When the Makita 36V circular saw XSH01Z ($219) hit the market it was the first time Makita or any major tool brand had built a 36V tool specifically to run off two of their more popular 18V batteries. Now they’ve gone back and converted all their 36V tools to this platform which we think is a very smart move which allows more flexibility for users on the same battery platform. The one complaint is however they didn’t make the XSH01 saw brushless so runtime still leaves a little to be desired. With the new brushless circular saw XSH03Z ($219) coming very soon Makita hopes to level the playing field a bit more.
This saw is the next logical step for the Makita 18V LXT brushless offering as the 50% improved run-time is a much needed feature to really replace a corded circular saw. Partner that with the 4.0Ah and new 5.0Ah LXT batteries and for many jobs you are there.
The new brushless XSH03 saw also brings another new feature, Automatic Speed Change™ Technology, which adjusts speed and torque during operation for optimum performance. This helps the saw perform very much like a corded circular saw even in tough cuts of multiple sheets of plywood, dense lumber and a variety of other materials.
The only downside of this saw, we have seen is of course in the 6-1/2” blade size which offers slightly less cut capacity and fewer options for blades. In the typical job trailer there are normally bulk boxes of 7-1/4” saw blades but not any 6-1/2″ which was one of the big pluses when we compared the Makita 36V XSH01 vs Milwaukee M18 FUEL 2730-22. We would love to see the 36V XSH01Z (with 7-1/4″ blade) go brushless at some point and really knock it out of the park on power, run-time, capacity, etc.
Makita had several other new products featured at this year’s World of Concrete you can see in the short video below. We are also working on a few other posts to follow up, highlighting many of these new products as well. Stay Tuned.