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Harbor Freight has introduced a brand new Bauer 20V brushless cordless drill/driver.
The drill is priced at $60 for the tool-only, and will be kitted for as little as $90 with bundle reductions.
The brand new drill delivers as much as 405 in-lbs of max torque, which doesn’t examine nicely in opposition to Harbor Freight’s “examine to” alternative of Ryobi’s 18V HP brushless drill/driver, which delivers 750 in-lbs max torque.
Nevertheless, the Ryobi is priced at $99 for the tool-only and $129 for a one-battery equipment.
The Bauer has two pace settings, 0-500/0-1900 RPM. The Ryobi operates at 0-500/0-2100 RPM.
Harbor Freight describes the Bauer as having a “compact light-weight design.” A examine of the specs exhibits that its size and top are each stated to be 8-1/4″.
To be frank, I’m not impressed with Harbor Freight’s $89.97 pricing.
On the time of this posting, you may get a Metabo HPT 18V compact brushless drill equipment for $78, or a extra premium equipment for simply over $100. 2-3 months from now, we’ll doubtless see different professional cordless energy instrument manufacturers’ typical $99 brushless drill kits return for the vacation buying season.
We’d additionally quickly see seasonal reductions on the better-spec’ed “examine to” Ryobi mannequin.
I’m completely happy to see Harbor Freight provide an increasing number of brushless energy instruments, however that is extremely aggressive territory. If Harbor Freight isn’t going to compete on options or efficiency, they should compete on value.
The Bauer appears to be purchase for Bauer 20V [Max] cordless energy instrument customers. For everybody else, I don’t assume Harbor Freight and Bauer reply “why ought to I purchase this?” with a adequate reply.
Of their publication, Harbor Freight advertises that the Bauer delivers “as much as 60% extra runtime* than drill/drivers with brushed motors. *In comparison with products with brushed motor, utilizing 5Ah battery driving 3-inch screws.”
They repeat this declare on the web site’s product itemizing. The declare is lacking the asterisk, however the high quality print is listed in regular font dimension underneath an Essential Data heading, together with a reminder that the instrument is offered and not using a battery and charger.
I give Harbor Freight a thumbs up for this. I nonetheless vastly dislike blanket “as much as x% longer runtime!” and “as much as x% extra energy/efficiency” claims for brushless motor instruments, however clear qualifiers are observe.
I’ve come to imagine that Harbor Freight’s Bauer model provides serviceable instruments, for my part, however they’ve a methods to go earlier than they’re aggressive. Frankly, with respect to cordless drills, if I’ve a restricted funds and may’t wait till the subsequent $99 “particular purchase” vacation season, I’d slightly go together with Ryobi.
I additionally nonetheless don’t like Harbor Freight’s “examine to” characteristic. They are saying you “save 39%” in comparison with Ryobi, however fail to say the Bauer’s torque score is 46% decrease.
Mannequin: 2191CR-B
SKU: 58952
Value: $59.99 tool-only
A La Carte Equipment Value: $59.99 + $24.99 for a charger + $24.99 for a 1.5Ah battery – $20 bundle low cost = $89.97.
