
- 11Blue Point
the Blue Point has about a quarter inch of sag fully extended
- 12Craftsman
the Craftsman has quite a bit of sag at 1.38, the most yet
- 1MacToolsnot tested
- 2MAG-MATEnot tested
- 4Protonot tested
- 5Matconot tested
- 6Enbarnot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 8Pittsburghnot tested
- 9GearWrenchnot tested
- 10E-Z Rednot tested
- 13Klein Toolsnot tested
- 14NoCrynot tested
All measurements (3 more)+
Overall average finish
- 1MacTools
the Mac Tools came out on top with an average finish at fourth place
- 2MAG-MATEnot tested
- 3Ullmannot tested
- 4Protonot tested
- 5Matconot tested
- 6Enbarnot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 8Pittsburghnot tested
- 9GearWrenchnot tested
- 10E-Z Rednot tested
- 11Blue Pointnot tested
- 12Craftsmannot tested
- 13Klein Toolsnot tested
- 14NoCrynot tested
Pull-to-bleed ratio
- 9GearWrench
the GearWrench came in on top at 0.000397 lb of bleed through per pound of direct magnetic pull
- 1MacToolsnot tested
- 2MAG-MATEnot tested
- 3Ullmannot tested
- 4Protonot tested
- 5Matconot tested
- 6Enbarnot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 8Pittsburghnot tested
- 10E-Z Rednot tested
- 11Blue Pointnot tested
- 12Craftsmannot tested
- 13Klein Toolsnot tested
- 14NoCrynot tested
Shaft sag test
- 10E-Z Red
the EZ Red is very robust and there's pretty much no sag with the EZ Red
- 1MacToolsnot tested
- 2MAG-MATEnot tested
- 3Ullmannot tested
- 4Protonot tested
- 5Matconot tested
- 6Enbarnot tested
- 7KapODnot tested
- 8Pittsburghnot tested
- 9GearWrenchnot tested
- 11Blue Pointnot tested
- 12Craftsmannot tested
- 13Klein Toolsnot tested
- 14NoCrynot tested
How it was tested
- magnetic pull / lift capacity against a 42 lb steel plate
- magnetic shielding bleed-through weight test
- pull-to-bleed-through ratio
- telescopic shaft sag test with and without 100 g of added weight
- side/horizontal shaft strength test until the magnet let go
“the Mac Tools came out on top with an average finish at fourth place”


