At World of Concrete 2019 last week Bosch 18V Tools went from a distant horse in the cordless tool race to one of the potential contender again with a large expansion of exciting 18V tools. They’re getting a little cute and naming all the tools which we have mixed emotions on, we’ve all loved calling the SDS-Plus hammer the Bulldog for years, it’s a great trade name, have they gone too far some of the other names, The Goon, The Surgeon, a little bit of a stretch but we’re talking about new amazingly powerful 18V tools so we’re on board. The new Bosch 8.0Ah batteries with 21700 cells and 1600 watts output are really the hidden hero here that allow these 18V tools to compete with other 36V and 54V (60V max) tools. Here is a rundown of what’s coming!
Bosch 18V Rotary Hammer Drills!
Bosch has been the global leader in Rotary Hammer Drills near forever, so cordless rotary hammer drills should be the logical arena they dominate and it looks like by the end of 2019 they will have a very impressive offering for cordless rotary hammers. We recently did a full post on the Cordless Bulldog 1” SDS-Plus which is solid power, great price point, Kick-back control and a lot of great features launching now in the GBH18V-26D. Certainly leave room for an “18V Bulldog Xtreme” with a little more power as well but we think for the price to performance this Bulldog will be a big hit!
Where Bosch has really impressed us is with the 18V SDS-MAX hammers coming “The Goon” GBH18V-36C as smaller 1-3/8” unit looks to be more comparable to the corded RH540M but slightly smaller, ideal for light weight applications. Then “The Hitman” GBH18V-45C a larger 1-3/4” similar to the RH745 or RH850VC corded hammers. We love that they put the battery on front to help balance weight and very interested to get our hands on it and see how it stacks up to new Makita, Milwaukee and Dewalt Flexvolt. These larger hammers could for sure use a Bosch 18V larger 12.0Ah but as of today no official word on that. Not going to touch why they would have chosen to market a power fisting tool as part of their brand here but there it is…
Bosch 18V Cordless Saws
A brushless 7-1/4” circular saw is a staple for any professional cordless line up, now Bosch has what looks to be a pretty impressive contender with some unique features. Named “The Strong Arm” the GKS18V-264GC seems to have all the power of a corded 15A circ saw but with some very nice features that make this saw look to be something pretty special. Dust port is built-in, as it should be, it also steal several features from track saw design with built in groove in base to fit onto a track and a plunge-like depth setting button. We’re not ready to call this a hybrid track saw just yet but if they have successfully borrow some of the features this could be very popular. We will know more when once we get our hands on it with a compatible track.
The Bosch Team is also very well known for their Miter Saws so going cordless in this category get us pretty excited, unfortunately this is not an Axial-Glide Saw but a smaller 8-1/2” rail setup very similar to the corded CM8S, we’ve personally use this Miter at home for years it’s a great saw, for cordless the portability and lightweight actually makes a ton of sense here. This one they are calling “The Surgeon” GCM18V-08 which isn’t really that fitting for a miter saw, unless you’re talking about a civil war era Surgeon chopping legs off.
Finally the Recip Saw which has been out for about a year or so now has some equally impressive tools to help build out the lineup. The 8.0Ah with the 21700 cells max out around 1600 watts which is about double the peak output of everyone’s typical 5.0Ah with 18650 cells. We’re curious however if there is any power gain for this saw against the 6.3 batteries with 20700 cells it has been shipping with for past year, look for some testing on 4.0/6.3/8.0 coming soon! Not to be left out they had to give the GSA18v-125N a cute name as well, The Misfit, which sort of fits because it’s a goofy shape however having used it for some time now we actually really like it’s unique design.
Bosch 18V Cordless 6” Grinder
Last but not least for the new MEGAWATT CREW new additions is “The Spitfire” GWS18V-60C a brushless 6” grinder with side switch, Bluetooth connected, soft-start, 1400 watt motor, kick-back and drop control. But wait wait wait just 1 second, as of now it doesn’t have Bosch X-Lock connection? Are you serious Blue, you’ve got until Q3 to fit that or we are totally calling BS on the whole X-Lock system, if you’re not bought in with all your premium grinders don’t expect anyone else to jump on board.
BOSCH MegaWatt Crew
We are super excited to see Bosch 18V Tools as a serious cordless contender again, these are all welcome additions with a full range of new drills and THE FREAK impacts! We’d love to see this new prodcut blitz continue with more tools to compliment your concrete and woodworking heritage! A 12.0Ah battery would be huge for some additional runtime, 18V Colt Router, you invented the trim router category you should at least have a cordless version. We would say an 18V track saw is a must but maybe The Strong Arm is a true hybrid saw, that’ll be able to fill this need, assuming the right blade, track and accessories. Well we could go on, new jigsaws, sanders, table saw, joiner, concrete saw, new Powerbox with 110v power, etc, etc but with this start we are super optimistic all these will be here before we know it!
