Rear Handle Circular Saw Head to Head: Milwaukee M18 Fuel vs. Makita LXT X2

When you need a tough circular saw that has the power to cut through anything, the obvious choice in recent years has been the Makita LX2 X2 36v (18v x2) Rear Handle Circular Saw. But now that Milwaukee has released its own M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw... which one do you choose? Check out this comparison to make your decision.

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. These specific tools were provided for testing. I realize there are other Rear Handle Circular saws available like the DeWALT and the Skilsaw but the test is limited to the tool comparison above.

[brad]

I compared the two platforms and I liked the Milwaukee performance just a bit better. However, I found the reviews for repair customer service center for Milwaukee to be pretty bad as well as their treatment of truckers who deliver their products to stores here in the US. (I'm not a driver but a company that doesn't treat working people right doesn't sit well with me). Also, the parent company is Chinese. Hong Kong but still Chinese which means their government benefits & has interests in the company. In the end when the company pays taxes I'd rather those go to the Japanese Government instead of the Chinese government.

[CP-okgv]

Man come on, you gotta pick one! I have the Milwaukee but I’ve heard better things about the makita

[NrOx]

Just a comment on the head to head comparison. Anytime you do a test like that I would try to make things as fair as possible. Trying to control variables so that the comparison is reduced down to just the saws themselves and not any other contributing factors. Same board, same end of board, same battery charge, same ambient temperature (a little excessive, but try cutting in the winter. The cells don't do as well.) same blade..etc. Now I know the Milwaukee is more powerful than the Makita because I've seen other head to heads where the reviewer has controlled for a lot of these factors, so in this case, the result would not have changed. But in future comparisons between other tools, something like the blade, could make a difference. Essentially becoming a test of blade cut speed, rather than tool speed. Other than that, great information here. It's a golden age of powertools at the moment, just having this conversation about a cordless tool blows my mind.

[steveyknoxville]

Got the Milwaukee, one really annoying thing, they designed a perfect bucket, where the battery goes is a perfect bucket for that saw dust on the site and any light shower of rain to get into. Very poor design, I would think the makita would be better in that regard although I don't have it to test.

[JayJay-srgn]

Whats better a rear handle or non rear handle saw? Can't decide.

[leongreenwood]

Do they make these corded ??
Also can I get a hold of them in the uk??

[shakeNbakestudios]

I can understand the lazy guy name. There was 9 seconds of actual cutting footage and the rest was repeating stats off a webpage. Next time, less talky and more cutting please

[allenriff]

use the same blade in each saw to compare apples to apples.

[McLetra]

Do you know if I can fit 6AH batteries on the makita? I cant find info online

[Enigma_V]

To be fair...the Makita is NOT 18v; it's 36V (requires 2).

Guess you were lazy about the review too.

[paulfry]

Not happy with get weak / can't rip a 2x4 very well after 5 you drop it, the gaurds snap easy and its "totalled" / too expensive to the designated it that owned🤪🤪